Harlem News Group BRONX INTERNATIONAL HIP HOP JAM IN THE BOOGIE DOWN BRONX

HARLEM . QUEENS . BROOKLYN . BRONX

By Howard Giske

(l-r) * Circa '95 with Chief 69

he boogie-down Bronx was the scene of an international hip-hop jam at the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, located at 928 Simpson St., the Bronx. Hip Hoppers and Rappers know that the Bronx is a source of this style, and the appearance of the Jogja Hip-Hop Foundation, a collective from Yogyakarta, in Java, Indonesia, brings it all back home. The opening act was Circa '95, Rephstar and PattyDukes. Also on stage was Chief 69, who danced and did b-boy (break dance) routines. Circa '95's first rap hit the issues of immigration and education, focusing on the huge paper trails following us all. The duo made fun of the white collar set, with the refrain: "Hustle, Hustle, Grind, Grind, Kicking that Paper, Kicking that Paper." Rephstar rapped in a

* Circa '95

* JogJa Collective
They did their signature English-Spanish rap: "All We Need," singing "we're from the Heights, and Highbridge," and "all we need is love and a little understanding." Next on stage, all the way from Indonesia, was JogJa Hip Hop Collective. Their rap is mostly in their language, Javanese, but with an English refrain in their first number: "We are from Joe Ja!!!" Hip Hop is now a global style; they had a DJ "scratching" records, to get that live rhythmic squeaky sound. Soon JogJa seemed right at home. The group of 4 men got on stage and rapped, sang and danced, singing the exotic Asian-tinged refrains in each number. They explained in English that they too had their disaster, the 2004 Indonesian Earthquake, and that they are donating to help those suffering from Hurricane Sandy. They half sung,

* Cypher of hip hoppers

half rapped a number that they explained in English was an anti-corruption song. Center Stage, a project of the U.S. State Department, brought Jogja to the United States to tour. Finally, PattyDukes announced that all the hip hoppers and rappers in the room could form a "cipher," a hip-hopping circle on stage, taking turns in rapping, rhyming and dancing in the center of the cypher. About 10 other up-andcoming artists got up on the stage with Circa '95 and JogJa, so the cypher had lots of energy. Rephstar called out, when I say hip, you say hop, and the event came to an end, leaving the audience with a lot to think about.

tenor voice about daily life, while PattyDukes often broke into Spanish riffs, with both of them talking to "the people" or in Spanish "mi gente." The soundtrack then segued into the next theme, " It's bigger than us now. Do it for the people, we got it going on." I like how they rap, reaching a level of clarity where you can actually understand a lot of what they're saying. Rephstar and PattyDukes are still flashing back to their childhood and school days: "Public School Kid, Banging on the tables, Food Fight." But, they keep it light and the language fairly clean. Rephstar interjected between numbers that he is Puerto Rican and PattyDukes is Dominican; both are from New York City. They have recently released their first album, Free Lunch.

Harlem News Group November 22, 2012

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