Bay2LA Beatrock Music Dec. 17th

An evening of music and art; with live performances from the Beatrock Music family and a photo portrait series of Beatrock Music artists by Leo Docuyanan

Saturday, December 17, 2011

@ 2150 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

ages 18 and up. Please bring photo id.
$12 door
8pm-12am
*cash-only bar*

PERFORMING LIVE:

Prometheus Brown & Bambu are The Bar
Otayo Dubb
Rocky Rivera
Power Struggle
Kiwi
Bwan
DJ Phatrick on the turntables

Visit:
http://beatrockmusic.com
http://www.leodocuyanan.com/
Video by Tony Rain (http://www.strivefilms.com)

Sunday Cipher: Who's That? Brown up and down the West Coast

Beatrock Music artists and merch: Alfie Numeric's critique of the Filipina self-martyrdom, Manila Ryce's "Our Lady of Perpetual Dissent", and the Beatrock Music cap

This past Friday and Saturday, Beatrock Music celebrated its first year anniversary in Long Beach and San Francisco. An impressive collection of Fil Am (and the homey Otayo Dubb and the CounterParts Crew) rocked the stage. I copped some merch at the Long Beach show (see above), including the fabled Beatrock Music baseball cap.

Beatrock Music artist Bambu performed "Who's That?!", a song that uses the beat originally produced by Das Racist and uses a Tribe Called Quest "Scenario" sample: "Inside, outside, come around. Who's that? Brown!!!" Bambu, always baggin on DJ Phatrick (his "Chinese DJ"), joked, "It says brown. So it's hard for Phatrick to play this." Along with back and forth jabs, Phatrick and Bambu performed a great improvised showcase.

Brown music up and down the coast! Congrats to Beatrock Music for a memorable year!

Reminder: FPAC this Weekend x Beatrock Artists Kollective

The 19th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture is this weekend in San Pedro! Here are some classic FPAC x FilAm Funk connex:

MastaPlann interview on Francis M. Tribute (2009)

Hip Hop at 18th Annual FPAC + Francis M. Tribute (2009)

Festival reflections: When the fun is done (2008)

All Star DJ Tribute at FPAC (2008)

This year's FPAC welcomes the Beatrock Artists Kollective, a conglomeration of local artists who have come together to showcase their work and invite you to participate in a community art piece. Here is their description:

Beatrock Artists Kollective is honored to be part of this year's FPAC. We will be showcasing our work at the PAN (Pilipino Artist Network) Pavillion alongside with other talented visual artists, writers, and musicians.

The Artists Kollective will be painting live a huge mural-sized piece dedicating to this year's FPAC theme "One Heartbeat/Shared Being."

The Artists Kollective will also be facilitating a the painting of a community art piece; festival participants are welcome to pick up a paint brush and help paint several pre-planned canvases.
Artwork and prints are available for purchase at the PAN Pavilion.

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Watch Hip Hop Mestizaje now!

I posted up my short documentary "Hip Hop Mestizaje: Racialization, Resonance, and Filipino American Knowledge of Self." I started shooting this film back in 2006, so it may be a bit dated cuz so many things happened since then, such as the rise of new Pinoy/ay artists, new albums dropped, and this whole ABDC phenomenon. The experience of making this film was transformational for me since I got to sit down with talented bruthas and sistas who represent a whole generation of Fil Ams creating and defining the meanings of our diasporic experiences. Plus, really, I'm always a fan first (you betcha I was mad geeked the whole time).

"Hip Hop Mestizaje" congeals Fil Artists from coast-to-coast--from the South, Northeast, West, and Pacific Northwest--and forms a narrative that partially explains why Filipino Americans are so loyal to hip hop: that being our racialized colonial history (and all its funkiness!). Thus, many of us seek to find "knowledge of self" via hip hop, poetry, Barrio Fiestas, or Pilipino Culture Nights. Right? Anyways, "Hip Hop Mestizaje" is a very small part of hopefully bigger projects to come. You can read more about this topic of colonization and racialization in an earlier post from 2008.

Props to all the artists and performers who took the time to talk to me: Kuttin Kandi, Alfie Numeric, Paulskee, Basic, Geologic, and David Araquel. Props to the homey Lakan de Leon for giving some kinds words below. His pioneering film, Beats, Rhymes, and Resistance: Pilipinos and Hip Hop in Los Angeles set it off for many Fil Ams to really take this "Fil Ams in hip hop" thing seriously.

Peep the reviews from close friends and colleagues! Thanks yall!

"Mark Villegas' Hip Hop Mestizaje continues what we tried to do back in the day--document the dynamic contributions of Pilipino Americans to Hip Hop, as well as understand why the artforms within it speak to us so personally and profoundly. While it has been over a decade since our film came out, I am excited to know that Pinoys and Pinays continue to shape and innovate this rich culture, and in turn connect their stories to the larger struggles of all people of color seeking freedom and justice through expression."

- Lakan de Leon, co-creator of Beats, Rhymes, and Resistance: Pilipinos and Hip Hop in Los Angeles

"Mark's short film 'Hip Hop Mestizaje' provides an already hip hop-knowledgable or hip hop head audience with an introductory look at the presence of Filipino-Americans in contemporary hip hop life. It opens the book for folks interested in learning more about their Brown-yet-Asian family who they undoubtedly meet at shows, community events, and on the block...So they may understand just why it is that we're in hip hop in such large numbers, not metal or punk (though we rep rather well in those arenas too)."

-Kristia, type-scholar/writer (featured in my spotlight), Doorknockers

"With a diversity of insightful and prominent voices from across the Filipino hip-hop spectrum, Hip Hop Mestizaje delves into the shared history of struggle that prompted Filipinos in America to embrace hip-hop culture."

-Eric Tandoc, DJ, filmmaker of Sounds of a New Hope, Massive Movement TV

"Hip Hop Mestizaje is a necessary exploration of U.S. Pin@y critique and contributions to popular culture, namely hip hop. Villegas highlights the ways in which U.S. Pin@y experiences align with other communities of color, but more importantly signals the tensions that push the building of Pin@y identity, art, and culture."

-Tracy La Chica Buenavista, Professor of Asian American Studies, California State University at Northridge

"I feel that this is a great documentary piece by my man Mark Villegas that gives you a glimpse into the world of Filipinos in Hip Hop. It shows how Hip Hop has helped them find themselves, and how it became thee medium of expression. This is a must watch for all Filipinos that want to gain a better understanding of why our community is so ingrained in Hip Hop Culture."

-DJ Icy Ice, World Famous Beat Junkies, Power 106

"...Mark highlights...a non-West Coast-centric viewpoint that showcases a varied yet collective experience." CONTINUE READING...

-Ninoy Brown, FOBBDeep
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Beatrock Store Becoming LA Cultural Haven

Fighting Cocks start off the night with their mellow, soulful style. Photo courtesy of Mike Nailat. Find more pictures at Mike's Flickr here.

On Saturday, December 13th, the Beatrock store in Long Beach and Sights and Sounds presented an art and music mash-up featuring paintings by LA favorites Stuter, Alfie Numeric, Pancho, and many others. Music was provided by Bambu, The Committee, Flowethics and J-One, Fighting Cocks, K9, and Mass Movement.

This was the first time I've been to the Beatrock store, and it was a great experience seeing all the art and performers congregate at a dope space not far from the city of LA. You can also cop a bunch of gear. Not too late if you're still shopping for gifts for the holidays. They not only sell the coveted Beatrock brands, but also other clothing, such as a funny new brand called Chicharron Adventures.

This store is quickly becoming a notable cultural space "outside" of the traffic-ridden LA-proper area. So for folks who live in Carson, Cerritos, Long Beach, Torrance, even Orange County, this spot will be a little bit closer if you usually hit up cultural events. It's a colorful, beautiful joint, so you should stop by even if there is no performance occurring.

Here is the address:
Beatrock Flagship Store
4158 Norse Way
Long Beach, CA

As always, Bambu wreck-shopped. The Committee ended their set with a hot 90's hip hop tribute--anthems such as Mtume (Biggie Smalls "Juicy" more specifically), Mary J. Blige, Talib Kweli (more 2003ish), all with live instrumentation! Hire them, Jimmy Fallen, instead of The Roots! Also, K9 represented the "5th" element of hip hop with a beatboxing exhibition. Aaliyah "One in a Million" all through voice, what? (Bambu controls the crowd. Photo courtesy of Mike Nailat)

The man behind Beatrock, David Araquel, is doing a great job with the store. Starting off as the kid in high school who people always turned to to draw sketches or paint murals, David has turned his passion into a successful cultural and business venture. From a simple idea years ago of building a store to a growing and thriving store/cultural space, this Beatrock thing is really taking off!

On growing up Fil Am today: from "fobby" to fly

Yesterday was a good day. After a great line-up of NCAA football games, the night ushered in a new era of boxing with the victory of Manny Pacquiao, and the end of a legendary era with the womping of Oscar De La Hoya.

Sitting there at a homey's pad in Historic Filipino in LA (click here for a glimpse of us celebrating the TKO) with a gang of barking Brown folks, BBQ and boxing, I reflected on how growing up Fil Am today is so different than back in the 90s. Granted that I grew up in the South (in a very red county) and there weren't as many Filipinos as there are in the West Coast, I think in general, young Fil Ams have so much more opportunities to demonstrate their pride. I mean, under one house there was the Pacman (on the TV), Kiwi, Bam, Krish, and a whole host of Fil Am community artists and activists. LA may be an anomaly in comparison to the entirety of the U.S. because of its large and historic Fil Am community, but these folks, especially the artists, have an unprecedented reach to inspire young folks nationally. And with outlets like Heavy Rotation, I suppose a reach to inspire internationally.

Maybe its an internets-age thing. But I just have a sense that if it were even just 6 years ago, young Fil Ams wouldn't so much be rockin the Philippine flag sweaters, Bonifacio T's, and tri-star/sun caps. Nor would they be rappin in Tagalog. It must be noted, the growth in this Pin@y "pride" has to be linked with the explosion of the fashion designers (i.e. Beatrock), which by the way these Filipino-themed T's are not a new thing--think Tsinilas (based in Florida), Tribal Pinoy, or Downright Pinoy.

(Sports + hip hop + fashion + internet = growth in the reach of Pin@y "pride"?)

Maybe I'm wrong, and this is really a West Coast thing that has been happening strong before I moved here. Thoughts?* My point is that it is a special time to be a young Fil Am today (and maybe more specifically Fil Am masculinity). Where as in the 90s, we had a very Afro-centric hip hop, not the "Filipino-conscious" (which is not wholly separate from Afro-centric tradition, just as a note) hip hop --both men and women artists--we enjoy today. We didn't have a Manny Pacquiao. We didn't have a whole army of Pin@ys on reality TV (check out Bam's posting on "Reality and Rice"). And the fashion? Sure, there was the few Filipino t-shirt brands I would rock, but I would get clowned for being "fobby," a denigrating term people used to describe being "too Filipino." Not so much today. Today its a badge of pride and not shame to have Manny emblazoned on your shirt.** How many Pac Man shirts were there at the Bridge's show after the fight? Dang. A sista was even rockin a Philippine flag on her necklace.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the South is just a different animal. Maybe because the South and the East Coast in total doesn't have a "Pilipino Culture Night" (here and here) tradition. Maybe cuz there's no FPAC or Pistahan there. There are varying opportunities and spaces to learn and express "Filipinoness." Today, it seems like those opportunities and spaces have reached beyond expectation.

I mean, in the Souf, we did have Santo Nino and Gang Starr, but that didn't seem to be enough mayn.




From "fobby" to "fly". I hope it lasts long.

Let me have it...

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*I get a sense that young Pin@ys in the 90s were also more immersed in gang culture. Pride for sure, but qualitatively different, in ways I can't articulate yet.
**I think that the Filipino-themed fashion today is more likely linked to politically-conscious movements, and not only a desire to look cute in a Pin@y tee.