Global Journal of Hip Hop Culture | Volume 5, Issue 1: Who Are We: Deconstruction Identities in Hip

WordsBeats&Life T h e

G l o b a l

J o u r n a l

o f

H i p - H o p

C u l t u r e

CONTENTS 8

Letter From the Editor

78

10

In the City of Ink

By Rob Jackson aka Blue Black of the

By Nick Schonberger

Unspoken Heard

Book Review of Hip-Hop Culture in Students’ Lives By Emery Petchauer, Ph.D.

14

“Can I Get a Window Seat?”: Erykah

82

Badu as a Site of Expression, Resistance

Interview with Hank Willis Thomas

By Jef Tate

and Erotic Power

By Mia K. Reddy, Ph.D.

86

She Got Game Visual art by Holly Bass

24

Book Review of Rap and Religion:

with commentary By Hank Willis Thomas,

Understanding the Gangsta’s God By Dr.

Toni Blackman, Charles Jean-Pierre and

Ebony A. Utley, Ph.D.

Deb Willis

By Bomani Armah

28

94 Political Public Art: Street Art, Turf Battles,

Bum Rush the Boards: A Pawn’s Potential

By DJ 2-Tone Jones

and the Political Landscape of Burma

By Susie Taylor

96

CIty Full of Walls: MuralsDC Photography

32

Book Review of I Mix What I Like!: A Mixtape Manifesto By Jared Ball

By P. Khalil Saucier, Ph.D.

36

Slang

By Kyle Dargan

37

O.P.P.

By Kyle Dargan

38

Rasquachismo: A Theory, Methodology, and Pedagogy for Hip-Hop Intersections

By Sarah Hentges, Ph.D.

50

The Ellis Report: The Disjointed Artist

By Chee Malabar

58

Featured Visual Artist: Che Kothari

By Corey Thompson

STAFF

PUBLISHING Words Beats & Life, Inc. 1525 Newton St. NW Washing-

Founder/Executive Director Mazi Mutafa

Editor-in-Chief

ton, DC 20010

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jason Nichols, Ph.D.

Autumn Saxton-Ross, PhD- Board Chair

Managing Editor

Eshter Coleman

Shonda Goward, MA

Tiffany Branch

Lawrence Cosby- Vice Chair

Nick Carrington

Art Director

Omar Eaton-Martinez

Mia D. DuVall

Kevin Denny Chhaya Kapadia

Art & Culture Director Nick Schonberger

CHAMPIONS OF WBL, INC.

Book Review Editor

Prince Charitable Trusts

Rob Jackson

The Jacob & Charlotte Lehrman Foundation

Bomani Armah

Executive Office of the Mayor

Literary Editor Fred L. Joiner

The Lois and Richard England Family Foundation The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation

Contributing Photographers Che Kothari Corey Thompson

The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities The Catalog For Philanthropy Luther I. Replogle Foundation

Graphic Designer Mia D. DuVall

Copy Editor Felicia A. Ramos

SUBSCRIBE You can subscribe online at www.wblinc.org or become a journal “Friend” for just $50 per year! Friends of Words Beats & Life receive a one-year subscription and recognition in our “Friends” section. To become

PEER REVIEWERS

a journal friend today, please call (202) 667-1192 or

Chris Brown - University of New Mexico

e-mail merch@wblinc.org

Antonio Cuyler - State University of New York (SUNY), Purchase College Thomas Sayers Ellis - Sarah Lawrence College Murray Forman - Northeastern University

ATTENTION LIBRARIANS! Words Beats & Life is available online via EBSCO Hu-

Scott Heath - Georgetown University

manities International Complete database. Please

Akil Houston - Ohio University

contact your local EBSCO representative for further

Gaye Theresa Johnson - University of California, Santa

information about purchasing the journal.

Barbara Jeffery McCune – University of Maryland, College Park Michael Ralph - New York University Mary Sies - University of Maryland, College Park Katina Stapleton - Independent Scholar Nancy L. Struna - University of Maryland, College Park Bryon Turman - North Carolina A&T State University Psyche A. Williams-Forson - University of Maryland, College Park

4

UNIVERSITIES USING THE WBL JOURNAL IN THEIR CLASSROOMS! American University Bryant University The George Washington University Morgan State University University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

University of Maryland at College Park

LENGTH

Ohio State University

Scholarly research papers │ Critical essays

Occidental College University of Oregon Penn State University

Scholarly reviews │ Editorials Prose Poetry │ Artwork │ Interviews

Temple University, Japan Syracuse University

BOOK REVIEWS

Virginia Tech University

3,000 to 5,000 words (max., incl. endnotes and ref. list) 1,500 words (minimum)

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

2,000 words (albums, films, etc.)

Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop

1,500 words (maximum)

Culture is a peer-reviewed, periodical of art and hip-

3,500 words (maximum; memoirs, narratives, fiction,

hop studies published by the 501(c)(3) non-profit,

etc.) 6 poems, author bio and photo

Words Beats & Life, Inc. The journal is committed to

7-10 pieces, artist bio and photo (.pdf, .jpg, .tiff 1,500

nurturing and showcasing the creative talents and

words (maximum)

expertise of the field of hip-hop studies. We publish

Unsolicited book reviews are not accepted.

issues twice a year with the intention of serving as a

Authors wishing to submit manuscripts below or ex-

platform where the work of scholars and artists can ap-

ceeding these guidelines must consult with the edi-

pear in dialogue with one another. Since 2002, Words

tor-in-chief prior to submitting work.

Beats & Life has devoted its pages to both emerging

E-mails should be sent to submissions@wblinc.org

and established intellectuals and artists. As the premier resource for hip- hop theory and practice, the

AUTHOR’S NOTE

scholarship we publish serves as a resource for the

A brief note on the author(s) is required, including

field of hip-hop studies and the work of hip-hop non-

name, title, institutional affiliation and contact informa-

profits—helping each to advance their work to the next

tion (preferably an e-mail address).

phase of their respective growth in the United States

The preferred mode of submission is by email attach-

and around the globe.

ment to: submissions@wblinc.org

CONTRIBUTIONS

STYLE/FORMAT

Submissions to Words Beats & Life will be forwarded

Words Beats & Life follows the APA style guide. Manu-

to a member of the editorial board or other review-

scripts for scholarly research papers should be typed

er for comment. Manuscripts must not be previously

and double spaced with at least one-inch margins.

published, nor should they be submitted for publica-

They should be prepared for anonymous reviewing,

tion elsewhere while being reviewed by Words Beats

with any self- identifying references removed. If a cov-

& Life. It is requested that the author confirm this fact

er sheet including identifying information is sent, this

in writing when transmitting the manuscript for publi-

must be a separate document/file.

cation consideration.

Submissions are considered by reviewers familiar with

Authors must check, correct and bring manuscripts

the specific topic of the work and the field of hip-hop

up to date before final submission. Authors should

studies. Preference will be given to pieces that are

verify facts, names of people, places and dates, and

challenging, original, as well as clearly and persua-

double-check all direct quotations and entries in the

sively written. Anonymity is accorded to both authors

reference list.

and reviewers.

Notes will appear as endnotes at the end of scholarly articles, but the numerical sequence runs throughout

5

the article. These should be kept to a minimum (not

opinions or views of 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Words Beats

normally more than twelve) and be identified by a su-

& Life, Inc. With exception of fair use, no part of this

perscript numeral. Please avoid using automatic foot-

publication may be reproduced or used in any form

note/ endnote functions; simply append the endnotes

or by any means either wholly or in part without prior

to the end of the article.

written permission of Words Beats & Life, Inc. If you intend to use this publication for educational purposes,

IMAGES/GRAPHICS

please contact us. [Manuscripts, artwork and photo-

Illustrations, photographs and other graphics can be

graphs can be accepted only with the understanding

included with an indication of placement in the text.

that neither the organization nor its agency accept lia-

Authors are responsible for obtaining permissions for

bility for loss or damage.]

all copyrighted materials. Sources must be indicated.

For detailed information, terms and conditions, quota-

All images/graphics should be accompanied by a cap-

tions and international inquiries, please e-mail submis-

tion and an acknowledgment to the copyright holder.

sions@wblinc.org or call (202) 667-1192.

Any image/graphic submitted electronically should preferably be 600 dpi (300 dpi minimum) in .jpg or .tiff format.

SUBMISSION FORMAT The preferred format for electronic submissions is Microsoft Word (.doc). Please include your full name, any affiliation, and the title of your paper in the body of the email.

DISCUSSIONS Brief comments on work published in Words Beats & Life are welcome. In the case of acceptance, the original author will be invited to make a very brief reply, and normally the exchange will be closed at that point.

INQUIRIES For all queries concerning possible submissions, interview ideas, etc., please e-mail submissions@wblinc. org.

For visual artists, graphic designers and illustrators interested in collaborating on future issues, please contact our Arts & Culture Editor, at submissions@wblinc. org.

DISCLAIMER Contributors to Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture express their own opinions, which should not be interpreted as the official views of any organization with which they are affiliated. The views expressed in the journal do not necessarily reflect the

6

7

Editor’s Letter

With change comes the potential for extraordinary growth. I have been affiliated with Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture off and on since its inception in 2001. We have always prided ourselves on being a strong resource for Hip-Hop studies, academics, poets, creative

writers and visual artists. Over time, we have become more efficient and garnered great number of submissions with each passing issue. My return to the journal this year was not without its challeng-

es. Nearly all of our previous leadership and staff moved on to pursue new opportunities, save Fred

Joiner, our poetry editor and event curator and our arts and culture editor Nick Schonberger. Initially, I had seen what the previous group had done and I saw no reason to reinvent the proverbial wheel.

However, the addition of new staff members Shonda Goward and Rob Jackson led to new ideas.

Under the guidance of our Executive Director Mazi Mutafa, the goal was no longer to simply produce

a quality product. We had done that several times in the past. Our major objective was now to be cultivators and purveyors of the burgeoning field itself. We endeavor to provide academics and artists

a platform for conversation and discourse. These goals are accomplished through our print publication, our events, and our forthcoming online platform. Instead of fitting into the mold established by longstanding academic journals, we intend to create an entirely new mold. Consider this issue only the first step among many to come.

In this issue, we have several pieces that should be sources, conversation starters, and inspiration for

further scholastic and artistic exploration. Nick Schonberger, a veteran journal contributor, provides a piece on hip-hop and tattoo art. In the last two decades, the arms, torsos, and at times even faces of

hip-hop inspired artists and athletes have become canvases. Schonberger’s essay is at the forefront of what is soon to be an important discussion in the art world: the tattooing of a generation of Black and

Brown young bodies. Dr. Mia Reddy continues the discourse on bodies of color as she elucidates the Lordean concept of the “erotic as power,” using Erykah Badu as her primary example.

Bomani Armah contextualizes the “Gangster’s God,” while Dr. P. Khalil Saucier examines whether

author Dr. Jared Ball’s attempt to challenge internal colonialism by mixing what he likes has utility.

Amidst the two book reviews, Susie Taylor provides us with stunning images and an essay on street art from the politically tumultuous nation of Burma. We are very fortunate to feature the work of renowned poet and professor, Kyle Dargan, who shares his hip-hop inspired poetry.

Dr. Sarah Hentges and Chee Malabar both show the symbiotic relationship between hip-hop and

Brown communities. Hentges comes from the theoretical perspective, applying the Chicano studies

term “rasquachismo” or “something from nothing” to understand and teach hip-hop intersections.

Malabar, one of the nation’s most recognized underground hip-hop artists of South Asian descent, tells his hip-hop story of immigration, marginalization, fitting in and standing out. One comes away

feeling that even referring to Chee Malabar by his ethnicity and not his love for hip-hop does him a great disservice.

8

Along with the many firsts that are to come, I declare this issue to be by far the most visually appealing issue we have ever published at Words Beats & Life. This fact is due in large part to the generous contributions of photographer Che Kothari. His photographs grace our front and back covers and comprise what I would argue is the

best photo essay collection you will encounter in any contemporary hip-hop publication. Rob Jackson reviews

Dr. Emery Petchauer’s book on hip-hop identity amongst college students. Many of us say we are hip-hop and have even worn t-shirts that express that claim. However, Rob critiques the author’s worthwhile question of what a hip-hop identity actually is. Jef Tate sat down and conducted an intriguing interview with artist Hank Willis

Thomas about his art and the messages he is trying to convey about commercialism and the use of Black bodies.

Similarly, Holly Bass is pictured in a sports themed collection of photographs. Rather than just simply write an

introduction, we decided to ask respected artists how they interpreted the piece. The diversity in interpretations is staggering.

After DJ 2 Tone Jones mixes hip-hop, pedagogy and chess in his bi-annual Bum Rush The Boards Chess piece, we end this fantastic issue with another photo essay which highlights the wonderful work that Words Beats & Life Inc. as an organization is doing to beautify the city with its MuralsDC project. However, the end is only

the beginning. Beginnings mark promise; promise in the sense that we intend to fulfill our potential, that we are

making a pact with the field, with academicians and with artists to water the seed that was planted so many years ago until it reaches full blossom.

Jason Nichols Editor-in-Chief

9

In the

By Nick Schonberger Photos courtesy of Miya Bailey

Pioneering artist Miya Bailey is changing the way we view hip-hop tattoos.

I

n 2013, tattoos and hip-hop are more closely connected than ever. Outsiders might easily imagine that the two cultures have always intermingled. They’d be wrong.

Color Outside The Lines, a new documentary by filmmaker Artemus Jenkins and tattoo artist Miya Bailey, doc-

uments an under-explored area of tattoo culture: black artists and their struggle to gain an industry foothold.

Bailey’s career, now 20 years deep, follows a rise from marginal street shops to the establishment of Atlanta’s City of Ink, an undeniable creative hub. Bailey’s charge has been simple—change perceptions and foster new conver-

sations— and his ambitions are high. Together with co-owner Tuki Carter, Bailey has turned City of Ink into the epicenter of African American tattoo culture and helped usher in Atlanta’s post-Black Mafia Family art scene.

Tattooing as a hip-hop phenomenon, begins with Tupac. “He really opened doors for the black community,” says

Bailey, “when I started getting tattooed in 1992, the only black tattoo artists I knew were Jackie Gresham in New

Orleans and Zulu in LA. The only black people I knew getting tattoos was the rock band Fishbone. Seeing their 10

11

:

By Mia K. Chae Reddy, PhD. Photo by Che Kothari

Peace and Light, My name is Erykah Badu also known as Badoula Oblongata.

Also known as Sara Bellum. Also known as E B Breezy. Analog Girl in a Digital World.

Low Down Loretta Brown...Annie. The A to P to P to L E S Humdi Lila Allah Jah Jehova Yahweh Dios Ma’ad Jah Rastafara Fyah. Ya’ll be careful.

Nah...be DANGEROUS. –– ERYKAH BADU1

Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence, forcing us to evaluate those aspects honestly in terms of their relative meaning within our lives. And this is a grave responsibility, projected from within each of us, not to settle for the convenient, the shoddy, the conventionally expected, nor the merely safe.

–– AUDRE LORDE2

U

nfortunately, as a pivotal space of cultural production for browngirls3, Hip Hop’s willingness to acknowledge a broader spectrum of the black urban experience––one that addresses the

multi-dimensions of class, color, sexuality and exposure among other factors––has yet to be seen. We still lack accurate representations of contemporary black womanhood and femininity. Little from

a black female standpoint regarding their images and representations, constructions of identity and ideologies has been given much airtime. This phenomenon could likely be attributed to the tensions 14

15

Book Review

By Bomani Armah In her new book “Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta’s God,” Dr. Ebony A. Utley dives head first into the ways that our most noted hip-hop artists have dealt with or

expressed their relationship with God in their lyrics, videos and interviews. Her unique

combination of theological expertise, hip-hop literacy and academic perspective helps

shed light on many of the overt and subliminal religious and spiritual references that are abundant in commercially successful hip-hop. A flip through the table of contents will

have you eager to read and start dialogues with the friends you have the “top 5 of all time” debates with, or with your youth ministry and bible study class. Though the conversation

is dominated by Christianity, religious traditions like Islam, the Nation of Islam and the

5% Nation have played prominent roles in hip-hop’s evolution, and Dr. Utley explores

each of them well. Whether discussing the prevalence of “Jesus Piece’s” in the culture, 24

Political Public Art:

Street Art, Turf Battles, and the Political Landscape of Burma

By Susie Taylor

‘Much better hang wrong fellow than no fellow’ ~George Orwell, Burmese Days

B

urma, the jewel of Indochina: a mosaic of sun-baked plateaus, ageless rivers and emerald mountain jungle.

Almost fifty years since independence, all is cast in shadow, nowhere darker than its teeming prisons. Over

a half century long climb for freedom, Burma cast a deep shadow, and nowhere darker than its teeming prisons.

In the bowels of Insein and Monywa, the ruling military junta CO-OPTED convicted murderers to inflict beat-

ings on new detainees, pitting man against man, in a terrible and vindictive kind of paranoia. Like zoo animals, prisoners of conscience were condemned to die alone in steely compartments, cannibalized by inner demons. “I scrubbed a dirt floor for six hours a day, with a rag I had torn from my own shirt. They told me it must reflect my own image,” remembers Swe Win. He is one of the few who got away.

28

Book Review

P. Khalil Saucier, Ph. D.

H

onestly, the first time I read I Mix What I Like!!: A Mixtape Manifesto I was left wanting and somewhat unimpressed. The short prose and

truncated chapters which constitute this smallish book left me desiring more

theoretical and analytical depth. For me the book was simply a pastiche of revolutionary quotes, jargon, and frameworks that lacked the overall clari-

ty and critical optics other manifestos such as Marx and Engel’s Communist Manifesto, Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, or Aime Cesaire’s Dis-

course on Colonialism have offered over time. My first impression was that it

was not a manifesto, but a bound series of underdeveloped diatribes fit for radio or podcast. To say the least I was frustrated. However, at the behest of a

colleague/comrade, who said I did not give the book a fair assessment, I reread the book. This time I was not left disappointed. Rather, what I found in my

second and even third reading was a smart and original book that breaks from the colonized and captive spaces of the academy and the shallow intellectual

domain known as hip-hop studies. Upon further reflection, Jared Ball’s I Mix

What I Like! is not a facile book at all, but a book that (re)poses critical and timely questions about the interaction of colonialism and mass media.

32

BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE

The Global

Journal of

Hip-Hop Culture

The Sex Issue: Deeper Than Misogyny

1

IT AIN’T MY FAULT: BLAME IT ON HIP-HOP THE SEX ISSUE

www.wblinc.org

Back orders are available online via EBSCO Humanities International Complete database. Please contact your local EBSCO representative for further information about purchasing backorders of the journal.

Subscriptions and Back Issues For questions about subscriptions and back issues, please contact Mazi Mutafa at:

mazi@wblinc.org (202) 667-1192 35

Featured Poet

KYLE DARGAN

SLANG “Salutations, son” I say to my dogs. Dap them up: slap-snap-pawchatter. We embellish last night’s mischief. Shout “word” and “dang” and “that’s ill.” We’re sick with whatever it is. The sun Photo courtesy of Marlene Hawthrone Thomas

is our medicine. Our diction scares our parents. They think we speak in knotted tongues.

“Dog.” “What up, kid?” “Son, I told you.” We lift mutiny against word rulers and the world passed down to us.

It is our mission to be other. “Old man.” “Old lady.” “What you talking?”

We are eruption—our breath a lava over the land.

36

A Theory, Methodology, and Pedagogy for Hip-Hop Intersections

By Sarah Hentges, Ph. D. Rasquachismo (rasquache): 1) bad taste, lack of resources; akin to “white trash” or “ghetto” 2) resourcefulness; making do; down but not out 3) a funky irreverent stance 4) a world-view from below 5) a bicultural sensibility 6) an academic term denoting Chicano thinking, feeling, and aesthetic choice 7) a mode of Chicano art and culture and popular culture: “of the people” or using rasquache satire, humor, or parody 8) a term that can be used in cultural criticism to better understand culture, community, and consciousness across oppressed/oppositional groups 9) A theory, method, and pedagogy for teaching hip-hop intersections 10) A tool toward transformation These definitions draw from a rich body of Chicano scholarship, as well as popular culture applications of the concept of rasquachismo across Chicano and Latino contexts and cultural contexts more generally.₁ However, the

last three definitions are exploratory and stem from my scholarly and pedagogical applications of this term. Thus, my exploration of rasquachismo—a term steeped in ethnicity, culture, and economic class—begins as a theoretical starting point for developing and understanding a theory and methodology with important applications for teach-

ing hip-hop intersections. In my exploration and application of rasquachismo and Hip-Hop, I am examining the layers, overlaps, and intersections that make oppositional consciousness and transformation possible.

Similar to the theory of rasquachismo and the art of Hip-Hop, the idea of intersectional analysis is derived “from below.” The Combahee River Collective, in their 1977 “A Black Feminist Statement,” argue that they see as their “particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based on the fact that the major systems of

oppression are interlocking” (Hull 2003, p. 13). Hip-Hop and the concept of rasquachismo can help to illuminate the often intricate tangles of intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and citizenship. Through an intersectional analysis, Hip-Hop becomes more complex than the mainstream pop culture representations that students are most familiar with. As Dill and Zambrana (2009) argued, “intersectional analysis provides an important

lens for reframing and creating new knowledge because it asserts new ways of studying power and inequality and challenges conventional understandings of oppressed and excluded groups and individuals” (p. 5). Rasquachismo and Hip-Hop take up these challenges as well.

In order to better understand how Hip-Hop and rasquachismo elucidate intersections in theory and practice, I

will begin with a brief discussion of the roots and theory of rasquachismo and its context within Chicano popular culture theory, making some initial connections with Hip-Hop.₂ From there I remix rasquachismo by considering this concept as a “something out of nothing” hip-hop theory. This foundational theory of hip-hop rasquachismo

lends itself to considering a rasquachismo pedagogy and methodology. I explore several classroom contexts where 38

SUPPORT WBL IN THE

COMBINED FEDERAL GIVINGCAMPAIGN (CFC) IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION.

# 59522 49

The Ellis Report

The Disjointed Artist

By Chee Malabar Wrote my first rhyme on the back of a test I failed Mom’s belt left welts on my tail to no avail ’89 state of mind, black parkas on the train bad English on my tongue, had darkness on the brain spit at my teacher’s face, she called me an enigma principal asked why, I said, “I ain’t no nig, ma!”

Stigma––sand nigga, all alone no big bruh With a part time dad, felt like the world just ditched ‘ya Shit ya, it’s just me— …dazed immigrant haze, sayin’ “Fuck this new day” scowl on my face like my fave Cube tape On the M train with padlocks, fueds everyday swing and stand, got jumped, caught a few gory ones blood on my Guess Jeans I stole from the Emporium orient them, what lurks in the hearts of men, born again, a Burning Tire Artisan.

—Burning Tire Artisan, Chee Malabar

50

Growing up in India, the America of my imagination

grand visions about America began to chafe like dry

blonde women, toys, and assortments of chewing

pictured in movies and comic books that had shaped

was one filled with images of Disneyland, long-legged gum and candy. I hail from Baroda, a small city in

North West India, in the state of Gujarat. Although multi-ethnic and complex with caste, religious and communal issues, India had not prepared me for the

visceral race issues that I encountered almost immediately upon arriving in the United States at the age of eleven.

My sister, mother and I immigrated to the United States on Valentine’s Day, 1989, to join my father who had been living in San Francisco for years. A month

or so after our arrival, in the midst of the American

skin––gone were the images of content white people my previous view of America. I began to question

why we had immigrated for a better life. I wanted

to return to India. I wanted to be amongst kids and not the men-children who spilled out in the tube lit

hallways like marbles, cursing and fighting. While

kids in India, like all kids, had the capacity for cruelty, I found my peers in America to be lawless and cold

to the bone. There was a streak of nihilism in them, and coming from an essentially filial society, I could

not grasp how they could physically attack teachers, or how, several of them, were pregnant.

school year, my father enrolled me in a middle school

Around six months into life in America, a neighbor,

two or three South Asian students. The rest of the stu-

der his wing. He was everything I was not. He was

in the heart of San Francisco. I was one of perhaps dent body was composed of various South American students, Asians, Chicanos and African Americans, all of them faces I did not recognize.

India and all its ways were still with me, and I recall fumbling through those days in an innocent and timid way. I found the public transportation system impos-

sible to navigate and I got lost on the trains and buses almost everyday for the first few weeks–– too embar-

rassed to shout and ask the bus driver to let me off at a stop. It took me weeks to learn that pulling the

rope next to the window would alert the bus driver to make a stop.

Pre-Silicon Valley boom San Francisco was pock-

marked with ethnic pockets that did not resemble the

who eventually became a close friend, took me unflashy and popular, and the girls thought him “pretty and light skinded”. He told me that his father was an Indian like me, though he never knew him. His

mother was black and his family came from the Ca-

ribbean. In retrospect, I suppose he liked me because, perhaps, I provided some sort of link with his own

past. What began as a friendship at a bus stop became for me, an important introduction to my American experience––one filtered through a Brown and Black

consciousness, one that spoke about things around my

city: violence, despair, and the immigrant experience.

My friend introduced me to a way of looking at things

that would change the course of my life. How else

could I understand my new surroundings? How else but through Hip-Hop and Rap as my lens?

public face of the city––the one found on postcards

My friend lent me his rap tapes and I’d walk every-

ing, and ubiquitous hills with cable cars. I lived in

head to the percussive drums. I found myself mag-

in gift shops: foggy skylines, The Transamerica buildone such pocket, largely populated with working-class

Blacks, Chicanos and Asians. My first year in school was especially rough for me. I was mocked for my

accent and Goodwill clothes and Payless sneakers––I

was labeled a “FOB”. The mocking often turned

physical and I got jumped more than once, coming home with black eyes and bruises. My previously held

where with my Walkman––volume up, nodding my netized to the music for the rage and the unbridled

nervous energy that oozed over the spare drums and

funk samples. I recognized them as my own feelings. I memorized the lyrics, not aware of what I was actually

reciting. The understanding came slowly, over time, and when it did, it was a cold-water awakening.

What’s goin’ on America, it’s your least

51

Featured Artist

Che Kothari Photos by Che Kothari

“We got ourselves together so that you could unite and fight for what’s right.” - KRS ONE

I

grew up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada (about 1 hour outside of Toronto) in a predominantly white community, which lacked much of its own identity or culture. Only at home was I learning about my deep roots as an Indi-

an and the important roles that individuals can play in their communities; at school I was being programmed to do everything I could to assimilate and not stand out or be myself. At a young age I was blessed with opportunities

to travel to the Caribbean with my family and this had major impacts on me. I attended cultural gatherings like Carnival in Curacao, met farmers in Antigua, and listened to stories from elders in Jamaica. The people I engaged with, people who possessing such strong cultural identities, rooted in rich ancestral his/herstories became a guiding light for me. Having not yet traveled to my motherland of India, many of the people I met on those early

journeys to the islands became role models and truly informed my identity. I knew that what I was experiencing

needed to be documented and shared with my people back home. That early documentation of those trips was the first time I realized I wanted to be a photographer. The images I was shooting were important; we were not

learning about this stuff in our geography or history class and I knew that the images could contribute to not only my understanding of the world, but all the people who I could share them with.

Soon after moving to Toronto on my own at age 17, I was floored by the diversity of the people and the various

cultures that were present and I was welcomed into them. In Toronto, hip hop and reggae have become predominant youth cultures, like many places in the world. Toronto specifically spurred in part from the high number of

diasporic Jamaicans, folks from the islands and the continent, in combination with our proximity to New York. I quickly engrained myself within these communities, feeling close to them already from the identity that was built

within me as a young boy. Learning more about these cultures and the impetus for their birth, has influenced the way I choose to document the communities and the storytellers I capture.

58

Book Review

By Rob Jackson aka Blue Black of the Unspoken Heard

1986 was my first year at the University of Virginia.

During the first week of school, I met three classmates from Philadelphia, one from Co-

lumbia MD, one from DC, another from Richmond, another from Detroit, and another from Spring Valley, NY who all shared my love for Hip-Hop.

We walked around the campus at night pointing to each other screaming “Yes, but you are the Hip-Hop gangster” over, and over, again from the “Gangsta of Hip-Hop” by Just Ice.

We each came into the school with a Hip-Hop identity, but now, we were also UVA students.

In the book, Hip-Hop Culture in College Students’ Lives: Elements, Embodiment, and High78

Please visit www.wblinc.org for information about PHILANTHROBEAT

81

Interview with Hank Willis Thomas

By Jef Tate

Words Beats & Life had the opportunity to speak with prolific hip-hop inspired artist, Hank Willis-Thomas. In

the following interview, Willis-Thomas explains the personal and socio-cultural inspiration for some of his work, which deals with the complicated limitations put upon Black men in America and their bodies. Specifically, his piece “Basketball and Chain� speaks to the constraints felt by even the wealthiest Black male athletes. In this

compelling conversation, Willis-Thomas addresses masculinity and sports, post-racial identity, commercialism, all while describing how Lil Wayne and Jay-Z influenced him to pursue art. This interview will then be put in dialogue with the work that follows it, by Holly Bass.

82

Featured Artist

She Got Game Visual art by Holly Bass

with commentary by Hank Willis Thomas, Toni Blackman , Charles Jean Pierre and Deb Willis

T

he multitalented Holly Bass has made a career out of her versatility. She is a writer, a trained journalist,

a playwright and a director. As of late, her interests have lead her to focus her creative energy behind...literally.

She uses booties to illustrate and comment on a variety of subjects regarding black bodies and the voyeurism that follows them, the racism and patriarchy that attempts to control them, and the expression that can free them. Here we allow her artistic peers to examine and respond to a small collection of Holly’s photographs.

86

87

Bumrush the Boards

A Pawn’s Potential

By DJ 2-Tone Jones

On the average Chessboard the smallest piece is the Pawn. It is worth the least amount of points compared to the other pieces, and aside from the King, it has the slowest mobility. However, the Pawn is by no means the least important piece on the board. With the right kind of strategy and support it may give a player a big advantage, or even become the deciding factor of a game. This same concept has proven to be true even in Hip-Hop. Sean “Puffy/Puff Daddy/Diddy” Combs was born November 4, 1969 in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. He first got his foot in the door of the Hip-Hop industry in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s by landing an internship at Uptown Records with the help of a neighborhood friend and MC by the name of Heavy D. For a period of time, he was also a back-up dancer for a rapper known as Father MC. Through shear ingenuity and determination Puff Daddy would go on to start his own record label called Bad Boy Records; help launch the careers of notable artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Craig Mack, 112, and the late Notorious B.I.G.; and become one of the most popular and prominent icons of the Hip-Hop industry to-date.

Below is an example of a game where the pawn (with the right support) has an opportunity to become the deciding factor of the game.

Black to Move In this example white is up by a few points and pieces, however black is in a position to completely change the course of the game. Just by simply moving the Pawn on d3 two spaces forward to d1 black will gain a Queen and put the white King in check. It should also be noted that if the white King fails to go to g1 on the next move, then the promotion of the black Pawn [to a Queen] on d1 will result in checkmate.

94

City Full of Walls

MuralsDC Photography Photos by Corey Thompson

MuralsDC is a partnership between the District’s Department of Public Works, the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities, and Words Beats & Life Inc.

T

he program replaces illegal graffiti with commissioned artwork, to revitalize sites within the community, and to teach young people the art of aerosol painting. By offering them instruction in multiple techniques, the supplies that they need, and spaces to legally practice and develop their skills, the MuralsDC project promotes respect for public and private property as well as community awareness of the power of public art to transform lives and communities. The photos presented in this article represent work produced in 2012 by amazing muralists, youth apprentices and community members. We were fortunate to have Corey Thompson produce all the photos in this essay. When asked, here is how Corey described his work:

96

“As a fan of Art, I started to take photographs of a lot of murals throughout Washington, D.C. and this allowed me to become a fan of some of the artists and to meet them as well. I would come across these half done murals and then completed murals as I rode my bike through the city. Now I was familiar with WBL from the many, many events, as well as programs the organization provides for the community. But one day I had a chance meeting with Mazi and found out we were fans of each other’s work. He talked about the MuralsDC program and some of the artists that are a part of the project. Well, to my astonishment I had shot some of the earlier work of some of the artist he mentioned but didn’t know the artist. Then, it happened he asked if I would be interested in becoming the MuralsDC official photographer...Bang!

Zoom! After a short celebration dance, I said “Indeed!” I get to shoot dope murals and meet dope artists of whom I’m a fan? And the rest is what you see....”

—Corey Thompson

97

Words Beats & Life, Inc. (WBL) transforms individual lives and whole communities through Hip-Hop Words Beats & Life, Inc. (WBL) began in 2000 as a five-day hip-hop conference at the University of Maryland, College Park. The conference chair and Black

Words Beats & Life, Inc. (WBL) transforms individual

Student Union President, Mazi Mutafa went on to be-

lives and whole communities through the training in

come the founding, Executive Director of Words Beats

and presentation of the elements of hip-hop culture.

& Life (WBL). WBL was established by four University

The WBL staff develops curriculum, projects, and

of Maryland alumni [and became 501(c)(3) non-profit

programs to break the cycle of poverty and hopeless-

organization in 2002]. Incorporated in 2003, WBL has

ness for DC youth, parents, and area hip-hop artists.

developed a multi-pronged approach to community

Located in Washington, D.C., our service to the interna-

transformation that involves teaching, convening, and

tional hip-hop community of youth, families, organiza-

presenting the core elements of hip-hop culture. We

tions, scholars, educators, artists and activists is fueled

nourish and support youth by providing them with hip-

by four core values:

hop based instruction and activities through which they hone their artistic and academic talents. Further WBL

• EDUCATION: We believe hip-hop is a valuable

seeks to foster a national community of hip-hop advo-

teaching tool that engages youth and adults intel-

cates dedicated to their success as adults.

lectually, creatively and kinesthetically.

• OPPORTUNITY: We believe hip-hop culture consists of a set of elements (skills) and experiences that allow its practitioners to transform their personal interests into marketable skills.

• OWNERSHIP: We believe hip-hop artists, scholars, and communities should be the primary owners of the cultural artifacts they create.

• CREATIVITY: We believe hip-hop is a set of forms (elements) that allow harmonious and divergent voices, beliefs, and experiences to be seen, heard, engaged, and valued.

100

OUR PROGRAMS As an organization, WBL is divided into two main program areas. The first is the Words Beats & Life Academy. This is our youth development program for youth ages 5-23, which runs which weekly after school Our second program area is The Cipher. The Cipher builds the capacity of artists, scholars, and organizations using promising practices in five key areas; content development, fundraising & funds management, outcomes measurement, collaboration and innovation. These topics are the foundation of any teach-in agenda, workshop or journal article.

Words Beats & Life Academy The Academy offers FREE classes, to young people ages 5-23 who are interested in learning DJing, beat production, b-boying, emceeing, graffiti, photography, spoken word, and chess from across the Washington DC Metropolitan area. The goal of the Academy is to promote the mastery of a skill, employability, and the pursuit of a post-secondary education by helping students make the connections between art and potential

INVEST IN OUR WORK Volunteer There are a variety of roles volunteers play to ensure the success of WBL; interns, signature event volunteers, college material coaches, WBL journal staff and peer review board members and WBL Board of

career/education routes that are associated with hip-

Directors.

hop.

For more information about volunteering with us, please contact: volunteer@wblinc.org

The Cipher The staff of the Cipher builds the capacity and measures the impact of organizations, institutions and individuals who use hip-hop as a tool for social change. The Cipher is a one of a kind resource to hip-hop non-profit organizations, artists, activists, educators, practitioners and scholars around the globe. The Cipher develops research-based resources and convenes scholars, artists, hip-hop educators, foundations, corporations and

Donate Show your love. This investment will allow us to be the difference in the lives of over 200 DC youth who need the guidance of a supportive mentor, and the artistic instruction from a master level artist. Your donation makes it possible.

non-profit leaders to establish promising practices for the field.

MuralsDC

WBL accepts donations by check, made out to Words Beats & Life, by credit card via networkforgood.org and via cash at special events or in-person at our office.

MuralsDC is a partnership between the District’s Department of Public Works, the DC Commission on the

Mailed or delivered donations should be sent or taken

Arts and the Humanities and Words Beats & Life. It was

to:

created in 2007 to help replace illegal graffiti with artistic works, to revitalize sites within the community and to teach young people the art of aerosol painting. The goal of this initiative is to positively impact the District’s youth by providing them the resources they need to fully engage in this project. Words Beats & Life offers

Words Beats and Life 1525 Newton St NW

Washington DC 20010

(The St. Stephens Church) 202-667-1192

them instruction in proper technique and the supplies that they need to navigate spaces for them to legally practice and perform their developing skills. The MuralsDC project promotes respect for public and private property as well as community awareness for the young people we work with.

101

ISBN number: 978-0-9788971-7-8

www.wblinc.org