Filipinos And
Hip Hop Culture
Special Editorial
Thursday June 12 1997
In honor of Filipino independence Day, we wanna take time out and acknowledge the many contributions Filipinos have made within hip hop culture... Filipinos have been involved in almost all aspects of hip hop such as rapping where you have our own [KMEL] Rome Diggy and his group Raw Soul. You also have here in the city [San Francisco] groups like Big Knutt Funk and female rapper Rosa Lee.. On the national tip we have hip hop diva Foxy Brown who is mixed with some pinay flava...
On the break dance tip you have here well known Filipino break dance crews like the Knuckle Neck Tribe and pioneering groups like the Renegade Rockers who once battled the legendary Rock Steady Crew... Speaking of which.. you now have a whole contingent of Filipino kids here in the Bay Area who are active members of Rock Steady..
It's within the arena of hip hop djaying that Filipinos have not only excelled but have also in many ways come to dominate.. A lot of new styles and techniques have been developed by Filipino DJs.. Leading the charge has been DJs Apollo, Q-Bert and MixMaster Mike who started off being known as the Shadow DJs and are now known as the Invisible Scratch Pickles.. Since the early 90s, these gentlemen along with other Filipino Crew members like DJ Short Kut and DJ 8-Ball have been winning competitions all around the world...They have now formed an organization called the International Turntable Federation.
The ITF has been pretty active in going around and holding exhibitions as well as schooling folks as to how and why turn table manipulation is akin to playing a musical instrument.. DJ Apollo has taken this new heights when he teamed up with jazz great Branford Marsalis to tour with his group Buckshot LeFonc..
In addition to all this, there are some very prominent djs who have excelled on the commercial and industry side of hip hop... One of the best mixers in the country is Glen Aure who's on air turn table mixing skillz are respected nationwide.. He is currently the mix show co-ordinator for KMEL radio and there's talk that there are bigger and better things to come... Also here in the Bay Area is long time hip hop jock KK Baby who is been holding down the hip hop scene for almost 15 years on Black owned radio community radio station KPOO in San Francisco.. KK baby's Soulful Sunday Show has played host to almost every major rap star in the business from Public Enemy on down to local guys like Rappin' 4Tay..
Another well known and visible dj is Seattle's Nasty Nes..who is best known for is affiliation with Sir Mix-A Lot.. Currently Nes runs a record promotional company in Seattle as well as holding down Seattle's premier hip hop show called The Rap Attack on KCMU..Nes has been doing this show for years and is considered an OG who helped open a lot of doors...
Finally on the hip hop culture tip you haveAlex Aquino who is in the process of developing an internet web site with the Rock Steady djs... He currently owns the URL.. to 'Hiphop.com'.. The site is supposed to launch during the 20th anniversary of Rock Steady..
Speaking of OGs.. we got to give props to some of the Bay Area's legendary dj crews who used to put it down back in the days.. Places like centenial Hall in Hayward, Kezar Pavillion in SF, California Hall in SF and Logan High in Union City were some of the places where crews like Ladda Sounds, Dynamic Sounds, Ultimate Creations and Unlimited Sounds threw down and help pave the way for today's Filipino Hip Hop headz...
Davey D
|