Tag: Ice Cube

A decade in the making, Skrill Gates has been polishing his skills as a rap artist for this very moment. On May 1, he dropped his much anticipated new release, “1607 83rd Ave,” which was the address of our late grandparents’ house in East Oakland. Skrill Gates is my real life cousin.

Our support of X-Raided shows support for the power of redemption in validating his decision to convey a meaningful message over those catchy repetitive rhymes that promote death and idiotic behavior. Today many artists aren’t communicating ideas purposefully. The ideas that they’re spreading, some not even written by themselves, aren’t intentional and have no goal beyond the beats and rhymes. X-Raided’s first concert, The Execution of X-Raided, will be Jan. 18, 2019, at the Fillmore Heritage Center.

Decades before our friend and former SF NFL star quarterback Colin Kaepernick found himself “unhireable” – for the “crime” of taking a knee to protest the rockets-red-glare-bombs-bursting-in-air “Star Spangled Banner,” theme song of continuing European white supremacist terrorism and racist murders – another gifted pro athlete was “white-balled” out of the NBA. Mahmoud Abdul Rauf was a nearly “unguardable” sweet shooting point guard for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets in the 1990s.

“Brazilian Wavy” is a comedic short on a political satire tip written by Brooklyn-born filmmaker Kirk Henriques. The subject is the economic relationship between Blacks and Koreans, which has not been very beneficial to the Black community. This is one of my favorite shorts in the San Francisco Black Film Festival this year. Get more info at sfbff.org. Check out filmmaker Kirk Henriques in his own words.

The People's Minister of Information JR interviews Dawn Silva of the Brides of Funkenstein, who also worked with the Black Panther Party, Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament Funkadelic, the Gap Band, and Ice Cube. We talk about her life transitioning from the Panthers to Sly to Parliament to the Brides to the Gap Band. She gives a lot of intimate not talked about history from the 70's. Tune in for more at BlockReportRadio.com.

When you talk about grinding and hustling for your dream, Oakland’s DLabrie has rocked mics from New York to Seoul and collaborated with some of the most intellectual rappers of our generation. A few months ago he premiered the “Stay Black and Die” video, which included appearances by rappers M1, Shamako, Mac Mall and Ray Luv, at the Oakland International Film Festival. He is definitely someone who has a lot to say. Check out DLabrie in his own words.

One of the fathers of political Hip Hop on the West Coast is still at ‘em and getting ready to strike again with the Sept. 11 Guerrilla Funk release of “Pistol Politics.” The rapper Paris’ career has survived through three generations of political Hip Hop. Paris has been and still remains at the front line of revolutionary culture that actually makes it to average everyday people in the streets.

Aisha Fukushima is one of the most internationally traveled artists now on the scene in the Bay behind the legendary Hip Hop independent gurus Hiero. Her blend of Hip Hop, Soul, Jazz, Spoken Word and international sounds is a deviation from the assembly line Hip Hop that is trending right now in Cali and across the country. More importantly, she is a raptivist, an activist who uses rhyming to get her message out.

T-Rydah, one third of the Black Panther Fugitives rap group, is gearing up to release a solo album, produced solely by Jamil, another member of the group, this spring called “Hard Times/Good Times.” Today you can find T-Rydah, Jamil and their Red Camera shooting videos, recording vocals or listening to some of Jamil’s beats. Check out T-Rydah speaking for himself.

NAAFRA, our family movement, calls for a youth vanguard to provide added strength for immediate results. The need for a youth vanguard is made very clear in Ferguson, Missouri, where the world has been watching our youth confront a militarized police force prepared to fire on unarmed Black citizens. With these courageous youth directly in the line of fire, at that moment we were too close to a line we do not want to cross.

First it was being a rapper, then an author. Now the Bay Area-based renaissance man known as Fleetwood, aka Robert Bowden, has taken it to the next level with his new documentary, “I Just Wanna Ball,” which has been selected to play at the San Francisco Black Film Festival on Saturday, June 14, 4 p.m., at the Lush Life Gallery, 1320 Fillmore St. in the Jazz Heritage Center, San Francisco.

The story of Souls of Mischief and their crew Hieroglyphics is the story of how Oakland became respected for its lyricism in a genre that was dominated by East Coast wordsmiths. It is a story told by Shomari Smith in his new documentary, “’Til Infinity,” which is about the 20th anniversary of the Souls of Mischief classic album. “’Til Infinity” will be premiering at the Oakland International Film Fest on April 6 at 9 p.m. at the Black Rep Theatre.

Mahasen is one of my favorite artists in the Bay bar none. She is gearing up to release her new album “Go Getter” in September, so I just wanted the SF Bay View readers to be among the first to know it’s coming. For those who have never heard of her, this underground queen has been recording for close to 20 years with reputable rappers, DJs and singers in the Bay.

Amoeblog invited author, journalist, broadcaster and activist JR Valrey, aka the People’s Minister of Information, to be a guest contributor. The Oakland-based Valrey, who was interviewed and profiled on the Amoeblog last month, is known for his work on KPFA radio, the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and his book “Block Reportin’.” The book will soon be available for sale in Amoeba Hollywood’s book section.

“I am attempting to reach Generation Y and show them not only how to become successful but also how to handle success when it becomes overwhelming, because it will. I was always good at humbling myself, and that is a quality I am trying to instill in the youth here at my school.” - YoYo

My OG potna, Fleetwood from Frisco, just put out his second book, “Bloodtest.” It is an urban fiction novel that is based right here in the Bay Area. It is important for us to support the writers, media-makers and artists in our communities who tell our stories.

The Poor Righteous Teachers appealed to young people trying to find themselves and their Blackness, like me. It was an honor for me to interview Wise Intelligent because of how much I gained from his conscious lyrics.

Souls of Mischief has been one of the major architects of the Bay Area sound in rap music since the early ‘90s. “93 til Infinity” off of their debut album shot the group to meteoric success on the national radio charts and got them booked all over the world for concerts. Let’s hear what Tajai has to say about their newest release, “Montezuma’s Revenge,” and Hiero business in general.

Maafa 2009 was chillier than usual, but our hearts were certainly no less warmed by the ancestors’ tight embrace as supplicants made their way through the Middle Passage to the Wolosodon rhythms, the slave march through the Doors of No Return to the beach where each person held a piece of string – symbolic of a connection … a philosophical connection to the homeland, family and history.

Ben Caldwell is a mainstay in Los Angeles’ Black cultural district known as Leimert Park. He has had a part in assisting in the careers of many of LA’s most talented artists over the last 20 years, but most notable would be the influence that he and his venue, the Kaos Network, had on the legendary LA artist collective known as Project Blowed.