==========================
FNV NEWSLETTER #102
==========================
October 8 2002
In This Week's Issue
--------------------------------
*A Few Remarks to Ponder
*Dame Dash Gets Jumped in Paris
*Jay-Z Gets A New Foxy
*Jigga and Nas: Did they do a Song Together?
*Free Hip Hop Class In Philly
*City of Milwaukee Slams Graf
*Zion I Set to Blow Up!
*An Interview w/ Talib Kweli
*Hip Hop Summit Comes to Dallas
--------------------------------------
The FNV Newsletter c 2002
Send comments to
mrdaveyd@aol.com
peep the websites
www.daveyd.com
www.rapstation.com
========================
A FEW REMARKS TO PONDER..
First things first.. We wanna offer our condolences to the family of
Eric Hoskins aka Money Ray of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers. He
passed away last week at the young age of 38. He was cat who led a
healthy life but was diagnosed with cancer 5 weeks ago. It caught
everyone by suprise as did his sudden passing.. Please visit the Cold
Crush Brothers site for more info http://www.coldcrushbrothers.com/
=================
***Big shout out to all those who came out in force this past weekend, Oct
6th to Say 'No to War in Iraq'. Thousands showed up in San Fran's Union
Square. Thousands showed up in NY's Central Park and thousands showed
up in Westwood in Los Angeles. There were similar rallies in 28 other
cities around the country. It was a beautiful thing.
The next step is to call your Congressperson at
1-800-839-5276 or 202-225-3121
The House will vote this coming Thursday. Remember, if we should have
to go to War and this thing gets dragged out, [which they are now
saying is likely to happen] guess who they'll be calling on to go
fight? It'll be a lot of you in the Hip Hop nation. Trust me, Uncle
Sam has a plan to get rid of all the thugs, hustlers, playas and
underground headz who like to keep it real. You'll be fighting
Saddamn making sure Dick Cheney and company get their oil.
Also for those who think war is glamorous and you'd have no problem
handling it... you may wanna talk to some of the Persian Gulf War
Vets I see laying around here, out of work and homeless who are still
in bad shape 10 years after the fact. We as a country have a sorry
way of honoring those who fought on our behalf. Now onto to the news.
=============================
DAMON DASH GETS JUMPED BY FRENCH THUGS IN PARIS
According to the NY Post, Roc-A Fella CEO Damon Dash got jumped by a
bunch of thugs in the 'oh so sophisticated' city of Paris. The
altercation took place last week while Dame was enroute to a radio
station interview. He was accompanied by two models and being tailed
by a camera crew who were filming a documentary.
Dash was stuck in traffic so he and the camera crew decided to get out
and walk to the station which was less then 300 feet away. Apparently
the Parisian thugs in questions didn't like their neighborhood [Les
Halles] being filmed so they decided to step to Dash and company.
They tried to take the camera crew's equipment and then tried to take
Dash's personal camera. According to the story Dash dropped one of
the cats which lead to him getting pepper sprayed and being jumped by
what appeared top be the entire neighborhood. He wound up having to
go to a nearby hospital where he received 6 stitches.
Dash noted that despite his stitches he wasn't hurt that bad and wound
up attending a huge party being thrown by Roc-A-Fella Records at
Milliardere which featured Vin Diesel, Chris Tucker, Tommy Hilfiger
and a host of other celebs.
==========================
JAY-Z GETS A NEW FOXY
***In other Roc-A-Fella News, It looks like Jay-Z has a new 'Foxy' to
ride shotgun with him. No, we're not talking Foxy Brown,- we're
talking Foxy Cleopatra which was the character played in the movie
'Goldmember by Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child. She can be heard
singing the hook on the song ' 03 Bonnie & Clyde' which is the first
single on the highly anticipated sequel to Jay-Z's 'Blueprint'
album-'Blueprint 2- The Gift and the Curse'. It will be a double cd
and features everyone from Dr Dre to the Neptunes to Rakim and Truth
Hurts. Can this be the start of something big? Now if only Ice Cube
and YoYo who actually recorded the first song 'Bonnie and Clyde' can
get back together....
==========
JAY-Z AND NAS DID THEY DO A SONG TOGETHER?
Lastly we're hearing stories that Jay-Z and Nas have actually come
together and done a song. The cats over at Contrabandit.com are
noting that this past Friday night Power 106 premiered a remix of the
song 'Rule' by Nas which featured and extra verse from Jigga. There's
no confirmation that it was remix put together with the blessings of
Nas and Jay-Z or just a remix put together by Power 106.
I remember a few years ago I brought this record by a cat named Ike
Dirty who had plastered on his album jacket his song featured Ice
Cube, E-40 and a few others high profile cats. I brought the record
and sadly realized that the record did have all the aforementioned
artists. He had taken their acapellas and cleverly placed them
alongside his vocals. Did Jay-Z and Nas bury the hatchet and come
together to do this anti-war song 'Rule'?
==========================
FREE HIP HOP CLASS IN PHILLY
***A PHAT Award go out to Philly lawyer, community activist and WHAT
1340 AM talk show host Michael Coard. He along with the Greater
Philadelphia Hip Hop Alliance have teamed up to teach Hip Hop 101
every Thursday night at Temple University's Anderson Hall. [11th &
Berks Street in North Philly] The classes are free and open to the
public. He has all types of guest speakers ranging from Chuck D to
Philly's own Lady B. For more info hit Michael up at
michaelcoard@msn.com. Now that's what I call giving back to the
community.
=============================
CITY OF MILWAUKEE SLAMS GRAF
***Looks like the City of Milwaukee is back in the news again. Last
week Wisconsin's largest city had to deal with the horror of a group
of young kids, some as young as 10, brutally beating a man to death.
Now the city is making noise because city officials are refusing to
work with Coca Cola's 'Art of Harmony' contest. Apparently the soft
drink company was sponsoring a art contest in which the winners
designs would be painted on urban walls as murals. The objective was
to get kids interested in art and help beautify various neighborhoods.
Mayor John Norquist's office went on record to state that when it
comes to graffiti they have no interest. They also claimed that the
murals would undermine property values and chase away business.
Another city official Sue Breier who heads Milwaukee's Common Council
anti-graffiti task force claimed that Coca-Cola was sending out the
wrong message by sponsoring the contest. She claimed the city's
position on graf was simple-They don't allow it anywhere. Brier also
dismissed the idea that the Art of Harmony contest was being supported
by many business and civic leaders as well as local art teachers. She
said the murals would encourage others to write on walls. She also
threatened to switch to Pepsi.
Mmmm Sounds like her and TV talk show host Bill O'Reilly could have
debate. If you recall he said he was gonna switch from Pepsi to Coke
because they were irresponsible by hiring Ludacris. Now you have a
Milwaukee city official saying she's switching to Pepsi because Coca
Cola is irresponsible for sponsoring murals and graf...Maybe its me,
but I seem to recall that whenever folks take this hard-line stance on
graf, they wound up having an even bigger problem in trying to contain
it...
====================================
ZION I SET TO BLOW UP
After returning to the studio this summer, futuristic Oakland duo Zion
I are pleased to announce their label, LiveUp Records, has inked a
deal with New York-based Raptivism Records. The first project will be
Zion I's highly anticipated Deep Water Slang Version 2.0 and will hit
stores February 18, 2003. The 16-track collection, previously
scheduled for a June release on Nu Gruv Alliance, was postponed after
the indie label folded abruptly last year.
"We built momentum earlier this year, so we're really excited to
finally get this music out," explains MC Zion of DWS v2.0, who adds 3
new cuts, 7 re-done tracks with live instrumentation, and new cover
art are among the changes from the original album. "It turned out to
be a blessing that we had time to go back into the studio and enhance
the record."
Raptivism Records is the perfect home for the conscious duo. The
label, founded in 1998 by Executive Vice-President Rishi Nath, 28, and
President Vincent Merry, 29, has released numerous politically minded
releases, including Danny Hoch's Jails Hospitals and Hip-Hop (2001)
Tahir's (of dead prez) Homecoming (2001), and the compilation No More
Prisons (2000). The label will distribute the record through Penalty
Associated Labels and Ryko/WEA.
"Zion I is a group of the future," notes Merry on his decision to sign
the group. "I think they have the skills (both lyrically and
musically) and we want to be the label to bring that talent to the
forefront."
The first single off Deep Water Slang v2, "Cheeba Cheeba" featuring
lyrical legend Aceyalone, drops October 29. For more information,
please contact Nicole Balin at Ballin' Entertainment at (323)
651-1580.
=============================
TALIB KWELI SPEAKS HIS MIND
by - JR Valery
Talib Kweli is a internationally known Hip Hop artist who has
influenced many with his empowering lyrics that tell listeners to
better the social conditions around them. He was in the Bay Area
recently performing when we got a chance to kick back and talk about
few things.
JR: Tell us about your new project? And how is it different from the
Black Star and Reflection Eternal albums?
TALIB: The new album I got is called 'Quality'. It's about my growth
as an artist, as a man, all of that. I've been working on it for
about a year. The Black Star album, was just kind of me and Mos Def,
we had a lot of things on our chest, and we ain't never had a record
out like that, you know. The Reflection Eternal album was about me
and Hi-Tek just trying to polish that and trying to introduce
ourselves and hold our ground in Hip Hop. This album is about me
growing as a musician and all of that.
JR: What motivates you to do political music?
TALIB: I try to do all types of music. There always needs to be a
balance, that's all I know how to do, knowwhatI'msayin. That's what I
know how to do best, so I just work at what I know how to do best. I
like to go to parties, I like to have fun, but everything has to be
balanced in life.
JR: When you wasn't rapping, what were you doing?
TALIB: Playing baseball, watching movies.
JR: How has your child motivated you?
TALIB: I started taking the music and what I was trying to do with it,
as far as a career, more seriously, when I realized that I was going
to have children. So that's the most direct impact other than that,
creatively and spiritually it just enhances what I'm trying to do in
general.
JR: Who are your musical influences and how did you get into rapping?
TALIB: If I started to try to name all of my musical influences, it
would be so long and I would feel like I'm cheating, because I would
always forget somebody. I was always into poetry and plays. I
started writing rhymes in junior high school, and it just developed
and developed and developed, you know, into what I am doing now.
JR: Was Black Star your first album?
TALIB: I was on a album with this group called Mood from Cincinnati.
It was a dope album, I was on about six cuts on the album. It came in
on Blunt/TVT, but Black Star was the album that really established me.
JR: How does it feel to walk down the street and be recognized?
TALIB: It feels good to be able to walk down the street, and be me,
and be able to support my family and say what I want to say, and do
what I want to do through this music. It's a good feeling.
JR: What are some of the negative things about being in this business?
TALIB: It's hard work. Hard work is never negative, it builds
character. Everybody needs to work hard. You miss your family,
sometimes you don't live up to people's expectations of what they see
of you through your art, all types of things.
JR: What are you going to do when you stop rocking mics?
TALIB: I'm always going to be doing that.
JR: Where do you see Talib in the future?
TALIB: I want to learn an instrument, I feel like people that make
beats are so good at it that I want to expand, I wanna play an
instrument. Piano, maybe.
========================================
HIP HOP SUMMIT COMES TO DALLAS
In response to an invitation issued by hip hop legend and Dallas
native, the D.O.C., the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is convening its
third major summit in Dallas, TX. October 11&12, 2002 at the Adolphus
Hotel and the Texas Academy of Arts and Letters. The theme of the
Dallas Hip Hop Summit is Taking Back Responsibility:Empowering Our
Youth. In prior Summits in New York and Los Angeles, the HSAN
(Hip-Hop Summit Action Network) has focused on the theme of Taking
Back Responsibility. The D.O.C. is the first hip-hop artist to
initiate the establishment of a HSAN local Youth Council and the theme
of the Dallas Summit reflects the commitment of the D.O.C. and his
Silverback Records label to empowering the youth of the Dallas-Ft.
Worth area.
For the first time, the HSAN is opening the Summit to public
participation and, as a result, there has been a tremendous response
from youth throughout the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Involved in the
Dallas Hip Hop Summit program will be the Dallas Urban League and
NAACP, the S,I.T.E.S. (Students Information Technology Education
Scholarships) program, Merrill Lynch and Bryan's House, an adolescent
program to help Dallas-Ft.Worth youth become responsible adults.
Joining the DOC will be Russell Simmons, Chairman of Def Jam Records
and the HSAN, recording artist Erykah Badu, Minister Benjamin
Muhammad, CEO/President of the HSAN, on-air personality Action Jaxon
of The Beat, elected officials, record industry executives and local
civic leaders.
The official radio station of the Dallas Hip-Hop Summit is 97.9 THE
BEAT, a Radio One affiliate. Day one of the Dallas Hip-Hop Summit on
October 11th, which will take place at the Adolphus Hotel, will begin
with registration from 9 to 11am. The first session will begin at
11am, and will feature a panel discussion moderated by Minister
Benjamin Muhammad, including Russell Simmons, Erykah Badu, the DOC,
State Senator Royce West, Dallas Urban League CEO Dr. Beverly
Brooks-Mitchell and Rikki Rincon, media relations specialist for the
Latino musical community, Vernon Norris, COO of Silverback Records and
Jonathan Huffman, VP of Silverback Records.
The second session will focus on Hip-Hop Economic Development, Hip-Hop
Political Empowerment and establishing the Dallas-Ft. Worth Hip-Hop
Summit Youth Council. In addition, the Urban Leaguer Def Jam Reader
literacy program and the SITES programs will be highlighted.
Day two of the Dallas Hip-Hop Summit on October 12th will begin with a
9:30am visit to the Dallas Juvenile Detention Center by the D.O.C.,
Russell Simmons, Minister Benjamin Muhammad and other Summit
participants. HSAN believes that hip-hop can help inspire young
people to avoid juvenile delinquency and this visit represents an
outreach effort on the part of those involved.
Following the visit, the program will begin at 11am at the Texas
Academy of Arts & Letters. It will focus on youth voter mobilization
and a Get Out The Vote rally, in conjunction with an appearance by Ron
Kirk, Democratic candidate for United States Senate. In the
afternoon, the NAACP and Rap The Vote will make a special
presentation. The Summit will conclude with the building of an action
agenda by the youth of Dallas-Ft. Worth, declaring their issues and
their priorities which will guide the work of the Dallas-Ft. Worth
Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council.
========================================
The FNV Newsletter c 2002
Send comments to
mrdaveyd@aol.com
peep the websites
www.daveyd.com
www.rapstation.com
