September 16, 2009
...it's the rock...
naturally, while i'm on the island, i'm going to avoid as much technology as possible. so, this might be my last post until i get back on the mainland. hawaii, come through!
September 15, 2009
...community festival...
my weekend was packed with work, family, friends, community and culture.
if y'all have been keeping up with me, you should know that the past three months have been dedicated to organizing the 18th annual festival of philippine arts and culture as the programming director. the festival, for my fellow staff members and volunteers, began on friday night with the final preparations for game day! 5am crept up on me and we were off. i got to the park at 6am to the sound of stages being erected and vendors setting up their tables. i was immediately handed on a walkie/headset and the labor of love began.
saturday saw a few snags, but for the most part, the first day of the festival was great! my programming worked well only because i had great crews working all of the stages and pavillions -- especially jen, gerry, telly, anneli, jay, sonny and mary rose! without them the programs would have failed with a bang! so, thank you. all the performances were great! our saturday headlining block was flawless -- opened up by my brother in arms, geologic (aka prometheus brown), the crowd was stacked. the transition right into the dance groups kept the crowd engaged!
saturday night. the dent in an otherwise perfect weekend. let me start by apologizing to the counted 200+ fans that came through and got turned away for bullshit reasons like not adhering dress code (which we were told would NOT be a problem), being extorted for another $25 to get in, etc. so, fuck the social in hollywood. for the fans that made it beyond the douche-nozzles that run the social, the short set of performances did offer a brief piece of redemption. oneson and ashley robles from san diego hit the stage with a great set (despite the faulty sound system and very small stage). rocky rivera jumped on there next to a crazy reception -- the ladies were definitely amped. the night finished off with deep foundation from new york city, performing their signature hit, "children of the sun." i bounced before they finished, because another second in that spot would've seen me punching a promoter in the mouth! on behalf of myself, all the performers, fpac and pnoy apparel, i apologize for the fiasco.
sunday. same as saturday for the morning setup. dion, charles and i got to the park ready to tackle the issues we anticipated from the previous day's problemas. not much to say about the day except that it went perfectly. every issue encountered got resolved quickly and without slowing down our festival flow. the headliners began with the fighting cocks! the lead singer, farmer john, who also happens to be the head chef and owner of the park's finest bbq found enough energy to kill the set! good job, brother! kiwi walked on to the stage next to an overwhelming response. the crowd was thick! i watched from the side of the stage as my brothers took off! dj phatrick decided to dress up for the occasion in brand new kicks, a clean hat and the beatrock anthony bourdain shirt... he never dresses up for my shows! wtf?! anyway, i watched and the bug hit me. phat looked down at me from the stage and signaled for me to grab the mic... none of which was planned! i promise! gerry grabbed me a mic and as soon the native guns' single, "champion" came on, i hit the stage -- but not before yelling into my walkie headset that i was going on break! haha. kiwi killed it. right after kiwi came a legend of fpac that i don't need to comment too much on, because his name is synonymous with entertainment, rex navarrete! enough said. the next set of performers threw the soul into our festival this year. there have been a flood of artists who've utilized youtube.com to showcase their talent and i managed to grab the best of them. mike isberto, melissa polinar, jr aquino and aj rafael! because of some issues on the other stages, i didn't get to catch all the sets, but the ones i did see made me pat myself on the back for bringing them out!
other highlights of the festival were harvey drive and all the first time performers on the generations stage, imb academy, ijo ija academy and mark munoz in the martial arts pavillion and the giant vegetable in the senior village! too many great things to list out. great weekend.
also, hanging out with deep foundation, irie eyes, mai and the whole seattle fam gave my weekend the extra points needed to be a complete win.
special thanks to dion, charles, missy, ben, kat, jilly, vanessa, joe, girlie, anthony, noel and the rest of the fpac staff and volunteers. next year..?
okay, let's move forward. hawaii. so, this weekend i leave for a 5 show tour with the blue scholars in hawaii. half vacation and half work for me! i'm excited about the gigs -- see y'all on the islands, bruh! oof!
oh, and one last thing -- we won! congrats to the whole cast and crew of the "crooks and rooks" music video! it won best video at the chicago hip hop film festival!
if y'all have been keeping up with me, you should know that the past three months have been dedicated to organizing the 18th annual festival of philippine arts and culture as the programming director. the festival, for my fellow staff members and volunteers, began on friday night with the final preparations for game day! 5am crept up on me and we were off. i got to the park at 6am to the sound of stages being erected and vendors setting up their tables. i was immediately handed on a walkie/headset and the labor of love began.
saturday saw a few snags, but for the most part, the first day of the festival was great! my programming worked well only because i had great crews working all of the stages and pavillions -- especially jen, gerry, telly, anneli, jay, sonny and mary rose! without them the programs would have failed with a bang! so, thank you. all the performances were great! our saturday headlining block was flawless -- opened up by my brother in arms, geologic (aka prometheus brown), the crowd was stacked. the transition right into the dance groups kept the crowd engaged!
saturday night. the dent in an otherwise perfect weekend. let me start by apologizing to the counted 200+ fans that came through and got turned away for bullshit reasons like not adhering dress code (which we were told would NOT be a problem), being extorted for another $25 to get in, etc. so, fuck the social in hollywood. for the fans that made it beyond the douche-nozzles that run the social, the short set of performances did offer a brief piece of redemption. oneson and ashley robles from san diego hit the stage with a great set (despite the faulty sound system and very small stage). rocky rivera jumped on there next to a crazy reception -- the ladies were definitely amped. the night finished off with deep foundation from new york city, performing their signature hit, "children of the sun." i bounced before they finished, because another second in that spot would've seen me punching a promoter in the mouth! on behalf of myself, all the performers, fpac and pnoy apparel, i apologize for the fiasco.
sunday. same as saturday for the morning setup. dion, charles and i got to the park ready to tackle the issues we anticipated from the previous day's problemas. not much to say about the day except that it went perfectly. every issue encountered got resolved quickly and without slowing down our festival flow. the headliners began with the fighting cocks! the lead singer, farmer john, who also happens to be the head chef and owner of the park's finest bbq found enough energy to kill the set! good job, brother! kiwi walked on to the stage next to an overwhelming response. the crowd was thick! i watched from the side of the stage as my brothers took off! dj phatrick decided to dress up for the occasion in brand new kicks, a clean hat and the beatrock anthony bourdain shirt... he never dresses up for my shows! wtf?! anyway, i watched and the bug hit me. phat looked down at me from the stage and signaled for me to grab the mic... none of which was planned! i promise! gerry grabbed me a mic and as soon the native guns' single, "champion" came on, i hit the stage -- but not before yelling into my walkie headset that i was going on break! haha. kiwi killed it. right after kiwi came a legend of fpac that i don't need to comment too much on, because his name is synonymous with entertainment, rex navarrete! enough said. the next set of performers threw the soul into our festival this year. there have been a flood of artists who've utilized youtube.com to showcase their talent and i managed to grab the best of them. mike isberto, melissa polinar, jr aquino and aj rafael! because of some issues on the other stages, i didn't get to catch all the sets, but the ones i did see made me pat myself on the back for bringing them out!
other highlights of the festival were harvey drive and all the first time performers on the generations stage, imb academy, ijo ija academy and mark munoz in the martial arts pavillion and the giant vegetable in the senior village! too many great things to list out. great weekend.
also, hanging out with deep foundation, irie eyes, mai and the whole seattle fam gave my weekend the extra points needed to be a complete win.
special thanks to dion, charles, missy, ben, kat, jilly, vanessa, joe, girlie, anthony, noel and the rest of the fpac staff and volunteers. next year..?
okay, let's move forward. hawaii. so, this weekend i leave for a 5 show tour with the blue scholars in hawaii. half vacation and half work for me! i'm excited about the gigs -- see y'all on the islands, bruh! oof!
OAHU
Where: Loft, 115 N.Hotel St, Honolulu, HI 96813
When: Friday, September 18, 2009
AND Friday, September 25, 2009
Ages: 18+
Prices: $20 General Admission
Tickets on sale NOW at The Loft
MAUI
Where: Hard Rock Cafe Lahaina, 900 Front St., Lahaina, HI 96761-2335
When: Saturday, September 19, 2009
Ages: 21+
Prices: $20 General Admission
Tickets on sale NOW at Hard Rock Cafe Lahaina Maui
BIG ISLAND
Where: Kona Rockstarz, 74-5484 Kaiwi St., Kailua-Kona, HI, 96740
When: Saturday, September 26, 2009
Ages: 21+
Prices: $20 General Admission
Tickets on sale NOW at Kona Rockstarz
oh, and one last thing -- we won! congrats to the whole cast and crew of the "crooks and rooks" music video! it won best video at the chicago hip hop film festival!
September 9, 2009
September 6, 2009
...it's been a long time...
...i shouldn't've left you -- wait, is that right? "shouldn't've?" or is it, "shouldn't have?" anyway, i've been busy. working on some projects before the year's end. i'll list them out for you in order of how much it's driving me mad.
1. festival of philippine arts & culture. i love this festival. i love the staff! when this position (program director) was offered to me, i knew i wouldn't be accepting it for the money. i knew i would have to find the strength to do this off of sheer love for my community and for the culture that this festival represents. every year i watch the organizers and volunteers run around the festival grounds, taking care of my needs as an artist and really trying to hold themselves together emotionally as the world around them seems to be chipping away. i knew that it must've been tough on them, but i didn't really understand it until now. the volunteers, the builders, the board and the directors (myself included) have a love for this event that i find tear-jerking almost. every phone call, every meeting and every sigh of frustration i witness makes me truly admire the folks behind this. i'm certain that this will be the one and only time i do this job, but i say that with the utmost respect and as humble as an ant. with all this said, i look forward to another great festival and i hope to see all of my friends an family out there, enjoying the day in celebration of our ancestors and our roots as a people. oh, and before i end this paragraph, let me say that i am in serious "check-yourself" mode after dealing with some of these artists. i understand the need to be compensated and to be treated fairly, but some of y'all take this artist shit too far! i really wish i could call these folks out! zero sense of community!
.jpg)
2. the ...paper cuts... ep. on a whim, i decided to throw together an 8-song ep for the holiday season. released exclusively through itunes, i hope to make my deadline. nothing too crazy, just something to keep the family with good music for the cold air. on this project i took a louder sound on with the help of nick james, anon, dex beats, amani, mtk and digital martyrs. the mtk joint really inspired me to take this project on. trust when i say, the mtk joint is a great way to set off the push of this project. hopefully we'll be able to release that joint by october... hopefully. fingers crossed for this ep.
.jpg)
3. more projects. i've been trying to organize all the projects i took on after ...exact change... dropped, but the challenge with these is that there are other people involved in partnership, and with scheduling it makes it hard to lock things down as quickly than a solo project. let's make a quick list shall one:
- keelay & zaire x bambu "...banana clip sunday..."
- sabzi x bambu
- cadillac rebellion (do dat x bambu)
- fobbdeep x steez x bambu
- rhettmatic x roscoe umali x bambu
- mystic x bambu
- kronic plague x bambu
- johnny 5 x bambu
yeah, i know, huh? well, i was pretty wide-eyed and high off the success of ...exact change... and wanted to take on anything proposed... not too smart -- especially when i gave myself a goal to have the first 4 of those projects (above) out before christmas. so, this is also why i decided to get ...paper cuts... out. i'm excited about all of these projects and each one promises to show a different bam on each one.
4. more shows. pretty self explanatory. i'm really excited about the blue scholars hawaii tour to celebrate the very successful release of OOF!. i never get tired of watching the growth of these two dudes on stage... pause. plus, who the fuck doesn't want to do 5 shows in hawaii?! also, right after that we got san diego for filamfest (really dope event) and seattle for something my homeboy, kiwi-impersonator, fellow devil dog, 4-hour session master and my northwest arch nemisis, brian myers put together. since kahlil's birth, i like to take it easy in december on the show tip, because everyone i love seems to be a sagittarius... wtf?! so, keep checking that sidebar for the shows.
5. ready, aim, speak. i'm bringing my afterschool writing workshop back to the old stomping grounds. i learned a lot from last year, and i'm hoping to take those lessons and apply the changes into this year's batch. i'll probably start up in october, so, there's another thing to add to the bag of "what makes bambu insane."
6. tira muna philippine martial art/stick club. over the years, as i've studied with the different masters of the beautiful and effective martial arts of the philippines, i've found what my future has in store -- the good and the bad. after this rap thing is done, i plan on opening a community space to give our community cultural art programs and to be able to share my knowledge of the martial arts of our country. why stamp a new name on and not just take the name of one system? i will gladly explain. but first, let me say that i have the utmost respect for every guro who's every let me swing a rattan stick in their presence and guide my art into what it is today -- for this i am forever grateful and humble to you. BUT, in that same breath, i would like to address the guro's that i've studied under that have found the need to inject their disdain for other schools into a space that is meant to build unity, discipline and modesty. i can't stand the politics of the martial arts. this school doesn't like this school, this guro hates this guro, blah, blah. settle it in the circle. it's disheartening and is what continues to perpetuate the negative machismo that is stamped onto such an intriguing art. so, i wanted to separate myself from it all, study what i have picked up, dissect it as much as i am capable and share it to those who wish to try. you'll be hearing more about this in the future. for now, let's concentrate on rap.
so, without saying, my family has been patient throughout this. krish has been great at balancing our lives out -- but it ain't easy. she's finishing up her album and is bouncing between the bay and l.a. in preparation. through it all though, she always makes sure our son is taken care of. life is good. see y'all this weekend.
oh, and (*ehem ehem) i wouldn't miss the shirt the kids los angeles show... trust me.
1. festival of philippine arts & culture. i love this festival. i love the staff! when this position (program director) was offered to me, i knew i wouldn't be accepting it for the money. i knew i would have to find the strength to do this off of sheer love for my community and for the culture that this festival represents. every year i watch the organizers and volunteers run around the festival grounds, taking care of my needs as an artist and really trying to hold themselves together emotionally as the world around them seems to be chipping away. i knew that it must've been tough on them, but i didn't really understand it until now. the volunteers, the builders, the board and the directors (myself included) have a love for this event that i find tear-jerking almost. every phone call, every meeting and every sigh of frustration i witness makes me truly admire the folks behind this. i'm certain that this will be the one and only time i do this job, but i say that with the utmost respect and as humble as an ant. with all this said, i look forward to another great festival and i hope to see all of my friends an family out there, enjoying the day in celebration of our ancestors and our roots as a people. oh, and before i end this paragraph, let me say that i am in serious "check-yourself" mode after dealing with some of these artists. i understand the need to be compensated and to be treated fairly, but some of y'all take this artist shit too far! i really wish i could call these folks out! zero sense of community!
.jpg)
2. the ...paper cuts... ep. on a whim, i decided to throw together an 8-song ep for the holiday season. released exclusively through itunes, i hope to make my deadline. nothing too crazy, just something to keep the family with good music for the cold air. on this project i took a louder sound on with the help of nick james, anon, dex beats, amani, mtk and digital martyrs. the mtk joint really inspired me to take this project on. trust when i say, the mtk joint is a great way to set off the push of this project. hopefully we'll be able to release that joint by october... hopefully. fingers crossed for this ep.
.jpg)
3. more projects. i've been trying to organize all the projects i took on after ...exact change... dropped, but the challenge with these is that there are other people involved in partnership, and with scheduling it makes it hard to lock things down as quickly than a solo project. let's make a quick list shall one:
- keelay & zaire x bambu "...banana clip sunday..."
- sabzi x bambu
- cadillac rebellion (do dat x bambu)
- fobbdeep x steez x bambu
- rhettmatic x roscoe umali x bambu
- mystic x bambu
- kronic plague x bambu
- johnny 5 x bambu
yeah, i know, huh? well, i was pretty wide-eyed and high off the success of ...exact change... and wanted to take on anything proposed... not too smart -- especially when i gave myself a goal to have the first 4 of those projects (above) out before christmas. so, this is also why i decided to get ...paper cuts... out. i'm excited about all of these projects and each one promises to show a different bam on each one.
4. more shows. pretty self explanatory. i'm really excited about the blue scholars hawaii tour to celebrate the very successful release of OOF!. i never get tired of watching the growth of these two dudes on stage... pause. plus, who the fuck doesn't want to do 5 shows in hawaii?! also, right after that we got san diego for filamfest (really dope event) and seattle for something my homeboy, kiwi-impersonator, fellow devil dog, 4-hour session master and my northwest arch nemisis, brian myers put together. since kahlil's birth, i like to take it easy in december on the show tip, because everyone i love seems to be a sagittarius... wtf?! so, keep checking that sidebar for the shows.
5. ready, aim, speak. i'm bringing my afterschool writing workshop back to the old stomping grounds. i learned a lot from last year, and i'm hoping to take those lessons and apply the changes into this year's batch. i'll probably start up in october, so, there's another thing to add to the bag of "what makes bambu insane."
6. tira muna philippine martial art/stick club. over the years, as i've studied with the different masters of the beautiful and effective martial arts of the philippines, i've found what my future has in store -- the good and the bad. after this rap thing is done, i plan on opening a community space to give our community cultural art programs and to be able to share my knowledge of the martial arts of our country. why stamp a new name on and not just take the name of one system? i will gladly explain. but first, let me say that i have the utmost respect for every guro who's every let me swing a rattan stick in their presence and guide my art into what it is today -- for this i am forever grateful and humble to you. BUT, in that same breath, i would like to address the guro's that i've studied under that have found the need to inject their disdain for other schools into a space that is meant to build unity, discipline and modesty. i can't stand the politics of the martial arts. this school doesn't like this school, this guro hates this guro, blah, blah. settle it in the circle. it's disheartening and is what continues to perpetuate the negative machismo that is stamped onto such an intriguing art. so, i wanted to separate myself from it all, study what i have picked up, dissect it as much as i am capable and share it to those who wish to try. you'll be hearing more about this in the future. for now, let's concentrate on rap.
so, without saying, my family has been patient throughout this. krish has been great at balancing our lives out -- but it ain't easy. she's finishing up her album and is bouncing between the bay and l.a. in preparation. through it all though, she always makes sure our son is taken care of. life is good. see y'all this weekend.
oh, and (*ehem ehem) i wouldn't miss the shirt the kids los angeles show... trust me.
September 1, 2009
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