It’s always a pleasure to chop it up with one of our favorite emcees who hails from the Motorcity, Detroit, Michigan.. Invincible is not only someone who will hurt your feelings on the mic, with her wicked flows and willingness to speak truth to power, but she’ll hurt you on the activism tip..
Invincible is more likely to be found at a youth center or on the block working with youth throughout Detroit, make sense of an increasing repressive world.. Her solution is figure out ways to be self-sufficient. While she and others clearly understand the importance of holding folks in power accountable, she’s also crystal clear that those with means and resources, don’t particularly care about the folks they oppress, hence, folks have got to make sure they find ways to survive, with or without their help..
In our interview Invincible breaks down a lot of the innovative ways folks in her city are problem solving systemic issues. She talks about Michigan’s policy of having emergency corporate managers, appointed by the Governor who usurp the power of elected officials and how folks are making things happen in spite of the limitations. She talks about the response youth in her city had when they got suspended for walking out of school to protest sub par education. They started freedom schools and held classes outside the school.. She talked about the media work and new curriculum folks are embracing as well as the Food Justice Movement which in full steam in Detroit..
Lastly we talked about her music, and true to form, Invincible is on some next level ‘ish , as she’s building a Music Box and redefining how music and art is to be distributed..
Invincible will be in town this Saturday for an annual event called Queendomwhich will also include local female emcees and deejays like DJ Zita, Aima The Dreamer, Persia and a host of others..
One of the dopest films out or soon to be out at a theater near you is the Something from Nothing the Art of Rap, put together by Ice-T... Yes, there have been a number of documentaries put out over the years that have focused on emceeing, but this one really hits home for a few reasons..
First, the stories are being told by those who do it..This is important, because far too often the nuanced and subtle perspectives by the practitioners are often left out or overshadowed by everyone else when documentaries are made. We get to really see how folks are thinking and feel where they’re coming from. There’s no middle-man, expert, punditry interpretation.. You walk away really understanding how and why Hip Hop and in particular rap is an American art form given to the world..
The second thing, is we got to hear from many of the pioneers and see them execute their craft without the feeling like they were being rushed off or their interviews cut short to make room for artists or big names who are well-known today in 2012.
Common holds it down in the film ‘Art of Rap’
It was good to hear good solid interviews with pioneering and iconic figures who still have it like Grandmaster Caz,Mele-Mel, MC Lyte,Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Nas, Chuck D, Q-Tip and Doug E Fresh to name a few. They were nicely balanced out with folks like Kanye West who got busy in this film, along with artists like Immortal Technique, Eminem, Bun B and Common to name a few..
On a side note the Grandmaster Caz spit the illest rhyme out of everyone in the entire film..I had to get that in , because a couple of my buddies thought Kanye took the cake. A couple thought Eminem came hard while others felt WC made his presence felt.. That’s the good thing about this film.. we’re all gonna come out debating who repped.. So I’m just gonna keep it real with ya since its my blog.. Grandmaster Caz killed it.. case closed!..
It was good seeing Ice T do the interviews because he pulls things out of his peers that many film makers probably couldn’t.. It was good to see him in the role of journalist, fan and participant as he ripped a few flows to remind cats, he still has flavor. It was good to see the camaraderie and mutual respect and admiration which often led humorous exchanges..
The only shortcomings to this movie is it should’ve been longer.. I think 4 or 5 hours would’ve been great.. LOL Seriously Ice will have to make additional parts to this, because as dope as this flick is, there are many angles that weren’t fully covered.. There’s no way to fit everyone and everything into a film like that..especially since Ice allows folks to talk and show off their skillz.. He wasn’t cutting and editing just to fit everyone in..
Other critiques?? Pick a city, any city around the country, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Oakland, Cleveland, Boston.. Pick a city and I guarantee at every showing, there will be someone pointing out that the Art of Rap didn’t include their favorite rapper or the person they perceive to be the sharpest spitter from their part of town..There’s gonna be cats saying there wasn’t enough midwest, not enough South, no Bay Area etc etc.. That’s gonna happen and even with that critique the film is still dope..It might drop down to a 9.5 as opposed to a 10..
There will be folks from different generations who feel like more could’ve been added. Yes there will be a few who say the film should’ve included more pioneers, more cats from the 80s, more cats from the 90s and millennium cats. Some will want more underground, others will want it to be more mainstream.. That’s gonna happen… and even with that, as I noted earlier still this is a Must See film
It was good to see Salt in the Art of Rap
Personally I think Ice could’ve added a few more sistas in the mix.. It was good to see Salt, It was great to see Lyte.. I wanted to see Yo Yo, Medusa, Invincible and Jean Grae.. and while they weren’t in the film, it’s still dope.
The good news is Ice filmed hours upon hours of material and I’m almost certain we’ll see additional parts where our personal favorites are included.. As I said this is not a forced documentary. It flowed really well and had a very authentic feel and is an important, essential addition in the Story of Hip Hop..
Major Props to Ice T.. I fully expect this documentary to be nominated for an Oscar.. It’s that damn good.
-Davey D-
Below is the official video for the Art of Rap.. Smooth tha Hustla brings heat..
So today Mitt Romney is coming to the Bay Area to meet w/ Meg Whitman..Y’all remember Meg? In 2010 she ran for governor and promised to fire 40k state workers.. She’s now the CEO of HP where she is now firing 27k…This is what she does best…
Her buddy Mitt is on record saying he likes to fire people and his company Bain Capital has proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt..Ask the folks who work at Clear Channel, one of Bain’s companies..
Lastly Mitt is hanging out with Donald ‘Klansman’ Trump... What does Trump do every week? He has a TV show where he fires people..
So where’s all the job creation? Perhaps its overseas or perhaps its amongthe low wage/ minimum wage crowd
Mitt, Meg & Trump.. They’re the new age Firing Squad..
t’s always a pleasure to chop it up with one of our favorite emcees who hails from the Motorcity, Detroit, Michigan.. Invincible is not only someone who will hurt your feelings on the mic, with her wicked flows and willingness to speak truth to power, but she’ll hurt you on the activism tip..
In our interview Invincible breaks down a lot of the innovative ways folks in her city are problem solving systemic issues. She talks about Michigan’s policy of having emergency corporate managers, appointed by the Governor who usurp the power of elected officials and how folks are making things happen in spite of the limitations. She talks about the response youth in her city had when they got suspended for walking out of school to protest sub par education. They started freedom schools and held classes outside the school.. She talked about the media work and new curriculum folks are embracing as well as the Food Justice Movement which in full steam in Detroit..
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner 