Getting down with relief! Philippine storm survivor support opportunities

Let us continue our prayers and thoughts for our fam in the islands who are impacted by the recent storm and flood in Metro Manila. The homey DJ Marlino at Heavy Rotation is helping raise funds for Philippine storm survivors. Buy this party-hardy mix and all proceeds will go to the Philippine National Red Cross.


Every bit of help counts! I'm sure (I hope) there are many opportunities where you live. Here are a few:

Via SFGate (Thanks Ninoy Brown!):

Bay Area Groups Aide Philippines Flood Victims
(09-29) 21:44 PDT -- Bay Area Filipino organizations coordinating relief efforts in the aftermath of last weekend's typhoon in the Philippines say monetary donations are desperately needed to help flooding victims, followed by medical supplies and food.

The groups have set up drop-off points for donations and set up ways for people to send money to Filipinos suffering after Tropical Storm Ketsana, which hit the northern Philippines on Saturday and caused the country's worst flooding in four decades. CONTINUE READING...

Via BakitWhy.com:

Ondoy Relief Effort: Los Angeles Organizations Will Collect Donations on October 3
"...Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, People's Core, Kabataang maka-Bayan, the ANSWER Coalition alongside many other Pilipino organizations, have teamed up with Search to Involve Pilipino American to collect the much needed material for the relief efforts. The generous people at Team Pacquiao with there efforts titled "Operation Metro Manila" will take a huge role in the organization of the relief efforts. CONTINUE READING...

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Let's not forget about the fam in Samoa, Indonesia, and Vietnam too. It's a tough September/October...

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Summer Heat: Massive Monkees interview, more Seattle goodies

Los Angeles is on fire, but it also seems like Seattle is ablaze. With a record setting sizzling summer in the 206, it's also fitting that Seattle Fil Am hip hop talent add to the scorcher. Remember to hydrate!

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Peep an excerpt of my BakitWhy.com interview with the Seattle-based Massive Monkees. We were behind the scenes of America's Best Dance Crew, episode 3 (yeah, the martial arts one). Were/are these Seattle Pinoy b-boys the Monkees mention also inspirational to your style?

MV: Any particular Filipino b-boys, b-girls influential to you all and your development?

Marcus Garrison: B-boy Free from Seattle. He's one of the biggest inspirations for Massive Monkees and all of Seattle and all over the world.

Jerome Aparis: And B-boy Remind from Style Elements Crew.

Brysen Angeles: Actually in Seattle, the place where we did a lot of rehearsal for the audition of the show was the Filipino Community Center. So we got a lot of support from the Filipino community in Seattle. It's a good thing.
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In another Seattle shoutout, remember to download the Blue Scholars' new EP entitled "OOF!" This Hawaiian-inspired collection is sure to satisfy your craving for innovative, experimental sounds and relaxing island flavors. Here is a Seattle Times review of each track of the EP. The Scholars keep it burnin like a haole on a beach!




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And if you still feen for that 206 spice, be sure to download DJ Daps1's newest mixtape, "206 Summer Heat". All the artists featured in the mix represent Seattle, many delivering that real OG West Coast vibe. Who knew Seattle had such a thriving, raw hip hop scene? Well, now ya know.

Ain't nuthin better than summer in the Northwest!

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Kuttin Kandi picks up the mic and drops the science

Kandi and the Heart (Photo credits: Ernie Pena)

DJ Kuttin Kandi of the mighty 5th Platoon Crew and the Anomolies dropped science Friday as she performed with her new band The Heart at Kababayan's "Hip Hop Showcase."

As a champion turntablist (1998 NY Source DJ winner, placed in 1998 DMC solo Finals), activist (founder of R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop, which famously battled against HOT 97 in their post-tsunami fascism, president-elect of the women's movement organization GABNet, etc.), and educator (teacher in NY and student events coordinator in San Diego), the Queens, NY native serves as a model for young Filipinos who are passionate about social justice, art, and education. Her resume is too long to list here, but BakitWhy provides a good summary of her achievements and creativity, complete with a video interview: BakitWhy- Artist Spotlight: DJ Kuttin Kandi.

When you think Kandi's goals were nearing a peak, she just keeps pushing the limit higher and higher. With her band The Heart, Kandi is adding lyricism and live band music to her repertoire. With her bold New York vernacular wedded together with a warm (if not hot) appeal for social justice, she'll make you pay close attention and decolonize your mind at the same time.

"I'm callin out all you wack, crass emcees!" (Photo credit: Ernie Pena)

Here are two poems, the first is entitled "A Love More Than Just Hip Hop," which she recited at the Kababayan Conference in February of this year. It gets at the soul of one of her main messages as a poet and educator: what we do is bigger than hip hop. The second poem, "The MisEducated," is a personal biography of Kandi and her constant retransformation, complete with references of Philippine history, Desperate Housewives, and A Tribe Called Quest!

A LOVE MORE THAN JUST HIP HOP
By DJ Kuttin Kandi

i do this
for the love of Hip-Hop
i do this whether
i make it or flop
i do this so i can one day
open a record shop
i do this to afford a new pair
of addidas shell-tops

knod my head
to a funky be-bop
hands in the air

nothing

can’t ever make me stop
playin a good beat drop
can’t break me up
cause i can’t seem to get enough
of a love more than just hip-hop...
CONTINUE READING...


THE MISEDUCATED
By Kuttin Kandi

...gained my own Ph.D
through the 4 elements

of Hip Hop


politicized
through Hip Hop

Saul Williams
Public Enemy
Queen Latifah
Blackstar
Lauryn Hill
Dead Prez
soothed me
loved me
and saved me…..

and now it’s funny….

i’ll run into
some academic
at some panel discussion

usually a male white
professor

who wants to belittle me
with their academic language

but what they don’t realize

even though
it might take me longer
I can speak
your language too

i can make it
just as
authoritative
make it
suasive
active
hybrid
and
lurid...
CONTINUE READING...
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Special shout out to Jaela, my partner in poetry inspiration and 2004 "slam" collaborator. You can order her poetry chapbook here. She writes about Kandi's lyrics above in a new blog entry:

"i think it’s expected that a poet, in general, an artist, have a piece that explains their story, their name, their history..." CONTINUE READING...

Welcome to the new URL address/ VA Beach love/ BakitWhy

Whats up readers old and new! Welcome to the new Hip Hop Lives url address. I hope you update your google reader feeds, etc. The old one was long (hiphoplives-mrk904.blogpsot.com), and I didn't know you can customize your own url address until last week (it's now filamfunk.blogspot.com).


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Check out my homegirl Jian's new blog on all things fresh and hip in Virginia Beach, VA:
VB2DC (or Virginia Beach to DC--she resides in DC but reps VB).
Get updated on the scene in VB, from fashion, to events, to artists. This is the home of Chad Hugo and N.E.R.D. and a historic Fil Am hip hop community. Whats up Salem High? Ha!

Yes that is Glory's famous pizza bread. What you know!

If you want to read a VERY fictional account of the VB Filipino community, you should pick up my friend Ate Evelina Galang's novel One Tribe. (I think that's me holding the book in that picture at the top). It has some interesting narrative on the tensions involved in community-building, a perpetual challenge considering the diversity of Fil Am communities. VB is a navy community, so that adds more dimensions to the context (just like Jacksonville, FL or San Diego). What's notable in the book is the gang culture among the young people, a very real part of our history that is rarely written about, so this book is a good start to hopefully more explorations about Fil Ams and gang culture (both violent and "crew" gang culture).

And the other reason why VA Beach is on my mind is my childhood homey just got married this weekend. He grew up in VA Beach, and many family members from VA Beach came down to Jacksonville for the wedding. The VB hip hop scene is well-known to be hot, the groom even imported a DJ from VA Beach, Philip Andrada, with all his equipment, just to rock the reception. Oh, and we did rock. Can you imagine all the groomsman lookin fresh in tuxedos and sneakers? After all these years, my homeys still bustin mills and 90s. This is the most hip hop wedding I've been to! Congrats Jo and Cheryl!

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Speaking of VB and navy towns, if you don't already know, I am a content producer for a very neat Pilipino website called BakitWhy.com. This site is the biggest, most comprehensive, most "national" website that consolidates a young Pinoy/ay community. Anyways, I wrote something relating to the navy experience in our community; here's a little piece on my hometown. Enjoy!

Pnoy Apparel San Diego Jam Packs the House

Check out an article I wrote and "commercial" I filmed/edited for BakitWhy:


Many came, and many got turned away. The Pnoy Apparel/Alpha Psi Rho event "A Sammy Thing" (in reference to the cartoon character Sammy the Sun) at San Diego State University on December the 9th was so popular security rolled deep (police car and all) in an effort to "control" the crowd. So apologies to the many people who could not get in and missed an all-star jam featuring the hottest Fil Am talent.

Continue reading...