Los Angeles/Toronto/New York January 2 2004--With the help of Image Entertainment, Sarinjay Entertainment, KOCH Entertainment, YRB Magazine and BPM:TV, Deejay Ra's award-winning Lyrical Knockout Entertainment is honoured to present North America's largest giveaway campaign to date dedicated solely to the representation of West Coast Hip-Hop in its highest form.
Though New Year titled 'Toast To The West Coast' in honor of artists who've supported Suge Knight's Death Row Records since the independent label's founding over ten years ago, Hip-Hop Activist Raoul S.
Juneja (a.k.a. Deejay Ra) also hopes his campaign brings attention to a pressing political issue which, although constantly a concern of countless West Coast rappers, seems to have been forgotten today by the mainstream media at large - gang violence.
"One person falls victim to gang murder every 48 hours in South Central Los Angeles," is one disturbing statistic revealed. "On December 31st of 2002, Los Angeles was named the new US murder capital with over 700 gang-related murders occurring in just the previous 364 days," a following tragic statistic explains.
But for those expecting intellectual credit from a CNN, ABC or MSNBC California correspondent, a surprise may be in store when the source of the quotes is credited as CJ Mac ; an unofficial member of Ice Cube's recently reunited Westside Connection group (who labelled their sophmore Priority Records release "Terrorist Threats" to bring attention to the Bush administration's record economic and social abandonment of America's inner-city minorities).
"The press is ignoring LA gang slayings now cuz they're happening so frequent that it ain't considered breaking news no more," CJ Mac points out when describing one of the inspirations behind his new "C-Walk" documentary.
"But the decrease in media attention doesn't mean that our mothers have stopped crying or our sons & daughters aren't becoming fatherless at a rapid rate and pace."
CJ Mac's concerns are also strongly reflected in the latest investigative styled rapumentaries by powerhouse production team QD3 and his legendary father Quincy Jones - "Thug Angel," considered a collector's edition prequel to MTV's "Tupac Resurrection" theatre release due to its being told entirely in the words of the assassinated rapper's closest comrades ; and "Beef," a Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace in "Pulp Fiction") narrated look at the history of rap battles, hoping to discourage their all too often real-world gang altercation consequences by putting a focus back on positive artistic development.
This vital issue of economically troubled youths obtaining legitimate entrepreneurial skills through example also holds considerable weight for Westside Connection member WC, who recently crafted a hip-hop business 'crash course' entitled "All That Glitters Ain't Gold" - a well-suited "C-Walk" companion featuring extensive commentary on music & media industry vices from WC's fellow Ice Cube and Mack 10 group members plus independent business moguls such as West Coast rap founder Ice-T (currently starring, mac, in Law & Order's "Special Victims Unit").
"The LA gangs were originally formed to protect our neighbourhoods from US government agency drug imports but somewhere down the line greed just took things completely out of hand," CJ Mac explains. "These days you have to entertain kids in order to slip the knowledge in that gets a message across - our community is in desperate need of help."
For more about Death Row Records or Westside Connection visit ThaRow.com and WestsideConnection.org respectively. And be sure to check out the hip-hop programming on Toronto's CKLN 88.
1 FM, CHRY 105.5 FM and TheCyberKrib.com, as well as Vancouver's CITR 101.9 FM and HitEmUp.com plus London's CHRW 94.7 FM from January 1-14 for exclusive CJ Mac, WC, QD3, Mack 10 and Suge Knight themed giveaways.
*JUST ANNOUNCED - YRB NYC and URBAN GROOVE Giveaways!*
Following a "Divine Forces" live KPFK 90.7 FM giveaway broadcast hosted by Southern California activist Fidel Rodriguez, additional 'underground media' leaders YRB Magazine and digital TV's "Urban Groove" have also come forward to sponsor the Lyrical Knockout Entertainment 'Toast To The West Coast' campaign.
A mouthpiece for the infamous 'Yellow Rat Bastard' urban fashion store based in Soho (New York), YRB Magazine has sent shockwaves through the magazine industry for an uncensored look at street lifestyle almost entirely banned from the pages of their conglomerate-driven competitor counterparts. Extensive profiles on Hip-Hop forefathers Grand Master Flash and Ice-T ; 'HollyHood' heavyweights Spike Lee and Rosario Dawson ; and even adult entertainment legends Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson remain just a preview into why Deejay Ra regularly shouts-out YRB as "the world's most dangerous magazine.
"
The fact that Canada's "last urban host standing" is a personality on the country's first dance-focused BPM:TV station hasn't discouraged him from covering Hip-Hop on his "Urban Groove" Toronto show that most music hosts shy away from ; it's actually led author Dalton Higgins to push mainstream boundaries even further. From discussing ignored stellar Canada-US music collaborations ("21 Answers" featuring Tara Chase/Lil' Mo) to announcing censored historic alliances ("Black Panthers/Deejay Ra Launch 2Pac Tribute"), Urban Groove's innovative independence from basic cable offers yet another example of Canadian music enthusiasts exhausting 'all means necessary' to resist (what many predict as) an eventual complete US media takeover.
For more about YRB Magazine or Urban Groove visit YRB.us and BPMTV.com respectively.
Posts
