Hip Hop’s New Frontiers: Latin@ Youth, Hip Hop, and Social Justice
(Symposium concept developed by Ana Aparicio, Latino Studies, NYU)
April 9, 2007
5:30pm
41 East 11th Street, 7th Floor, SCA Gallery Space
Sponsors: Latino Studies (NYU), Department of Social & Cultural Analysis (NYU), The Afro-Latin@ Forum
Speakers:
Raquel Z. Rivera (Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College)
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (Clenched Fist Productions)
Leidis Freire Pena (Independent Artist and Hip-Hop Activist)
Loira Limbal (DJ Laylo) (Independent Filmmaker, Artist, Community Organizer, Founder of Liberation Lounge)
Eli Efi (Organizer/Educator at Abevic, Artist, formerly of DMN)
Ariel Fernandez (Independent Journalist, Hip Hop historian, and organizer)
Speaker Biographies:
Raquel Z. Rivera has a Ph.D. in Sociology and is a Research Fellow at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College. She is the author of the book New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone and is presently co-editing an anthology titled Reading Reggaeton.
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, President of Clenched Fist Productions is the Director/Producer of “Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano.” He has an MA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His first feature length documentary, “Inventos,” premiered in Havana, Cuba and has toured in 16 coutnries. He is currently working on a film about Hip Life music in Ghana, West Africa. Eli has been at the forefront of a growing global hip-hop movement and has spoken at Universities around the world.
Leidis Freire Pena is a Poet/DJ/Performer, from Camaguey, Cuba. She became involved in the Cuban Hip Hop movement during it's inception in Havana and helped organize events, community shows, and the Omega Kilay collective. Leidis created the first all-female DJ mixtape and has performed across Cuba as a talented spoken word artist. She has also appeared in such critically acclaimed documentaries as, Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano, Jovenes Rebeldes y Mi Revolution, and continues to be an articulate contributor to Cuban Hip Hop culture. Having recently moved to the United States, she currently resides in the Bay Area in San Francisco.
Loira Limbal (aka DJ Laylo)
Representing the Bronx, DJ Laylo is a pleasant surprise in any music scene. Her unrelenting commitment to good music and rocking the crowd has earned her a reputation for being able to give any venue a house party vibe. Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, her musical selection reflects her upbringing in New York City. DJ Laylo effortlessly blends Hip Hop, Soul, Salsa, House, Merengue, Reggae, and Afrobeat to the delight of partygoers everywhere. She is the co-founder and resident DJ at Liberation Lounge NYC.
Her love of music and turntables, has led her to branch out to DJing for hip hop groups. She is one half of hip hop duo Eli Efi and DJ Laylo which blends banging beats, politics, and a global perspective. Eli Efi is a well-known hip hop pioneer from São Paulo, Brasil. In 1988, he founded the
politically charged rap group DMN and went on to record five albums receiving praise from the hip hop community and music industry alike. The group was nominated for best video and best rap group at the MTV Brazil Video Music Awards, best rap song of the year at the Hutus Hip Hop Awards Festival, and won best music video at the São Paulo Shorts Film Festival. In 2004, he left DMN and now continues his musical career alongside DJ Laylo.
Together, they bring hip hop back to a place where MCs rocked alongside DJs to move the crowd but with an international flavor with LF rhyming in Portuguese and Laylo always finding a way to blend some Samba or Salsa into the brew. They have performed throughout the United States, Brasil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile and have shared the stage with U.S. based artists such as Styles P, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Jeru da Damaja, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Lord Finesse, CL Smooth, Welfare Poets, Hurricane G, David Banner, among many others.
DJ Laylo is also a filmmaker and activist. Since 2001, she has been producing and directing a documentary entitled Estilo Hip Hop, which chronicles the revolutionary Hip Hop movements of Brasil, Chile, Mexico, and Cuba. She has worked at various community-based organizations including The Point CDC, The Dominican Women's Development Center, The Women's Center of Rhode Island, and Sista II Sista. In 2006, she founded The Reel X Project, which is video training program for young women of color in the Southwest Bronx.
Laylo received a B.A. in History from Brown University and is a graduate of the Third World Newsreel's Film and Video Production Training Program. She has received awards from the Bronx Council on the Arts, Open Society Institute, Royce Fellows Society, and the Lisa Sullivan Fund for her work combining arts and activism.
Eli Efi (LF) is a hip hop artist that blends banging beats, politics, and a global perspective. Eli Efi is a well-known hip hop pioneer in Brasil hailing from São Paulo. In 1988, he founded the politically charged rap group DMN and went on to record five albums receiving praise from the hip hop community and music industry alike. The group was nominated for best video and best rap group at the MTV Brazil Video Music Awards, best rap song of the year at the Hutus Hip Hop Awards Festival, and won best music video at the São Paulo Shorts Film Festival.
In 2004, he left DMN and now continues his musical career alongside DJ Laylo. Laylo hails from the South Bronx by way of the Dominican Republic. Together, they bring hip hop back to a place where MCs rocked alongside DJs to move the crowd but with an international flavor with LF rhyming in Portuguese and Laylo always finding a way to blend some Samba or Salsa into the brew. They have performed throughout the United States, Brasil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile and have shared the stage with U.S. Based artists such as Styles P, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Jeru da Damaja, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Lord Finesse, CL Smooth, Welfare Poets, Hurricane G, David Banner, among many others.
A firm believer that jumping on stage and grabbing a mic isn't enough, LF has worked in numerous community based and political projects. He is a member of Abevic, a neighborhood association that uses hip hop culture to work with young people to promote radical change, critical thinking, and cooperative work. They also offer alphabetization classes to adults and elders. Most recently, he was an educator for a series of arts and political education workshops sponsored by Zulu Nation Brasil in São Paulo.
As lead vocalist for DMN, LF became well-known and respected for his hard-line stance against racism, poverty, and injustice. His work has garnished him invitations to different Brazilian states and the U.S. from activists and events producers. During his visits to the U.S., he has performed at many different venues including Propsect Park Bandshell, SOBs, Europa Palace Concert Hall, B.B Kings, Lincoln Center, Rikers Island youth detention facility, among others. Similarly, he has been invited to lecture and facilitate workshops at a number of universities and organizations including: the Open Society Institute Foundation, Sista II Sista, TRUCE, Indiana University, University of Kentucky, Swarthmore, and many others.
Ariel Fernandez (aka Asho)
Havana-born Ariel Fernandez pka Asho is undoubtedly a man on a mission. An internationally renowned cultural critic, Hip Hop historian, journalist, essayist and event organizer, Ariel has distinguished himself as a leader and advocate of Cuban youth culture and social-cultural movements. A widely acclaimed lecturer and proponent of the Cuban Hip Hop movement, Ariel is best described by Vibe Magazine: “Fernandez does everything but rhyme. He's a DJ, radio personality, promoter, manager and journalist. If you want to know everything about Cuban Hip Hop, ask him. His drive and dedication to the movement is relentless.” For many, Ariel is simply seen as a genuine organic intellectual.
Driven by his belief in the power of music to transmit ideas and build community, Ariel started his career as a local DJ in 1996 with a self–made audio system. As DJ Afro, and later DJ Asho, he has DJed in Havana's premier nightclubs and venues, including the landmark Teatro Nacional (National Theater). Determined to further his knowledge of technology, Ariel decided to become a sound engineer, pursued studies in the field, and later went on to work at Radio Ciudad Habana. Disappointed by the exclusivity in mainstream music media, Ariel re-affirmed his commitment to creating a space for new voices, using the rap cubano movement as his tool of choice.
A fiery orator, Ariel presented his vision for inclusive cultural spaces and discussed the importance of Black-centered media at the 4th Annual Cuban Hip Hop Festival, which led to the publication of his spontaneous speech by an intellectual alternative press called El Caiman Barbudo. This article gained national recognition for Ariel’s work as a youth and cultural advocate, making him the first journalist and cultural critic to address rap cubano as a socio-cultural movement, and making Ariel a much sought after voice in Cuban media outlets and popular culture forums. Just as Ariel’s foray into print media began to take shape, producers at Radio Metropolitana offered Ariel a segment called La Esquina del Rap (Rap Corner). This humble attempt at creating an intergenerational dialogue and cultural change through youth culture in Cuba, went on to become the most influential radio program for the rap cubano movement. This, coupled with Ariel’s continued work in print media, led him to interview Hip Hop and Jazz greats, as well as activists from around the world, including Anonimo Consejo, Obsesion, Orishas, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots, Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove, Dead Prez, Tony Touch, Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte. His articles and essays have appeared in magazines such as Salsa Cubana (Cuba), Hip Hop Nation (Spain), In the House (Puerto Rico) and Touch (England). He himself has been interviewed and featured in The Village Voice, The Source, One World, Vibe, Black Book, Trace, Stress, Juice (Germany) and Liberation (France).
In 2000, Ariel was selected by local MCs to become the lead organizer of the rap cubano movement for the Asociación Hermanos Saiz (AHS), a non-governmental (NGO) cultural institution that promotes new forms of artistic expression in Cuba. Ariel was later promoted by AHS to National Hip Hop Promoter, a national title whose responsibilities included producing events, advocating on behalf of the rap cubano movement in national and international cultural dialogues, and serving as liaison to international delegations and visiting artists. In this capacity, Ariel produced hundreds of events, conferences, festivals and shows, including the National Cuban Hip Hop Festival in Havana and the historical performance of Hip Hop band, The Roots, in December of 2002. This work paved the way for Ariel’s role as Founder and Editorial Director of Movimiento, the first and only magazine in Cuba dedicated to Hip Hop culture and contemporary Afro-Cuban issues. As a leading voice in the rap cubano movement and a once enthusiastic radio producer and host, Ariel later created and hosted Microfonazo, Cuba's only national Hip Hop radio program. Merging his innate capacity to organize and mobilize with his keen eye for detail and passion for music, Ariel has also served as co-Executive Producer for three CD compilations: Havana Hip Hop All Stars Vol. 1 (Papaya Records), the first Cuban Hip-hop compilation ever recorded by a foreign label; Latin Flow (Avoid Records); and Con los Punos Arriba (Egrem Records), the first nationally recorded compilation which includes Cuban Hip-hop’s vanguard and most heralded figures.
Since 2005, Ariel has lived in New York City where continues to demonstrate his vision, drive, and love for Hip-hop and the arts as vehicles for creating social change. In just two years, Ariel managed to become a Sales/A&R Representative for underground Hip Hop record label and distribution company Fat Beats Inc.; joined the Board of Advisors of the International Hip-Hop Exchange (IHX) and Planet Hip Hop Festival (PHH) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and co-producing the International Hip-Hop Latino Festival in New York. Ariel is also a long time affiliate of the Black August Project developed by the The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in New York City. He is currently working on writing and film projects, while working to bridge the gap between Cuban and international youth communities.
