also known as Sugar Pie DeSanto.

Last Thursday, NPR’s “Fresh Air” aired a fresh little piece on the legendary soul singer highlighting Go Go Power: The Complete Chess Singles 1961-66.

Sugar Pie DeSanto: After 50 Years, ‘Go Going’ Strong

If you know don’t know about this spirited Filipino and African American wonder from the ‘Moe (and even if you do), listen to it and watch the mentioned performance at the 2008 Pioneer Awards where she showed that she’s still live and filled with energy into her 70s.

-Ninoy Brown

It’s that time of year once again! This Daly City b-boy jam started back when I was in high school and it’s still going strong into the 2K10 era. Throughout the years the event has seen it fair share of changes, just as the aesthetics of the War Memorial they decide to hold it in. But still always representing that Daly City youth, Breakers at War has grown to mean something special to the community that it represents. ALL proceeds will be going to support Daly City After School Programs.

Come out to the War Memorial at Top of the Hill Daly City/Mission this Saturday and watch some b-boys get down and battle it out. Along with that there are going to be some very special showcases: DJ Swiftrock, Doc Lock, Donny Boogaloo and the list goes on. Have some food, be entertained and then go ahead and have you some good ol’ hip-hop fun.

More detailed info…

-MAD

Food trucks are all the craze.  The flavor of the month.  Unfortunately some of those flavors are overpriced and overhyped.

What sparked off with the Korean taco truck, Kogi BBQ [1] tweeting their ever changing location, became Los Angeles infested with others following suite.  Many trucks utilizing the cringe inducing fusion of cultural dishes were met with foodies willing to try out spots that were discovered through Twitter.

I’ve had my fare share of Los Angeles based food trucks, with Asian Soul Kitchen being my current GOAT pick.

But now the Filipinos are getting in the mix.

(more…)

Recently, a personal mission of mine has been to scour for Pinoy funk.  Music from the Philippines, as well as from Filipinos living abroad.  Having been exposed to more funk recently, since I’ve surrounded myself with lockers and boogaloo style dancers, I’ve been wanting to expand beyond Kano’s “I’m Ready” and Herbie Hancock’s “Ready or Not”.  Rather than deciding to make this task easy for myself, why not create a challenge and find some funky ass Pinoy cuts?

The latest discovery: a pre-gentrified SF Mission District funk group named Dakila.

(more…)

Around 10pm last night, I got a text from a friend asking me if I caught the new episode of 30 Rock.  Another possible Filipino reference.

In search of Christmas presents for his family, Tracy Jordan goes to Yakov’s Nubian Bling Explosion.  Noticing a “one of a kind” gold chain, Tracy discovers the “EGOT” chain.  Worn by Philip Michael Thomas, of Miami Vice fame, it was produced in hopes of becoming the quadruple entertainer threat by winning the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.  Tracy being Tracy, buys the chain and wears it throughout the show in hopes of his dream of getting an “EGOT”.

Some might be wondering why the hell a connection to Filipinos is being made…  In Filipino slang, the term “egot” is derogatory term short for “Igorot”.  The term “Igorot” has negative connotations because of it’s use as a racialized and colonized name ascribed to indigenous groups in the Cordillera region of the Philippines.  Because of the dark skin that is associated with “Igorot” groups [the more PC term would be to identify the specific tribal names (ie: Ifugao)] Filipinos used “Igorot” as a demeaning term for any individual with darker skin.  Being that many Filipinos possess a colonized mentality that devalues darker skin color, “Igorot” or more specifically, “egot”, might be considered to be a Filipino equivalent to the “n-bomb”.

Another thing to consider is that  in the show “EGOT” was an acronym, used on the show to appropriate a negative word for something else.  This gets one to think about the acronym of “Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished” which flipped another derogatory term.  A stretch?  Perhaps.  But it’s worth noting.

Coincidence?  Considering the controversy that ensued when Jack Donaghy made a joke about Filipino mail order brides and the numerous other Filipino references, there has to be some sort of Filipino connection to the television show.

A Filipino writer?

I’ve been scouring the internet almost all night trying to find some information that would prove this to be the case.  My research turned up unfounded.

Or maybe the writer’s just have some Filipino friends.  Maybe that would explain the giant fork and spoon that hangs in Liz Lemon’s office:

*Update:  A Facebook response in regards to the term “igorot” from Sharon:

“Igorots do not have dark skin. They are actually fair and Filipinos in the low land areas envy their pinkish/reddish cheeks. The negative stereotyping of Igorots has more to do with “savage” practices that others associate with them until now (such as head-hunting especially with the Bugkalot tribe). Never was it on skin color. The indigenous group in the Philippines that were “racialized” because of dark skin is the Aeta, Ita, Dumagat.“

Also, I came across this piece from PinoyLife, Tracy Morgan Wears an EGOT Necklace on National TV.  Apparently Tubbs actually had dreams of obtaining an EGOT back in the ’80s.  Though, even with this, I think it’s still too coincidental that there’s so many other references.  I mean, giant fork and spoon?

-Ninoy Brown

PeliKULa! Pin@y Film Series
First Sundays of the Month
Dim the lights, silence your cell phones, butter your popcorn, sit back and relax as Kularts presents its first Pin@y Film series featuring works by today’s leaders in cutting-edge Pin@y cinema.

Bayanihan Community Center 1010 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103
5pm, Sun OCT 4
Art for Social Change (Documentaries)
Admission: $7
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79743

*Add $3 to your admission at the door, and we will donate that $3 directly to relief efforts in the Philippines*

(more…)

While I was on my “holiday” in Australia over the summer (the reason for my personal hiatus on this blog), I learned many things about Aussie culture, as well as patterns of that Filipino diaspora that I believe is very important for us to study.  For one, I had learned that some English speaking countries, Australia and Canada being two, the letter “z” is pronounced “zed”.

I never thought of asking, but how would “Jay-Z” be pronounced?  When the rumors about Jay being part Filipino due to that line he spit about Foxy Brown, did Filipino “Filo” Aussies proudly proclaim, “Jay-Zed is half Filo!”?

When the above image hit television screens of Jay’s mouth droppin’ like he saw boxing history, it became redemption for us after we found out that Hov was not Filipino.  A track on the upcoming subpar, Blueprint 3, took it one step further and shouted Manny out in a line:

“Name keep poppin up/Face keep poppin up/On the tube, Im just watchin’ Pacquiao box ‘em up”

Hov - “Thank You”

-Ninoy Brown

The illustrious Eyesage, aka Krish, unleashed a little teaser for her upcoming project, Rocky Riviera, via a music video for her track, “MRSHMLO”.

Fresh.

-Ninoy Brown

Composed and created by Mark Villegas, a scholar with his own blog covering the gamut of Filipino-American Hip-Hop and ABDC, Hip Hop Mestizaje: Racialization, Resonance, and Filipino American Knowledge of Self, is a short documentary on the topic we love to cover on FOBBDeep: the intersection of Hip-Hop and Filipino American identity.

While sharing the stories of several Filipino voices who have been embedded within the Hip-Hop scene, Mark highlights a community that has been well represented in the scene for quite some time.  Featuring interviews with individuals such as Kuttin Kandi, Geologic, Paulskee, Basic, and Alfie Numeric, a non-West Coast-centric viewpoint that showcases a varied yet collective experience.

Peep:

-Ninoy Brown

Guest column: The homie, Zoneil Maharaj, is the editor-in-chief of Oh Dang!. He is a high school writing coach through the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism’s Prime Movers program.

Eric Subido, A.K.A. Emassin, recalls his early days rapping in his bedroom at 10 years old: “It was ‘mother f—–’ this, ‘mother f—–’ that, ‘N-word,’ ‘N-word.’ My dad walked in like, ‘Is this what you want to be, huh?” Back then, the young Filipino American’s answer would have been emphatically, “Yes!” Today, as a 27-year-old grad student, the answer is no.

He’s tried making the radio hit, he’s done the music industry networking, tap dancing and jumping through the hoops. These days, he just does himself, rapping whenever he feels inspired while volunteering at a homeless outreach organization and working with youth in San Francisco’s neglected Visitacion Valley neighborhood.

We caught up with him to discuss his latest album, keeping his work and music separate, and the use of the N-word amongst his peers.

(more…)