 Looks like Bay Area group Midnight Voices is doing some 'big thangs'. For those who aren't familiar with the name, think back to MTV's Real World when it was shot in San Francisco. One of the roommates was a cat named Mohammed. Well Mohammed's rapping partner Will Power has been traveling around the world doing a one man Hip Hop show which is absolutely incredible. Him and Mohammed get props for being way ahead of their time in terms of incorporating theatrics and spoken word within their Hip Hop shows. These concepts were reflected in their first album 'Late Night In the Upper Room'. For those who don't know, The Upper Room was a popular non tobacco/non alcohol club that Mohammed's dad Rafique along with Will and Mohammed owned and operated. Everyone from the Last Poets to De La Soul and KRS-One rolled through the Upper Room. It was the spot where rhyme skillz and Hip Hop creativity was nurtured. It was a positive, loving place where elders from the community would come and party alongside the Hip Hoppers. It was the Bay Area's version of the Latin Quarters or Lyricist Lounge. One of the unique hallmarks of the Upper Room was the artists had to come correct with the crowd. Before any artist took the stage and wrecked the mic, he would have to sit and talk to the audience. Will or Mohammed would conduct the interviews as well as entertain questions from the audience. You couldn't just roll up in the Upper Room and rock a mic, you had to be of substance and share yourself. And just like the rocking a show if you came off shaky during the Q &A you got called on it. People would question artists about their lyrics, meanings of songs as well as some of their actions and stances or lack of stances on certain issues. Ask KRS-One who was brought to task and had to completely open up and get real when he was questioned about his decision to use the Gil Scott Heron song 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'. In the early 90s when Midnight Voices first came out, there were some headz who erroneously and pretentiously tried to say that what MV was doing wasn't 'real' Hip Hop. These were the same cats who initially frowned upon groups like The Roots for having a live band. Now I see these same cats trying to be down after having caught the vapors. They're all into spoken word venues and they'll call up the station trying to cop Roots tickets but lets not digress. Nowadays folks are clamoring to peep out Will Power as he returns to the Bay Area for two day run of his Hip Hop play called 'The Hip Hop Blues Review'. We had him on air our Hard Knock radio show this afternoon and Will executed some dope freestyle/spoken word sessions. One that really caught everyone was his historical breakdown of SF's Filmore district. Here Will pretended to be Filmore Street as rapped about the first inhabitants being Native Americans. He then went down and cited all the various ethnic groups that lived there from the Jews to the Japanese who lost a lot of property when they were taken to Internment camps during WW II. He rapped about the Big Band era and all the swanky jazz clubs that put Filmore on the map. It was the west coast version of Harlem's 125 street. He rapped about the all the madness that went down in the late 80s with the crack epidemic, the influx of guns and street gangs who claimed Filmore and would roll up and down the street yelling 'Filmo' Nigga'. Will ended the rap by solemnly talking about the current wave of gentrification that is currently going on in the Filmore.It was deep. It also resulted in every phone line in the station lighting up with folks asking for tickets. Will concluded the interview by talking about all the Hip Hop plays, theatrical productions and dramatical approaches that are currently going on within Hip Hop's underground. Most notable is the work being done by artists like Sarah Jones and the folks from Black Lily in New York, Toni Blackman and her Freestyle Union in Washington DC. Here in the Bay Area groups like J Crow and his group BLACK and the Punany Poets are all blowing up the spot. One of the dopest Hip Hop plays I saw was 'Jam On The Groove' which featured Ken Swift and members of The Rocksteady Crew. I haven't heard from them in a while. But when it was touring a few years ago it was off the hook. When you peep out Hip Hop from this burgeoning 'underground level' you can clearly see and appreciate the creativity that often gets overshadowed by the music biz and the commercialization that comes along with it. If you're in the Bay Area this weekend, check out The Hip Hop Blues Review at La Pena Culture Center in Berkeley or at The ODC Theater in SF [510-849-2568]. |