Ill Street Grooves

A while back a South Asian friend expressed concern about religious icons being exploited commercially. My response, "Welcome to America." You know you’ve made it here when you see images of your culture depicted, often inaccurately, to sell products. It’s bad enough that we’ve had to endure animated caricatures of Colonel (KFC) Sanders attempting to break dance, now Heineken would have us believe the technique known as "scratching" was started in 1982 when a DJ spilled beer on his record. The Heineken ad might have worked better and avoided a threatened boycott had the ad agency done their homework and hired Grand Wizard Theodore (credited with inventing the technique) to star in the commercial. Exploitative, still, but at least it would have been more accurate.

Here in Philadelphia, the vibrations of homespun projects are beginning to be heard clear above the din of commercial hype-hop. BunnFest’s long-awaited, well crafted EP Manifestation of a Subculture (Mofest) provides hip-hop beyond entertainment. His rhythmic flow shares hard learned lessons of love as well as issuing the warning "Don’t Be Suckered by a Politician." Throughout the EP, BunnFest doesn’t sacrifice the beat for the message, or vice versa. (www.bunnfest.8m.com, also available at area Tower Records).

Arrakis Records is an example of pure hustle and promotion. Having hosted one of La Tazza’s best attended nights of the year, the spunky indie unleashed Will We Ever Be Famous? by Kenneth Masters and Dept. of Rec. (Adam 12 and Stape Mega). One of the EP’s standout tracks is "Freddie vs. Jason," a piece that reflects the crew’s love of horror pictures, with more than a slight reference to WWF wrestling. The EP is now available at Cue Records (www.arrakisrecords.com).

Hip-hop staple Chris Perri has transformed identities to suit the projects he’s been a part of. First as part of the live band section of Mom Sug Dojo then to Disciples of Discipline and his current solo project Oaxerai (wa-her-i). The word came to him while cleansing his spirit in a Native American sweat lodge (sauna). The full length Rights of Passage speaks to the artist’s concerns over losing his freedom, in this land of the free. Oaxerai communicates these concerns in an activist’s voice. (www.oaxerai.com). Oaxeri performs at Bennie’s, 1508 South St., 215-545-4511, on Thursday, April 26, with ProToulus, (whose MC Shuji will be returning to Japan) and Electric City.

If you have hip-hop news, e-mail K-C Bajai at avantcity@yahoo.com or call 302-737-6799.