Isaac Basker/Ize Bernard/Prez Ike

Okay, so I pretty much grew up in a grimy version of the area of New York City that seems like a distant memory to me. Living in a publicly subsided low-income artist residence in the Far West Village section of Manhattan; my mother blasted classical music 24/7, occasionally The Beatles, and in in an area that is highly developed, but then led to us to often fear for our lives. Regardless, I was pushed to play violin for over a decade, and even sang professionally in church choirs', and as a boys soprano in the Children's Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera.

My first music love was hip-hop, sparked by my cousin, Jake the Rapper who hooked me up with dubs of Ice Cube, Eric B & Rakim and The Prodigy. When I attended university I did a radio show, 'The Presidential Address,' beginning my obsession with DJing & vinyl collection. I was interested in electronic dance music, and anything with a good beat since i love to dance, but then I focused on turntablism, hip-hop, and lo-fi/downtempo; honing skills from classmate, DJ Cip-One, who later went onto work with artists like Cannibal Ox, Karniege, and DJ Mighty Mi of The High & Mighty.

Later, I worked with my strongest influence Public Enemy, on a project, which eventually became a group itself, called The Impossebulls. Our philosophy was very unique at the time. We embodied Chuck D's push for artists, especially independent and those not signed to major labels, to use mp3 technology as an alternative to major record labels. We were a "virtual" group since we lived in different parts of the U.S., but were able to use the Internet as a means of collaboration. On Chuck D's label Slam Jamz, we produced several mp3 releases and two full albums on CD/DVD. As a result I also recorded scratches for other PE related projects, touring with The 'Bulls, and collaborated with artists around the world.

However, I still pursued all of this while becoming a NYC Teaching Fellow where I taught Social Studies (History/Economics/Civics/Geography) to 5th and 7th graders, getting Masters of Arts in Secondary Education (High School) in Social Studies. I clearly couldn't get enough education afterwards, so I also completed a Masters of Science in Social Work. However, while my love of music is powerful, both degrees actually relate to my interests of helping facilitate/develop programs/policies for people to harness their creative talents and apply it in their work life.

It's still obvious to most observers that more U.S. cities need to focus on facilitating, harnessing and sustaining underground music and art communities. People who do not necessarily wish to create the most pop music/art should, and can be given opportunities to create something they can make some kind of living off of. I'm cool with anyone who's cool with that, open minded, lacking pretension, and looking for collaboration rather than competition.

Peace!

- Ike

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