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

“Anyone who supports Johannes and our Law Enforcement Officers may attend. This is a PEACEFUL rally to show our support for Johannes, his family, and our law enforcement officers. This was a tragic mistake that occurred while on active duty.”

Three words, FUCK OUTTA HERE. In light of everything happening with the Oscar Grant trials, leave it up to the folks of Claycord (Concord, Clayton, Walnut Creek, Martinez and Pleasant Hill. Notice NO PITTSBURG however.) to engage in cowardice counter protest.

I say cowardice because instead of rallying in support of their supposed victim in places that would matter, such as Fruitvale BART or Downtown Oakland, they instead decide to rally in Downtown Walnut Creek. The set date is for Monday July 19th. As if the socioeconomic and racial undertones weren’t apparent enough. The only thing that would really interest me in all this would be the counter-counter protest.

-MAD

I had the opportunity to give this album a good listen during my brief stint in the Motherland. The Gobots 2: D-boy Era is an amalgamation of what you’d kind of expect in Bay Area post-hyphy rap.

It’s packin’ heavy bass, 80’s based melodies and samples with your expected subject matter consisting of trappin’, getting work off, and D-boy bidness. Of course that’s three ways of saying the same thing, which is exactly what you’ll be hearing in every song.

At the very least, with song titles such as “Play at Your Own Risk”, it’s not hard to tell that this album doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should you. Some of the featured artists that caught my ear were Dru Down, Freeway, Yuk and of course my favorite, HUSALAH HUS (shout-outs to P-world)!

In all, Gobots 2 gets major play in my whip for the summer. Then again I’m a B-boy from Pittsburg  with a thing for 80’s beats and one of the few folks I know still mobbin’ a ‘96 Buick Regal.

-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.

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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.

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May 18, 2010, a trio consisting of microphone fiend, Nomi, and two production wizards, Fatgums and Mister REY, dropped a collective project that asked listeners to hear tales from the perspective of a proletariat nomad. The group: Power Struggle.  The project: Remittances.

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Back at UCSD, the FOBBDeep trio [1] would hold Hip-Hop workshops for various high school conferences: KP, SIORC, APSA, BSU, etc.  In those days, we would brainstormed on how fresh and how live it would be to expand beyond an hour workshop and to hold a full high school conference focused strictly on Hip-Hop.

Fast forward 5 years later, while yours truly is living in the Bay Area, when lo and behold, there I find out that there is a Hip-Hop conference geared towards middle and high school students: Rock the School Bells at Skyline College!!!

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February 5, 2010, The New Parish in Oakland (previously known as Jimmie’s Nightclub) is filled with a diverse range of faces to celebrate and remember the life of Mike “Dream” Francisco.  Three year old’s hit the floor rockin’ their best b-boy/b-girl moves along with veteran popper, Bionic Man.  Older heads recollect their memories of chillin’ and mentoring the legendary graffiti writer,  younger heads recall the pieces he created which inspired them to pick up a can, and his counterparts remembered the escapades.

This Friday had it’s elements of mourning for a legend lost way before his time, not to mention the sadness felt for Akil, Dream’s son, who recently lost his mother, Nikki Sellers, to breast cancer.  Fortunately for Akil, he has a strong community of folks who want to ensure that his future shines bright.

Around midnight of this night, the host of the night made an announcement that inspired the crowd that came to support Dream and his seed: February 17 was officially declared by the city of Oakland as Dream Day.

How fresh is that?  A person once considered a “vandal” becomes recognized by a city for the contributions to the community and has a day recognized for him.

Dream Day is actualized.

More:  Complex Mag - The Dream Lives

-Ninoy Brown

Rocky Rivera, the rapper formerly known as Eyeasage and the writer known as Krishtine de Leon makes her official debut tomorrow, February 2, with her self-titled lp.  Influenced by a character from the literary realm of Jessica Hagedorn, Rocky is the new manifestation and culmination of Krish’s years of artistic grind.  To help promote the album, she was willing to do a quick interview for FOBBDeep, with a bonus question offering “Situation(al)” insight.

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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*

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