 |
|
|
|
|
|
Hyphy is a music style and cultural movement in the Bay Area, characterized by upbeat, drum-driven hip-hop, spastic bursts of head-banging-like movement and a deep pride in the local culture. The hyphy look includes little dreads, big sunglasses and grill on your teeth. At a Silence the Violence concert at Mosswood Park in Oakland, the hyphy mood was put on pause as the performers opened the mike to kids who wanted to give a shout-out to friends and relatives who had been murdered this year. More than 30 kids came up. Then after the shouting, there was a call for a moment of silence. "You could hear a pin drop," says Nicole Lee, political director at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland. This year there have been 120 murders in Oakland, as of press time. You might not think the controlled chaos of the hyphy movement would go hand-in-hand with anti-violence campaigns, but several, such as Silence the Violence and Town Business Network's the Movement, are employing the culture to get their message out. And hyphy hip-hop stars are eager to help out, including Mistah F.A.B., Mac Mall, Clyde Carson of the Team, Keak da Sneak, superstar producer Traxamillion, the Delinquents, Messy Marv and hyphy gangsta rapper B-Legit, as well as radio personality Davey D, Boots Riley of the Coup, Zion-I and singer Goapele. Silence the Violence is run by the Ella Baker Center in Oakland and by Rudy Corpuz Jr.'s United Playaz in San Francisco. "Youth culture to me, whether it's rock or alternative or punk or hyphy, there's a stream of it that's about vitality and life," Lee says. "There's an element of it that's rebelling against a deadness that exists in kind of conventional adult society, where you're sort of cogs in the machine. There's a piece of hyphy that's actually about dancing in the streets. It's almost spiritual, like we should have life and have it abundantly and have it freely." At a KMEL broadcast of a "Street Soldiers" panel on violence at Youth Uprising, a 15-year-old boy who goes by the name Laz spoke about the loss of his cousin, who was gunned down at his North Oakland home. Later, Laz, who has a hip-hop group called Solid Boiz, and his 17-year-old friend NBTween, who has an R&B and rap group called Trunk Boiz, say they plan to use their music to spread the message instead of contributing to the violence. "Hyphy means just being loose with yourself," NBTween says. "Hyphy is being who you are at all times, without putting on an act for somebody. You dance, you have fun, you get loose, you go crazy, you know? A lot of people seek the hyphy movement as a place where they can just come and get away from their problems. And they tend to bring their problems out in the hyphy movement, and that's what causes the negativity. "When I'm making music, though, I take all the hate, and all the violence, and I'll use it as a motivation for me." Lee, who grew up in Oakland listening to rappers E-40 and Too Short, remembers the anti-violence singles that came out in the '90s, the East Coast's "Self-Destruction" and the West Coast's "We're All in the Same Game." Those inspired her to recruit Bay Area rappers and singers to put together the "Make It Thru" single and the "Silence the Violence" album, which will come out next year. "Rap music helped provide a political context for what I was seeing in my own city," Lee says. "I looked up to the rappers because I really listened, much more so than if a teacher would have told me something. Right now, in our communities, you know, young people are listening to what these rappers have to say. And some of the rappers are on their own really taking initiative to try to speak out on some of these issues." Town Business Network, run by Charles E. Johnson of Young Lion Entertainment and Tyranny Allen of Media Kings, has recruited hyphy rappers for a get-out-the-vote campaign, Vote fa Sheezy, and to address the murders through their group the Movement. "Instead of us being part of the problem, we had to come up with a solution because we got tired of burying our friends, to tell the truth -- or burying our friends' sons," says Allen, who used to be in Digital Underground. "Now we're both over the age where we can have kids, and the next thing you know, they're dying. You send them to school; they come home in a body bag. And that's the scariest feeling. "People are dying over tennis shoelaces," continues Allen, who also owns Lucky's Barber Shop in downtown Oakland. "Tennis shoelaces. People are dying on what color they wear. People are dying for $5. A young man who I put in the ground a month ago died for a $10 crack case. Because everybody wants a pair of shoes, and people don't have the money or the resources. It's so bad out here. It's like Iraq. This is war right here. You wake up every day, and it's being fought right outside your door." Although some might be tempted to point to rap lyrics as glorifying street violence, Lee says that that's what the music industry wants, because it's sexy and it sells. She says that while the artists feel as though they have to explain the rules of the game, they also write very politically conscious songs that don't get played on the radio. Bay Area rappers are losing friends and family to the violence, too, including hyphy pioneer Mac Dre. "What we're trying to do with Silence the Violence is start to insert a different conversation into that conversation: 'OK, I understand there are rules to this,' " Lee says. " 'But what are the consequences of those rules? And who's really suffering?' Because if you look at the demographics of who's actually losing their lives, it's pretty stark. And so, I think that what we're trying to do is just ask people: 'You know, I'm not trying to knock anyone's hustle. I just want to know if there is a different way to go about what we're doing.' " Laz agrees. "It's up to everybody that enjoys the hyphy movement and that's a part of the hyphy movement, to step up and do their job, and help them be more safer -- so nobody won't get injured, and no murders will take place." Contacts:UNITED PLAYAZ: For Silence the Violence in San Francisco. Rudy Corpuz Jr., Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, 515 Cortland Ave. (415) 206-2140, ext. 139. www.unitedplayaz.org. ELLA BAKER CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: For Silence the Violence in Oakland and Reclaim the Future. Nicole Lee, 344 40th St., Oakland. (510) 428-3939, ext. 240. www.bayareasilencetheviolence.org. TOWN BUSINESS NETWORK: For the Movement and Vote fa Sheezy. Call Tyranny Allen, (510) 715-7113 or Charles E. Johnson, (510) 536-4100. HOMEBOY HOTLINE: Helps excons find work. Call Fleetwood, (510) 451-2961. Sean Kennedy's MOSES MUSIC hosts a free meal "Block Yard" at 5 p.m. every second and fourth Saturday. 9106 International Blvd., Oakland. (510) 639-0415. |
|
We are careful not to duplicate the efforts of other organizations, and as a grassroots coalition of prisoners and social reformers, our resources (time and money) are limited. The vast expertise and scope of the various drug reform organizations will enable you to stay informed on the ever-changing, many-faceted aspects of the movement. Our colleagues in reform also give the latest drug war news. Please check their websites often. |
|
|
 |
