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.

Ninoy Brown:  The Bay, NY, or LA?

Rocky Rivera:  The Bay to live, NY to work, and LA to play.  If I could, I’d live in all 3.

How has your experience as a Hip-Hop journalist assisted you as an emcee?

Being a writer,  you have to adjust to the medium that you’re using.  It hindered me in a sense that I was too focused on being grammatical that I wasn’t able to let loose in the studio, and I was writing bars back to back without giving myself breathing room.  It helped because I was aware of the process that it takes “behind-the-scenes” to get -noticed.  As a journalist, we receive hundreds of music submissions every day, so you really need to stand out in order to get noticed, whether its in your press release, your approach, or your music itself.  That definitely gave me an advantage to think of the “audience/readership” rather than simply making music and hoping that people “get it”. Plus, I kill it on these Q & As *wink*

As a member of the Love/Hater movement, would your Rocky Rivera persona categorize herself as a “gangster of love”?

In the Love/Hater Movement, I’m not just a client, I’m also the PRESIDENT!  Rocky Rivera, the persona, is the ultimate “Gangster of Love”, one that knows the rules of Love and War, plays them to her advantage, and uses her femininity to restore balance to the world.  There are no victims around here! Rocky is very much in charge.

What bugs you about being labeled a dope “female rapper” or a dope “rapper for a female?

At the end of the day, female rappers can’t just “do them” because there are layers of expectations that other people have that they, themselves, need to be aware of, so they don’t play into the superficial stereotypes.  I just want to be treated as an equal - not be compared to other “female” rappers or be compared to the million-and-one wack male rappers to prove that I am better than them.  I’d like to get on a track with some of the best, gas them, and not have to have them be cognizant that there’s a lady on the track.  I want them to be afraid to go after me like they are with their male counterparts.  I also have the ability to speak to everyone, if they listen closely.  It’s not that my music is geared to women, it’s just more inclusive of the woman’s perspective, which in Hip Hop, has been greatly absent since the 90s.

Are there any questions from writers that you hate getting asked, as a rapper, that you had asked other artists when you interviewed them?

“How do you feel about the State of Hip Hop?” or “How did you get your start?”.  I realize that these are the gatekeeper questions, but the answers are already predictable, and most annoyingly, too open-ended.  It also reeks of inexperience, and quite-frankly, lack of research.   The best interview questions I have are from those who have been following my work and already know my history.  But even if you don’t, at least look me up before you ask!

***Bonus question:  If you could/had to hang out with one “Jersey Shore” cast member, who would it be and why?

Pauly D.  He just seems like the laid-back type.  Snooki would be my second choice because she seems fun, but too trashy to roll with.  Me and my crew keep it 100!

If you are in the Bay Area, make sure to check out Rocky Rivera’s album release party this Wednesday at Milk.

-Ninoy Brown

Amidst stories about Apple’s iPad and how Chris Matthews forgot Barack Obama was Black for an hour came one significant piece of news that I am pretty certain will not earn coverage on any major news channels, the passing of social historian, Howard Zinn.

“Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo dies at 87″

During my first year of community college, attended at Merced College, I was fortunate to take History 17B with Amerjit Johl.  It was in that class, where I was required to read A People’s History of the United States.  Howard Zinn’s book about the social history of the United States, documenting the plight of the people and the oppressive nature of imperial countries, flipped my perspective on history.  All I knew prior was history filled with white faces with a sprinkle of color.  This was the book that introduced me to the existence of the Philippine-American War.

I will forever be grateful to Johl for requiring us to read Zinn and to Zinn for writing such an important book.

The passing of Howard Zinn is a huge loss for progressives.  But Zinn inspired generations of students who have since decided to rewrite their own history.

Dave Zirin: Howard Zinn: The Historian who Made History

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” -H.Zinn

-Ninoy Brown

One week since my most recent cleanse, and I feel de:colon:ized.

I have many reasons why I’ve chosen to follow Stanley Burrough’s suggestions.  It challenges western medicine.  To help me get rid of all the toxins that we pollute our bodies with.  To reset my system.  For self-discipline.  Among various other reasons.

I really don’t blog much about health and this type of stuff, but since friends keep asking me about the cleanse, I thought putting up some info on the blog might help.  With that,

Ninoy Brown’s 3 Rules of the Master Cleanse:

1. Read the literature.
Know the pros and cons.  The master cleanse is going to feel like crap before you reach that state of zen that many people describe.  The first two days, when your body is going through detox withdrawals, will probably feel the worst.  It won’t feel as bad as an addict suffering through heroin or alcohol withdrawal.  You’re basically putting your body through a food detox, so you will feel the effects of it going through food withdrawals.  Learning about what your body is going through helps you to really get in touch with what’s going on internally.  We are often too disconnected to our bodies, which is why we poison ourselves with processed food-like substances [2].

2. It is not a diet; it is a fast.
Yup.  Not much else to elaborate.

3. Know your intentions.
If you’re doing this to lose weight, you’re chances of success drop 90%.  That’s not a scientific research-backed statistic, but from my experience, it’s too fickle of a reason to put yourself through the experience.  I strongly suggest folks to think about why they want to go through a 10 day fast.  It’s not as though one reason is more noble than the other, but more so that if your intentions are purely superficial, I can almost guarantee that your experience will be negative.

This isn’t an end all be all list, but just some suggestions that I notice myself repeating to friends who just ask me about the recipe.

I also don’t believe the master cleanse is for everyone.  Folks who are anemic probably shouldn’t try to go 10 days with only lemon juice, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, and water as your only form of sustenance.

The master cleanse is a process.  As mentioned, it gets you understanding your body and how it reacts to food.  You’re either going to have a blissful experience or a really crappy (no pun intended) one.

Hope this helps.

[1] Please ignore the inherent privilege associated with the lady in what appears to be a Whole Paycheck Foods.

[2] Word to Michael Pollan.

More:

Interview I did with The Grouch about the master cleanse in Oh Dang!’s print issue: flip to page 37.

The Master Cleanse (pdf)

The Raw Food Site - Master Cleanse

-Ninoy Brown

Premiering tomorrow night, January 19, 2010 on PBS, Copyright Criminals:

Featuring a shopping list of some of my most respected musicians and journalists.

Copyright Criminals

-Ninoy “prayers to Haiti” Brown

I’m as irate as the next boxing fan for the failure of a mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on March 13.  Had the fight taken place on that date, boxing history would have been made.  Pay-per-view records would have been shattered. Not to mention that rarely do boxing fans ever get to witness the top pound for pound fighters meeting in the squared ring.  Witnessing the buzz that surrounded the possible venues could easily have battled that of city bids on the Olympics.

But enough of wondering about “what ifs”.  The fight could still take place, just not on March 13.

The newly signed fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey does not garner the same spectacle that the originally proposed fight received.  It’s still a great fight, nonetheless.  I’m not hyped just cause Josh Clottey looks a lot like Brian, my neighbor who lived across the street from me growing up, but it makes sense:

1. If Pacquiao wins this fight, it will have been two serious fighters that Mayweather had dodged, with the first being Cotto.  Who’s PBF going to fight now?  Matthew Hatton?  Paulie Malignaggi?  I doubt there will be a contender PBF will take as competitive as Clottey.  Pipe dreams are the only locations where we’d see PBF take on someone like Paul Williams.

2. Clottey is a serious welterweight contender.  Many debate whether Cotto won the fight with JC.  I saw the fight as a JC victory.  JC should have done more in the later rounds, but he was clearly not beaten as bad as Cotto.  A victory over Clottey would surely demonstrate Manny’s position as a top welterweight.

3. It’s going to be an exciting fight.  Clottey engages.  He won’t present the great defense boring cautiousness that PBF is known.  JC is a counter puncher with a different type of defense.  His movements aren’t the swift and evasive type that PBF provides, instead, he has an exceptional blocking game.  Take a look at post fight pictures after Cotto fought Clottey and compare the two’s faces.  Manny can prove tons by winning JC.

4. None of us really know what took place in the negotiations with Manny and PBF, but who knows how much longer it would have taken.  We should be pleased that Manny is at least fighting during the first quarter of 2010.

5. He’s not Paulie Malignaggi or Yuri Foreman.  The “Jersey Shore” reject, Paulie M, would have made no sense being that he got technically knocked out by Ricky Hatton.  As for Yuri, do you remember his undercard fight before Pacquiao-Cotto? Exactly.  We all want to erase that and the other boring undercards from our memory of that card.

My only real problem with this match up is the threat it poses to Pacquiao.  As hyped as I am about an entertaining boxing match, there is a real danger that Manny could lose, which would gravely end the discourse of a Mayweather bout.

-Ninoy Brown

Someone should have made a bet with me, going against my steadfast position that this mega-fight would ultimately take place on March 13.  No sensible, capitalist-minded fighter [1] could pass up a $50 million pay day.

Apparently, I was wrong: “Fight Off”

In the end, apparently egos >>> money, the sport, fans, history

How poetic how I still see “Money” as the one to blame in all of this.  This isn’t the first time Money May has been known to duck fighters: Mosley, Cotto, Margarito, Williams, etc.  Instead, recent history has shown him go for outclassed/overmatched opponents [2].  Now we see him making unfounded accusations of steroid and human growth hormone abuse because Pacquaio broke records unheard of in boxing.  Could these accusations simply come as a result of Pacman breaking Asian stereotypes?  Possibly.

An article, that I’ve been scouring the internet, quoted Arum discussing Manny’s jump in weight classes.  Unfortunately I can’t find the piece, but to summarize it: give a malnourished street kid food, and he’ll grow.

As much as I’m blaming Money May for being too shook to put a blemish on his perfect record, I still have to put some blame on Pacquiao’s team.  It is easy to call out Manny for not owning up to the accusations and just agreeing to blood tests, but in the psychological chess game that is involved in the sport of boxing, Floyd would have gotten a huge upper hand.  Not to mention possible sponsorship damage.  Top Rank, on the other hand, I hold no remorse.  Arum sipping daiquiris in Cabo during negotiations didn’t do much to illustrate intent on this fight taking place.  The shadiness and incompetence of boxing promoters have offered more fuel for the likes of Dana White to talk.

This fight isn’t just huge for both fighters but for boxing, which is probably the only other thing that beats Hip-Hop’s claim of impending or existing death.  Now because both side failed, we get to read more sports writers talk about boxing irrelevancy.

I’m still sticking to my bet that this fight will happen, regardless of whether it occurs on March 13.  This controversy is just added hype for a possible battle.  Let’s just hope Yuri Foreman and/or Matthew Hatton don’t destroy the potential for a card in late summer.

[1] I guess this point holds some optimism for those of us who’s guts wrenched when we hear about Pac entering politics.  Not sure about the validity, but I overheard he was running on a ticket that was pretty progressive.

[2] No diss to JMM.

*Update: Mayweather blames Team Pacquiao on collapse

-Ninoy Brown

Best use of a 15 second ad space.

-Ninoy Brown

Because, lately, little of my time can be allotted to watching music videos [2], my scope for music videos has been limiting, not just in terms of musical genres.  Randomly, I happened upon a music video from a group that might best be remembered for their quirky video incorporating choreography with treadmills. After just coming across OK Go’s video for “WTF?”, released two months ago, I began to wonder about the technique and which artist might have been the first to use similar effects.

OK Go and Mos’ videos are different on several levels: color, lighting, mood, etc.  The similarity is in the image trail/afterimage technique both use.  But it’s always fun to pick stuff like this apart.  I’m sure comparisons have already been made.

Mos Def - Super Magic:

OK Go - WTF?:

Also, check out the making of video for “WTF?” at Evil Monito.

What other videos are out there like these?

[1] Yeezy, even had his own dilemma with this video when Chairlift’s video for “Evident Utensil” was released, using the same pixelation effects.  He ended up releasing his video ahead of schedule.

[2] Copious amounts of my time is already spent, irresponsibly, downloading music. Irresponsible because academics should trump hearing the latest Jeezy and Lil Wayne collaboration.

-Ninoy Brown

First single and title track for an album nine years in the making.

I don’t really need to say anything aside from: Sade.

It’s already been making it’s rounds and back throughout the internets, but just in case:

-Ninoy Brown