UW HIPHOP VIDEO BLOG

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HolYSHIT! "The Princess and the Frog"

Posted by MaryMagdalene Thursday, December 31, 2009 1 comments

"The Princess and the Frog"

So I went to see "The Princess and the Frog" today. After seeing and hearing both educated and personal reviews of the Disney film I had to see it for myself. There are many blog sights that have said that this movie is racist saying "Why Is Tiana's prince Brazilian?" and many have gone as far to ask "Why is her hair so straight," or "Why does she have an accent?"

I even had my personal reviews of the film as it was a DIsney Production and we all know that Disney can be racist and more narrowly based "culturally bias" when it comes to colored audiences and the wholeness of our American History. We often frown upon Disney for romanticizing and stereotyping history to fit into the virginity of a child's ear. I am not saying that things should not be censored for children, but I am saying, a lie is a lie. Does Disney's "Pocahontas" ring any bells?!!

So while watching the film with 27 female family members from ages 4 to 70 I kept my eyes open to why some people thought it was racist and why some prestigious black organizations found this movie appealing and revolutionizing.

I can proudly say that I support Disney's "The Princess and the Frog". Nothing about this film was remotely racist or misleading about the African American female. It does not matter if she stayed a frog for most of the movie of if "we only got a black princess because of Obama."

The Princess was beautiful and the story-line, culture, and voices of each character represented the black female well. Tiana is represented as a poor hardworking girl who knew the value of life and who strived at any cost to achieve her dreams not matter the barrier, but later found out that love is all that counts. Being a frog was a metaphor for being poor. Towards the end of the movie Tiana was willing to stay a frog or "poor" to be with who she loved.

Princess Tiana did Revolutionize the stereotype of a Princess. Princess Tiana was not born to a king and raised in a castle, she earned her crown, and if you look deep enough you will find that her becoming a princess was more than marrying her prince but marrying life and happiness, dreams and reality, and needs and wants.

"Jasmine this is my Princess Tiana Barbie Doll, since she's the first Black Barbie I will not take her clothes off or mess with her hair, I'll let her stay beautiful!"-Madison Age 5

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG WAS INSPIRING!

The musical production, and historical undertones were enjoyable and educational for all women.



THAATS RANDOM: ROOT OF MY DIGRESSIONS

Posted by DizNe Thursday, December 10, 2009 0 comments



Whats good scuba divers, substitute teachers that make students call them something like "Mr. G", and traffic directors. Ya know, after getting hit in the balls wit a ice ball at bascom hill yesterday, I had an idea. I was sitting wit Jay Leno comparing chins and showing him my doigressions on facebook and he was like,"You should tell people where you got that from.(studio audiences laughs). I was like cool, so I took off my gucci snuggie and found the video that got me into it. Ive been a fan of My Way Entertainment for years but this section of thier videos had me rolling. Heres the clip that inspired my facebook videos,enjoy!

THE TENSE: "Karl 'OYE' Iglesias"

Posted by Astroknot Wednesday, December 9, 2009 0 comments




Whats good my skyline watching fam?

First off,

Relax.

Second, don't sleep on this artist. Simply put the combination of Karl "OYE" Iglesias, and a stage, is explosive.

OYE is brings an undeniable range of work heralds his indisputable come up. If it's rocking a crowd or maxing a beat in the booth, chillin on camera or working behind it, learning in the classroom or working the boardroom, OYE shows off versatility and excellence as if the acclaims were just patches worn on his sleeve.

No stranger to the national scene, OYE brings a the experience of a two-time Wisconsin teen slam champion, the youngest member of the Wisconsin Adult Slam Team in 2008, and check this, a member of the Wisconsin Collegiate Slam Team, which took 2nd place at the in 2009 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in Philly.

OYE was a co-author of Boomboxed, a First Wave production directed by UW’s Chris Walker, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This past year Karl debuted his solo theater show, “If a Tree Falls, “ across the country and was a featured artist in the 2009 Hip Hop Theater Festival in New York City as a part of the Young, Gifted, and Hyped series.

Right?
The man is doing mad work.

And dont miss out where he will strike next. Keep your eyes peeled, and your breath back; anticipating OYE's Debut EP, “In My Mind” to be released this December. Check the trailer here...... And since I couldnt resist... Heres a group piece from CUPSI this past year with Gabriel De Los Reyes and Adam Levin. Love it too much.

Until next time Stargazers,

Stay tight.





RAFAEL CASAL DEBUTS SECOND MUSIC VIDEO - "GIANT" OFF HIS NEW ALBUM {THE MONSTER LP}

Posted by Students for Better Music Saturday, December 5, 2009 0 comments

 




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"GIANT" - THE SECOND MUSIC VIDEO FROM "THE MONSTER LP"




"On the day after I dropped my record, one of my students came jogging into my classroom (for a different class) and stopped at the door. He threw his arms up and said "Thank you for GIANT. really? REALLY?" or something to that effect. Until then, I hadn't played that song for much of anyone - I thought it was a bit too "out there" but I liked it and felt it deserved to be on the record. Its simplicity is powerful to me, and we felt we could give it a visual that did it justice. Most importantly, we had a story we thought we could tell, and we here at The Getback love telling stories with our music.






We shot this in 7 hours on a sunday, and stayed up all night editing. We tried so many different techniques and angles to make this work, and in the end we are just happy we could pull off this scale of project(get it, scale??).






It is a fun video to watch for the effects and concept, but there is so much in it to discuss. It continues this dialogue that we hope to provoke about men in transition. The idea of being a MONSTER. Of existing as the absurd, all the while walking amongst each other trying to cloak the incomplete. In this case, investigating THE GIANT. The ego, the superiority complexes and fluctuations in relationships that we all experience. As always, this song is another snapshot of a moment. an angle of humanity without the cloak, materializing through the towering imagery of a giant in need of resizing. "





















THE TENSE: "ANIS MOJGANI"

Posted by Astroknot Monday, November 30, 2009 0 comments


THE TENSE: Anis Mojgani

This man has more accolades than I can name here. National Poetry Slam Individual Champion in 2006 and 2005, one of only two people to win the competition consecutively. He is the 2007 World Cup Poetry Slam Champion, and took second place at the 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam. HBO def poet. Seattle Poetry Slam Champion

He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, now living in Portland, Oregon. Anis has written and published four books of poetry and produced the spoken word album aeroplane.There is something so simple and just... pure about this man and his work. So lightbulb switch and pocket watch honest. Those are some of the highest praises that I can bestow upon a poet and Anis shares this bite of refreshment for all that have ears. I urge you not to let yours go to waste.

Seeing the nature in the words of this man may be some of your fondest memories. So turn off the ambient light, the trappings, the artificial distractions and enjoy some of the universe shining through the atmosphere.

Here is Anis Mojgani with
-Direct Orders
- Here am I

And of course,

-Shake the Dust


Stay Tight.


THAAATS RANDOM:ITS ALL ABOUT COLLAB

Posted by DizNe Tuesday, November 24, 2009 0 comments


What it is gangstas, scuba divers, & dentists. Welcome to the first post of THAAATS RANDOM. So I was eating some scandonavian mashed potatoes with Arsenio Hall, and I stumbled upon brilliance. Its like i found greatness and greatness got mad and I was like DONT TAZE ME BRO!Now its been a minute since ive watched Nick Jr but they BACK BANGIN' !! So press play my fellow Kool-Aid drinkers.(Hold your cleaned out pickle jars to the sky.) and watch it in its entirety or Obama will get impeached and you dont want that!

THE TENSE: "ALAKA'I KOTRYS"

Posted by Astroknot Saturday, November 21, 2009 0 comments


THE TENSE: Alaka'i Kotrys



Since a young age Alaka'i has been living up to the translation of his first name: Leader. From age 13 he has represented the Hawaii team at the yearly Brave New Voices festival. With the team he is now a 2008 and 2009 back to back BNV National Champion. Currently is a Senior at the Hawaiian Charter School: Halau Ku Mana. Now armed with the knowledge and history of his native ancestry is poised at the brink of the world, (First Wave Prospect) he is ready to embark upon college and carry his culture into the world.

When he is not writing poems or wrecking heads, you can find this young gentleman rocking the flyest kicks this side of the ocean, or barefoot and bombing off the wall into the water at Cromwells (its a spot in Hawaii for all my mainland fam. I'll take you one day and you will get what Im talking about… Don't lose any sleep over it).

Anyways back to the important ish… Check this kid out. This here is one of my favorite indie pieces of all time - Lotus, and stay watching for the Ittai Wong team piece and Will Giles feature on the poem Virginia Tech.

Until next week stargazers,

Stay Tight


The TENSE: "DANNY SHERRARD"

Posted by Astroknot Tuesday, November 17, 2009 0 comments




Danny Sherrard is a Seattle star that has been in your peripherals for longer than you know. With roots in Youth Speaks Seattle, he graduated onto the adult scene and won the Individual National Poetry Slam competition in 2007, becoming the youngest competitor to win the title. In 2008 he went on to win France's Poetry World Cup where he competed against national champions from 15 countries. Danny has been on two Seattle poetry slam teams (2007, 2008) and diversified his bonds by representing the Honolulu poetry slam team in 2009.

Also in 2009 Danny toured with the spoken word group The Spilljoy Ensemble composed of himself, Jon Sands, Shira Erlichman and Ken Arkind. Keep your ear to the ground for their next tour.
Danny's first book, Cast Your Eyes like River Stones into the Exquisite Dark, is set for release in 2009 through Write Bloody Publishing. Search for him under the moon in alleys, and places that smell like rare books. Find some of his incarnations here. http://www.myspace.com/dannysherrard.

And as always fam.


Stay tight.




What is HOLYSHIT!?

Posted by MaryMagdalene Thursday, November 12, 2009 0 comments

HOLY SHIT!


HolyShit!: By MaryMagdalene is a new weekly blog presented to you through the UW HipHop Video blog! “Holy Shit” is a great source for poetry, updates, and simply Art from poets all over the nation spitting poems to educate and inform young and old minds with some relative and dope shit. This blog also pays tribute and respect to writters published, gorilla, signed, or still cafe “spittin.” Its all the same. Look out for HolyShit! every Friday to get your weekly high of Art. HolyShit! brings it to you raw, uncensored, and dangerously bad ass as possible from a University of Wisconsin student. And if you are still left hungry please hit up The Tense: By AstroKnot every sunday. This is MaryMaggy until next time, see you later my fellow Art Addicts. Stay faithful.

HOLYSHIT! "ZORA HOWARD"

Posted by MaryMagdalene 0 comments

ZORA HOWARD!


So this young lady first took center stage at the UrbanwWordNYC 2006 teen Slam and so far she is to date the youngest poet to ever make it on to a UrbanWordNYC Slam team at the youthful age of 13. Let me be the first to tell you “That is a big fucking deal!” Now as a senior at Laguadria High School in Manhattan, New York Zora is studying Theatre. The young woman is credited as one of the most talented and accomplished poets out of New York City winning everything from The Knicks Poetry Slam to New York City’s Youth Poet Laureate. But do not be mistaken Zora Howard is not limited to just slam she is a story teller, actress, a captivating writer and simply a role model for not only young writers but young women alike. And her accolades do not end here Zora recently won an Emmy award through a production with documentarist Lisa Russell for her adaptation of Zora’s poem Bi-Racial Hair, a piece that spoke about the struggle of growing up as a Bi-Racial female through problems with her hair. Enough reading!! Check out these two videos of Ms. Zora Howard and be sure to find her on Facebook at facebook.com/zorahoward.




The TENSE: LAUNCH

Posted by Astroknot Tuesday, November 3, 2009 0 comments




The Tense: by AstroKnot is your weekly fix for audio star dust you crave. We here at www.uwhiphop.com know how rigid your muscles and minds can be feeling after a rough week, so tune in, listen, and relax. Join me here every Sunday for the latest liftoff on videos of Spoken Word and Poetry, or if you just want to know how I see things in space. If you cant wait that long and need to kick off your weekend right peep my girl MaryMagdalene's blog: HOLYSHIT! every Friday for additional quality Poetry. Until next time stargazers…

Stay Tight.

THE TENSE: "BUDDY WAKEFIELD"

Posted by Astroknot Monday, November 2, 2009 0 comments




"Buddy Wakefield"

Buddy Wakefield is a poet who forced his way on the scene in Spring of 2001 when he quit his job sold all possessions and started his cross continent journey touring poetry venues until 2003; he later went on to win the
Individual World Poetry Slam in 2004 and 2005. Yeah… He's that intense. When he isn't touring he can be found around Seattle, Washington writing, living, and being on the Board of Directors with Youth Speaks Seattle. This poem "Convenience Stores" is one of the most heart wrenching and solid emotion driving poems, songs, or collections of noise that I have heard in my life. If this isn't a "Poem that saves lives" its one that will double check that your heart is still beating. If you cant track this man down to see him live you can also pick up his book "Live for a Living" available through Write Bloody Publishing at http://www.writebloody.com/

p.s. The video is pretty irrelevant so just use your ears.

Enjoy the listen fam and until next time -

Stay Tight.

HOLYSHIT! "SHELELL FREEMAN"

Posted by MaryMagdalene 0 comments


“Shelell Freeman”


Some remember her as the 2009 BNV Poet who frantically and daringly ran on stage and pronounced her long to be remembered quote “Dear HBO, Fuck You!” I know her as Shelell Freeman. She’s a Jacksonville Poet who is now represents the East Coast slam and artistic scene just fine. "She’s BadAss if I must say so myself." I first heard her at the UrdanWordNYC 2009 Apollo Team Slam where she spit a piece about a mother who drowned her children in the bathtub. This piece can be connected to some of America’s most heartbreaking “Mommy Cases” like the Amanda Hamm case. "This piece is still to date the most electrifying and provocatively disheartening pieces of art i’ve ever had the pleasure of watching." You may be able to catch Shelell slamming all around the Tri-State area, but if you can’t catch her check out this video. Or find her on FaceBook at www.Facebook.com/Shelell Freeman!!!

    HIGHLIGHTED VIDEOS

    UW MUSIC VIDEOS

    KID QUO - EQUONOMY LP Trailer (UW MADISON) OYE- IN MY MIND EP Trailer (UW Madison) UWHIPHOP.COM: ON WISCONSIN REMIX! FEAT. PHONETIC ONE, J DANTE, OYE, AND RAFAEL CASAL RAFAEL CASAL - "MONSTER" (UW Madison) J DANTE - "SUPERHYPERMEGACOOL" (UW Madison)

    UW LIVE PERFORMANCES

    Freestyle With Chuck English After Cool Kids Show Pt. 1 (UW MADISON) UWHIPHOP @ RAILJAM - UNION TERRACE (UW MADISON)