The weekend of July 17 was a heated one!
Sir Mix-A-Lot won an award for community service from Tony B. of Musica (see "Hip hop awards handed out in Columbia City," page 2). The award praised him for record sales and for his outstanding service and commitment to community. Congratulations Mix!
Still, many questioned the voting process and made accusations of rigging the vote in his favor: isn't that how Bush was elected?
When the smoke cleared, it turned out people had a lot to say about the glass ceiling that Black artists from Seattle find themselves trapped beneath. Here's what some of the voices of reason had to say about the situation:
"This is the thing, most of us are minorities, and minority business owners. And unfortunately Seattle is not a very diverse place, and Seattle is not a hip hop city."
-Atilah; Liquid City.
"[Sir Mix-A-Lot ] was especially right about being united instead of divided, which is where all these e-mails seem to be headed."
-DJ Funkdaddy.
"Stop being a crab in the pot ... push someone else out and hope they reach down when they're at the top."
- Biggz; Three 6 Oh.
"It is really a shame that artists from all over can come here, tour, and sell records? We should be able to go to other cities and enjoy the same success. This will be the case, until we change it."
-Jace; Silent Lambs Project.
"Remember, it's a Northwest movement! Don't be scared to speak out."
-E-Dawg.
Everybody had a lot more to say, but let us say this, dRED.i Movement will work with anyone who is serious, disciplined, and has a tight sound.
It is this unity that will save us as artists, and as a community, from what's coming.
And what is coming?
The "writing on the wall" for hip hop is Reverend Al Sharpton's meeting with Michael Powell of the Federal Communications Commission to discuss ways to censor artists; law enforcement's infiltration of various hip-hop scenes around the country (as documented in the Village Voice and The Source); and Reverend Craig Lewis, who led an estimated 2,000 people in burning CDs - all of them hip hop - deemed to be "against God".
The "writing on the wall" for the community is the statement made by Donald Rumsfeld that U.S. troops may remain in Iraq as long as 12 years; that Washington state will now charge more teens in adult courts; that Seattle's Office for Police Accountability (OPA) still has no real teeth; and the local black leadership has become increasingly irrelevant since the passage of I-200.
Rap is something you do.
Hip hop is something you live.
We're up to the challenge of making this scene work as a viable industry that is respected in every area code of the hip-hop nation: from the "deuce eight" to Wall Street.
Are you?
"We [Seattle] are in the midst of a hip hop renaissance...Seattle crowds and media have had a habit of picking one act to love and praise before tiring of them, if they show any real love for their own at all. Well, time to cut that #@$! out. There's too much good stuff out there (go cop that Framework album, fool), and too much good #@$! coming to ignore."
- Larry Mizell; Cancer Rising.
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