THE AFRICAN AMERICAN: INSTITUTIONS. MIGRATIONS. LIBATIONS.

An installment of African peoples in America, and all social relevance.  Brief in its nature, diplomatic in outreach. A simple 21st century offering of the Diaspora-

zion(ari)

New ebook/essay by Freelance Journalist/recording artist Zion Antoni.
                
                 (click Link)

ARTICLE: ELECTION 2012

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MUSIC IS LIFE P.XVIII : THE STRUGGLE, THE AMBITION

"THE SHINING"-



JAMES YANCEY

1974-2006

Dreams of success and entrepenuarship in the inner city are often driven by the crucibles of economic struggle. America is a capitalist/corporatist country, and in this digital age there probally has not been this many independent artists to flood music since recent years. Extrodinary undiscovered talent lies in the comfort of surburban lofts to the back of housing projects, to even behind prison walls. Every one's reason differ's for their reason to share their portion of the limelight. One of many success story's in this age is Brooklyn's Joell Ortiz(1/4 of "slaughterhouse") In my opinion one the most talented rappers with an ambition and a honest delivery. ICU lab caught the brief hunger shared by many in the inner city and abroad:

'Like indie rock artists, many indie hip hop artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and air play on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some of its more popular artists, however, may end up moving to major labels, though often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success."-

Wikipedia

-The "paper chase" in america is still relevant as the word "grind" takes on many faces. By principle dreams always walk hand in hand with business, good association, hard work and credible exposure. Music is life features Joell Ortiz as an example, Dear God, remixed by a 2008 Barrio nuevo realease tells the concrete roots story of the hunger to shine above circumstance.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

MUSIC IS LIFE PXVIII : THE GRASSROOTS VIEW

"THE MISSION"-

STEPHEN ROBERT NESTA MARLEY





"A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party. For instance, a grassroots movement can lead to significant voter registration for a political party, which in turn helps the state and national parties. "-

wikipedia




"Movement for Justice in El Barrio was founded by immigrants and low-income people living in East Harlem, New York City. It is part of the fight against the effects of neoliberalism and discrimination in all of its forms and operates on a commitment to the ideals of self-determination, autonomy and participatory democracy."-

Wikipedia


The above examples are two grassroots initiatives, one from the late 60's and within the last 10 years. The grassroots perspective is one of radical social change, most of the time in relation to politics; also in any industry, through clothing, film (indie) and within these times exceptionally music. Clothing line's like my brother Neguswear(Johwell baptiste), advocate social change, self-actualization and empowerment, as told by the CEO himself:




-The grassroots is politically left-wing(republic,democratic) in nature. Notably this theme is taking root and expanding in america and abroad for people to voice their views on the progress of politics, issues, and media. Artists/musicians play a major part in the grassroots movement. One collective as filmed by the Negus camp for peace day 9/21/10. We also close with a feature track from M1 of dead prez, feat Stormi james and canada's leading artists K'naan.





THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

MUSIC IS LIFE P. XIV: PHARMEKIA CULTURE

"THINGS FALL APART" -


TARIQ TROTTER(BLACK THOUGHT)



"In the early 1980s, the majority of cocaine being shipped to the United States, landing in Miami, was coming through the Bahamas and Dominican Republic.[1] Soon there was a huge glut of cocaine powder in these islands, which caused the price to drop by as much as 80 percent.[1] Faced with dropping prices for their illegal product, drug dealers made a decision to convert the powder to "crack," a solid smokeable form of cocaine, that could be sold in smaller quantities, to more people. It was cheap, simple to produce, ready to use, and highly profitable for dealers to develop.[1] As early as 1980, reports of crack were appearing in Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Houston, and in the Caribbean."-



Wikipedia

In ancient text there is a reference to an age or dispensation of history: the "Age of Pharmekia(Greek)". Between the stone walls of american history, from opium to meth, street drugs is clearly the greatest commodity next to industry and natural resources. From mass political distribution, to the social unrest and monopoly of ghetto street corners; street drugs issue a fleeting high, or the devastation of a community for blood money. The culture of pharmekia is one major stream in a an capitalist/corporatist society, and globally:

"Beginning with the Iran-Contra Affair, some politicians and journalists began arguing that the CIA contributed to the rise of the epidemic. Allegations ranged from the presence of drug ties to the Contra rebels, to possible direct involvement in drug trafficking by the Contras and even members of the CIA. The exact degree of awareness and involvement on the part of the CIA itself continues to be disputed. However, on April 17, 1986, the Reagan Administration released a three page report acknowledging that there were some Contra-cocaine connections in 1984 and 1985, arguing that these connections occurred at a time when the rebels were "particularly hard pressed for financial support" because U.S. aid had been cut off."-



Wikipedia







-"The love of money..is the roots of all evil", the culture of pharmekia is hand and hand with this ahporism. One example of what proves this is the current crisis of mexico; one society in an upheavel resorting to merciless acts to rivals, and the innocent in the conflicts of its leading drug cartels. Street Drugs is an international major commodity in every country..with the united states being one of the world's main purchasers. We conclude with Immortal technique telling the story through a image laced song.."Peruvian Cocaine".




THEE URBANPREISTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010.

LANGUAGE OF ONE P.XIII: VANCOUVER LIGHTS

"ITS INHERITED IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY"-

WILLIAM MICHAEL GRIFFIN(RAKIM ALLAH)

Vancouver(/væn.ˈkuːvər/) is a coastal city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is named for British Captain George Vancouver, who explored the area in the 1790s. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from Coevorden, a city in the Netherlands

Monday travels up north to vancity; a unique city that holds its own identity who has treasured the influx of hip hop. Each diverse community in vancity tells its

own story,with hip hop being 100% condusive to the socialogical aspect; from graffiti to the music. As told by my brother and producer/DJ "Steps nessacery", vancity has its own testament. The word according to the foundations of hip hop:

- Common Cyhpa

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

LANGUAGE OF ONE P. VI: THE ROTTERDAM JOURNAL

I don't feel like I need to preach to the world or nothing like that. I just feel like I share what I say, and if listeners get it, they get it. And I never underestimate the audience's ability to feel me. -

Erykah Badu






"Rotterdam (pronounced /ˈrɒtərdæm/; Dutch [rɔtərˈdɑm] (help·info)) is a city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 603,425 as of March 2010. The greater Rotterdam area, best known as 'Rotterdam-Rijnmond'/'Rijnmond region' (Rijnmond is to be literally translated as "the Rhine's mouth", referring to Rotterdam's location at the end of the Rhine-delta and its economic position as Europe's main port) contains around 1.3 million people (by some standards it rather approaches 2 million inhabitants). It forms the southern part of the Randstad, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of 6.7 million;"em>

"Rotterdam has had a rich hiphop music scene since the early 1980s. It is also the home of Gabber, a type of hardcore electronic music popular in the mid-1990s, with hard beats and samples. Groups like Neophyte and Rotterdam Terror Corps (RTC) started in Rotterdam.


The main cultural organisations in Amsterdam, such as the Concertgebouw and Holland Festival, have joint forces with similar organisations in Rotterdam, via A'R'dam. In 2007 these organisations published with plans for co-operation.[9] One of the goals is to strengthen the international position of culture and art in the Netherlands in the international context. "-

wikipedia
The international context: such as the case of today's
feature artist who beyond their natural dialect communicates their mindset, struggles and culture through music. Language of one visits the city of rotterdam, netherlands; where the grandiose ediface is countered by a stream of hip hop politically, mentally and socially charged. Influenced by the U.S wave of politically and street conscious groups as killarmy, affiliates as black market militia, immortal technique and others, the movement of the voices of rotterdam harness their own talent to communicate to the world their struggle and culture:

One artist, ciph barker and other conglomorates have extended to international borders. He has worked with black market militia, killah priest and many others he has served with production through his team "Gods wrath". Peep some of the highlights, reflections U.S hiphop culture and the voices of the netherlands.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP 2010.

THE LANGUAGE OF ONE P. IV: ISLAM IN AMERICA

“Something the Lord Made.”-





Mos Def


"Estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.2 billion worldwide and 1.1 to 7 million in the U.S. 3 About 21% of all people on Earth follow Islam. The religion is currently in a period of rapid growth.
Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It is followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remained stable for decades. If current trends continue, Islam will become the most popular world religion sometime in the mid-21st century."-

www.religioustolerance.org


"The Qur’an (pronounced [qurˈʔaːn]; Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qur’ān, literally “the recitation”) is the central religious verbal text of Islam,[1] also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Qur’ān, Koran, Al-Coran or Al-Qur’ān. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the verbal book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic verbal text to be the final revelation of God."-

wikipedia


By observation, there has never been a time in history where islamic culture and religious structure has taken center stage as this. Thursday gives grassroots educational insight apart from mass media stream of "jihad"(holy war), and global terrorism. The brief documentry on traditional islam is the foundation of many branches of its religious sects; from sunni, shi'ite, N.O.I(nation of islam, louis farrakhan, malcolm x) and the nation of gods and earths(5% nation).


-In conclusion we host a double feature of legendary hip hop group brand nubian's sadat x; words on his upcoming "wild cowboys" p.2 album in an recent interview, along with a recent song produced by pete rock.










Interview With kdhx
Turn it Up (feat. Pete Rock) (CLEAN)

STREETS CONSCIOUSNESS P.VIII HEART OF THE CITY

"When i say im livin' large all you see is the struggle, when i say im still thuggin all you see is the trouble"

~Aint mad at cha

- TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR



The muscle, milestones and misunderstanding's of the urban experience. Words fitly spoken by the late tupac amaru shakur, describing the collective ideal of many seeking financial success and holistic wealth; exceeding mental and social barriers. Notably in the urban plight, the portrait of minority's are often stained with negative sterotypes; to overshadow the means of struggle and the intent of the people thereof:



"This is all God's plan it was meant to be, gotta handle that mentally, and i cant let the stress get the best of me"-


Bronx NY Artist

Clap Cognac "My fate"

www.reverbnation.com/clapcognac



"Dudes never real right, family's never real tight that world thats existing around me's like a surreal life"-

Brooklyn NY Artist Liaison "Mommy's baby"

www.professionalhits.com

-Two lyrics reflecting personal outlook, and social conscious. Most standard classification of genre's via hip hop through the screen of pop culture, means of capitalism and stereotypes at times also cloud the voices of artists who seek to communicate, clearly to the people. The late keith "guru" elam , starting at a formative transition of hip hop during the late 80's, has shown ultimate progression as an legendary artist; with his group gangstarr, and post the active gangstarr years he sought to be progressive; both in content and buisness, even unto his passing as stated in the last interviews:


- We close with indepth understanding; as shot by bronx new york's upcoming video/film director Jayonez, CEO of money shot films. Peep extrodinary footage as told by independent artist Ques, E.Daney, and an exclusive single lead by mysonne, d.o.t. and Brand nubian's Sadat X.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP