The music that emanates from Raashan Ahmad is a breath of fresh air. In a world that constantly glorifies darkness, Raashan is a shining beacon of light illuminating the beauty that is out there and so often overlooked. As a member of the Oakland-based hip-hop collective, The Crown City Rockers, Raashan began his ascent to musical notoriety as a powerful emcee for the group. He eventually embarked on a solo venture, a mission that has taken him all over the world.
With two albums under his belt, his latest is a culmination of his travels. Ceremony
speaks volumes on where Raashan is in his life, spiritually and emotionally. Written
and recorded in several different countries, he put the finishing touches on the
album in the desert between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“I went through a internal battle with myself making this record,” Raashan says.
I wanted to be as completely me as possible. I wanted to approach the album
with unabashed openness and personal truth. I wanted to bridge my influences:
soul (that painful honesty), jazz (lots of live instruments and playfulness with
arrangement), reggae (with songs fully giving praise to love and to the universe),
and electronic (the bang) and bring it all into hip-hop, which is founded of the
sampling of music from everywhere.”
The sixteen track effort includes production by Crown City Rockers on “Can We Fly” and Ta-Ku on “Guns” with cuts by New Mexico-based DJ Kenny “Saewhat” Simmons on “Who’s God” and DJ Chris “Vajra” Karns on “Remedy.” Lyrically, Homeboy Sandman (Stone Throws Records) contributes his voice to “No No No,” which is produced by 20syl. Check out this video mix niceness for “Ceremony”
Get Ceremony on Vinyl or CD click buy now to convert euros to dollars it ships worldwide from Jakarta Records - Berlin/Cologne, Germany
Cultura = cul·ture – noun. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
Fuerte = strong - adjective. of great moral and physical power, firmness, or courage.
Albuquerque-based group Cultura Fuerte is proud to announce the release of its new videos for “Hasta La Muerte” and “Queiro Ser Libre.” Formed in 2005, Cultura Fuerte is comprised of 10 like-minded individuals, spearheaded by emcee John “Speed One” Chavez and lead guitarist Bobby Baca. They take classic hip-hop and add a whole lot of Latin flavor, creating a unique hybrid of innovative styles. The resulting concoction explodes into the airwaves and ignites a frenzy of good vibes. In conjunction with Concept Flux Media, the group’s vision for the video was to express their love for traditional New Mexican music, as well as their love and passion for hip-hop. It’s done with the utmost respect for the culture and preserves its integrity. Stay tuned for more from Cultura Fuerte.
With all the troubles in the world today, it’s good to know that there are people out there trying to balance out the global chi and bring a brighter tomorrow. There are many of us, but Bodi (formerly Alexipharmic) is a standout. As a Musician/Activist and purveyor of good karma in general, Bodi is well versed. A lot of talent , ambition and righteousness have brought him a long way but he seems to building on a cosmic kinetic energy towards bigger and better things. In a recent fan interview he was asked “If you were rich, where would your money go?” He replied, with no hesitation ” I would give to Mercycorpsthey do a lot of great work around the world and also to Doctors Without Borders. Then, I would give out a bunch of micro finance loans and help communities in third world and second world countries get back on their feet and have sustainable financial growth for the future.” See what I’m sayin? Never being one to shy away from seizing the day, he is currently in the midst of his most ambitious projects to date on all fronts.
Five years in the making, his brand new album The Fall of Atlas was just released. He also just embarked on a year-long volunteer mission. Bodi is a busy guy right now and couldn’t be happier about it. It’s hard to say where these most recent adventures started, but we’ll trace his tracks back to this path, follow me. Step one, compile five years of unreleased dope music, then add another half-dozen new bangers into a concept album. The concept? as he explains it is “The album is a Greek tragedy, written in 3 acts. It captures my last 5 years of life, and really heavily focuses on the last 2 years, where 6 people really close to me died within that time frame.” Realer than real, this album is intense, it’s a lot, it’s his magnum opus. The over all vibe of the record is life is beautiful, even when it’s not, let’s all move to a higher ground. Step two, pump new album, do shows and fill album pre-order packs with sick perks until your pre-order receipt drags on the ground behind you.
Step Three, book the most inspired globetrotting volunteer adventure to date. During this trek Bodi will be keeping a journal and will be documenting the entire trip. Upon his return in 2014, if he doesn’t get eaten by any exotic animals that is, he will put out a professionally produced documentary and book composed of his footage and journal entry’s. All of the profits from said products will go directly back to the orphanages he volunteered at for as long as they are sold. He left at the beginning of April and has spent the last three weeks in a Vietnamese orphanage. I hit him up online yesterday and asked him “Dude, where are you right now and what are you doing?” he replied “ I just hopped onto a bus and navigated the border crossing out of Vietnam, the process of getting the visa felt like people betting on a cockfight, and now I’m in Cambodia! Beyond just volunteering, I’ve been interviewing children and their caretakers, taking boatloads of pictures and raising awareness.” Here’s the whole story on The Volunteer Adventure from the man himself.
While Bodi is out helping the world grow, best believe his ears are open for new sounds and rhythms. The new albums is amazing but I can’t wait to see what 365 days, 20 countries, 10 orphanages and 1 love, looks, reads and sounds like. ~ Hensley
New Mexico’s Andy “Wake Self” Martinez just dropped a blazing new album sure to keep this summer plenty hot in the Southwest and beyond. The Healing Process is available for free download on Bandcamp, download it, bang it in your hood, be happy. ” I turned off my TV and radio a long time ago, this is 100 percent New Mexico authentic…Thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past, it’s our time to keep Shining.” ~ Wake Self
Wake Self is also proud to announce the second video from the new album. Titled “Brand New,” the song takes the listener on a journey through his thought process while delivering a solid track built on DJ Young Native’s cuts and Dj Audyio’s production. The song proves, once again, Wake is determined to set himself apart from the monotonous nature of contemporary hip-hop. Insightful and original, Wake speaks truth, first and foremost. In the second verse he spits, “I don’t have to tatt my whole body up/rappers sell their images/their lyrics are not enough/yeah, that’s the truth, baby/I make music for the people/not the people that pay me.” This line is just one indication of the message he wants to put out there. The Healing Process dropped on yesterday and is packed with endless introspective, intelligent lyrics. Check out “Brand New”
My boy Ciej always drops gems on us. This new smoothness was inspired by an artist’s subconscious and women in general. With a Bonita Applebum vibe, Ciej let’s the ladies know they are appreciated… so far I hope you like rap songs…we see you ladies. Ciej told me about this new track and said, ” It’s a nice, lovely, jazzy track. It’s produced by bug seed and just in time for the season of love, flowers, valentines, poems, and more mushy affectionate forms of the like. “this dream i had” is a pretty self explanatory track though, I had a pretty sweet dream about a pretty sweet chick, and I wanted you all to know how it went. So fellas, close your eyes and imagine the best day ever with the girl of your dreams and vibe. Ladies, picture the man of your dreams coming home to yo fine ass and your warm embrace, just like that dream you had.”
Crew 932 representatives are spread across the country like niceness (or should I say Noshess) is spread across the Ultraviolet Beat tape. 932 members reside in Seattle, Saint Louis, Columbus Ohio and Joliet Illinois. These different regional flavors mix into a bright menagerie of sight and sound. Not to mention these fools do everything, I’m not even going to list the artistic boundaries they cross on the regular. They also take on new identities often like chameleons. I’m not even sure how many of them their are anymore. I do know Alleyes has been known to perform shoeless and I once saw footage of Paces lift (formerly known as Splitface) riding of the roof of a speeding car like a ninja littering the streets with event flyers. 932 is an eclectic good time.
One of their latest offerings and the second edition of their beat tape series is the aptly named Ultraviolet Beat Tape from producer Noshess. It’s sexy yet strong vibe is like a bubbly hot tube filled with suicide girls sipping jack on the rocks. Whether your washing your dishes, preparing for work or getting ready to go out and paint the town ultraviolet, the new Noshess release is 21 minutes of vibed out inspiration. Respected underground emcees like Copywrite, Illogic and Blueprint have all blessed original tracks from Noshess, hit play on the soundcloud and see why. Keep in Noshy ~ Hensley
EYECON The Academic – The One ft. CAPO & IntellectEMCEE ~track 3~ from ALMOST NAMELESS
I for one, do not subscribe to the notion of Hip-Hop being dead. However, I do think that commercial rap bullshit is flourishing, not everyone can have good taste I guess. Those of us that expect more than the current fast food rap market can offer, know where to look and that’s how I found myself at Jim’s Pool Room.
The proprietors of this Midwest crew are EYECON the Academic, Capo and SV. These three artists run the establishment although, there are many regular players that add to the smokey atmosphere and laid back vibe. Jai Davis, DJ Trog, Gauge and Intellect Emcee are all frequent collaborators with lifetime bar tabs. Originally hailing from Boston producer SV is the founder of the crew and according to EYECON “He personifies the spirit of the whole group.” Making frame of mind music is a standard for JPR. “It’s all about going in the lab, sitting down with some respectable emcees, and writing a track start to finish to a beat that sets the mood. This is the way you get a track that has a soul to it, it connects more than having a topic already picked out” Says Producer/Emcee Capo on the JPR music making process.
“I love the Boom Bap Sample Driven Filtered out Raw Shit! Some of the Sickest Producers of all time: E Sermon, Dilla, Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Large Pro, RZA, Kanye, Madlib, 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, DJ Honda that whole class of 90′s Golden Era Producers who set the stage for what Hip Hop can and should sound like.” Capo elaborates. To me, listening to that concept come to life on a JPR album is like hanging out in your favorite local bar in he dead of winter. It’s entertaining, comfortable, and where you feel like you should be. When the albums over, your mood is so much better than it was before. Like when you stomp out of the bar into the bitter cold and your heavy buzz has you giving a fuck less.
Real talk lyrics cut with tales of redemption and conquest, are balanced nicely with hard knock anthems and party music for the heads. Emcee and all around businessman EYECON raps in a baritone flow. He often fits lyrical puzzle pieces together in a way that shouldn’t fit but somehow do. This tapestry is woven with no hesitation and somehow it all makes perfect sense, it’s truly a style all his own. Capo’s classic rapper voice and style, even when the guys just talking, speaks with a certain cadence seeming to be in his blood. These guys grew up with Hip-Hop and it shows.
Bringing a fresh take on Hip-Hop’s foundational vibe, JPR keeps the music state-of-the-art. EYECON speaking on JPR’s current endeavors, ”For 2013 you can expect to see us trying to spread our name to new STL audiences. There is an EYECON ep on the way called ‘what day is this?’ An album called EYETUNES that is all Capo beats and a multi-disc series called ‘The SV Links’ that’s all SV beats only.”
”Also, I will be translating rhymes from the future of an earthling named THOUGHTS ORBIT and through and extra terrestrial traveler named Sci(NON)Fi. The barrier of translating a language from the future and piecing it together after being chopped up in a vortex, makes it hard to release more than a few songs at a time. It’s like reverse engineering..the first installment of those translations ‘The Terra Firma Chronicles’ is also available on massoccur.Bandcamp.com. Our catalog has accumulated almost 300 songs in the last 3 or so yrs and not even 100 released yet. People will know who the fuck JPR is by the end of 2013″ Enough of me telling you how Jim’s Pool Room rocks, I’ll let them tell you themselves. ~ Hensley
When a camera is placed into the proper hands it can be a powerful doorway into emotion. Hailing from the United Kingdom and still in her teens, Eleanor Leonne Bennett definitely holds a key to unlock some intriguing inspiration.
She also has a list of impressive accomplishments that she has been racking up since the age of 11. These include winning the 2010 UK National Geographic Kids Photography Contest, The World Photography Organization’s youth award for 2010, and the February 2011 winner of Nature’s Best Photography among many other photographic contests. Not to mention she has also won three National Art contests with the Woodland Trust Nature Detectives.
With all of these professional accolades Eleanor still keeps her fingers on the pulse of the underground. She contacted us after all and hand-picked these shots specifically for Locash. We’re proud of that one and Eleanor definitely shares her talent to good causes. She has also sold her work for charities like Great Ormond Street, Lovedrop, and The Red Cross so we’re in good company. The ability to say everything without saying a word is truly a gift.
In her own words she explains this gift as “It means to express what can’t easily be expressed in words into images of everyday life, to make contemporary art that is accessible to everyone. I want for my images to please the mind, remind people of childhood or predict emotions of the viewer. I want to make pictures that can be understood past barriers of language and make photos into art, art works that leaves imprints on the mind. It will be a hard thing to do but I’ll always try.”
Check out the shots she sent us and her Zenfolio here. – Hensley
Solidarity action S17 a.k.a September 17th 2012 was an exciting day for Occupiers and corporate lobby receptionists across the country. This date marked the One year Anniversary of The Occupy Wall Street Movement, and at Occupy Phoenix we partied like it was..September 17th 2012! The receptionists on the other hand, who very well could be secretly not against us, had the usual sterile tranquility of their high-rise lobbies broken by either chanting protesters, mean mugging cops or douchey managers screaming “This is PRIVATE PROPERTY!” at some points, all three.
In the early morning hours of S17 word got out that on the national legislation battle front, civil rights groups everywhere won a small victory on the ongoing drama of the NDAA act. Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges along with Noam Chomsky and five other plaintiffs submitted challenges to Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (indefinite detention) which U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest accepted and ruled that the law was unconstitutional . Mr. Hedges broke the news to a cheering crowd who were gathered at Zuccotti Park, the original home of the Occupy movement, it was a great happy birthday gift for everybody involved. Good job New York as always. Here in Phoenix we had our own party planned at our favorite ballroom Cesar Chavez Plaza downtown.
As I jumped off of the light rail I realized, It’s a beautiful day for revolution, then again revolution can make any day beautiful. As I approached Cesar Chavez plaza I was greeted by many smiling faces of all ages. As I watched the crowd get bigger I noticed people had an excited wide-eyed expression on their faces, which seemed to say “This is the fun part, let’s do this” I felt exactly the same way. In the next 30 minutes more senior members and organizers arrived, so did more signs, bullhorns and drums, there was even a huge 1% pinata to be smashed at the end of the march.
Around 3:45 an original OPHX member yelled “Everyone grab a sign, let’s take this sidewalk like it’s all we have left again!” Referring to 9-months earlier when the police repeatedly smashed their camp and limited them to the very same sidewalk. The curb quickly filled with people holding signs and cheering. Organizers did a couple of T.V. interviews for major local networks. Did they air? I doubt it, do they ever? What was in the air was an amazing smelling smoke from a small wooden bowl held in the hands of a woman named Alti. She used this smoke to bless the crowd with positivity. When I asked her if she was affiliated with any group she replied simply “the 99%”
Alti ~ The 99%
As the 4 o’clock hour drew near everyone gathered up their gear, banners unfolded and a quick mic check from organizers commenced which was short and to the point “This is our day, these are our streets! Let’s hit it!” Hit it we did, as we all fell into as much of a line as that many people can fall into our chant leader with the bullhorn, we’ll just call him O, started doing his thing with the rhythmic cadence of a veteran emcee “This is what democracy looks like / This is what the people look like!” as we all repeated his lines as loud as we could I had goosebumps, it feels good to yell that with that many people again, I felt like I was in a therapy session that no drug pusher with a degree could ever give me.
We had many stops planned, but our first priority and always on our shortlist, was the downtown Maricopa County jail [100-185] N 4th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85003. One of the many facilities run by the black-hearted, small-minded, criminal (who happens to also be the Sheriff of Maricopa County) Joe Arpio. This facility has been the site of several protests just this week, besides ours. The increase in activity here is due the passing of Arizona’s private prison industry motivated SB 1070 “show me your papers” law, that went into effect Sept 18th.
All the stops along our march were strategic and meaningful. We didn’t just go places and yell, well, we did that to, for sure, but each stop also had a key-note speaker explaining why we were there and sharing stories. We’ve been telling you, Occupy is smarter this year. The first speaker was Fernando Lopez an Occupier that has recently returned from actions at the DNC where he was aboard the Occubus which travels state to state challenging anti-immigration laws. He spoke of encountering dozens of “Arpios” across the country, intimidating and arresting members of the Latin and black decent. He also spoke of the power of uniting communities and dissolving racial lines.
Fernando Lopez – The 99%
But we weren’t done with Sheriff Joe yet. Stop #2 was The Wells Fargo building 100 West Washington Street. Not only does this building house Wells Fargo one of the most discriminatory global banks ever, but also 2 floors are home to Arpios “business” offices. I can only imagine the grimy deals going on in this place. A community organizer named Erica spoke here. Erica’s topics covered blatant abuse of inmates and an ever-increasing Police state perpetrated by Sheriff Arpio. She also called to mobilize local cop watches. Our emcee “O” also spoke here condemning Wells Fargo for predatory lending and their heavy investment in the for profit private prison corporation GEO, of which the bank owns 4 millions shares. Wells Fargo and Geo also share the same lobbyists in the Washington D.C. firm, The Podesta Group.
Stop #3 and one of my personal favorites was 201 E. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ 85004 also known as The Bank of America – Collier Center. After marching up the giant stairs chanting “Boycott, Boycott B of A” OPHX reps and some of the anarchist set quickly noticed the doors weren’t locked and took advantage swinging the glass doors open and yelling “C’mon in” many protesters entered the lobby and let B of A know how we felt, loudly. OPHX Representative Micheal spoke here briefly about moving your money being the best way to hurt giant banking corporations. Our exit from here was a little quicker than the previous stops, due to a noticeable increase in Police presence.
At this point I noticed we had gained a few people as we marched through the streets some people in cars honked and gave us peace signs or raised fists. I did see one guy eating McDonalds and angrily texting probably about a bunch of hippies blocking the street and he was going to miss the beginning of Jersey Shore. Sorry for the inconvenience sir, we are trying to change the world.
Stop #4 is APS 400 North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. APS is one of the largest power companies in Arizona. This is where original Occupier and media co-op Representative Kevin took the mic. Kevin spoke of how APS owns dozens of coal plants in Arizona and New Mexico, and even being based in the sunniest place on earth doesn’t stop APS from importing fossil fuels to our state at a 20 times higher cost than the alternative of solar. Despite the proven cost effectiveness and a strong public support for solar energy. APS still refuses to adapt to modern ecological problems in the name of dirty coal profits. Kevin also took a moment to address that APS only recently left A.L.E.C. and how the Occupy movement can take a lot of credit for the recent hard blows A.L.E.C. has taken.
This was a great stop Kevin was really good and it was a nice grassy courtyard where we could all sit down for a minute and socialize. We didn’t stay to long, once we stopped you couldn’t help but notice the hundreds of cops circling us block by block on foot, bikes, motorcycles, SUV’s and creepy blacked out van’s. Whatever, we pay them no mind. Later, ominous army of our tax dollars “hard at work.” We’ve got some work of our own to do at stop #5 Arizona Center 565 North 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Arizona Center is service industry based outdoor mall, where OPHX Rep. Micheal told the very familiar story to most of us, of the low wages and lack of dignity the service industry is plagued with.
Stop #5 also held another highlight of the day when a retired Navy veteran representing Vietnam Veterans Against Romney spoke for about 10 minutes about how the landscape of America would drastically change if Romney is elected. He also brought up Citizens United, the new “Corporations have the same rights as people law” and urged everyone to vote out as many Republicans as we could if we wanted to get the law overturned. I think his speech sunk in a lot for the younger members of the crowd who were hearing current perspective from someone a generation before their own. Especially with lines like “Mitt Romney will eliminate the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the F.C.C (Federal Communications Commission). He will try to make you think Capitalism will regulate it’s self. You and I know that the Great Depression cures us of that notion.”
Retired Navy Veteran representing Vietnam Veterans Against Romney- The 99%
Stop #6 is the Arizona Republic NBC channel 12 studio 200 E Van Buren St, Phoenix, AZ 85004 This stop was one I took a personal interest in. Why would we stop at channel 12 news? Many people feel Channel 12 practices “media blackouts” of news from different perspectives. As I type these words and you read them we are both participating in what the spirit of what this stop represents, the people’s media.
Liisa from Arizona Community Press did an amazing job of explaining the importance of independent voices and that it is one of Occupy’s successes that the people are taking back the media. ”With independent voices, it’s an opportunity to tell the stories that are not being represented in the main stream media” says Liisa. ”It’s a place where you do not have to buy advertising to make your voices heard.” I did notice a channel 12 news guy filming us protest his station, but I have a strange feeling it wasn’t for the nightly broadcast. Someone who was filming truth with intent to distribute was OPHX Rep. Mickey who live streamed most of the day to our comrades who couldn’t make it out. You can check out his raw footage marked September 17 here http://www.ustream.tv/user/OPHXMickey
Liisa – Arizona Community Press The 99%
As one can see we had many special engagements throughout the day and each one was awesome and important but none like Stop #7 Freeport-McMoran 333 N Central Ave, Phonix , AZ 85004, we were meeting friends. Freeport-McMoran is an especially nasty global mining corporation who houses it’s giant headquarters in downtown Phoenix. In fact the top twelve highest paid CEO’s in Arizona all work at Freeport. This corporation is one of the worlds heaviest polluters and they have a continuing history of workers dying in their mines. Two protesters were also shot by police last year in at a Freeport protest in West Papua, where they the company has decimated the country with pollution for years.
One could definitely see how deplorable acts like this could bring a lot of heat from not only OPHX, but the friends we were meeting here was none other than the local branch of I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World) I have definitely heard of them but wasn’t aware of the energy spike we were about to experience, as we rounded the corner to Freeport’s doorsteps it was definitely a “F-yeah!” moment. I.W.W. already had thick picket line rolling. When I got up to the windows I saw the most cops I had seen all day packed inside the lobby looking real annoyed by us but, this sidewalk was undeniably ours. The I.W.W. speaker here was fiery and on point so much so that I didn’t catch his name or picture, I just listened. Here’s my footage from the sidewalk.
Stop #8 was our final “official” stop and one of the most informative at the ASU financial offices 710 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004. We wanted to point out the crushing student debt most of us are facing and the horrible under funding of education in America. Air force Technician and ASU student Nate closed out this march with a stirring speech. ”We spend more money per prison inmate that we do per student in America. What does this do? It creates more prisoners!” shouts Nate. ”80% of prisoners are high school drop-outs because we didn’t invest in them.”
Nate also stressed the importance of voting no matter who you support, especially in this election where a corporate hostile take over of the presidency is on the line. ”If more of the 99% voted, the 1% would be less of a problem.” Nate proclaimed. ”When you don’t vote, your surrendering and letting other people decide your fate. Don’t let them, have your own voice.” Nate also commended the people’s voice on speaking up against the SOPA and PIPA the recent internet censorship bills. ”This was a great example of people power, we killed those bills!” This was a very poignant way to close out the day with the biggest issue we are all currently facing, the 2012 election.
Nate – ASU student – The 99%
What do you do after a OWS anniversary celebration march? After party of course. We all head down to Civic Space Square to hang out and network. The 1% pinata got smashed here by some of the marchers kids, and some of the senior members bought boxes of burritos, which were handed out to unemployed occupiers first. This is how OPHX builds, networks and connects this may end up being the most important stop of all. I definitely can’t forget to thank The Haymarket Squares for performing here. If anyone wants to be involved with Occupy Phoenix come to any of our actions and talk to us, you can keep up with us here. >>> #OccupyPhoenix FB
Sheriff Joe by The Haymarket Squares
“RESIST, RESEARCH, REDIRECT, REBUILD”
Journalism and Pictures – Chris Hensley – Occupy Phoenix Media / Arizona Community Press
St. Louis powerhouse artists Ello, Bogard Stylez, Tef Poe and MWellz call out to stop violence in the city of Saint Louis. Produced by Demolish Beats. From the Ello & Bogard Stylez “Capricorns, Clips & Burnas” project will be available January 11, 2013. Shout out to www.justamuse.com for sending us this heater. – Hensley
