 At long last Hip Hop celebrates the accomplishments of it's women folk. There is a new documentary that will be premiering this week in Los Angeles entitled 'Nobody Knows My Name'. According to the press release the film is put together by Rachel Raimist of UCLA. The film is " Shot in an intimate, hand-held style the film draws you into the stories of the main characters- Medusa, T-Love, Lisa, Asia One, DJ Symphony, and Leschea. They are women of different ages, races, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds, but they are connected by one thing, their love for hip hop". The featured Hip Hoppers include; Medusa, who is considered the queen of the LA's thriving Hip Hop underground. She's an emcee and poet who performs weekly in Los Angeles. T-Love is an LA native and ex-Cripette [gang member] who decided her lyrical skills would be her road to success. Another character who is highlighted, Lisa married into the Hip Hop life, and is now raising a hip hop family. Leschea,is an artist brought into the game by rap star Masta Ace of the INC. Y'all remember Masta Ace? Anyway, Leschea has lived a bumpy road even while signed to major label Warner Bros. Records. Asia One has been organizing the B-Boy Summit for years but is a b-girl who gets tired of "rollin'" with all guys. DJ Symphony is the only female member of The World Famous Beat Junkies dj crew, and is passionate about turntabalism. All of these women share their stories, dispel rumors, and illuminate truths. In short, they offer insight and advice for young women coming up today. The film will be shown Monday December 6th at 8pm on the UCLA Campus at Melniitz Hall inside The Bridges Theater. The event is FREE so there is absolutely no excuse for anyone who lives in LA not to be there. Afterwards there will be a panel discussion that focuses on Hip Hop Feminism. It will feature the filmmaker Rachel Raimist, Medusa, T-Love, Asia One, Nautica de la Cruz of Power 106 and my home girl The Poetess of 92.3 The Beat. This looks to be a promising film and will mark the second documentary coming out of LA this year. Earlier Keith O'Derek and his partner Robert Corsini dropped a great documentary that chronicled the the social, political conditions that gave rise to "gangsta rap'. Entitled 'Straight From the Streets' it features Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Ice T, Kam, DJ Quik, Rage, Kurupt, Dr. Dre, RBX, DJ Red Alert, Davey D [that's me folks!], Big Boy, KRS One, May May Ali, Daddy O, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Dick Gregory, Min. Louis Farrakhan, Denzel Washington and many others! The film was recently released on DVD. For folks who want more information on 'Nobody Knows My Name' be sure to contact Rachel Raimist at mailto:rae@thaconnect.com. You can also call 310-588-2263 or 323-851-5735. For folks who wish to get a hold of Keith O'Derek and his 'Straight From The Streets' documentary be sure to hit him up mailto:FilmNU@aol.com Hopefully both of these documentaries will be shown at the upcoming Gavin Seminar Convention that is taking place in San Francisco during February 2000 |