the rasx() context

news from kintespace.com ::: Monday, May 28, 2007

news from kintespace.com

::: Monday, May 28, 2007

::: Bryan Wilhite: MX

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_bwilhite6.html

This one is here to remember Malcolm X on his birthday in the year 2007. “MX” was written as rhythm rhyme lyrics for a hip hop album that was never released. For more details about my adolescent adventures, do read “rasx() Screenshots: Freestyle—The Art of Rhyme.”

The teenaged idea behind writing this rhyme was to respond to a very peculiar time in entertainment history when it was actually considered cliché to have a Malcolm X sound sample in your popular music. There were so many young, self-described rappers and music producers who went through the motions of using a Malcolm X speech but few wrote about Malcolm X. It was my seventeen-year-old task to fill the gap—and I expected to be rewarded for it by other Black people—in Los Angeles!

Oh, how innocent I was…

::: Aya De Leon, Tamara Nicholl and Deborah Davis: Women 3.0

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_women30.html

This mini compilation mixes the voices three American women: Aya De Leon of Oakland, CA, Tamara Nicholl of Houston, TX and Deborah Davis of Dallas, TX. This is an intermingling of the spoken word of an acclaimed community activist, an award-winning techno-vocalizing slam poet and an accomplished, internationally renowned Jazz musician.

Both Tamara and Deborah share lead-vocal roles in bands. Tamara is one in the duo Third Option—a cut from their album, Cult Of Nice, “Woman’s Poem” is presented here. Deborah often headlines for “A few Good Men”—pianist James Weidman, bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Greg Hutchinson—a cut from their album No Ways Tired, “The Kiss (original poem)” is in the kinté space as well.

Aya de Leon, her “Thin Line/Stop The War” is the first track in Joy in the Struggle. This live version was recorded in 2005 at Malonga Casquelourd Arts Complex, Oakland, CA. Aya de Leon collaborates in groups as well as being pointedly solo—in 1996 it is proclaimed that she “married herself.”

::: Mobolaji Olambiwonnu: Candlelight Dinner (YouTube.com)

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_mpire_dinner.html

AT FIRST GLANCE, Mobolaji Olambiwonnu might erroneously be mistaken for a hard-core proponent of the entertainment industry. If you only look at his attending UCLA and his professional involvement in the production of music videos, you may quickly conclude that using all of his cash on hand to make an art film would be the last thing on his mind. But Mobolaji discovered the east coast as well as the west coast; he found the New York Film Academy as well as MTV. Using the Academy’s non-sync sound camera, a basic lighting kit, about $500 and with a little help from his friends, he shot (in one take) Candlelight Dinner.

This work could be considered slightly autobiographical. Mobolaji would be the first to admit this. But the need to make a personal statement did not cripple some considerable respect for strong cinematic visualization, remarkable continuity (good editing) and a subtle sense of humor.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 10:32 am and is filed under kinté links, kinté space news, root. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.