ESTILO HIP HOP
by Loira Limbal and Virgilio Bravo
ESTILO HIP HOP chronicles the lives of three hip hop enthusiasts from Brazil, Chile and Cuba who firmly believe that hip hop can change the world. These three inspirational leaders mobilize young people to become politically active. However as the stakes assume greater risks, the leaders are faced with challenges and have to make a life-altering decisions that ultimately impact the course of their lives and of the hip hop movement.
Sunday JUNE 28 on PBS
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/globalvoices/estilohiphop.html
Eli Efi is a hip hop artist born and raised in São Paulo, Brasil. In 1988, he founded the politically charged rap group DMN and went on to record five albums receiving praise from the hip hop community and music industry alike. DMN was nominated for best video and best rap group at the MTV Brasil Video Music Awards, best rap song of the year at the Hutus Hip Hop Awards Festival, and won best music video at the São Paulo Shorts Film Festival. In addition to being a successful recording artist, Eli Efi has worked in numerous community based and political projects. He is a member of Abevic, a neighborhood association that uses hip hop culture to work with young people to promote radical change, critical thinking, and cooperative work. His hard line stance against injustice and energetic performance style have garnished him invitations to perform throughout the United States, Brasil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. In 2003, he left DMN and in 2004, he moved to the United States where he is currently working on his first solo album.
ESTILO HIP HOP Trailer from 1SOULDESIGNS on Vimeo.
Guerrillero Okulto is a hip hop recording artist from Chile, and presently one of the most respected and effective youth organizers in that nation’s capital. Over the past two years he’s led a citywide collective known as RH2A [Network of Hip Hop Activists] whose primary focus is to conduct alternative political education workshops throughout marginal neighborhoods in Santiago. Through his leadership at RH2A Guerrillero has organized nearly a dozen collectives of young hip hop enthusiasts craving for social justice. In 2006 RH2A and its affiliates organized the “Social Action Tour”, a nationwide tour featuring workshops on the media, education reform, and hip hop activism. The tour included participants from the U.S., Brasil and Argentina. Spread over four cities, the tour was attended by nearly 5,000 people. In 2005 Guerrillero released his critically acclaimed debut album Versos en resistencia [Verses of Resistance] on Alerce Records, home to the legendary Chilean folk singer Victor Jara. The Chilean hip hop press has called him “the most relevant” artist in the country. Prior to his career as a recording artist Guerrillero co-founded Hiphoplogia, the first-ever national grassroots organization to fuse social justice advocacy and hip hop. Here, he helped to build working coalitions between Chile’s young hip hop community and progressive squatter movements. Guerrillero currently resides in Santiago.
Magia is one half of the Cuban hip hop group known as Obsesión. Obsesión was born on June 25, 1996 with the purpose of making hip hop a solid musical genre inside Cuban culture. Comprised of husband and wife duo, Magia (MC) and El Tipo Este (MC and producer), Obsesión perfectly represents the revolutionary couple as equals in marriage, career and life. Their lyrics define Cuba as a social being, and their texts range from love -in all its dimensions- to the most polemic of social and political issues. Their well defined sound has caught the attention of many across the world, allowing Obsesión the privilege of performing in the UK, France, Venezuela, Canada and the US. In 2003, they embarked on a month-long tour of the United States, culminating in a historical performance at the infamous Apollo theatre in New-York City, in collaboration with The Roots. Magia is also one of the founding members of La Fabrika which is a collective of artists dedicated to using hip hop to create change on an individual and community level.
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