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Another L.A. Crip on the Grind

“Born in the 80s, raised in the Sixties”: Nipsey Hussle gives some background on gang ties and who he may or may not see as an “enemy” on the street in a two-part interview with Streetgangs.com’s  Alex Alonso.

C-Boy from Harlem (not the  Uptown locale, but Jefferson Park) called me once about 5 months ago to tell me about Thundercat from the 60s.  His grind had been paying off for a while and he was ready to take his rap game corporate.

Nipsey Hussle is the rap name of the aforementioned hood star from 60s, pictured in the video above, who says he’s never seen Kurupt on the block. He  considers him a D.P.G only.

Hussle still has a lot to prove. If the son of a Black mother and an Eritreanfather can pick up where Game left off, then he’s in good shape. But just like the Game, he needs some radio- friendly hook-happy hits to push his star along. Because these days, the biggest news out of L.A. hiphop is going to be how a Utah high school wasn’t gangster enough for G. Malone.

Continue reading “Another L.A. Crip on the Grind” →

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At the Movies: Illegal Immigration and Los Tigres del Norte

"EL NORTE": Zaide Silvia Gutierrez in a scene from Gregory Nava's 1983 movie.
"EL NORTE": Zaide Silvia Gutierrez in a scene from Gregory Nava's 1983 movie.

“The flood of Hispanic immigrants into American communities for work helped provide cover for traffickers looking to expand into new markets. Shelby has long been Alabama’s fastest-growing county, and the number of Hispanics grew 126 percent from 2000 to 2007.”

“Hispanic“? You gotta love that all-inclusive word.

The quoted passage at the beginning of this post is taken from an alarmist piece that ran in the Associated Press recently, detailing a quintuple homicide in Alabama that authorities have been investigating since August 2008. Officials are pointing fingers at the Gulf Cartel.

As most of you already know, President Obama was recently in town to talk drugs and the border. With so much on his plate already, illegal immigration and the problems along the Mexico/U.S. border are just pieces of the puzzle millions are looking at him to solve. Good luck, my dude.

Continue reading “At the Movies: Illegal Immigration and Los Tigres del Norte” →

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Mexico City’s ‘Conscious’ Rapper: BocaFloja

MEXICO CITY'S PEOPLE'S MC: Bocafloja or "Lazy Mouth" inside Kaya nightclub
THE PEOPLE'S MC: Bocafloja or "Lazy Mouth" inside Kaya nightclub on Tamaulipas in D.F.

According to M-1 of Dead Prez, Bocafloja is down with the R.B.G movement. That was something I learned listening to the intro of Boca’s last CD.  However, my curiosity about the guy above first peaked when a professor studying “global hip-hop,” told me in so many words that Bocafloja is the truth.

In other words, he’s the  real deal.

(….See a clip from his show and hear the Dead Prez intro after the jump)

Continue reading “Mexico City’s ‘Conscious’ Rapper: BocaFloja” →

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Half-Time

It’s been such a long time that I’ve dipped into this bloggery game. I think I quit sometime after the great hip-hop blog debacle of ’08 (I’m sure you can read about it on the XXL.com website). Lots to update you good folks on. Here, across the border, I’ve been chillen, but as Danny H. says, gotta work, gotta work, gotta work. So stay tuned for more, in the life of….type mess, and maybe some facts and figures for you to grow on. 

Here’s a little track from the halcyon days of rap.

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Remember Travel Fox?

Looks like our favorite rapper’s blog has hipped everyone to an interesting course at Carnegi Mellon University, a fine institution that represents one of the few reasons to actually venture to Pittsburgh (no disrespect to my good old college pal Warner Mack!)

98-094 Sneakerology 101
Led by: Chorng, Jesse D; Curtis, Elliott P
M 7:00PM – 8:50PM DH 1209
In this course we will explore the extensive impact that sneakers have on fashion, identity, and cultures throughout the world. There is no prerequisite of pairs, so whether you are a true “Sneakerhead” or just someone who is interested in urban culture, this class promises to invigorate the sole.

Looks like Bobbito Garcia, will snap up some royalties from the use of his text in this course.

Bob, along with DJ Stretch Armstrong held down an overnight rap show during the 90’s that I easily picked up on my radio across the river in New Jersey. So often I would stay up until around 5AM, Friday morning listening to their show–which is celebrating 10 years since its final broadcast–making sure my rec button didn’t pop up too soon on my tape deck. The next morning I would be groggy as all hell. But it was always worth it. Columbia U’s radio station, 89-tech-9 was the station to listen to as a young hiphop head in the 90’s. The only thing comparable to that show is the still-running Underground Railroad, on New York’s lefty station WBAI, headed by brilliant hiphop commentator and now vlogger, Jay Smooth.

*On a side note, I’m kind of mad at myself for not catching Cool Kids at this years SXSW. Maybe I can catch them in GA. No matter what, at least you can peep their steez on the cover of sneaker afficianado rag, Laced Magazine

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Anti-War Message, In My Name

Like any other vain writer-type kinda guy, I Google myself. I know that sounds inappropriate, but we all do it. Just today, taking a break at my old pals crib in San Antonio (yes, I’m decompressing from SXSW ’08) I came across this sincere attempt at some kind of emo-esque anti-war rock jam by State Radio. It’s a finely shot video about a jailed conscientious objector who bears my first name. The video is an indictment against this bloody, dragged out war we’re fighting in oil land, and takes more than some cues from Fahrenheit 9/11. Well, check it out. It was eerie to hear my name sung in a chorus like that, but ever eerie-er that it’s referring to some young man locked down for not supporting some crooked politics.