Much respect to Scott and Helen Chanthongthip, Ada Montano, Francisco Aguilar, and Daleen Patches: my cast in my first theatrical production, PHANTOM DISCOURSE. Over 600 people saw the production in Laramie, Rawins, Denver, and Pueblo during the spring of 2007. Phantom Discourse is a two-act play that explores the implications of a changing Chicano/Mexican-American identity in the 21st century. It also incorporates timeless themes such as friendship, the struggle for social justice, the weight of personal decisions, and life and death. The story revolves around New School, the main protagonist, who finds himself facing a difficult personal decision: to chase wealth in the corporate legal world or dedicate his life to community activism. The magnitude of his decision comes to light during a discussion with his mentor La Muerte (a Chicano conception of Death). It is during this heated dialogue that Old School re-emerges from the dead in an attempt to convince his best friend New School not to “sell out.” Behind the drama onstage is the reality that this story takes place entirely within New School’s mind, in a postmodern, abstract world where the physical meets the spiritual, and conflicts of intellectual and theoretical proportions come alive. Each of the six characters in this play are symbolic of something bigger than themselves, including La Muerte, a female character who takes on spiritual and omnipotent powers as a narrator, mentor, counselor, and friend. What people have told me they enjoy most about this play is that in the process of teaching them about Chicano culture and the Chicano Movement, its universal themes make its storyline applicable and relevant to people across race, gender, and social class lines. This play presents to its audience profound questions about what it means to “sell out,” “keep it real,” and live life in the least violent and exploitive manner possible. Though not the best footage, you can check out clips from the play on my videos page.
A REFLECTION OF JUSTICE:
Influences
The struggle, the untapped power of the voiceless, the unseen, the inevitable destruction of the planet if humans do not change course, progressive discourse, love, the ability of the powerless to rise up and take the power back, and the possibilities for humankind if we win this battle.
I am influenced by progressive and fresh approaches to art.
Sounds Like
... a response to the shepard's mantra, the crack of the whip, the roar of the noose, the whispers of the silent, downtrodden, hopeful majority... MY ART IS A FRESH LOOK AT EPIC STRUGGLES. I am working to create art that sounds like light penetrating through omnipresent shadows and sunless caves, blending passion with reason, transforming rhetoric into action, arrousing silenced hearts and distant minds...
Oh, and by the way, I hope my work makes you say, "damn, that shit is dope." ;0)
THE UP BEFORE THE SUNRISE PROJECT centers around the notion that there is an artist in each of us waiting to rise up out of the shadows and take control of our voices, our stories, our lives.
WHO I AM: A young Mexicano/Chicano from an immigrant, blue-collar background who grew up in a small trailer on the south side of the tracks. I am an educator, an artist who was never trained in the arts, and an advocate for the struggles of the voiceless. I am one of the youngest instructors at the University of Wyoming. I teach a variety of courses that deal with social, cultural, legal, and political issues. I am most passionate about my Chicano Studies, media justice and hip-hop studies courses. I also work with a lot of young people across race, gender and social class backgrounds. I aim to teach them how to attain organic knowledge, express themselves, and otherwise CREATE in the face of destruction. I BELIEVE that power lies in the hands of the dreamers. I write to inspire new ideas and provoke thought. Without art, there is no freedom, no justice, no peace, no democracy.
MY WORK.
I released the REPRESENTIN' FOR LIFE EP in March of 2007. This project explores my passion for Hip-Hop and my source of inspiration as an emcee. You can download some of the tracks on my page, If you're into supporting independent art you can purchase the EP on Snocap (above), or you can get at me and I can send you one. I am currently in the lab working on a full length album, which I plan to drop this summer, with or without distribution. I am editing my first book, which I will inevitably publish, even if I have to publish it myself and push it on street corners and student unions. My first play (PHANTOM DISCOURSE) is circulating among directors and theatre festival folks. I am currently writing my second play, NO MORE HEROES.
MY MUSIC undoubtedly has its roots in Hip-Hop, but I am aiming to make art that transcends boundaries. Hip-Hop can be as one-dimensional and limiting as anything else. Hip-Hop is powerful, but its power does not lie in the fact that it is Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is powerful because it is the voice of people who have been left out and disregarded for decades... centuries... millenia. As I grow older and get deeper into my work, I feel less compelled to call my work Hip-Hop and bring attention to myself as a Hip-Hop artist. If people recognize my work as Hip-Hop, cool; if not, just as well. Hip-Hop isn't a fashion show that I'm trying to get into; it's a form of expression that inspires me. By nature, I am a poet and lyricist, and I'll flow over any beat. I'm working on my first full-length album - a dream that is ten years in the making - but I plan to make at least five albums before I'm done. I want every one of them to sound different and challenge my own creative limits. I want people to hear my music and watch my plays, but I have no desire to be a star. That's why I don't rap about bling, cars, and gats. I am critical of fake gangster rap cats from the suburbs who exploit the struggles of people in the inner city so they can make a small amount of money off racist and stereotypical imagery that is sold to the mainstream by corporations. With that said, I have respect for the energy behind gangster rap, which is rooted in revolutionary, anti-establishment, street ideology. I also understand that young men and women of color and also working class whites are often forced to join gangs for protection and a means putting food on the table. Survival is something I cannot knock. What needs to change is a system that divides people and pits them against each other in a struggle to survive. Personally, I have never lived a gangster lifestyle, nor have I lived a life of privilege and wealth, so I don't put on a front and act like I have lived or am living either of those lifestyles. I rap about my own reality and about things I see happening in my community and on my planet.
THE HUMAN BEING WITHIN: I am everything I know and nothing that I couldn't be. I am my truth. I'm not sure who I am at times, but I always know what I am not. I aspire to be more, but I accept who I am. I am a son, friend, boyfriend, father, student, and teacher. I'd like to think that I am my art, because that is where I explore definition, truth, and the ability to change definitions and truths. I am blood, sweat, tears, flesh, bones, dirt, and a bunch of other stuff, but mostly water; that's why I love to flow. I like exploring cliffs, mountains and coastlines, mostly with my loving girlfriend. She makes me happy, and so does the sun, the earth, the trees, and the ocean. I am a young cat with a lot of dreams that are bigger than myself. I think a lot and I love to laugh but I don't find the average jokes funny. I've always been a bit wierd and I dig that. I like wierd people who don't follow trends and bow down to everything the media feeds us; they make me happy. I am who I am and that's all I can be, and that might be something different next year than it is today, and it's good like that, cuz reality is change; stagnation is death.
PEACE, LOVE, RESPECT.
Keep moving forward. One love all people, all races, all cultures, all nations. We will prevail over the kings, queens, politicians and special interests that divide us.
Hola, It was fun this weekend glad we were able to get together at Beer Fest !! Take care and don';t forget to remind me when your next performance in Denver is going to be Hasta Homie
