"BLING: A PLANET ROCK" Director/Writer and Co-Producer
Festivals
CHECK OUT IFC’s SCION Route ’07 Independent Film Series short playing at IFC theaters and network
Professional Affiliations
FOR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY BOOKINGS, PLEASE EMAIL ALL INQUIRIES TO LECTURES@DJALIRANCHER.COM
raquel cepeda's Interests
General
social entrepreneur empowering american hip-hop artists by taking them on adventures around the world and filming it, thus acting as a conduit for social change and political awakening. international hip-hop. traveling. international production and directing. encouraging global empathy through youth culture.
Music
fela. the roots. hector lavoe. marion brown. miles. johnny cash. celia cruz. la lupe. mos definitely. talib. rashid, circa like water..., ray baretto, soundtrack to jesus christ superstar. bowie. anything fania. johnny pacheco is dominican. jill scott (can write!). dead prez. outkast. tip. mr. catra is on fire! Lazaro Ross.
Movies
BLING: A PLANET ROCK
NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM, F.Y.E., WAL-MART, CIRCUIT CITY
Television
MY DAUGHTER DJALI
Books
And It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years"
EDITED BY ME
COP IT @ AMAZON.COM OR BARNES N NOBLE
Heroes
“'Tis mad idolatry to make the service greater than the god.”
Raquel Cepeda is an award-winning editor and multi-media journalist, producer and filmmaker.
Cepeda is also a multi-cultural media consultant specializing in translating news and social/global issues into an authentic language that is palatable to younger generations—18-34 years of age—stateside and abroad.
Cepeda is the director, writer and co-producer of “Bling: A Planet Rock,” an 87 minute documentary about American hip-hop culture’s obsession with diamonds—“blinging”—and all its social trappings, and how this infatuation correlated with the ten-year conflict in Sierra Leone, West Africa. The film follows three rappers—Paul Wall, Tego Calderon, and Raekwon—as they trek to the country to meet the survivors, perpetrators and diamond miners in the country. The film also features Kanye West, Juelz Santana, Jadakiss and former child soldier/author Ishmael Beah. Cepeda co-produced the documentary with a19, VH1, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A modified version for television of “Bling…” premiered under the title “Bling’d: Blood, Diamonds and Hip-Hop” on VH1 on February 22, 2007 (3.3 million viewers).
Image Entertainment distributes the theatrical version of “Bling: A Planet Rock,” which was released September, 2007 and is available for purchase at Walmart, FYE, Circuit City and Amazon.
Raquel Cepeda also served as a creative consulting producer on "From Mambo to Hip-Hop," directed by Henry Chalfant ("Style Wars") for PBS (2007).
Currently, Cepeda is in production on “BLOW US UP!,” a wartime concert documentary starring platinum selling rapper Paul Wall and TV Johnny who will journey into the past to see the future—in Iraq and Johnny’s homeland, Vietnam.
Following in the tradition of the highly acclaimed “Bling: A Planet Rock,” “BLOW US UP!” uses the medium of hip-hop to engage a new audience in the history of two American wars, a generation and musical genre apart from each other.
Cepeda is also developing another international hip-hop project in South Africa under her production company, djali rancher productions, LLC, about bridging the gap between American and South African women.
Raquel Cepeda's book "And It Don't Stop: The Best Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years," the first ever “Best of…” anthology won a 2005 PEN Beyond Margins Award and Best Arts Book from the Latino Book Awards. Her writing was included in Da Capo’s “Best Music Writing of 2006” and in Jeff Chang’s anthology “Total Chaos,” where she wrote about Yoruba iconography in hip-hop’s visual aesthetic. Over the span of twelve years or so, Cepeda has contributed to People, The Associated Press, Paper, Village Voice and other nationally distributed publications, MTV News, USA Weekend, Vibe, GQ, SPIN, and many others.
Cepeda served as editor in chief of Russell Simmons' Oneworld Magazine where she won awards for her redesign of the bi-monthly glossy, and was the founder and Executive Producer of Content and Editor-in-Chief of sayShe.com, the very first online destination dedicated to young multicultural women.
She lives in New York City with her daughter djali.
Check out our latest Blog about Teacher Appreciation Day...hope you will participate in the celebration and leave us a comment about a teacher who made a difference in your life.
Hello Raquel! and Thanks for accepting me into your group, checking out my music and adding me as a friend.
Ur Looks and Sounds R Gr8 - MUCH LUV!!!
I'd Love 2 Work with U when I'm in NYC in September.
HOLLA AT Ya’Boy ANYTIME AND I'LL DEF DO THE SAME!!
Most of All, Thank you for helping to Keep the music flowing my new friends...
Sincerely,
Phreddie G!
Debut SMASH Release: "Let’s Make Love Tonight!"
AVAILABLE NOW!!!
On: New Music Capital Records! www.myspace.com/newmusiccapialrecords www.isound.com/Phreddie_g_fl EXCLUSIVE Maverick Jacobs Interview with Phreddie G!!!
"LIVE & Unplugged!" on: “The LIVE with BENNIE Show!”
Go to: www.Myspace.com/thelivewithbennieshow
ART ET ACTION ET AKWABA PRODUCTIONS
PRESENTENT
POUR LA PREMIERE FOIS EN EUROPE
WU THE STORY OF THE WU TANG CLAN
UN FILM DE GERALD K.
BARCLAY
1993, émerge des bas fonds de Staten Island à New York, le groupe de rap le Wu-Tang Clan qui révolutionne aussitôt le monde du hip-hop et vend en quinze ans de carrière plus de vingt millions de disques.
Le talent des membres du Wu-Tang Clan comme ODB, RZA, Genuis, Method Man ou Raekwon les emmènera au succès et leur musique les rendra légendaires à travers le monde.
Découvrez pour la premiere fois en France le dvd incontournable en V.O sous titrés réalisé par Gerald K.Barclay dans sa version non-censurée (différente de la version U.S).
Thanks for supporting RIVERKEEPER on MySpace! Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER is a 501(c)3, non-profit organization which has addressed over 15,500 Clean Water Act violations through legal actions since 2002. Here's to cleaner water in Alabama!
PLEASE ADD OUR FUNDRAISING BADGE: **Widget instructions - Please paste our fundraising widget on your profile: 1. Go to our page, find the fundraising badge on the top right.
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SUPA NOVA SLOM is currently casting models for the videoshoot of his next hit single "Transin" of his upcoming album "THE REMEDY. "
WHO: Sexy, Stylish Female Models & Dancers for a respectable, fun, party scene!!!
WHAT: SUPA NOVA SLOM VIDEO SHOOT
WHEN: SATURDAY MARCH 28, 2008 7pm-10pm Check In Time 6pm Sharp
WHERE: THE CENTER 106 Kingston Ave.
(Btwn Bergen & Dean) Brooklyn, NY
CONTACT: jadakhan@gmail.com
ABOUT SUPA NOVA SLOM Highly proclaimed by many as one of the 21st Century's most prolific artists. Hailed by Erykah Badu as her Myspace October Featured Artists, his album includes collaborations with The Game, Jadakiss, dead prez, Bilal, and Erykah Badu. Far more than just a hip-hop artists, Supa Nova Slom is a chosen communicator utilizing his music artistry to revitalize the people and industry.
The Rockefeller Drug Laws, passed in 1973, impose some of the harshest mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug offenses in the country. Under these laws, people convicted of first or second time drug offenses receive horrendously long prison terms. There are over 12,000 individuals currently serving long prison terms in New York State correctional facilities as a result of sentencing under these laws. More than 90% of these incarcerated individuals are Black and Latino. Jerry is one of these individuals.
On March 6, 2009, the New York State Assembly passed bill A.0685, a bill that will dramatically reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws if passed by the Senate in its current form. It will give individuals like Jerry an opportunity to be re-sentenced retroactively. It will help to bring our loved ones home. It is up to us to make sure that the bill makes it to Governor Paterson’s desk as is, so that he can sign it into law.
TAKE ACTION! Contact your Assembly Members, Senators and Governor Paterson and ask them to support the bill. Tell them to bring our loved ones home. Make sure that your friends and family also contact their Assembly Members, Senators and the Governor requesting their support of the bill.
It is Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Bill A.0685.
You can write the Governor at:
Gov. David Paterson State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
You can also contact the governor at his web page:
www. ny. gov/governor
At the bottom of the home page, click contact Governor then click to email him on web page.
To contact your senator, go to:
www. senate. state. ny. us/senatehomepage. nsf/senators
Click on the name of the senator for your district and email them through their web site.
To contact your assembly member, go to:
http://assembly. state. ny. us/mem
Click on the name of your assembly member and email them through their web site.
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I get most joy in life out of music.”
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