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

Geologic of the Blue Scholars headlining on the Main Stage @ 2pm on Saturday

It's that time of year again! The 18th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) is happening this weekend, September 12-13, in San Pedro, CA. And yes, amigos, there will be lotsa hip hop.

Below, check out details on the Francis M. Tribute, crews in street dance showcase, a list of hip hop performers, and a description of the FPAC Tinikling Battle:

Francis M. Tribute
18th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture
Sunday, Sept. 13, 1:00pm on Main Stage
Featuring performances by: MastaPlann and The Kasamas

Earlier this year we lost an icon in Philippine popular culture. Francis Magalona, also known as Francis M. “The Master Rapper” or the “King of Philippine Rap” left this world as the most prolific hip hop artist in the Philippines. Although iconic, Francis Magalona was still very human. On March 6, 2009, he passed away at age 44 after a seven-month bout with leukemia. At the 18th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture, MastaPlann (photo at left) and The Kasamas will honor “The Master Rapper” by performing a few of his songs and by paying tribute to a true Philippine hero. MastaPlann is a legendary hip hop group that excelled in the ranks of Philippine hip hop in 1991 and continue to perform today. They were not only friends with Francis M., but also collaborated with him musically. The Kasamas are a hip hop group from San Francisco who carry on Francis M.’s tradition of Tagalog rap and honor the late rapper with his music.

Francis M. will be remembered for his lasting impact on hip hop in the Philippines. His first album Yo! (1990) proved hip hop’s promising potential in the Philippines. Throughout his career, his lyrics embraced Philippine nationalism and addressed urgent issues relevant to Filipino people, such as government corruption, drug abuse, and Filipino colonial mentality.

Francis M. stood at the pinnacle of a handful of Philippine hip hop artists who have come to the forefront of Philippine popular consciousness. He was an exceptional talent, making Tagalog rap acceptable when many rappers struggled due rap’s negative stigma.

Francis M. has been a role model for Philippine hip hop artists. He legitimized Pinoy rap for many rising artists in the hip hop game. In addition to his Philippine-based inspiration, he was influential among Filipino American hip hop performers who turned to Magalona for artistic guidance.

Not only was Francis M. a luminous rapper, his creativity also stretched to Pinoy rock (blending rap and rock with his group Hardware Syndrome), photography, and film. Also, many will remember him as a co-host for the popular variety show Eat Bulaga! In addition, many young Filipinos know Francis M. as a fashion designer for his stylish clothing brand 3 Stars & a Sun.

Come join us at FPAC on Sunday as we honor Francis M. and celebrate his legacy through his music!

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Street dance showcase
Saturday, Sept. 12 @ 3:00pm
Main Stage

Featuring:

PAC Modern + Sheroes + Kaba Modern + Supreme Soul

Yes, this is a perfect space to celebrate the success Filipinos have been having in street dance fame. It's like an ABDC reunion! Tell ya gramama to wipe her drool...panis laway.

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Clockwise: Power Struggle, The Counterparts, All In Motion, and FlowEthics

List of FPAC Hip Hop Performers throughout weekend

(may be incomplete, please let me know if I left you off)

Saturday
Rhythm Natives (2:00 Main Stage)
Geologic (2:00 Main)
The Counterparts (1:00 Gen Stage)
Power Struggle (1:00 Gen)
FlowEthics (2:00 Gen)
Street dance showcase (3:00 Main)
Kasamas (3:00 Gen)
Ethnic Descent (3:00 Gen)

Sunday
Francis M. Tribute feat. MastaPlann and The Kasamas (1:00 Main)
Deep Foundation (1:00 Main)
Kiwi (2:00 Main)
Heart Beat Dance Crew (12:00 Gen)
All In Motion Dance Crew (12:00 Gen)
N2RK8 (1:00 Gen)
Hydroponikz (1:00 Gen)
Carson Street Dance (4:00 Gen)

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FPAC 2nd Annual Tinikling Battle

Sunday, Sept. 13 @ 12:00pm

Main Stage

Tinikling dancers at Jacksonville's Filipino Pride Day. Photo credits: Jeff Enriquez

The FPAC Tinikling Battle is back for a second year! Last year, to the grumbling of some unhappy audience members, only one college tinikling troupe (UC Riverside Katipunan) was able to perform. This year, we have more! This is gonna be carazay!

Come cheer on Cal State University Northridge FASA, Cal State University Fullerton PASA Kaibigan, Cal Poly Pomona Barkada, and the defending champions UC Riverside Katipunan as they battle it out and see who will rock the sticks for 2009!

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FPAC Show and Prove Street Dance!

FPAC Show and Prove Street Dance Showcase
Sunday, Sept. 7th

What an amazing year for Filipinos in street dance! With so much Fil Am sensation, representation, and domination in shows like MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew,” it is hard to ignore the gifted dance talent within the Filipino community.

“Show and Prove” is a showcase that celebrates the success of Filipinos in street dance, and pays homage to the long lineage of Filipino street dancers—from the pre-WWII zoot suiters to the hip hop gurus of today. Can you hang with the best of ‘em? Show and Prove!

Participating Dance Crews:

Kaba Modern (Irvine)
PAC Modern (Long Beach)
Undeclared (Oxnard)
All In Motion (Carson)
Carson Street Dance (Carson)

Festival info:
Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC)
Sept. 6-7, 10am-6pm
$5 presale, $7 day of, kids under 5 and seniors free
Point Fermin Park, San Pedro, CA
www.filamarts.org

Street Dance, Time Travel, and a Zoo

Congratulations to Cal State Long Beach's Pilipino American Coalition (PAC) and a successful Pilipino Culture Night (PCN) a week ago! It was an amazing show, and yall packed the house on Good Friday (when Lola should be prayin Novenas). A three and a half hour show, and yall kept them the whole night!

Like we've been discussing here and here, young Pin@ys have been involved in creating and performing large-scale theatrical productions for decades (since the late 1970s at UCLA). During the early 1990s, hip hop dance forms emerged as standard vernacular for PCNs. At first there was resistance to this because of hip hop's "blackness" and its threat to "authentic" Filipino culture, and all that jive.

Now, it's incredible to see this tradition in choreographed street dance triumph in such a high-profiled venue as "America's Best Dance Crew." Kaba Modern and JabbaWockeez (who come out of the Fil Am choregraphed street dance scene and share the same circles) certainly brought this spectacle into America's households. PAC Modern, the street dance branch of PAC who put on a dope set for PCN, is a powerhouse in the West Coast choreographed street dance circles. I have no doubt that if the best members of PAC Modern joined AMDC (there are more than 50 troupe members), they would bring enough heat to be in one of the final episodes (before America divides up the funky Asians).



The 22nd Annual PCN at CSULB--entitled "The World's Fair"--highlighted an important moment in Philippine and U.S. history-- when Filipinos were displayed in a "living exhibit" as newly acquired colonial possessions of the U.S. at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. Like a zoo exhibit, Filipinos were displayed in their "native" habitats reconstructed on-site in St. Louis. Much more, Filipinos were depicted in progression of most savage Filipinos (Mountain People, Negritos) to most civilized (Visayans, who were apparently seen as most Westernized because of Spanish influence).

The World's Fair was a deliberate attempt to justify U.S. occupation of the Philippines (beginning in 1898) and the urgency of the "civilizing mission" (or "White Man's Burden") of the U.S. in this benighted part of the world. It was like Western colonization of the islands version 2.0-- molding Filipinos into a better Western image that the Spanish failed to do. Well, they had one thing right--Filipinos certainly adapted an American (read "African American") performance tradition (beginning with Vaudeville forms brought by Black Buffalo Soldiers serving in the islands during the Philippine-American War).

Anyways, the PCN risked perpetuating this "zoo" spectacle (like many PCNs do) by exotifying and objectifying Filipino culture as "other," a voyeuristic journey for both Filipino and non-Filipino audiences. However, the cast delivered a subversive production, craftily telling a story of the political duplicity of U.S. interest in Filipino participation in the World's Fair, and how fucked up it was "Uncle Sam" ordered Filipinos from savage-to-civilized who ultimately need American assimilation to become fully human. (Oh how the reverse was more close to the truth).

Anyways, I'm sure the audience learned something that night. But what was more impressive is the talent of the student organization. The production even had original music played by student musicians (complete with a seven-piece rondalla). And the whole skit cast sang (pretty good)! I always wonder how these steady reserves of Filipin@ talent keep replenishing Fil Am orgs, since people graduate. Apparently, the talent is always there among young members of our community.

So how did the PCN skit integrate the ever-present "modern" dance? Well, one of the tents at the fair was a "Tent of Tomorrow" and whoever steps inside, gets a glimpse of what's to come. What happened when the main characters stepped into the tent? Well, let me paraphrase the words of ring leader, who spoke to the Filipino characters: "Step right up! Come see what your great great grandchildren will be doing: spinning records on two machines, writing strange words on walls, and dancing on the floor!" Wow, so much for resistance to blackness in the early 1990s-- and now it seems like hip hop is an integral part of the Filipino American experience? I would agree with this. Would all agree, though?


PAC Modern at Vibe XIII, January 27,2008
Check the oh so fresh funkstyles: 2:20-3:20