That moment last Thursday when I received the first text message from my homie, Dunn: RIP Michael Jackson.  I was in denial, much like the denial many of us felt about Michael throughout the nineties.  TMZ isn’t a credible source, I kept telling myself.  When the second source was NY Post: another sensational publication.  Reality set in shortly after when more renowned news sites corroborated that he had indeed left us.

Maybe it was better this way, for he had seemingly left us a while ago.  The pain that I had was of the tormented individual, a post-racial individual who was also a victim of internalized racism.  No pardon will be made regarding his personal decisions, and it was that struggle that fans had, the dichotomy of his artistry and his personal life.

I am not here to discuss the personal but to remember the symbol that had inspired and the music that will continue to inspire.  My aim was to be original and post tracks that generally get’s less attention than the standard hits, but of course Professor O-Dub was already one step ahead.  Thus, I’ll go ahead and contribute my personal list as Oliver had done:

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We eat, and we eat too much.  And the food we eat consists of junk that could almost normalize Big Lurch’s diet.  From the geneticaly engineered, commodity corn, the beef, chicken, and fish that eat it, to all the processed foods that contain it in some form.

I haven’t jumped on the PETA, reactionary anti-fly-killing tip, but I do understand the means of food production in America is economically and environmentally unsustainable.  Our system of food production is bankrupting farmers, exploiting workers, not to mention making us sick.  Corporations are working with the government to make it possible for us to poison ourselves.

Michael Pollan has recently been invading my library, as he should yours.  Watch this documentary and follow it up by reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.

If this documentary isn’t playing around your hood, or the recession is hitting you hard and have to wait until a clean stream pops up online, peep The Future of Food; it provides an in depth look at genetically engineered food.

Food, Inc. (movie site)

-Ninoy Brown

-Ninoy Brown

With none other than Geologic aka Prometheus Brown as the host.

Daly City, come thru!  Space is extremely limited, but check the KSE site for more info.

Daly City’s KALAYAAN SCHOOL FOR EQUITY proudly welcomes Seattle, WA hip-hop icon and cultural critic, Geologic aka Prometheus Brown, as he shares his overview of Philippine Cinema. Special emphasis is placed on films and filmmakers who have used the artistic medium as a tool to address the socio-political conditions of the country. Geologic will share many examples of Philippine cinema as sites of resistance and lead participants in discussions regarding the history and present state of Filipinos in the film industry.

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In May, UFC 98 featured a light heavyweight bout between Phillipe Nover and Kyle Bradley.  1 minute and 3 seconds into the fight, Nover was caught in a fury of punches, dropped to the mat but quickly regained ground.  Even though Nover appeared capable of continuing in the fight, referee Yves Lavigne thought otherwise and quickly called a TKO in Bradley’s favor.  The fans booed Lavigne’s decision.

Nover, considered by many to be the toughest registered nurse, faced a second disappointing loss in the Octogan; this time it was due to a questionable referee.  While Nover’s losses put a giant dent in his career, profiteer, Dana White, was probably the most disappointed as it placed another road bump in his plans for bringing a UFC fight to the Philippines.

In an interview soon after his The Ultimate Fighter loss, Nover remarked on plans for UFC to capitalize on the Filipino market by bringing a fight to the country.  This business decision reflects a trend seen, more evident in the sphere of professional fighting, whereby Filipinos are being seen as a viable market.  One needs to look no further than the success and marketing strategies being used to “sell” Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has created a platform for many Filipino-Americans to identify with a mainstream figure; he matters.  It is with the loyal following that Pacquiao generated which allows sports industry heads to take notice.

A few weeks ago, Bob Arum, announced that he would not be able to hold a night of Filipino boxing featuring fights with Nonito Donaire and Brian Viloria at AT&T Park due to a scheduling conflict.  Arum acknowledges the strength of the Filipino-American community in the Bay Area, a community that sold out a Filipino Heritage Night for the San Francisco Giants.  It isn’t just in the Bay that these Filipino Heritage nights have generated big turnouts, as they have been successful at ball games in Los Angeles and San Diego as well.

It is evident that fight promoters have taken notice of this market audience.  Aside from this and dancing, what other segments of pop culture do people notice has began to receive a Filipino focus?

On March 7, at his UFC debut, Mark Munoz gave fight archivists footage worthy of being in a UFC top knockouts list.  Unfortunately for Munoz, the knockout came from Matt Hamill’s head kick.  The “Filipino Wrecking Machine” was seen as being too green to enter the UFC, but knowing Dana White’s plans, one wonders whether Munoz’s premature jump was a direct result of an attempt to create another Filipino-American fighting hero.  Folks seem to be quick to pay attention to a segment of the population that they had previously ignored but are now doing what they can to sell us a bar of soap by attaching an eight rayed sun and three stars.

-Ninoy Brown

Another album by a Dante Smith dropped today that was surprisingly decent, but I wanted to showcase an EP by another artist that not enough people know about: Kate Earl.

Kate Earl grew up on a gas station in Alaska with her Dutch/Welsh father and Pinay mother.  Her journey away from Alaska to LA is narrated in her first album, Fate is the Hunter, which offered her soothing vocal abilities.  The first album was more on the folksy/Jewel side but still a great album.

Hip-Hop heads who are familiar with Atlanta rap group, Supreeme, may have heard her voice on the introduction track of their album, Supremacy.

Her new EP, Introducing Kate Earl, which dropped today on iTunes and Amazon, is a more soulful four song project that captures her experimental influences.

I had the opportunity to catch her amazing live performance in LA in 2006, and she sounded as great live as she does on her album.

Peep her acoustic rendition of “Melody”, which is on the the EP:

Kate Earl Myspace

PS. Kate Earl, will you marry me?

*Also, for introducing me to Kate, I have to send a thanks to DJ Norm Rocwell, whose Escape(ism) mixtape sampler you should download.

-Ninoy Brown

I hereby nominate Mark Paul Gosselaar to FOBBDeep’s list of people who are Filipino (or somewhat Filipino) in part for being half-Indonesian. Here’s a clip of Zack Morris on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. This, however, is completely unrelated to Mr. Gosselaar’s Southeast-Asian identity because, as we all know, Zack is actually “Indian,” Nez Perce heritage to be exact as we learned back in the 90’s from Chief Henry.

-Mark

She hits like a girl

For this edition of FoW, we enlist the writing skills of  our friend, Dianne Que.  Dianne works for the nation’s premiere presenter of contemporary and tribal Pilipino art, Kularts. Peep her own blog and cop some of her handmade accessories.

A few weeks ago, Manny Pacquiao solidified his standing as the world’s #1 P4P boxer after handing Ricky the Hitman Hatton a devastating 2nd round knockout, silencing the most raucous of British brass bands. He, along with Pinoy fighters like Nonito Donaire, has garnered the utmost respect in the boxing world and beyond.

While I too revel in the Pacmania, as a female fight fan, its always dope to find women fighters who dominate in their field. MMA’s Gina Carano & Cris Cyborg, Pinay Muay Thai Fighter Christine Toledo, Fight Girls’ favorite-turned-MMA up-and-comer Kerry Vera (married to UFC Pinoy Boy, Brandon Vera), among others have proven that the art of contact sports isn’t just for the boys.

Enter Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton, world-class Pilipina American Boxer.

This 28-year-old Daly City native boasts a 4-1-1 record in her young professional boxing career and is the only female fighter coached by legendary boxing trainer, Freddie Roach, Jr.  She can be seen training at the Hollywood, CA Wild Card Boxing Club furiously hitting the speed bag or working the mitts with Coach Roach himself. In the ring, she applies constant pressure while remaining elusive, a style she employed during her solid amateur career. Though her last professional fight ended in a loss against the Dominican Republic’s heavy-hitter, Dominga Olivo, the Hurricane’s professional career remains promising with her formidable power and fierce determination, along with an unmatched training team in her corner.

Besides Pacquiao and Julaton’s shared heritage and trainer, I’m amazed by something else these fighters have in common - a deep humility, kindness, and all-together cheery disposition outside of the ring. While the Pacman can swiftly and decisively light up Ricky Hatton or toss Boxing’s Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya into retirement, he can also humbly, ecstatically, and goofily profess, “It’s nothing personal, I’m just doing my job!” Similarly, Ana Julaton’s good looks, bright smile and politeness don’t immediately convey her knock-out power. While these traits definitely make Paquiao and Julaton more “likeable” fighters, I can’t help but theorize that since the colonial days of the “happy native/little brown brother,” Pilipinos have possessed the exceptional ability to disorient their opponents with charm, modesty, and charisma, yet at the drop of a dime slice their throats open with a bolo. Fascinating.

There’s no news of her next bout, but Ana The Hurricane Julaton - a fly, don’t-take-no Pinay competing at a high level in a male-dominated sport - is definitely one to watch out for. So, to answer the double-edged question often asked by my male counterparts, “Is she good?,” the answer is 1) YES, she’s cute, and 2) YES, she will kick your ass.

More on The Hurricane:
1)    Comcast Sportsnet Interview
2)    Summary of Ana’s Boxing Career at 15rounds.com

-Dianne Que

B-Boys, B-Girls, B-People.  Those of us who came up on the West-Coast scene have known about one of the rawest Hip-Hop events: Freestyle Session.

The first FSS I attended was in 2003 for the 7th edition and it was wild seeing all these cats I was used to watching in videos wrecking cyphers.

Each year brings its own elements and freshness, but watching the Freestyle Session 5 VHS my senior year of high school bugged me the f*ck out.  Reveal and the rest of Rock Force/Rhythm Bugz were just nasty.

-Ninoy Brown

Mastaplann - Tumalon at Sumayaw

Mastaplann - Manila I’m Home

Inspired by the track from Mark’s last post.

Around the time I was in fifth or sixth grade, my older brother came home with a tape he borrowed from our friend, Brian.  A rap tape by a Filipino American crew from Long Beach: Mastaplann.  Consisting of two emcees: Type Slickk and Tracer One and three djs: Sonny Abad, DJ Mod, and DJ Lopi.

8 tracks of Pinoy rap on a self-titled ep. Not the greatest lyrical mastery ever conveyed, but I was around eleven at the time so it was dope to me. Listening back to some of these tracks, I notice the Naughty by Nature impression with some cuts [1], especially on an extremely cheese-filled positivity track called “Fix da World Up”.  At the time it wasn’t about all of this.  I just kinda thought it was cool to hear some Filipinos rapping.

“Tumalon at Sumayaw” is laced with a simple break and offers a typical party sound from the period.  It’s basically a “Jump Around” for Pinoys, unfortunately for Mastaplann it never became the Pinoy anthem that House of Pain were able to create for the Irish.  The second track posted, “Manila I’m Home”, is your balikbayan song, with reflections of the home land.  Jeepney honks and 70’s era Manila disco group, Hotdogs, give the listener more effect.

At that time, aside from some Andrew E stuff, this was the only other known example I had of Filipinos rapping.  I honestly never knew of Francis M until I heard of his passing.  I guess I should be more knowledgable about this scene, but you can blame it on a prejudice I had, thinking that Filipino rap wasn’t good.

[1] Ironic, considering the OPP/Tony D (RIP) situation.

*bonus track: Hotdogs - Manila

-Ninoy Brown-