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Saturday, May 28, 2011

RE-VOLT RADIO INTERVIEWS : MOHAMMED YAHYA | MOZAMBICAN POUNDING LYRICAL DRUM


Mohammed YAHYA is a Mozambican born Rapper/Spoken Word Artist who was forced to flee his country of birth during the civil war. Having moved to Portugal - he began to show interest in music & poetry. Being surrounded with tough circumstances, he used music to channel his thoughts & energy in a positive manner.

I have been supporting Mohammed for quite some time now & I admire his talent - moreover his will to do workshops & actually implement what he talks about in his lyrics.
I was very fortunate to conduct a quick radio interview with him for Re-Volt Radio..Check it out below


You can support Mohammed by going to his Facebook Page

Friday, May 20, 2011

Re-Volting | Cultures of Resistance: A Day with Lowkey & Shadia

Cultures of Resistance .. an organization always searching for truth & they do a lot of great work did this quick video with Lowkey & Shadia Mansour. (Artists that I support fully in their quest of delivering meaningful lyrics using their voice & talent)

Mad respect for both..Notice Lowkey's T-Shirt?! #Good Times
Peace & Love

Friday, May 13, 2011

ARTICLE | Systematic Slavery by Sullee J

My Hip-Hop brother Sullee J whom I had the honor of Interviewing (You can check out the audio interview here) is one talented artist. He recently released this track "In the Air" that sheds light on the situation & the up-rises in the Middle East & Africa.

I thought of sharing with you a piece of writing he wrote by the title of "Systematic Slavery"
Check it out & connect with the brother.

Systematic Slavery by Sullee J

I write to those who believe with their ears, and magnify the biases. Those who amplify the tunes of idiocy within their hearts, and are taught by the arrogant, prejudice and misguided. To those who adjust to the current trends, and fall for the fiction that anything displayed on a cable box or mainstream radio is automatically fact. You are what they call a "modern slave". The truth and the public broadcasts are two very opposite forms of information. The former is real, the latter is manipulative. This is what I declare to be "Systematic Slavery", a form of control, or hypnosis. We are living in a commercialized generation that lives by the motto: If it doesn't make "cents", it doesn't make sense. Lies are becoming more valuable than the truth. Who gives whom the right to label and build hate in the hearts of men, women and children, by being judgmental? When did generalizing become acceptable? Isn't categorizing a whole race or religion for the actions of a small minority with no morals, immoral in itself?

It doesn't take a genius to know we are living in a corrupt world and raising a dying breed. We are witnessing a unanimous meltdown of the minds of humanity because we have become lazy. We are the generation that is generating ignorance and selling it for billions. Why is it that we have let the media become God? We are facing a tyranny of the majority by adjusting instead of standing up. We are being led instead of being leaders, by 'living' without 'being'. Just because we do not use the term "slavery" anymore, does not mean slavery has been eradicated. Slavery, like energy, has transformed into a different form of itself. It has evolved into a mechanism which is used by the system in order to make people believe that anything displayed by the mainstream media is true. So that makes me wonder, what is real anymore? Is it the people’s fault? Or is it the fact that the system has deprived its own people and led us to become desperate while forgetting to keep our dignity, identity, and morals. We have forgotten how to be ourselves. We have fallen into the trap of doing whatever it takes, without thinking over things. We have become an impulsive rather than a premeditative society.

The antics, the foolish semantics, and reckless tactics are the reasons behind the outcome of today's world. The false predictions, induced actions, unjust justifications, the biased theories and ideologies are spreading like a cancer. Systematic slavery is the repetitive, manipulative information that the system keeps feeding into the minds of the masses and brainwashing them. In essence, it is an organized way to make the masses believe by presenting a half-truth to mask the underlying deception. The entire media as a whole is not culpable in promoting this falsehood. Honest journalism still exists but many times it is suppressed or rejected for the sake of a half-true sensationally spectacular media story. Many of these reporters feel the pressure to research or promote stories that are improperly or incompletely investigated just to be the first with “breaking news.” Eventually it becomes a “Catch 22” when they compromise integrity for the sake of job security, material wealth, or prestige.

So what can we do? How can we stop and try to help each other wake up instead of just sleeping through life? How can we be ourselves, without having to conform to the dictates of our televisions? How can we resist the temptation of materialism and pay more attention to what really matters? What does ultimately matter? Your deeds when you die; or what's in your pocket that will be left behind? You have to think, research, crave knowledge like you crave acceptance. You have to quit looking for a scapegoat all the time and admit that you are a victim of your choices and actions. I am asking you to learn, think, and know before you believe what is being presented to you as truth. Do not just listen and generalize. Do not just see and ventilate. Do not point without target. Do not just be precise, be accurate. Do not be a slave! If you have a voice, you have a choice, regardless of
what language you speak.

"Abomination" by Sullee J (This poem sums up a few conditions of our current system)

You can tell me I'm wrong, but believe me I'm right,
vocal chord for my people, that's the reason I write
what type of infidel's, sin and tell,
a few men own half the world, and the rest live in hell,
rule makers use make up, rule breakers
are told to get their weight up, punished for crimes some of us never made,
the stories made up,
generalized a whole race, for the ignorance
that power has played, all, so the rounders is paid,
empowered by many in power,
as greed and pride possesses, there pennies get sour,
it's our ego, the subconscious, the conformity, need to fit in
the social norms and enormities, the only peace we getting
is the piece we forced to carry in the streets, corrupt police
torture and bust the cherries of the weak, it's hard to sleep
when even your relatives start varying there speech,
but this is our system, the way we made it,
from the government, mass media, and the game we play with,
this is slavery, that modern day whip,
are we congregated or just stuck on a slave ship
thinking we moving forward,
when there still lynching our minds and calling names quick,
call it systematic slavery,
this is abomination!


--
S.U.L.L.E.E. J. (Society's Undisputed Liberated Lyricist Expressing & Exemplifying Justice)
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www.SULLEEJ.com
www.myspace.com/sulleejrapper
www.youtube.com/xxsulleexx
www.twitter.com/sulleej85
www.reverbnation.com/sulleej

Thursday, May 12, 2011

VIDEO | Operation Lost Art - DJ Lethal Skillz ft. Arabian Knightz | Directed by the One & Only Laith Majali

Shout out to the brothers Arabian Knightz & DJ Lethal Skillz.
The video was directed & Edited by the Talented Laith Majali.
Arab Hip-Hop Stand Up!

Friday, May 6, 2011

TRAILER: Existence is Resistance Presents: Hip Hop is Bigger Than the Occupation

My Hip-Hop family from Existence Is Resistance have been doing great thing to show how hip-hop can be used as a positive tool & as a tool to maybe even help end an occupation.

This is a trailer of a film by E.I.R & my brother Nana Dankwa about a musical tour to Palestine teaching resistance through the arts. Featuring M1 (Dead Prez), Lowkey, Shadia Mansour, Marcel Cartier, Mazzi (S.O.U.L Purpose), DJ Vega Benetton, SWYC, University of Hip Hop, Jody Mcintyre & many more..
Please check their website up for more info