Spinning Beats and Fiending to Break Ankles and Bang Some Jumpers

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I was told by one of the local organizers that aside from Mos Def performing in Salvador de Bahia two years ago, there have never been any other US personalities to come here, until now. That makes me the first US hip hop DJ to ever rock this town!

Bobbito Garcia, world Class DJ and Bounce Magazine Editor-in-Chief-the Bible of street basketball–soaks up the scene in cities in Brazil never seen by American deejays-spinning beats and fiending to break ankles and bang some jumpers.

Day One

Whaddup family!

I’m a long, long way from Harlem right now, having just arrived in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. We checked into the hotel, it was around midnight, and across the street were two kids practicing their dribbling skills in a park dimly lit by the street’s lamp post. We’re not talking b-ball, though. This country’s equivalent fever sport is Soccer. I thought about back home, though, and immediately thought that if I was in Foster Projects at the same time in the late evening, it would’ve been two youths working on their crossover skills with their hands, not feet. It’s all love.

Tomorrow, I’m spinning at the Hutuz Hip Hop Festival which features MC and B-boy battles, skateboarding, and a streetball tournament. I will be in my element, and in e-f-f-e-c-t. Can’t wait. Sunday we’re supposed to hit the favelas, which are their version of the “hood,” only way more impoverished and dangerous than we can imagine on American standards. www.mycypher.com, who organized bringing me, Toni Blackmon, and other artists out as a cultural exchange, will be covering the whole week of events which includes next Saturday’s Zumbi Hip Hop Festival in Salvador de Bahia in the Northern part of Brazil.

Day Two

Saturday was ridiculous. The whole www.mycypher.com crew went to a park along Ipanema (yes, just like the song and its way more wondrous in person) where Nike was hosting a street soccer event. These kids were playing mad physical, and some of their footwork was nutty. On the side were some graf artists painting live, and behind the nets were three BASKETBALL COURTS! They were filled with scrubs, pero no me importa, we rolled over and caught a quick game of 3 on 3. My childhood buddy Mike “Butters” Parker (who played at Riverside Church in the Kenny Anderson heyday) and I guarded each other, and he gave me buckets! Ha ha! It was caught on the www.mycypher.com cameras, too! Oh, boy. It was pure joy to play in a foreign land as always, and it was only a warm up to the night’s event.

Later that evening, I spun a couple of sets between acts at the Hutuz Festival. The love the crowd gave me was ridiculous, particularly from the b-boys in the building. They had me open! I didn’t play not one rap record, but everyone stayed open-minded with the rare jazz, afro-beat, and especially samba breaks I was rocking. A dream come true. MV Bill, who is like Chuck D to this country as he’s mad popular but still very much about the community and giving back, closed out the show to 1,000+ screaming fans. He had them in his palm.

We about to check out that huge Jesus statue that overlooks the town. Can’t get the Kanye “Jesus Walks” song out my head, and that’s a good thing. Music is everywhere here. At the supermarket, even the otherwise cheesy Christmas songs renditions have a samba beat underneath which make them funkier as a mosquito’s tweeter. Will write more . . .

Adeus!

Day Three

I’m not for tourist attractions. I always rather spend time with the people when I’m on foreign land, and besides-I still have never even been to the Statue of Liberty or Empire State Bldg. in my 42 years living in NYC! Today, though, the www.mycypher.com crew invited us to peep Corcovado where the giant Jesus Christ statue rests atop a mountain which has a view of the entire city. Halfway up the hills, we peeped this helicopter landing that was about as picturesque and breathtaking as any vista I’ve ever experienced. Of course, my ballplaying sensibility wondered what a court would’ve looked like up there! Wow, man. We traveled all the way up, so high that we were amongst the clouds. The JC statue is the largest art-deco sculpture in the world, and I just layed down and looked up at it. Trevor the camera man had Rakim’s “I Know You Got Soul” bleeding out his headphones, but the line that I couldn’t get out of my head was Mobb Deep’s “Getting closer to God, in a tight situation now . . .” off their “Shook One Part II” classic. And that’s how it was. For 15 minutes, we waited for the clouds to pass until BAM! We had clear view for five seconds, and it was epic. Just like seeing a top to bottom burner on the 2 train in 1979, the moment was gone before I knew it, but etched in my memory forever. Butters. And I don’t subscribe to any religion, only believe in one’s own spirituality and it’s oneness with the universe. The sheer magnitude of this structure and how the heck they got it up that high is evidence enough that a higher energy exists. It’s like seeing “Special FX” catch an alley and yam it on three dudes. There has to be a God!

And while we’re on the topic of heavenly, if you’re ever in Rio, head to the Lapas area and find the old school Nova Capola restaurant that’s been there for over five decades and everyone knows about. The fish with almonds sauce served with broccoli rice is BANANAS!

Tomorrow we fly to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil’s center for Afro consciousness. I had already known that this country has the largest African population outside of the motherland, but I did not know that something like 35% of the slave trade was done here, compared to 15% in the US. Many traditions have been kept, and that’s why the emergence of Samba music is so dear as it’s rooted in African poly-rhythms. Maaan, I can’t wait to spin records for them. It’s truly gonna be something to experience.

Bless

Day Six

My thoughts are scattered, my heart blown away . . . Been in Salvador de Bahia, a city with the biggest concentration of Africans of any in the world outside the Motherland. ‘Nuff said. Poverty is outta control. We see homes that give new meaning to “brickhouse” or “exposed brick,” as they are piled on top of one another in the favelas, and nary have windows to speak of. I have no idea what they do when it rains. Women do their laundry by hand on the sidewalk, resting wet t-shirts on the cobblestone street as cars drive by, and clothes hang dry all over the place. It could be 2008 or 1938. Everywhere I look, I see beautiful people of color, unbeaten by their situation, smiling joyously and living their life with swagger. This is most evident in the children.

Yesterday, the www.mycypher.com crew was blessed enough to attend a live drumming/dance class for six to ten year olds at Ile Aiye’s center. They are a powerful and popular band who dedicates their lives to education. If you need any evidence that African customs in Brazil survived the slave trade, all one need do is witness Samba. There were 20 kids playing various drums in total synch, and 10 more doing footwork that would confuse even Crazy Legs. I watched; the energy coming from them was so intense that I literally had to keep my distance at first and just digest it. Eventually I joined them on stage, shaking hands, having one shorty pass me some drumsticks so I could rock with them, and entertaining questions about Chris Brown! Portuguese is similar in writing to Spanish, but spoken way differently, so we struggled to discuss anything more than what our names were. Smiling and exuding joy from your heart are universal enough of a language, and the default.

What really bugged me out was that although I’ve never been to Brazil until this trip, all of it seems too familiar. The faces, narrow roads, homes, and poverty all remind me of Puerto Rico. I’ve experienced this before, and the commonality strengthens me amidst the 40+ people back in the US telling me to “Watch out, be careful” while here. I grew up in New York, we stay on guard 24-7 anyway. I feel no threat of getting robbed in Brazil (although I’m aware it could happen at any point). I don’t walk with my camera out like a tourist anyhow, cuz I’m not one. I feel home and amongst my own. The people’s vibe makes me feel welcome, too.

Last night changed it all . . . I was told by one of the local organizers that aside from Mos Def performing in Salvador de Bahia two years ago, there has never been any other US personalities to come here, until now. That makes me the first US hip hop DJ to ever rock this town! Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paolo have more developed scenes and industry. Salvador is on the come-up. I’m scheduled to be on stage in front of 3,500 for the Hip Hop Zumbi Festival on Saturday, but last night during the Dia Do Samba Festival there was a small little backyard joint jumping off. It was as underground as it gets. A couple of rap groups did their thing, and then it was my turn to spin. There was only one turntable, though. Talk about old-school house party steez! I threw on joints, had people dancing, then there’d be silence for 10 seconds, and I’d throw on the next banger! This old school drummer with a straw hat started hitting it alongside me. His face seen a lot of years. I played Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” and dude was making the skin sound like nothing else I’d ever heard. It was raw, man. Real raw.

Today we chilled with two local graffiti artists who started a wall until we got poured on. We also stepped to Frazela Grande’s grade school. Man, all these little kids started screaming when they saw us, I don’t even know why! Talk about a warm welcome. They lined up and starting dancing Capoeira. If you have never seen it, it is centuries old, originating in Africa but distinctly Brazilian, and probably most resembles what we know as uprocking and b-boying, although really different in movement as it’s more deliberate and paced differently. These little things were doing full acrobatic flips-with sandals on and some even barefoot! Word! It started pouring, so everyone retreated under the main outdoor hall. As God would have it, the water and wind was strong enough to knock fresh mangoes off the tree, and we were offered to eat them. Wow. That was the most memorable mango tango I’ve ever experienced, yo!

We checked out a local hip hop shop, and there were two basketballs on the wall. Ahhhh . . . I haven’t played since Saturday in Rio, and haven’t seen one outdoor court in Salvador yet, so it was relief to dribble and do tricks for a hot sec. I’m not even sweating playing, though, and I never say that. What I’m going through this week is so much bigger. I am gonna destroy whoever is guarding me on Monday at the 14th ST. Y when I get back, though. That mango gave me special powers like you don’t even know . . .

Bless

Reprinted from www.bouncemag.com.

This story is filed under: Arts & Culture