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Will Rap 4 Food, Inc. educates, empowers, and mobilizes the Hip Hop community to be agents of change in the global eradication of hunger through awareness, unity and the powerful influence of art.
1. “Hunger Kills, Hip Hop Heals” is a powerful way to introduce your mission. Plenty of folks have heard about Will Rap 4 Food. For those who haven’t yet, could you talk about the inspiration that led to starting the organization?
Will Rap 4 Food began with a conversation centered on hip hop artist Pro'Verb's desire to give back to his community. Everyone agreed that artists are role models, whether they accept it or not, with the power to create movements. Yet many don’t do enough for their communities. Hunger Kills, Hip Hop Heals is a reversal of this careless and destructive culture and the impact it's having on our people. The joke was that they, the artists, expect the same people they don't support with their influence to support their careers. The hunger epidemic was brought up several times throughout the conversation on the direction of our cause. Most of us have personally experienced missing meals and the lasting effects it can have. Our core belief is whether you are rich, middle class, poor, a major artist, independent artist, or not an artist, we all should be servants of our community.
2. Why hunger? Of all the social maladies we face, why did hunger strike you as the place to begin? And what other issues have you included in your work?
The issue of hunger plagues the entire world, and we believe this should not be the case. The effects of not eating or having nutritional, balanced meals are at the core of the spreading of many diseases which our nation and world face. Just recently, we partnered with farmers and co-ops to bring focus to organic, local and urban farmers. This partnership has helped to increase awareness that eating organic foods do not have to be an expensive option.
3. Most of the time it seems like there are too few Hip Hop artists spitting positive verses, but your point is that what matters more is that artists use their influence to help create some positive outcomes?
We all must understand that hip hop culture is a reflection of our community. If you have positive movements in your community supported by the youth, then you'll see a change in our music. Will Rap 4 Food seeks voices and good stewards of the community and its people. If someone is passionate about our movement, we'll work together for the cause. We've witnessed the action of serving have a positive effect on the mentality of our volunteers. One word, amazing!!!
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By Khari Gzifa
In today's "urban" musical landscape, we have been conditioned to accept some pretty weird conventions. Like all our male leads should sound like women, all of our R&B or soul (if such a category even exists, save for our pioneering artists who still carry the torch around to small venues all over the south) should use all the same sounds as hip-hop and can be easily "remixed" into rap ballads, and maybe the most important...the lyrics should be narrowly focused on lust, materialism and the most trivial aspects of relationships. If you think I sound harsh, I invite you to listen to any 5 songs in a row on any so called "Home Of R&B" and see if my descriptions do not hold up. Better yet, I dare you.
Fortunately for DMV residents and now with the power of technology the rest of the world can also benefit from the fact that this area has produced musicians for decades that defy these trite attempts at art. One such group of individuals is Fathers Children. After first gaining prominence in this area decades ago, they are back with new album "Love & Life Stories" and concert in DC to announce not only their return, but hopefully a return to real music.
I feel like I am limiting this album by simply calling it R&B, as it encompasses soul and jazz elements very prominently as well. I can paint a brief picture of the album by telling you first what is NOT on it. If you are a fan of the current state of affairs you might be looking for a lot of the same sounds you hear on the ChrisBrown-FrankOcean-TreySongz continuum, nope: you might be looking for vapid and cliché sentimentality in the lyrics, nope, not here; you might even want to hear a hot 16 from your favorite A-list rapper filled with misogyny and classist bravado, again, a no show. But what you will get is a beautiful collection of well "hand crafted" songs. And I feel the need to make note of some really exceptional musicianship throughout the album. The tracks were obviously paid special attention and they allow each lead to really shine with his lyrics as the backgrounds are so smooth, that you instantly are drawn into what you're hearing.
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Washington, DC based entertainment company, OnStage DC, announced its debut live concert has been scheduled for Saturday, August 10, 2013 at the state-of-the-art THEARC Theater. The show will feature the world premiere of new music from legendary DC soul/funk group Fathers Children and will be hosted by the award winning and much acclaimed comedienne/impressionist Sylvia Traymore Morrison.
OnStage DC, which is parented by OnStage Global Entertainment LLC, is a platform for streaming live concerts as either pay-per-view or brand sponsored online content. Managing Partner James Coleman issued a statement earlier today on the company’s website, OnStage-DC.com, looking forward to the debut show and welcoming music fans to either attend the concert in person or enjoy watching the live stream with their social media friends and followers.
“We’ve worked extremely hard over the past 3 years to stand up a strong brand in the DC entertainment scene while working behind the curtains to develop capabilities in streaming that are well beyond what music fans in the area have been previously exposed to,” Coleman said. “So now we have a broadcast channel on the best content delivery network, Livestream, we have top of the line equipment, and what’s really important for us; we have good relations with local artists, managers, promoters, and publicists. Those are all elements that had to be in place before moving to the next level.”
Tickets to this groundbreaking event are available now at Eventbrite http://onstage-dc.eventbrite.com/ or can be purchased at the door. The live stream can be viewed beginning at 9 pm on OnStage-DC.com.
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by Khari Gzifa
I know that a lot of people who might frequent this page are big hip-hop fans but may not be a fan of everything that gets tossed under the heading nowadays. It seems the criteria is constantly being broadened. Many of you may look at iconic producer/mc/dancer/etc., Will.I.Am, as that “other” type of hip-hop. I hear you, and in some ways you are right, but at its core the new Will.I.Am album is about as hip-hop as it gets. Let me show you what I mean.
First, allow me to take a long view of Will.I.Am’s work. Let’s go back to the fact that he was originally signed to another west coast icon, the late Eazy-E on his Ruthless Records. Then let’s look at his first foray into solo albums, 2001’s Lost Change, the soundtrack for the movie of the same name. On it, Will worked with legendary west coast femcee, Medusa, and underground veteran Planet Asia and others to make a record that stands with some of the best of the west at the time. At least, non-gangster rap west coast anyway. His other solo albums, Must Be 21 (2003), and Songs About Girls (2007) all show an organic progression into what is his "one-of-a-kind" sound.
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By: R. Kayeen Thomas
Let me begin by saying that I appreciate any mainstream rap song that can convince me it’s more than a massive collision of overused genitalia, black urban corpses, and Ciroc. The sad reality is that after I realized Mos Def and Talib Kweli weren’t starting their own labels and tagging protégés, I intentionally began dumbing myself down. Now, give me 6-8 bars without mentioning a blown out back and I might look you up on iTunes. Seriously…that’s where I am right now. Every blue moon I’m pleasantly surprised by a Kendrick Lamar or Macklemore, and I run around shouting their praises from the rooftops and playing their albums so frequently that my four year old daughter feels comfortable telling her mother not to kill her vibe and her classmate that he smells like R. Kelly’s sheets. But music is a perishable commodity. Eventually, no matter how ripe it was when you brought it, it gets old and stale, and you’re inclined to go and shop for something fresh again.
So I was excited when, in my search for fresh fruit from the hip-hop tree, I came across Kanye West’s “New Slaves”. It took me back to the old College Dropout and Late Registration Kanye. You remember him, right? The thoughtful, wet behind the ears producer-turned-rapper and faithful boyfriend with his jaw newly wired? How many times in the last decade have I thought to myself “Man, I miss the old Kanye?” And boom, there he was, projected onto the side of an apartment building! God had surely heard my cries.