Breez Evahflowin and Dirt E. Dutch stopped by the World Famous Halftime Show on WNYU radio with DJ Eclipse and Skizz to promote the new Troublemakers album. Dj Eclipse and Breez caught up on old times and of course Mr. Evahflowin did his thing on the mic over this 9th Wonder beat
Friday, March 14, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
2nd annual Hip Hop Summit (Stamford Times Article)
By BEN LEVINE
blevine@thestamfordtimes.com
STAMFORD — They rushed to the front of the Westhill High stage, 100 or
so teenagers and twenty-somethings packed together, heads nodding and
hands in the air, eating up every rhyme and breaking to every beat.
"I need you to lose you're mind," said Joe Celcis, Westhill High
teacher and 'MC' for the group the d_Cyphernauts. "This is a real
hip-hop show. This is how we celebrate African American history month.
Hip-hop is not about violence, hip-hop is love."
And with that the performance part of the second annual Hip-Hop Summit
had begun. For dozens of high school students who came out on a cold
and grey Saturday, it was the opportunity to lose themselves in the
music, and get a chance to see first hand the culture and art form of
hip-hop they had been discussing all afternoon.
The Hip-Hop Summit's purpose was to deteriorate mainstream stereotypes
about hip-hop culture. On March 1, long-time hip-hop lovers and
first-timers had a chance to take part in hip-hop workshops and panel
discussions.
The workshops were on everything from beat making, producing, rhyming,
break dancing and turn table exploits. Legends such as MC Chubb Rock
(Richard Simpson) and d.j. Terrible-T (Tyrone Dunmore) took part in
the day's activities. According to Celcis and his d_Cyphernaut partner
Dave Wooley (a.k.a. Othello), the workshops were a chance for kids to
get hands-on experience in the music they love.
"The idea behind the summit was to merge teaching and hip-hop, and to
do something positive for Black History month," Wooley said. "It's a
great learning experience (for kids), and we had access to a wealth of
artists who had a lot to say, and present a side of hip-hop (students)
are not usually exposed to."
Wooley and Celcis wanted to inform youth about the positive and
negatives of the music industry, and first and foremost, inspire those
who are interested in pursing a career in music. Celcis, who goes by
the MC name of Nemesis Alpha, said that as an artist he learned just
as much about the hip-hop he's creating as kids learned about how they
create it.
"I think as artists, when you're dealing with a specific population as
we do, which is the 21-and-over crowd, sometimes you can become
encapsulated," he said. "Interacting with these kids reminds us of the
responsibility of the arts, which I believe is to have a message, a
purpose. I think all art should challenge the human mind."
Celcis and Wooley are both part of the Ant Farm Affiliates (AFA), a
collection of Connecticut-based hip-hoppers. AFA members include
Phenetiks, Workforce, Cee Reed, The Rising Sun Quest, Sketch the
Cataclysm, Expertiz, Pruven, and Spaz the Working Class — all of whom
performed at Saturday's summit.
The AFA was formed in January of last year, and first performed to
gether at the inagural Hip-Hop Summit, also hosted by Celcis and
Wooley. Their goal is to validate Connecticut as a prominent area to
discover musical talent within hip-hop. The AFA hosts a local hi-hop
showcase entitled "Enter The Cypher,' at Cousin Larry's in Danbury,
Conn. The AFA strives to promote the authenticity and purity of
hip-hop culture through music, dance, creative writing and art.
In addition to performances and workshops, Celcis and Wooley also held
a panel discussion to discuss where hip-hop has been, and where its
experts believed it was going.
One of the topics discussed at length by panelists was the record
industry, and the changes it has experienced over the last decade.
Chubb Rock, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native who has released several albums
and sold millions of records world wide, explained that in today's
music world, with fewer and fewer record labels, a small number of
people make the decision as to what music should sound like, act like
and look like.
"What happens in the mainstream media is things are watered down so
they are easy to digest. It's the nature of the industry, regardless
of the genre of music we're talking about. They want the music to be
consumable," he said.
It's this mentality, Chubb Rock explained, that has led to commercial
hip-hop's glorification of negative stereotypes, and why so many of
today's artists sound the same. Original and positive artists get
pushed to the underground scene, he said. Chubb Rock and the rest of
the panel would like to see hip-hop pioneers do more to promote
positive hip-hop culture.
"We have to go into our communities and help teach young people about
the business of music and hip-hop," Chubb Rock said.
In the eyes of Celcis and Wooley, the summit fulfilled that pledge to
the young people who came. From 6 p.m. on, kids felt the full-force of
electric performance's by AFA artists, and at the end of the day,
students were given the chance to go on stage and perform themselves.
"To have them on stage, and to be cheered on by fellow students and
the AFA artists, that was something special," Celcis said.
Westhill has been buzzing since Saturday's summit, Celcis said.
Students, teachers and administrators are still talking about the
positive impact it left on those who attended.
"That's the spirit of it, to me," Wooley said. "I always thought the
greatest thing about hip-hop was it represents the natural progression
of Martin Luther King's dream. That's what you saw at the summit, a
place where everybody could get together, have a good time and respect
and celebrate each other's talents."
blevine@thestamfordtimes.com
STAMFORD — They rushed to the front of the Westhill High stage, 100 or
so teenagers and twenty-somethings packed together, heads nodding and
hands in the air, eating up every rhyme and breaking to every beat.
"I need you to lose you're mind," said Joe Celcis, Westhill High
teacher and 'MC' for the group the d_Cyphernauts. "This is a real
hip-hop show. This is how we celebrate African American history month.
Hip-hop is not about violence, hip-hop is love."
And with that the performance part of the second annual Hip-Hop Summit
had begun. For dozens of high school students who came out on a cold
and grey Saturday, it was the opportunity to lose themselves in the
music, and get a chance to see first hand the culture and art form of
hip-hop they had been discussing all afternoon.
The Hip-Hop Summit's purpose was to deteriorate mainstream stereotypes
about hip-hop culture. On March 1, long-time hip-hop lovers and
first-timers had a chance to take part in hip-hop workshops and panel
discussions.
The workshops were on everything from beat making, producing, rhyming,
break dancing and turn table exploits. Legends such as MC Chubb Rock
(Richard Simpson) and d.j. Terrible-T (Tyrone Dunmore) took part in
the day's activities. According to Celcis and his d_Cyphernaut partner
Dave Wooley (a.k.a. Othello), the workshops were a chance for kids to
get hands-on experience in the music they love.
"The idea behind the summit was to merge teaching and hip-hop, and to
do something positive for Black History month," Wooley said. "It's a
great learning experience (for kids), and we had access to a wealth of
artists who had a lot to say, and present a side of hip-hop (students)
are not usually exposed to."
Wooley and Celcis wanted to inform youth about the positive and
negatives of the music industry, and first and foremost, inspire those
who are interested in pursing a career in music. Celcis, who goes by
the MC name of Nemesis Alpha, said that as an artist he learned just
as much about the hip-hop he's creating as kids learned about how they
create it.
"I think as artists, when you're dealing with a specific population as
we do, which is the 21-and-over crowd, sometimes you can become
encapsulated," he said. "Interacting with these kids reminds us of the
responsibility of the arts, which I believe is to have a message, a
purpose. I think all art should challenge the human mind."
Celcis and Wooley are both part of the Ant Farm Affiliates (AFA), a
collection of Connecticut-based hip-hoppers. AFA members include
Phenetiks, Workforce, Cee Reed, The Rising Sun Quest, Sketch the
Cataclysm, Expertiz, Pruven, and Spaz the Working Class — all of whom
performed at Saturday's summit.
The AFA was formed in January of last year, and first performed to
gether at the inagural Hip-Hop Summit, also hosted by Celcis and
Wooley. Their goal is to validate Connecticut as a prominent area to
discover musical talent within hip-hop. The AFA hosts a local hi-hop
showcase entitled "Enter The Cypher,' at Cousin Larry's in Danbury,
Conn. The AFA strives to promote the authenticity and purity of
hip-hop culture through music, dance, creative writing and art.
In addition to performances and workshops, Celcis and Wooley also held
a panel discussion to discuss where hip-hop has been, and where its
experts believed it was going.
One of the topics discussed at length by panelists was the record
industry, and the changes it has experienced over the last decade.
Chubb Rock, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native who has released several albums
and sold millions of records world wide, explained that in today's
music world, with fewer and fewer record labels, a small number of
people make the decision as to what music should sound like, act like
and look like.
"What happens in the mainstream media is things are watered down so
they are easy to digest. It's the nature of the industry, regardless
of the genre of music we're talking about. They want the music to be
consumable," he said.
It's this mentality, Chubb Rock explained, that has led to commercial
hip-hop's glorification of negative stereotypes, and why so many of
today's artists sound the same. Original and positive artists get
pushed to the underground scene, he said. Chubb Rock and the rest of
the panel would like to see hip-hop pioneers do more to promote
positive hip-hop culture.
"We have to go into our communities and help teach young people about
the business of music and hip-hop," Chubb Rock said.
In the eyes of Celcis and Wooley, the summit fulfilled that pledge to
the young people who came. From 6 p.m. on, kids felt the full-force of
electric performance's by AFA artists, and at the end of the day,
students were given the chance to go on stage and perform themselves.
"To have them on stage, and to be cheered on by fellow students and
the AFA artists, that was something special," Celcis said.
Westhill has been buzzing since Saturday's summit, Celcis said.
Students, teachers and administrators are still talking about the
positive impact it left on those who attended.
"That's the spirit of it, to me," Wooley said. "I always thought the
greatest thing about hip-hop was it represents the natural progression
of Martin Luther King's dream. That's what you saw at the summit, a
place where everybody could get together, have a good time and respect
and celebrate each other's talents."
www.adambernard.blogspot.com AFA Hip Hop 2nd Annual Hip Hop Summit!
This past Saturday I was a guest speaker at the AFA’s (Ant Farm Affiliates) second annual Hip-Hop Summit at Westhill High School in Stamford, CT. The day was filled with workshops that included emcees mentoring students on the arts of songwriting, battling and freestyling, panel discussions that featured legendary emcee Chubb Rock and Stronghold’s Breez Evahflowin, and performances both by the artists who were doing the mentoring as well as some of the students. Through having conversations with the young men and women there, hearing their questions, seeing their reactions to the performances and seeing them do their own thing on stage, I have to say that Hip-Hop’s future looks brighter than ever.
The first sign that something special was happening on this afternoon was that over a hundred students showed up at school on a Saturday. Inspired to actually go back to campus on a weekend, these young Hip-Hop fans were looking to soak up any information given to them about the culture. In fact, during a question and answer segment I was impressed with the concerns the students came to us with. In an open forum it takes some guts to ask “why do older artists look down on us?” To the credit of the artists, fantastic answers were given to every question asked. At one point Chubb Rock not only gave a history lesson, but schooled everyone as to who was really making money in the industry, noting that Raven-Symone was selling more albums than Beyonce, a statistic that shocked the vast majority of the crowd, including some of the other panelists. Later a question was asked regarding the lack of women on the stage and Othello from d_Cyphernauts mentioned my “Where The Ladies At?” blog post and let me give some answers.
The live performances capped off the day and did so in impressive fashion. It should be noted that all of these young people that so many so-called Hip-Hop fans claim are brainwashed and don’t know anything about the culture embraced all the underground artists wholeheartedly, which is much more than I can say for your average older fan attending to a show. They rushed the stage, jumped up and down and reached out for high fives. The crowd was so hype, in fact, that Hawl Digg of Workforce decided to jump into it for a minute during his performance.
Smiles were plentiful as these 100+ young men and women were there to see some Hip-Hop, even if they didn’t know who all of the artists were. Note to everyone who goes to shows – this is how it always should be! We could all learn a lesson and take a cue from these younger fans and start showing up at the bars and clubs we go to for events with that same attitude of just wanting to see some Hip-Hop and being excited about it. It’s funny, a lot of people who claim to be Hip-Hop fans really aren’t. They go to shows with a negative attitude, wanting the artist to prove something to them. These stone faced, “I hope this guy sucks,” types fill up clubs and deem themselves some kind of expert, claiming to appreciate the art form “on a higher level.” That’s a load of horse dookie. We’ve all been guilty of it, I know I have in the past, but what higher level is there than going to a show to enjoy yourself and then enjoying yourself?
The good times continued when the students hit the stage. Breez and I both commented on how much more advanced the next generation of artists are at 15 and 16 than anyone from our generation was at that age. One group featured a full band and midway through a song titled “Don’t Shoot The Gorilla” had a guy in a gorilla suit join them on stage. Talk about a sight to behold! The place erupted with cheers. In fact, all of the students supported each other, which was great to see.
All in all, the AFA’s second annual Hip-Hop Summit proved Hip-Hop’s future is in capable hands (and notebooks). The only way things could be derailed is if the older generations, mine included, choose to ignore the questions, comments and concerns of our future MCs, DJs and producers. So if you’re an established artist, take a few minutes to converse with some of the aspiring future leaders of Hip-Hop, you might be surprised at how quickly someone can go from looking up at you to looking up to you.Check out photos from the event at: AFA Hip-Hop Summit GalleryFor more on the AFA check out: theafa.blogspot.com
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