Official Blog of Hip Hop Scriptures - Virtual Hip Hop Museum
There were so many moments to cheer for in the Black Panther film. A happy surprise was that we have multiple heroes and sheroes that we see ourselves in as well
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Let’s talk entertainment. When was the last time you watched a show or listened to something you really felt connected to? Look, I know it’s easy to fall into line with what everyone is talking about or what you see on those not so random Facebook ads but it’s 2018 and it’s been time to change it up. Say hello to The Indie Creative Network (ICN). The digital platform triple-threat stacked with content, a voice and a mission, to show the world that indie creators are here with stories to tell and a fresh point of view that they’re bold enough to share. With Wize Grazette, self-proclaimed indie creator and social entrepreneur, at the forefront ICN is making waves that you’re going to want to ride.
When I was given the opportunity to interview Wize the first thing I did was check out ICN’s website. Once you click on ICN’s website you’re greeted with a clean home screen with three words in all caps: listen, watch, share - three choices that lead you to entire libraries of digital content. All created by diverse voices from around the world. Aimed at the millennial minds and creatives of today. From the Desi Queens behind the Chai Tea Party podcast giving their take on being an Indian woman in America, to the cool Colour Out The Box podcast driven by two Nigerian Women of color in London who showcase their distinctive point of view aiming to inspire and inform their listeners with satire and wit. The sheer amount of content alone is impressive and no two things are the same, and get this it doesn’t stop there. If you’re looking for another show to add to your watchlist, put ICN on your radar. Showcasing Podcasts and Web Series from indie artists, ICN is lifting underground names into the spotlight, and they are good.
With access to a list of series from indie producers like Losing Patience or #BestTweetEver along with numerous others you’ve found yourself a new binge watching candidate.
All of this awesomeness doesn’t just happen. It takes work, experience, and drive to bring something like ICN to the masses. And I would say Wize Grazette, the Owner and Creative Director of ICN, embodies each of those things. Gaining speed from his degree in Web m/ Management and Internet Commerce Wize took his knowledge to his roots, Barbados. As a first generation Bajan-American Wize took the chance to share his talents there, working as a web developer at a digital agency for almost two years. He describes this experience as his first jump into the tech/media industry. He goes on to say, “Taking experiences you get from your previous employers helps a lot. I’ve worked in Corporate America, and both Tech & Marketing industries. I pull from my experience in those industries everyday as an entrepreneur.” It’s true, Wize has covered a lot of ground in what seems like a short amount of time, but with his passion about Digital Media and his community as his driving force, his success is not a surprise.
When I asked him about what brought about his idea for The Indie Creative Network he had this to say: “I wanted to build a community of podcasters like mine. I’m a storyteller. My idea of the network itself is to present a story crafted by all of the unique voices on ICN.” As a former podcaster of his own show, The Encore Radio Show, from 2013-2017, Wize noticed the lack of diversity in the current podcast market and saw an opportunity to make a difference. Using his expertise in web development along with his experience podcasting he took a chance and ventured out to start ICN from the ground up. Wize calls his support system his tribe. What he realized when it got down to it was that his tribe was made up of indie creatives that deserved a chance to be heard. Once he got it started, word of mouth did the rest and ICN was born with a podcast. The digital platform Wize developed has given those who have found their voice an opportunity to share that with an audience and not only does that audience keep coming back, it’s growing. Podcast Co-Working space #ICNStudios in Brooklyn provides a variety of services and resources for local and remote Podcasts and Web Series. Wize calls every artist on ICN a leader: “These are leaders who may not have been groomed to be leaders in the traditional sense. [But] they have leadership skills and they’ve used those skills to speak.”
ICN is not just about entertainment. It’s about community, inspiration, and creativity. It started out as a platform with thirteen podcasts and has grown into a distributive hub of diverse, encouraging faces and voices. Creatives brought together by voicing their unique points of view, spreading a message to their audiences to let them know they are not alone. When I asked Wize where he sees ICN in the future he says, “I think of us as NPR - Public Radio on a global scale, representing a catalog of content from people of color around the world, who accurately provide a narrative for where they are in their lives. No one can do it but them.” There’s no limit to the impact ICN could make on the creative community and the general masses alike. With over 100 thousand regular listeners and a multitude of Global Talk and Music channels ICN is gaining global recognition. And that’s no exaggeration; with shows from multiple countries including India, South Africa and the U.K. it’s no wonder. So do yourself a favor and get into ICN whether you’re a listener or an artist. As part of the audience your options are endless and as a creator you’re setting yourself up for success. You can consider me hooked.
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We may have access to more information than ever before, but we are still a society, by and large, inundated by rules and living in fear. Cardi B has created her own lane. She is not concerned with rules of what you may consider "proper". She does what she wants, says what she wants, and gets what she wants! How many of us can say the same? Most of us are going to school or to jobs that dictate our daily schedule. Where we must follow a code of behavior, dress and speech that may not jive with who we truly are inside. This is why Cardi B has an entire segment of fans rooting for her who don't even listen to her music! Anxious teens concerned about their futures and adults clinging to a past where job security was a given, look to entertainment as an outlet. In this world of perfect headshots, scripted messaging and beauty standards that seem way out of reach, it's completely refreshing to witness Cardi's meteoric rise. She has successfully made a lane for herself in social media, reality television, hip-hop, scripted television, beauty & fashion! She has done so, by being her AUTHENTIC SELF. You may not be a fan, but you gotta admire her courage and her hustle. RESPECT.
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States, and used by African-American slaves to escape into freedom. It was a way to communicate without being detected. Hip-hop has carried on this tradition via using symbolism and subliminals in rhyme.
We should be proud to acknowledge today's hip-hop artists including Chance The Rapper, Metro Boomin and recently in the news, Nicki Minaj and Jay Z have all donated their own money towards helping others achieve educational excellence. Let's take a look at some of hip hop's finest brainiacs.
Here are a few of the most intelligent hip hop artists you have to know in order to get a better understanding of the vast and complex history of hip hop.
From Ice Cube all the way to Chubb Rock these artists have displayed not only their musical talents, but their intellectual capabilities as well.
- As Ice Cube saw more of his friends get killed or sent to jail, Cube became determined to create a better life for himself. After high school, he enrolled at the Phoenix Institute of Technology, where he earned a two-year degree in drafting in 1988.
- Rah Digga was born in New Jersey, and went to study electrical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology after scoring 1300 [out of 1600] on the SATs.
- Despite disapproval from his friends, Ice-T managed to graduate from high school with good grades. Turning normal teenage delinquency on its head, he later admitted to "acting like I was ditching class when I was really ditching my friends so I could slip back to school."
- RZA’s second well-known hobby is chess, and he is a Director of Development and champion of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation.
- Chubb Rock started his own band in New York, but after dropping out of medical college elected to set out on a solo career. Healthcare is still an issue near & dear to his heart, as he has recently been outspoken about disparities in quality of care for minorities.
(photo credit: Roy Medina)
Kendrick Lamar's album 'DAMN' is a book of revelations. While it's packaged as revelations about the artist known as Kendrick Lamar, it's actually overwhelmingly a collection of revelations about African Americans, these United States, and society-at-large. What follows is a track by track breakdown:
This album will be in rotation for years to come - A CLASSIC.
by Staff Writer Nunneh Nimley
If there was ever a time we needed 2Pac it would be now. Not that the community is worse today than it was in the early 90s, with crack cocaine and 12 consecutive years of a republican in the White House. It's much deeper than that, there was something that Pac offered that we haven't seen since. Not only did he have the power and influence to sell millions of units, his way of thinking, ideology, attitude and fearlessness absolutely scared the shit out of white America. That's what hip-hop and black America has been missing since September 13th of 1996.
As it's been said time and time again, Pac was more than just a rapper. It could be argued that he was the most important person of the last 50 years. I don't know anyone I could even put in that category with him. Who else had the power to mobilize those in the streets, suburbs, prisons, music consumers? At the same time having his named mentioned not only in the halls of congress but by former Vice-President Dan Quayle, all before the age of 25.
Today marks the 19th anniversary of his untimely death, but his words and songs are just as relevant today as they've ever been. As you heard on Kendrick Lamar's "Mortal Man" ('To Pimp A Butterfly') it's almost as if Pac was talking about Baltimore. The album was released almost 6 weeks before Freddie Gray's death while in the custody of the Baltimore police, but the audio is over 20 years old. While many artists pray for their music to be seen as "timeless", Pac's thoughts have proven to be just that.
Before #BlackLivesMatter was the "in" thing, Pac questioned aggressive policing by simply stating, "can't make a black life/ don't take a black life". His message is almost inescapable. Content wise, 'Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z." sounds as if it could've been recorded a week ago. Whether it's "Holler If You Hear Me", which plays like a war call for those on the street to rally against those who threaten our well being as people of color. Or "Last Wordz" which features the aforementioned lyrics, he also takes time to inform blacks and Mexicans that we need to be working together and not against one another. Is that not relevant to the many murders that have occurred between black and brown in the past 15 years in Southern California. And of course you have "Keep Ya Head Up", which to this day may be the best dedication track to black women. Reality never goes out style. The truth doesn't change, and that's what Pac's catalogue has working in its favor.
Every few generations we get a culture transcending prophet of sorts, all signs point to Pac as being ours. True he had his shortcomings, but what great man or woman didn't. His many mistakes played out in the public, but where the media tried to demonize him, it only made him that much more lovable. He was experiencing everything those he spoke to/for were going through from being in and out of courtrooms, jail cells, and emergency rooms. The human side of Pac is what he'll be remembered by most. Physically 2Pac doesn't have to be here for his words to serve as life lessons, prophecy never gets old, it gets better.
Hip hop is a young man's sport, if anyone should know that it should be Mel, Moe Dee and Caz. Moe Dee made his name by pulling the exact same card on Busy Bee, in one of the cultures first legendary battle. While Mel was on the wrong side when a then unknown KRS One challenged him in the mid 80s. It's simply the evolution of the art form, while they may need to know who these 3 legends are, the average 20 something year old could care less. That's not anyone's fault per se, so no one should be pointing fingers.
The anger and frustrations of the community were put on display for the world to see, stores were burned and looted. While it was nowhere near the magnitude of LA, it was a reminder to America that you can only push a community so hard for so long until eventually they push back. All news media directed their efforts towards the happenings of Baltimore, and as fate would have it, all of these events occurred within days of the 23 year anniversary of the Los Angeles uprising. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come, or maybe its just a coincidence.
If there’s anyone that ever wants to understand the state of mind of those during a revolt such as the one witnessed in LA some 23 years ago, ’The Predator’ may be the best depiction. The anger is evident, as is the cry for help. Neglect of entire city neighborhoods creates the attitude in which Cube posses throughout the album.
For years before the Rodney King beating, hip hop had been talking about the way young black males were being mistreated by the police departments in their neighborhoods. With the exception of the fans of the art, and those living in those communities, their cries were widely ignored. The most well known track about the relationship, N.W.A.’s “Fuck The Police”, got the attention of the federal government who would send a cease and desist letter to the groups' record label. The news of this only made the group more popular, and to make matters worse, their music was becoming more and more popular in the suburbs.
At the same time another group of citizens headed to the LAPD head quarters downtown. What ensued is something out of movies, officers rallied inside, but were clearly outnumbred. As rocks, and garbage cans begin to fly in the direction of the plated glass windows that extended throughout the exterior of the buildings structure. Residents wanted answers, and if they would not be given, it could gladly be taken in blood.
Throughout my years as a hip hop junkie the NEVER ending debate of who was/is the BEST MC has been the topic of discussion. Wheather it was me and Lil Rob (RIP) arguing who’s better between Mobb Deep or 2Pac, the Grandmaster Caz vs. Melle Mel debates of the early 80s, the Rakim or Kane of the late 80s, or who can forget LL and Kool Moe Dee. Some of these fan rivalries resulted in verbal sparring, but more times than not the battle has been soley faught by the followers of a rapper and not the actual artist themselves.
It's the norm now, but at the time of Illmatic, most rap albums production was handled in house, Illmatic changed that. This was the first album that brought the BEST producers on the east coast and put them on one album. DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, and Q-Tip formed a dream team and there's still room for an unknown producer, L.E.S. to shine bright. He would go on to become a frequest collaborator with NaS throughout the 90s and early 2000s.
