ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: What CeeJay say about East Coast hip hop

School's in: CeeJay teaches you lessons (Photo Credit: Skilled Concepts)

Back in March, I wrote about the group Deep Foundation and their music video "Children of the Son: Remix." As many of you know, the New York/New Jersey crew is making noise, and with their new album, "The First Draft," they are looking to build a national following. Go support and order the album! It is Hip Hop Lives approved! Like CeeJay says below, it delivers dope rhymes, quality beats... it's official.

For now, come kick it with CeeJay from DF as he gives us a glimpse of the East Coast hip hop world, raps about "The First Draft," and reminds us why pinakbet is delicious.

Yo CJ! Where you from?
I lived in New York (Yonkers and the Bronx) until I was about 8, but I've lived in New Jersey since then. My hometown is a suburban town in Central New Jersey called Old Bridge. It's a 45 minute bus ride from Manhattan. Like I hope most people do, I love my hometown. In the late 80s and early 90s, I kind of felt out of place. It was nowhere nearly as diverse as the places I lived in NY. Around the early to mid 90s, I started seeing more people of color. It's probably like a lot of other suburban towns around America. Houses, lawns, some with backyards, some without, a couple strip malls. We played a lot of basketball growing up. A lot of my friends were into hip-hop. We had a few heads into DJing and breakdancing.

What are the origins of Deep Foundation? How did you get involved?
Deep Foundation started as a group of friends who shared the common love for hip hop. In the late 90s, we were spread throughout the New York metropolitan area, but all immersed in hip-hop culture individually. In New Jersey, Proseed and Verbaltek attended the same high school and both experimented with writing rhymes. They eventually started writing and recording songs together. They met WordsArize who lived in a neighboring town through mutual friends, discovered he was writing as well, and later added him to the mix. Around the same time, Proseed met ILL Poetik from Queens who shared the same interest in rhyming, especially freestyling, and his brother Sawnd G during a family trip. Their mothers actually went to the same college in the Philippines.

I was also a huge fan of the music and the culture, had been DJing for a few years, and recently discovered freestyling. I knew Verbaltek, Proseed and WordsArize through friends and we would all talk about hip-hop whenever we saw each other at parties. In the fall of 2000, someone brought up the idea to me about performing at an upcoming show at my school, so I invited the guys to take the stage with me. It was at the rehearsals and meetings preparing for the performance where we all got closer (pause) and started to look forward to doing more shows together. Soon after, we invited ILL Poetik to join us for the next performance.

In the summer of 2001, the New York and New Jersey contingents ended up attending the Philippine Independence Day Celebration in New York City. To no surprise, we all decided to freestyle. A few guys taking turns freestyling turned into a full-fledged cipher with the Deep Foundation emcees, ILL Poetik and his friend Mugshot who was also from Queens. One by one, a crowd formed to watch us exchange verses until, eventually, NYPD felt it was necessary to disperse the crowd (WACK!). Mutual respect was gained and ILL Poetik and Mugshot officially joined the group soon after. In the fall, we had our first performance together with all the current members at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

How did you first get involved with DJing and emceeing?

I got into DJing during my freshman year of high school. In middle school, I had gone to parties where I could actually see a DJ mixing records. I thought blending two records was really cool. I actually saw a few DJs scratch and was like "this is how they do the scratching I hear on the radio?" Shout out to Chris Tamayo who was one of the first DJs I saw spin live as a kid. A good amount of people were into DJing in my hometown. I would see them spin at parties and it just looked like a lot of fun. Shout out to John Vito, Kid Fury and DJ Ollie. After seeing them, I appreciated the art of DJing more. I would listen to Funkmaster Flex on the radio and be amazed. Freshman year, it was like everyone was into DJing. I guess it's similar to how it is with hip-hop dance and dance crews now. Back then, everyone wanted to be a DJ. We used to watch those DMC battle videos. My two best friends and I decided one day that we wanted to take DJing up as a hobby, so we all saved our money for months and bought equipment. We would just chill for hours practicing.

As for emceeing, one day, we were chilling for my boy Jaydee's birthday at his house and we had the equipment on, taking turns spinning. Our boy Mike Intellect, who is now Deep Foundation's official DJ, was there and he suggested that we freestyle. We didn't know what he meant. He told us, you just had to rap, but you had to make up the words on the spot. I had never tried to rap before that. So he went first, Jay gave it a try. Then, I tried. It was cool. I actually came up with a decent line. It was kind of fun. The guys thought I was decent and encouraged me to keep at it. In the months that followed, we'd try it more when we were hanging out. I got a little better at it and ended up freestyling a lot with a few friends. I was pretty much addicted and it became my main hobby while DJing kind of faded away for me. I eventually started trying to write. My first experience with recording was actually my voicemail greeting haha. Remember those free voicemails around 2000?

What are some of the differences you see with hip hop (with Filipinos and in general) on the East Coast with that of the West Coast?
In terms of hip-hop, I would say both coasts are pretty comparable because they're so diverse within themselves. On both sides, you have battle emcees, mainstream... political... underground... street... religious? Each region has its own flavor, but you can even have people doing different styles or subgenres within one city. But if I had to point out specific differences, the obvious ones would have to be accents and lingo. Just thinking of examples, the Bay has hyphy which we don't have over here. On the other hand, we have groups like CNN and MOP over here whose style I'm not sure you can find out west. Oh, and another thing. When you're in NYC, you see cats in the street trying to sell you their CDs, a lot of them basically harassing you. During my short visits to the west (The Bay, LA, SD), I didn't see that. Thank God! I mean, hustling to get your music out there is one thing, but straight up harassing people is another.

As far as East Coast versus West Coast Filipinos, it's tough to speak on a whole coast. The first thing is numbers. On a daily basis pretty much anywhere in NJ or NY, you're bound to see a few Filipinos every day. In the areas with higher concentrations of Filipinos like Jersey City and Woodside, of course you'll see more. But out west, it just seems like they're everywhere...or WE're everywhere I should say. Speaking on the actual people, in the NY/NJ area, people are kinda more reserved about showing love at a show for example, especially to acts that are new to them. The first time DF went out to Cali to perform, I remember getting mad love (or should I say hella?) from folks we've never met and who probably have never heard our music. Shout out to Maganda @ UC Berkeley!

Describe the process of making your new album, "The First Draft."
It started with the search for beats. We were talking to almost everyone we knew who produced, and for a while, we struggled to find tracks that fit our style. It's not that the tracks weren't good, (well, some of them actually weren't haha.) It's that a lot of the beats just didn't go with our sound. To be honest, it got pretty frustrating. Luckily, our boy Hydroponikz put us onto a friend of his, Jay Chen aka Smooth Criminal. We checked out his beats and copped our first batch from him. We continued looking for beats and didn't get too far. Again, Hydro came through for us and linked us up with another friend of his, Incise from Toronto. Incise ended up making most of the beats for "The First Draft". At the time, Hydroponikz was really getting into the zone in terms of his production, so we were fortunate enough to have beats from him on the album too. We have two tracks produced by Illmind as well. We met him back around 2001 and have been cool ever since. We hadn't worked together until this project, so it was awesome that we could finally collaborate. He's really one of the top producers in the game right now, so it's an honor to have him on our album.

Back to the process... As we got beats, we took time to listen to them individually. Then, when we saw each other or through email would trade ideas about how we would approach the song. Guys would also just start writing and present what they came up with to the group for feedback. If we agreed one of the guys came up with a cool concept, we'd run with it and write with that theme in mind. We'd send out our verses to the group for feedback or try them out live. We'd give each other constructive criticism on the verses or suggestions for changing or improving the verse. Once we were done writing, we'd record at ILL Poetik's home studio. We sent everything to DJ Phillee Blunt for mixing, we'd review the mixes and go back and forth with Phil until they had the sound we were looking for. Shout out to DJ Phillee Blunt, not only an ill DJ, but a dope engineer. Our album wouldn't be what it is without the quality mixing and mastering he did. I could go into detail about how each song was born, but that's pretty much what the process was for "The First Draft".

What do you want people to take away after listening to "The First Draft"?
I want people to take away that it's a dope hip-hop album. Quality beats. Dope rhymes. Here's a crew that took their time to craft the best album they could. Not just throw something together, rushing to get it done. We took the time to carefully choose the best beats, pick songs that would mesh well when put together as an album, come up with a concept, and produce creative album art that reflects the theme of the CD and represents the work we put into it. Shout out to Choz Belen for doing the album art. We put a lot into this whole process. I hope people take the time to check it out. If you like it, please cop it! Every sale counts and enables us to keep doing what we do. You can order the physical CD at our MySpace, deepfoundation.net, or on CD Baby. You can also purchase the mp3s on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and CD Baby.

What's the best Filipino meal you've ever had?
I love Filipino food. I have a long list of favorites. I love pinakbet. Might it be cuz I'm Ilocano? I can't think of the best Filipino meal I've ever had, but if I could describe one, it might go something like this. I'll start with some Lumpiang Shanghai dipped in the ill vinegar with the hot peppers in it. Then, I'd have some really crunchy lechon kawali with Mang Tomas sauce of course. I just got into Bicol Express recently, so definitely some of that. I'll take some pinakbet for the veggies. And I would be in Boracay, so I could get a cold fresh mango shake right after. There are so many awesome Filipino dishes out there that this scenario could play out another way, but I'd be the happiest man on earth with this meal.

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...

--
*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.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: "Hear it" from Lauren Santiago

Lauren Santiago is the Pinay you don't want to challenge at karaoke night. I found out about Miss Santiago through DJ Marlino's Heavy Rotation radio show and have been hooked ever since! Lauren gives a soulful quality to her music that many R&B acts today lack. Combined with the fresh tracks by Freddie Joachim and Choice37, her music is appealing to anyone who digs the earthy, gritty, but "lay back" feel of soul music.

Her EP "Sundays" gives you a that feel-good sunny Sunday afternoon vibe- you might cook a breakfast (of eggs and garlic rice?) and clean up your place on a Sunday afternoon with Lauren jammin on your box. Each track is unique- experimental in texture, key, timing, and even pitch.

Sista got pipes. And the fact that she rhymes too? Golden. So don't sleep on her music. Make sure you cop the EP "Sundays" on her myspace or search for her on iTunes. And definitely keep a look out for her album dropping in Spring 2009.

You can peep an interview by Rafu Magazine for more scoop on Lauren. I had the fortune of interviewing her all the way from NYC! Enjoy!

Who is Lauren Santiago?
I'm reppin' So Cal. I'm (like totally) a Valley girl. I never noticed how "Valley" I was until I moved to NY about a year ago. East coasters call me on my lingo all the time, but I love it 'cause it's a nice reminder about where I'm from. I'm living in Bed Stuy (do or die), NY at the moment and am diggin' this Brooklyn energy. I classify my music as Soul, but I'm branching out into variations of the genre. Electro, experimental, hip-hop, but it's Soul at heart.

How did you get involved with music?
I sang in choir in the third grade and people told me I was good, so I kept going. I was actually super into rock back in the day. I'm talking like Guns n Roses and Metalllica. Then I slowly transitioned into R&B and was really into TLC, En Vogue, Xscape (yeah I said it). I would sing their stuff all the time! When I got introduced to Dre and Snoop via my bro, I was in love. Then, lord, Lauryn Hill hit the scene and I REALLY wanted to be her. I wrote rhymes, got pretty good at it and rhymed at parties. It was fun. But I wanted to sing. I revisited singing in college, hooked up with an all-girl a cappella group at USC and from then just kept going.

Who inspires you stylistically?
Right now I'm inspired by Yukimi Nagano, Santogold, Portishead. They are so unique in style and they embody the perfect marriage of vocals/lyrics/track. Sick. Of course, there's Alicia Keys. I love the grittiness in her voice. Leela James is awesome too. That smokey, old soul vibe is fresh. Erykah and her bugged out "I don't give a f*ck" ways. There are so many to name.

What are some of the greatest challenges as you create music?
Finding time to sit down and go at it. I have a day job that is taking over my life. No joke. So what happens is, I go and work a looong ass day, write on the train, come home and work on arrangements and recording. I've been sleeping a lot less lately.

What are some of the greatest rewards?
Some of the greatest rewards are hearing the product and having people say, "Yeah, I'm feelin that. That sh*t is nice." Haha in so many words. Also, when people can relate to the subject. For example, I had a 15 year old kid from Arizona hit me up saying he just broke up with his girl and he posted "It's So Easy" lyrics on his blog cuz he was going through that same situation. That rocks.

One of my favorite songs is "Hear It From You." The song, like many other songs in your EP, have a complex texture, timbre, and unconventional sound timings (like the change of beat and timing in Jacewon's rap "outtro" in the song, or the echoey/haunting yet soulful vocals in "Hope"). Describe the creative process in making "Hear It From You."
That song is produced by Freddie Joachim, and the emcee at the end is Jacewon. Choice37 was the one who offered up his studio to have me lay it down. Freddie hit me up about getting on his album and I was feeling that track, so I laced it. Jacewon was also feeling that track so we collab'd. (Freddie and Choice37 in picture to right)

What inspired the lyrics was at the time I was diggin this cat from NYC while I was still in LA. He had no idea 'cause it was never discussed, and I didn't wanna say anything cuz I assumed it was on that "I'm here, you're there, let's connect when you're in town" type-thing (boo for that. FYI fellas, I can NOT be that casual). So anyway, I was like "Damn! Just tell me you're into me and let's get this poppin' - screw the distance!"

What is your favorite "era" of hip hop?
The 90s! From Dre, Snoop, Quik to Souls of Mischief, Hiero, and Common. I wanted to be like all those guys! Hip hop was real. This crap on the radio nowadays is so beyond me it's like I can't believe the public eats up this crap.

Do you sense a difference in the Filipino American community (hip hop or otherwise) on the West Coast and that on the East Coast?
I don't really see a Fil Am community out here in NYC. Maybe that's the difference! I've been to maybe one party, and it was the same as the West Coast. I actually felt like I was on the West. But, I don't really see a community out here. It could be because I'm outta the loop, who knows. NY is mixed like no other place I've ever been, and the sense of community IN GENERAL is through the roof! I love that. No one judges you. They just let you be who you are, act a fool, dress like a clown, and let you on your merry way. The west coast will ALWAYS be home though.

What should listeners be on the look out for? What new projects are in store?
I'm working on my full-length album. It's taking a while but it's coming! Spring 2009 is the goal. In the meantime I'll be pushing out some free joints, teasers/sampler types mainly for the DJs to throw in the mix. Working on more uptempos too. I love the laid back, relaxing type tracks but I'm trying to break out of that in a major way! Freddie and Choice37 are of course on the bill. I'm throwing in a couple of other producers as well. I'm working with this sick cat from the UK (nex*is) and more TBA...

Is there anything else you would like readers to know before you go?
Yes. I'm on iTunes. Cop that!

Thanks for the interview Lauren Santiago! Stay warm in freezin cold NYC! We're waiting eagerly for that album!

SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT: Kristia speaks on Black/Brown speech

Meet Kristia, our featured scholar! She studies language flexibility among Black and Brown folk and hip hop heads. I'm glad people are writing on topics like Black and Brown shared cultural/political spaces. I remember having a small conversation with my cousin about "triple consciousness" among Brown people, so this topic has a special meaning to me. Schola holla!

You can check out Kristia's writings on Doorknockers, where she really bridges the classroom and the street. Her writings are accessible to young and old heads, college-bound or not. Give it a knock!

Who is Kristia?
What a question. Well, I am a young hip hop head, I am a woman, I am Filipina, I am multilingual. I make poetry but hate a lot of shit that passes as poetry/spoken word. I used to make paintings and sculptures - but now I hustle so there is less time for that.

I am an academic on hiatus. I studied cultural anthropology and loved it. I graduated in May 2007.


Who introduced you to hip hop culture, and when?
Nobody in particular introduced me to hip hop. I was born in SF, raised in SF till I was 11. And I was Filipino. Basically - it was inevitable. Hip hop is what we were raised on, it was also what was deemed appropriate for Black and Brown kids. All the Filipinos and Asian kids (the majority of my neighborhood at the time) loved hip hop. This was our cultural practice, this was our adaptation of Black arts into our own life.

Most interesting to me, is my mom never censored hip hop. I listened to the most explicit shit as a kid in the car and she never banned it. She ain't a hip hop head, but in a way she's responsible for my relationship with hip hop.

I understand that at Bard College you really focused on language. What specifically was your focus, and why do you think it's important to study this?
I focused on language in the last 1-2 years. Before that I was lookin at graffiti, movement and travel. I also spent a lot of time lookin at the freestyle as a hip hop verbal form - and in my opinion, a prime example of hip hop's democratic nature. Not democratic like the party, just democratic in the way it creates a open dialogue and structures it. Feel me?

My senior thesis was a study of language use. I studied the languages spoken by hip hop heads - mostly Black and Brown hip hop heads, a few White. I was lookin at the ways Black and Brown folks speak a multitude of languages to navigate everyday life, a ton more compared to White folks. We speak one way to our parents, to our teachers, to our coworkers, on the block, etc. At it's core, I was lookin at how hip hop heads have to put on and take off their hip hop-ness, to get to college, to get a job, to negotiate a parent-teacher conference, to deal with a homie's parole testimony, whatever the fuck it is.

Why's this important? It is important because we live and our youth are living in a time where how we speak, how we act is racialized on a whole other level. This shit affects how far we get, how much we get paid, what our children get access to in life. I mean, understand there is research showin that Hurricane Katrina survivors are being discriminated against by the sound of their voice. If they "sound Black" they're being told that housing isn't available yet, they're being put into homeless, into poverty. Straight up.

It's important because I, like the youth I work with, was told that to sound 'White' was 'good,' was 'smart,' was everything positive. To insult, to disrespect, and to dispose of the language(s) of Black and Brown people - is to say to them that they themselves, their very being, their cultures, their expression, is somehow lesser.

Many of these languages we speak are called (by White folks) "bad English, "incorrect," "slang," etc. What we learn from the past and present research of many folks - mostly Black brothas and a few older White men - is that Black English is a language. It has a grammatical structure, patterns, etc. straight up.

What I struggle with now as a youth worker is trying to show the students that the point is not to change how you talk. The point is to understand that the different kinds of English you speak, the languages you may speak at home with family, etc. are valid forms of expression. Not one is perfect. There is no such thing as perfect English. It is a language, it changes all the damn time. But as people of color, it is most advantageous to you and your family to master different languages and dialects for different situations. If I'm tryna get a discount at the Filipino bakery from an elder I'm going to speak a specific kind of Tagalog, but if I want to negotiate a situation where a cop is tryin to harm a brotha or a sista, I am going to use a very academic White English as I list all the illegal things the cop has just done and what I plan to do about it as I memorize his badge number. Feel me?

Naturally what is needed is big structural change in schools, which is actually happening very slowly. The cultural worlds that our youth bring to the classroom need to be shown respect and value. But, in the meantime, we gotta keep it real with our youth. For many their concern is how to get paid, how to live, how to get out the hood (which is also a way of saying "get out of poverty") - and that's real. My concern thus becomes, how can we get you "out the hood," without you losing yourself in the process.

You lived a large part of your life in the Philippines, New York, and now you live in San Francisco. What are some of the differences you noticed about hip hop culture (among Filipinos or not) in these different parts of the world?
Dang dude, very good question. Filipinos in the Bay are spoiled as hell. Spoiled by liberalism, by the sheer numbers of Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders they got as neighbors, and by the history of our peoples all over the West Coast. Out in NY, we hustle to prove ourselves in hip hop, we work to find each other in substantial numbers, and we face a whole different kind of America. The cops are different, the White folks are different, and the inner-city poverty is different. Visit NY and you will see why they are so hard, it's not sheer coincidence. Racism like that, cold winters like that - you'd be hard as hell too.

Don't get me wrong though. AmeriKKKa is AmeriKKKa regardless.

But Filipinos are known out in the West Coast. And that makes a huge difference. Nobody questions what I'm doin at a show, why I'm in front, or why I go buckwild. Nobody asks what I am out here either. They know.

In the Philippines, as you see in most of the post-colonial world (AKA ex-colonies), hip hop is on a whole other tip. It's like crazy imitation-based on one hand, where they copy whatever they see Black folks do on MTV minstrelsy. And on the other hand, in the hood, it is raw, it is never in English, and it is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life.

Hands down.

(Fil-Ams who don't speak their parents language/dialect, this is #1 reason for you to learn. Forget just talking to your Lola. You need to go to Manila and see hip hop LIVE. You'll never call it dead again.)

What are your feelings of hip hop culture today? What role do you see Filipinos playing in the culture?
Hahah, that first question, man...Shit, that's everyday life. We are hip hop. We keep it going. And I am trying. I am a woman, I am a woman of color, and I am young. You're asking me how I feel about hip hop right now? Look at how I am represented, where I am allowed to have access, how I rapped about - and then ask yourself, as a male hip hop head, how I must be feeling. It's hard yo.

Filipinos have been here since the get. I'm not worried about us being left behind. It's crazy to think about the Jabbawockeez as our mainstream-debut too. Anyone who's a head, knows Filipinos have been well represented as breakers, as DJs, and to lesser degrees as rappers and writers. But to see us on big time tv like that, it is a trip. It is a fuckin trip. Within the past 5 years more and more Filipinos have been getting mainstream acknowledgement.

And that's cool. Cause back in the days, we just hung onto QBert. And the myths that Nas was half-Filipino. That was where we got our pride.

What are the next steps in Kristia's life?
I be tellin my peoples that I'm tired of academia, and they just laugh. They tell me I'm an academic no matter what. I sound like one, I overanalyze like one. It's whack. I will go back to school sooner or later - that's kinda inevitable. Gotta hustle. Our people deserve the best, and the revolution is a slow process. So in the meantime I gotta move on up, cause when the day comes that I'm ready to have a family, my children will get the best I can give them.

To dwell in your poverty - that's bullshit. There ain't nobody from the ghetto who actually wants to stay broke. My Lola cleaned White folks' houses all her life, my mom's a professional and has even cleaned White folks houses. They did that for a reason - so that I would never have to against my will. Now for the record I have a few times in the past. But the point is that I have the option to bigger things with a college degree, to bring resources to my communities - and best believe that the more I have under my belt, the more I can do for our folks.

As for now, I live and work with youth in SF. When I first came back I was such a hater, I compared everything to NY. I grilled everybody and walked hella fast. Now I still grill boys when I like them - that's permanent. But I walk slower, I chill more. And that's what I'm doin right now. I'm good here. I have so many ill Black and Brown people around me, the environment is so much more conducive to organizing for our people. I do community organizing with Filipinos - which is so different from in NY where I rolled deep with a mostly Black and Latin@ group of student organizers. So even though I'm goin to back to New York for the summer, I'll be right back here in August and I plan to stick around for awhile.

References:
Roc the Mic Right by H. Samy Alim
English with an Accent by Ros Lippi-Green

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: A Tribe in the East with DJ Mike Rizzy

Come vibe with Deejay Mike Rizzy, who be bangin out the hottest ride out jams while bring us back in the day of high top fades and rat tails at mikerizzy.com. Don't sleep on the New Jack Swing mix!

----------

Who is Deejay Mike Rizzy?

What's going on? I'm DJ Mike Rizzy 1/5 of the Kuya Tribe VA DJ Crew from Virginia Beach. Lived In Virginia all my life from a military family. Other than that hip hop is basically my life with a little bit of nba basketball and food on the side.


Who is the Kuya Tribe?

Kuya Tribe actually started around the mid 90's. I'm actually not an original member i'm just kind of carrying the torch. But the whole inspiration behind Kuya Tribe is DJ Kuya D. Kuya D and Delinger are from Queens New York and later moved to VA where i met them. But Kuya D had a large impact on the filipino party scene in NY in the early 90's and carried it over to VA. Kuya D used to be in a crew with DJ Roli Rho of 5th Platoon before 5th Platoon was around and they used to do a whole lot of parties all around New York. So basically it mostly started in New York with Kuya D, Delinger, Ir-Y, Mad Ryan, J-Rule, and Rik Guyver who you know now as the famous film director Rik Cordero. They had a pretty large buzz of their own with their mixtapes during the late 90's and spinnin at a bunch of spots. Eventually i linked up with Kuya D and Delinger and we did pretty much all the clubs around the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area then added Disko Dave and DJ Vaperz to our roster.


Why do you take time to make mixes for mikerizzy.com?

I was fortunate enough to have an extremely talented circle of friends around me that excel in all different types of professions. A few of my friends founded a very succesful Forex trading website (babypips.com). The other DJ's in my crew (Kuya D, Delinger, Disko Dave, Vaperz) are some of the most talented dj's i've ever seen. My roomate Josh Verdes (myspace.com/joshverdes) is an extremely skilled musician. And another good friend of mine happens to be a pretty well known blogger by the name of HappySlip. So being around these people really inspired me to find my own outlet to express myself musically. Also like i said earlier, i'm really a hip hop junkie to the fullest extent so i wanted to find a way to showcase the music that i personally like and not play just what's on the radio.

Who introduced you to hip hop?

What really introduced me to hip hop was MTV and BET. I was that little kid at home standing next to the VCR recording all my favorite hip hop videos. I was lucky enough to come up and witness what they call the "golden age" of hip hop. Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, Kane, Lyte, Latifah, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, the whole native tongue movement, the list goes on and on. That's all it took. No looking back after that. I really didn't start dj'n until about 98. I met DJ's Kuya D and Delinger and the rest of the original Kuya Tribe crew around 95 or so and I would always try to learn on their set. It took me to graduate from high school until i could finally afford my own set of turntables and do my thing.

We know about Chad Hugo, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot but not many people know that they are from Virginia Beach. Why do you think that is?

The hip hop scene in Virginia Beach is big. This city is mainly a military town so you really have a big melting pot of people from all over which is why we can listen to Dre and 2pac, then listen to Nas and Jay, then onto TI, Wayne, etc. But the thing is that i think we get overlooked a lot. All those artists you just mentioned Chad, Missy, Timbaland they all got their starts from being discovered by other major artists. Teddy Riley discovered Chad and Pharrell, Devante from Jodeci discovered Timbaland and Missy and that's another i noticed about Virginia Beach. I read interviews from Phonte of Little Brother and he mentions how your home state really doesn't support you until you get noticed everywhere else and i kind of feel the same way. I know it's probably not like that as much in New York or California but i know for a fact a bunch of these other states don't want anything to do with you unless your on MTV or something like that. Which is why i decided to make the podcast because i know there's people out there that's into the same music that i am.

How are Filipinos involved with hip hop in Virginia Beach?

In the hip hop scene most of the filipinos i've come in contact with are either DJ's, Graff Artists, or B-Boys. I don't really know too many filipino mc's. I probably know a lot more singers and dancers than anything else. Photo: Ir-Y, Mad Ryan, and Rik Guyver (Rik Cordero) of Kuya Tribe

Do you think there are big differences in Filipino DJs in California and those in VA Beach?

In my opinion there's a huge difference between dj's in California and Va. Beach. For one there's a much much much larger DJ community in California. There's a large filipino population in Virginia Beach but there really isn't that many DJ's. A lot of the DJ's from this area don't really do it anymore. There were definitely a lot more DJ's in the late 90's than now. But the styles between us and Cali are really different. A lot of the west coast dj's i've heard have more of an upbeat club style to their mixes. I can really only speak for me and my crew but we're more New York influenced and play mostly boom bap type stuff. We don't really play a lot of crunk or snap music. Honestly i can't stand it but that's just me.

How do you think being a military town makes VA Beach unique in terms of your hip hop community?

Being from a military town really gives you an appreciation for all different types of cultures and music. My crew has has been spinnin all over this area for a long time and we get all types of requests from all eras of hip hop, to reggae and soca, to house, electronica, you name it. So i think to be a succesful dj in this area you really need to have a well rounded knowledge of music.

What would you want people to know about the hip hop scene in VA Beach?

I just really want people to notice that there's more than Timbaland and Missy out here. There's people out here that really live hip hop and have respect for all the elements of it. But at the same time I'm glad that innovative and trendsetting musicians like Timbaland, Missy, Neptunes are from VA and made a huge impact in the game. It could be a lot worse. D'Angelo, Skillz, Chris Brown, and Trey Songs are also from VA don't sleep on them.

What do you think are the new innovations made turntablism and DJing?

You know i was the first person in my circle to make the switch from vinyl to digital. And at first I would be a little bitter towards dj's that started on Serato and just copied hard drives from people. When i was coming up it was hard enough just to afford turntables then on top of that you had to save a whole bunch of money just to rack up enough records to do a gig. So to see people just people giving away like 20 gigs of music upset me at first but i got over it. But technology is really changing the game. They're coming with all these midi consoles now so pretty soon you won't even need turntables. I love my technics to death but i know how much easier life would be if i only had to bring a laptop and small console to gigs. I remember breaking my back carrying a coffin and 10 crates to each gig. There's also a growing popularity of Video DJ's so that might really be on the rise. But other than that i probably see a lot more people adding effects and synths and stuff like that to their sets and a bunch of other little things to set themselves apart from other dj's.

What's your next move in the DJ game?

I'll definitely be producing a lot more music for HappySlip. I have a bunch of artists i'm currently producing for so i'll be putting out a bunch of music in the future and also i'm going to be concentrating on doing a lot of out of town gigs. On top of that i'll still be giving the people new mixes on a regular basis so check for me.

Guest Article: "Filipino America's Best Dance Crew"

Check out this article written by The Brian. He reviews a thorough history of Filipin@ American street dance legacy, and the reason YOU should vote for JabbaWockeez. He also gives a neat look at the East Coast Fil Am dance scene, which addresses my recent entry "West Coast v. East Coast: Comparing Fil Am Hip Hop Scenes." For a New Jersey Pinoy brutha, he got some West Coast knowledge. (Now who is going to document the East Coast scenes?)


Filipino America's Best Dance Crew
by The Brian
March 23, 2008

Kaba Modern and Jabbawockeez are, as far as MTV goes, 2 out of 3 best dance crews in Amerikkka. and many argue that they are in fact the best 2 out of 2, with Kaba getting cheated out of being in the finale, perhaps for cosmetic reasons. what seems to go unexplored on the show is that both crews are pretty much asian american and from southern california. in a pop television landscape devoid of asian faces except for a scattered few, the near dominance of these 2 crews of asian youth is suprising and perhaps frightening. why are they so damn nasty? how did they get to be so hip hop? where are the black people?

KM and J-dub are not anomalies. they did't emerge from nowhere, suddenly bursting onto the scene. on the contrary, they are actually part of a long tradition of Filipino street dance crews on the West Coast. Filipinos have been a force in Cali street culture since swing dancing and zoot suits in the 40's to the mobile dj's of the 70's and 80's to the reemergence of breakin and turtablism of the 90's. And in the past 15-20 years, they have developed a massive street dance choreography culture as well. Kaba Modern is actually 16 years old. The Kaba is short for the Tagalog word for Countryman/woman "Kababayan." Kababayan is also name of the Filipino student association at UC Irvine. Although KM's representatives on ABDC are NOT filipino (which is a travesty; see Mark V's blog for more), they are still part of this filipino dance tradition (and filipino openness to non-filipinos; colonial mentality what what!). [Note that Kaba Modern really has over 30 members, most of whom are Filipino including the choreographers. Similarly, Jabbawockeez is also a larger crew than who's on the show, most of whom are Filipino including their de facto leader Kid Rainen also known as Rynan.]

and they have many contemporaries who have grown up with them through the decades. Samahang Modern (of UCLA), PAC Modern (Pilipino American Coalition at Cal State Long Beach), Team Millenia (of Pilipino American Student Association at UC Fullerton), Carson Street Dance, Culture Shock LA, Common Ground, Sick Step (known for its member Ryan Conferido and Hawk from So You Think You Can Dance), and the list goes on. I hypothesize that the latter groups that are not affiliated with a college are actually offshoots, inspired by the college groups but sustained by the same dance community.


Pilipino Culture Night 2008 trailer for Cal State Long Beach's Pilipino American Coalition

most of the groups originated in the storm of PCNs, or Pilipino Culture Nights (aka Barrio Fiesta) common at many colleges, where dance performances take center stage. usually filipino folk dance such as tinikling and maglalatik comprise the majority of the show, these filipino americans always leave room for the one "modern" dance where they showcase how hip hop they can be (also known as flip hop). because fil-ams have always been part of cali street culture, this part of the show inevitably became the highlight with filipino student association forming "modern" groups to focus specifically on street dance performances.

the filipino community's over abundance of community events such as festivals and parades gave ample opportunities for these groups to perform and perfect their unique style of choreography. A few notable events really developed the dance groups. Friendship Games, over 20 years old, has brought together filipino college students from all over california and the west coast for a day of fun competitions including one for "modern" dance groups. Vibe Hip Hop Dance Competition (which itself is 13 yrs old) hosted by an Asian frat but with almost exclusively filipino groups participating, has enabled the groups to compete on a big stage with thousands in attendance. Bustagroove, hosted by Culture Shock, is another massive dance competition in the area and almost always plays host to PAC Modern and Kaba Modern.

the existence of a cohesive filipino youth culture helped sustain these street dance crews. having been deeply immersed in bboy and dj worlds for quite a while, the dancers came in with extensive knowledge of hip hop and infused it into their dance. they developed a style of hip hop choreography that is unique to the mostly insular community and had enough stage opportunities to grow as performers.

Here's a list of some of their most common elements: (try looking for them in this PAC modern performance)
-10-15 minute master mix of 50 billion songs
-breakin routine
-random breakin power moves (flares, windmills, headspins, flips)
-lockin routine
-acting out a voice over
-cheesy guy/girl partner "flirt" routine
-intricate transitions
-sexy girl jazz routine
-street jazz moves
-overly dramatic head whips
-30 dancers on stage at once (think Cebu prisons doing Thriller performances) followed by smaller group sets

What makes this style of hip hop choreography uniquely filipino american is the combination of traditional hip hop dances (breaking and lockin) and the more MTV-influenced street jazz with slight bboy flavor. on the one end, you have these old school dances that most thought were long dead. hell, even the black community dropped these dances like a bad habit in the late 70's/early 80's. in fact, it's latinos and filipinos who kept breakin alive in the US. this commitment to old school is where fil-ams have made a niche. at the other end of the spectrum is their understanding of new school, which is essentially the street jazz style found in many music videos with a bboy energy on top. you will almost never see these filipino crews rock party dances or new school dances that exist outside of music video choreography. these are mostly studio trained dancers (albeit, their own dance studios) after all so the newest dances will never be taught to them. things like the heel-toe, c-walking, hyphy, flexin, krumpin, uptown shake, chicken noodle soup, the wop, the nike, the roger rabbit, etc. are hardly ever seen.

in contrast, i think a lot of east asian dance groups dont have the same long history with hip hop and draw heavy influence from the pop music scene in asia. and i'm not sure that the cohesive youth network is there to give enough performance opportunities for their scene to blossom. instead, all the other asians join the filipino crews. suchin pak, the korean mtv news correspondent, once told me that her brother growing up in california always wanted to be filipino cuz they were so cool.

so what about the East Coast? the scene is much younger but is finally starting to develop. fil-ams on the east haven't been here as long and are more spread apart so it's taken some time to establish a network. Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND) is only a little bit over a decade old. and PCNs on this side of the country are lucky to be as old. but we've seen what's going on on the west coast and we're starting to catch up. and once again, when the infrastructure is available, the scene blossoms.

in the early 2000's, FIND District 6 (DC/VA) hosted the short-lived Expressions where we saw the cali-like crew DNA as well groups from ODU, Gtown, etc. Culture Shock DC (still very Filipino) hosts its own version of Bustagroove called the East Coast Dance Competition in its 5th year pin@y groups like Fr3sh, Moshun, and Rhythmology can be seen. And then there's FIND's Battle of the Barrios in District 3 (NY/NJ area) which has served as testing ground for the past few years for emerging filipino crews from schools like NYU and Villanova. What makes Battle of the Barrios interesting is that they require groups to incorporate traditional Filipino dance into their show, forcing some really creative hybrids to be born.

you should vote for Jabbawockeez. i don't need to tell you that these boys are dope. they also cut their teeth on many of the same dance events/competitions i described above and really are part of this long tradition of filipino street dancers. however, what really sets them apart from the "moderns" is that the Jabbawockeez can boast street credibility. it's beautiful that filipinos have their own street dance performance culture, but it's wack when many of these dancers dont exist as dancers outside the comfort zone of their crews and crew choreography. looking at Kaba, you can tell that as individual dancers, they aren't as tight and probably can't hold their own in a cypher. i would still consider them at the fringes of hip hop dance. they learn breakin, poppin, lockin for the sake of improving their group performances and to enhance their choreography. those at the center of hip hop can do performances too, but are equally focused on steppin up their game to win battles and represent in party cyphers where the solo dancer is king/queen and improvisation is key. and this is exactly why i love jabbawockeez. they are at the center of hip hop. they exist as individual dancers. Kid Rainen is well known in the bboy world and can stand up to the best of the best in breakin. he and his crew are battle tested, cypher approved. so while choreography can take you far, hip hop is ultimately about being free.
-----

edits (3/26/08):

thanks for the feedback. here's a few things i forgot to mention:

1) i'm probably too harsh on the college students. they are afterall students, and the term sophomore or "wise fool" comes to mind. they will of course learn in time. i didn't become a strong dancer until after college, but my involvement in college dance groups was a necessary stepping stone.

2) i'm from the east coast so how do i know all of this?? i've been watching pac modern dance videos since 2001, pre youtube days. i used to try real hard to imitate them too. so yeah, i'm part of the greater dance scene and have observed from the sidelines for a while. but i invite people to corroborate, clarify, and refute as much as they can based on their own experiences.

3) alumni of these college groups often go on to form their own crews or dance studios. they often end up teaching other generations of filipino youth, high school age and younger. by doing so, they spread the culture and in fact cultivate future dancers who will one day go into college and help sustain the existing crews with their own expertise.

4) it'd be great if someone could do a comparison study with the desi dance scene. i think it's probably very parallel. the plethora of large scale dance events like Bhangra Blowout really force the dance to evolve and the groups to reach higher and higher levels, perfecting their style over time.

5) is hip hop tinikling an east coast thing? "modernizing" traditional dances especially the tinikling has been done ad nauseum over here. who else is doing it? and lookout for stepping, which is one dance style that has been creeping into Battle of the Barrios courtesy of NYU's IFA.

West Coast vs. East Coast: Comparing Fil Am Hip Hop Scenes

Thanks to Ninoy Brown’s interview with The Roots and Snoop Dogg music video director Rik Cordero, I thought it would be neat to compare the Fil Am hip hop scenes on the West and East coasts. Here is a little snippet from the interview illustrating Rik’s experiences as a Fil Am immersed in hip hop in New York:

“I don’t really gotta ask, but you’re Filipino, right? Has this part of your identity influenced any part of your career?

Yep, I’m Filipino, first generation Fil-Am. I think my identity has influenced me a great deal. Like most Fil-Ams growing up, we have no clue where the hell we fit in, but what’s cool is that for me, I just turned it into a way to observe. There’s no box for me so I’m just roaming around. I was also heavily influenced by the Filipino music scene on the East Coast, so some of my early influences were 5th Platoon, ISP and the whole DJ movement. I DJ’ed too, under the name Rik Guyver and our crew was called Kuya Tribe Productions. We did the FIND (Filipino Intercollegiate Network Dialogue) conferences and all that.

I also really look up to all of the Filipinos who seem to navigate through the entertainment terrain. Almost all of them are exceptionally talented and really down to earth individuals. I met Pharrel Williams recently, but Chad Hugo couldn’t make it ’cause he was sick, and I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to meet him so bad.”

As with Samahang Pilipino, Pilipino American Coalition, Kababayan, Southern California Pilipino American Student Association, Friendship Games, and other West Coast Fil Am college student community spaces, FIND is definitely an important center for East Coast Fil Am youth congregation. I miss my FIND folks! I hope my Florida people still roll deep at the FIND conferences. So big ups to FIND for providing an important space for Pin@y community building, artist networking, choreographed dance gluttony, and um, “partying opportunities.” FIND and other Fil Am student college spaces provide creative forums for Pin@y hip hop artists/performers (a good example is Kaba Modern. Another is the seminal Unity Fest (?) party that Samahang Pilipino at UCLA provided embattled youth during the early 1990s). These community-building resources are something both the West and East Coasts share in terms of hip hop cultural formation among fellow Pin@ys.

As Rik demonstrates, 5th Platoon is a big influence for Fil Am hip hoppers on the East Coast. I constantly hear this from Pin@y DJs on the East Coast, but as 5th Platoon member Kuttin’ Kandi and many others will testify, there was a whole lineage of East Coast Fil Am DJs that set it off before 5th Platoon stepped on the scene. This prompts the need for more research on Fil Am hip hop artists/performers on the East Coast, much like Oliver Wang, Dawn Mabalon, Lakandiwa De Leon, Antonio Tiongson, Elizabeth Pisares, and others have done for Pin@y hip hop artists/performers on the West Coast. We KNOW there was a huge Fil Am hip hop scene in NY/NJ for a long time, so dare I ask, did the Fil Am hip hop scene (DJs or dancers) in NY/NJ PRECEDE the West Coast scene (which is often marked by Fil Am mobile DJs appearing in the Bay and LA around 1978)?

5th Platoon crew circa 1998

5th Platoon 10 year anniversary documentary

Even though it is given that the West Coast (especially the LA Area, SF Bay Area, Seattle, and San Diego) and the East Coast (especially New Jersey and New York) are home to historic hip hop scenes in which Pin@ys have been creative and critical artistic agents, I realize it is important to expand the discourse from a traditional West Coast/East Coast (heavily West Coast) dichotomy that assumes these are the only regions that contain vibrant Fil Am communities. This expansion is important to me because I grew up most of my life in the dirty-dirty South, where Uncle Luke, 69 Boys, Miami Bass, and Latin Freestyle dominated the airwaves in the 90s, and where Mystikal, the Hot Boys, and No Limit exploded in our region before Dirty South music took over the entire nation. Therefore, let’s get some words from those from the South (does this include Virginia and Maryland?), Midwest, Hawaii, Alaska, and overseas.

As a side note, it is my firm belief that Fil Am hip hop cultural formation developed out of the migration of Fil Am youth between different military towns where concentrations of Filipinos reside (including those in Hawaii, Japan, GUAM, and Puerto Rico). Virtually all of my interviewees for "Hip Hop Mestizaje" coincidentally had fathers in the U.S. military (Navy or Air Force). In One Tribe, M. Evelina Galang writes a neat (fictional) story about Fil Am youth culture in Virginia Beach, VA (a huge military town home to the world famous Happy Slip, and also Chad Hugo, Pharrel, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot).

So what are the differences between West Coast hip hop scenes and the scene on the East Coast and other regions? Focus on footwork flavor versus perfection in power moves? Funk style versus wild style graffiti?

Enlighten us.

(Make sure to subscribe to Ninoy Brown's blog "FOBBDEEP." Don't sleep!)

====================
UPDATE: 3/20/08

Maybe the reason why many of us are so mute about this topic, is because we really haven't thought about Filipino communities east of California? We really need to begin documenting this history. Styles over power moves, boyeee!

Filipino phenoms East of CA

Florida Soul. Country fried and hungry for more.
(Photo: Clear Effect Photography)

Whats up fam? This blog is supposed to bring together heads and non-heads alike to discuss the phenomenon of Filipinos and their immersion in and transformation of hip hop culture. As fellow Chicano scholar Victor Hugo Viesca stated, Filipino youth were doing hip hop "with style" in the 1980s and 90s, helping create a nationwide (and now worldwide) culture that has exploded.

But often when we read or watch videos about Filipinos and hip hop (i.e. Scratch, Cerritos All-Stars, Rock Force Crew, etc.), it is usually West Coast dominated. I know for a fact that Filipinos were active participants, if not leaders, of hip hop culture in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida (Mayport Navy Station, what!). I also know from talking to family and friends from the East Coast, Filipinos also controlled the b-boy scene in New Jersey. And for sure, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Filipinos had a rich DJ and b-boy culture.

What about other parts of the country, East of California? I hear stories about Texas and Chicago. I would like to know more about these scenes. Let's make this blog a forum for folks who grew up on hip hop and helped develop a scene, but get no play!

Also, just to throw it in there, is hip hop culture among Filipinos a result of our participation in the Navy? Peep all the navy towns like Long Beach, Seattle, San Francisco, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, etc. I'm sure some of ya'll have seen videos of Pinoys doin' it "with style" from those cities. When its break time at the Commissary, the smocks come off and folks get down, no?

Kevo of Main Ingredients (Jacksonville, FL) rippin' it up. Unstoppable!

Hit it up. Lemme know the scenes from our lesser-known cities of the U.S.

M.V.