Did you memorize the first verse of Wu-Tang Clan’s “Method Man” from reading The Source Magazine’s “Hip-Hop Quotables?” Did you know what KRS-One’s name stood for? Were you “independent as fuck?” For the early 90’s rap kids and independent artist alike comes the documentary Adult Rappers, a rare look into the real lives of working-class rappers. The film features a lot of notable underground artists like Open Mike Eagle, Blueprint, Breeze Brewin, J-Zone, Evidence, Masta Ace, Blockhead, Atoms Family members …
Tag: culture
Last summer, through the Facebook group, Black Creatives Japan, I met “hip-hop savvy listener” Mega. With his co-hosts Late and Steze, they produce The Mega Late Show. It might very well be one of the only English speaking hip-hop podcast in Japan. Mega gave me props on “The 20 Best Hip-Hop Guest Verses of All Time,” an LA Weekly listicle that I contributed to. “Man, how could you leave out Cappadonna’s verse off of Ghostface Killah’s ‘Winter Warz?’” he asked …
Want to say “nigger” without taking the chance of getting beat the fuck up? Are you a white liberal tired of white guilt? Feeling a little transracial? Does everything about you seem black, but your skin? Do you sketch self-portraits using a brown crayon, instead of peach? Find yourself tweeting #blacklivesmatter, but still getting bussed to the #alllivesmatter side of town? What about that blackface frat party you always wanted to throw? Want to get shot for no reason? Can’t …
Born With It is a short film about an African-Japanese boy who identifies as Japanese, but the world sees him differently. Written and directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr., the story explores isolation, alienation, and racism. Aside from the heartbreaking, yet revealing documentary Hafu, Born might be the first of it’s kind: it’s a scripted film, Japan is a vital character, and it exclusively centers a half black half Japanese kid struggling to make sense of who he is. It’s a tiny film that needs to be seen. Emmanuel and …
Last night I woke up at five in the morning to get some water. I gulped it down and opened my eyes to my wife holding my head up. “Are you ok? You collapsed”, she said. I was laying near the dinning table with a chair on top of me. I don’t remember anything, except waking up to the sound of my moaning. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. The stress of living here has managed to manifest …
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