Snippity Snippity Shnap » RIOT IN THE SKY

Bumpin’ clockwork: The Roots & Eminem

Two new albums I’m currently listening to:

The Roots rank top 5 in my book of best live performances and overall favorite musical bands. There’s no other group out there like them. They were pioneers to fuse that live band jazzy vibe with hip hop lyricism. They represent so much innovation, integrity and mastery of the craft. I love studying and following the creative evolution of artistic “pioneers”. It reminds me that just because something hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It just means someone needs to do it. It’ll be different (and blazing the unknown path is a scary task), but originality will make it that much more better.

Eminem, Recovery

Sometimes, I still can’t stand Eminem’s voice…but there is no denying that he is one of the illest rappers and lyricists out there. I respect his stern commitment and dedication to the writing craft. This is not some stupid drizzy drake shit. Eminem’s writing is meticulous, refined and well-calculated within every metronomic syllable. As a writer perpetually trying to refine and better understand my own writing in different creative styles, I can dig it.

DO yourselves a favor and cop these albums!!

(Thank you to Swat and Rob for loading me up)

New Student17.com LAUNCH!!

My homie MikeyG is a magician extraordinaire—he’s got endless tricks popping out of his hat. He is one of the illest artists/designers/illustrators/programmers/producer/teacher/student on this planet. He works faster and harder than most people I know, and is on the perpetual pursuit of gaining knowledge and spreading creative joy. He is fluent in the entire Adobe suite—I know, nasty. His artistic vision is met with impeccable execution. I love him because we can talk isometry and shambhala all in the same conversation. He recently dropped his new site and every pixel is original and produced in-house—the graphics, the animation, the flash, the html, the php, the design, the illustrations, every morsel of this webular experience. There is no stopping this fool. Check out his site then step your game up. (His blog has Adobe tips & tutorials.)

(Please be patient with the loading—there is some heavy homesgrown stuff…but it’s all high quality greens, yadidameeeeeen!? Well worth the wait.)

Who is Agent Orange??

This is a good article revisiting the detrimental impacts of Agent Orange dumped all over Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War, along with a 2010 update on a $300million effort to finally FINALLY start cleaning up the substance and treat victims.

Boy born without eyes.

More photos on Grim Legacy of Agent Orange

I feel inspired to do a series of orange paintings. READ ON!!

Unheard voices in the oil spill: the Vietnamese community

Millions of gallons of oil have been gushing out into the Gulf Coast for a few weeks now—MILLIONS! MILLIONS!—I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around the existing and everlasting potential damage this is causing. It’s forever changing the future of our natural ecosystems, killing/endangering rare (and soon to be rare) species of animals and putting many families at risk of losing their homes and businesses with the fishing/shrimping contamination. Katrina was quick and devastating. This oil spill is like a slow, painful death. Wretched heartbreak.

One would never know from the lack of representation on the news, but there is a large Vietnamese population down south heavily involved in the fishing/shrimping industry. (We boat people…what’d you expect??!) Seaside bidness runs in my family—my mom’s side is from a fishing village in South Vietnam, and I got some in-laws in Louisiana! Vietnamese people know how to fucking hustle, mang…and it’s not always fun—especially not for the ones down south who have been struck by recent bad luck. First there was the Vietnam War, then there was escaping by boat, then there was rebuilding in America, then there was rebuilding after Katrina, now they must rebuild after the oil spill—all this in one lifetime. Meanwhile, their stories are never shared on the news, and their struggles go on ignored and unnoticed. What’s worse is that many Vietnamese people suffering also struggle with language barriers that make it extremely difficult to gain access to the necessary resources, contacts and help.

Below are some videos by some friends and allies of mine that share the Vietnamese American experience within this global disaster. Amidst all the BP bullshit and politics of who’s doing what to do what to do what, every moment that goes by, more oil gushes out and many people get closer and closer to going bankrupt and hungry. While trying to stop the oil, we can’t forget that people need immediate help. Please take a moment to expand your consciousness and open your hearts up by watching. Spread the message:

Willard Wigan–micro sculptor, big fucking deal!

Check out this artist–WILLARD WIGAN! He’s a micro sculptor who creates work from a GRAIN OF SAND. Unfuckingreal! I didn’t even think the human anatomy was even capable of performing micro-scale motions to sculpt and paint a grain of sand. He even talks about inhaling one of his sculptures one time by accident. His creative process doesn’t look fun at all; I’d never have the patience to do something like that. But the fact that he can achieve something seemingly inconceivable is wildly mind-blowing and insanely inspiring. Even in a world of iPads and internet, this dude took it back to the caveman days and still managed to innovate something brand new from the simplest medium: a grain of sand. HOT DAMN!

Big ups to the homie Free for putting me on. Check out his new art blog, FourArtists.

Revolution running in my ears

There’s a back-to-back revolution bumping in my headphones:

These albums make me hella happy to be alive right now. Buy them today!! I’m madd amped to see Nas & Damian Marley in a little over a week at Jazz Reggae Festival in LA!! What up West Coast!!

Janelle Monae performs “Tightrope” on Letterman

I only watch programmed television on one occasion: Lost. TUESDAYS 9PM EST ON THE DOT I NEED SILENCE IN THE BUILDING!! Everything else, I just record or catch streaming. Then as soon as I heard Janelle Monae was performing live last night on the David Letterman show, I had to drop everything to watch that too.

Janelle Monae is freakin’ unbelievable. Her voice. Her feet. Her eyes. Her grace. Her music and performance in this video makes me feel a little more…human. She sets a standard of artistry, innovation and dignity I aspire towards. YAY MONAE!

Noisettes cover “Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve”

Madd elegant and edgy. Jockin’ her style.

New track from M.I.A., XXXO

New track from M.I.A.!! She never ceases to blow my mind. In this case, it was her genius strategy in releasing Born Free before leaking this new “club” track. Timing is everything. LOVE HERRR.

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Anida Yoeu Ali’s “1700% Project: Mistaken For Muslim”

Watch this insanely dope video now and then find out more about The 1700% Project!!

Little Asian girl poppin’ on TV!!!

There aren’t a lot of things that move me on TV these days, but this commercial had me jumping out of my seat with excitement!! Check out the little Asian girl dancing and doing the damn thing!!!! SO FREAKIN’ cuuute, I LOVE HER! She looks so strong, so confident and so proud. This girl is hella reppin’—she’s fly, Asian, beautiful, a fierce female on TV and the best dancer of the crew without a doubt. She is my new idol, I want to meet her so bad.

Another thing I love about this commercial is that it shows a beautifully diverse group of young girls being young girls. They’re dancing, being playful, being expressive without looking like mini sluts or male-alluring Bratz. The Asian girl is even a little chubz, which is so beautiful because it sends the message that no matter what size or what race you are, you bedda work it and work it proud!! Our children are growing up way too fast; they barely get to bask in the innocence of childhood. Too many messages today (Barbie Dolls, music videos, Teen sitcoms) encourage young girls to fit a certain role, squeeze into a particular shape/size and to center their existences at becoming the object of male attention. It creates the false impression that the ability to entice boys is utmost fulfilling and “empowering”. This commercial embraces different races, different body types and different styles of dancing to show that everyone is beautiful. So revolutionary, I dig it.

I LOVE MOMS WORLDWIDE

This weekend is Mother’s Day and also my mom’s birthday!! I’m knocking out one gift for both days with a painting.

Show all the mamas in your life some love and gratitude. Thank your mom for giving you life, and also thank all the moms you know for being moms in this world. Where would the world be without MOMS?!?! There would be NO world, that’s what! Which means there would be no world without women. Cot damn, we women rule. (Well, I guess there would be no world without men too, and everyone in between…but chukno…)

Here’s a Song for Mama:

+++ +++ +++

One of my favorite verses about women, from Tupac’s Keep Ya Head Up:

You know it makes me unhappy (what’s that)
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it’s time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies
And since a man can’t make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you’re fed up ladies, but keep your head up

David Choe says, Fuck You

Lately I’ve been reading up on American artist of Korean descent, David Choe (current Juxtapoz feature). There’s a lot to say about David Choe’s style and art, but what I grab most from him is his recklessly adventurous life as an artist. He lives with no inhibitions (or so it seems). He says, Fuck everybody and Fuck what everybody thinks, because he is still going to do whatever the fuck he wants. I love the mantra and can’t say I haven’t heard it before, but believing is easy and applying is the hard part. But as I’m reading more about David Choe and the risks he’s taken with his life and his art (which are more so one in the same), I see how much his art has flourished and how fucking successful he has become. My self-doubt and my own fear are my greatest obstacles. While I’m starting a painting, I’m already thinking about how people will judge it. Will it be good enough? Sometimes I don’t want to draw because I think it won’t be good enough. I’m still getting comfortable with showing people all my best work and all my worst work. I have a tendency to filter just the “good ones”, but that’s so unfair because I know I’m doing an injustice to myself as an artist if I can’t show all my sides as a human being—including all the imperfections and weak areas. It’s something I’m working on. I’m done stalling. Someone once told me, It takes more time to talk about doing something than actually doing it. In the words of David Choe, “If you’re going to try, go all the way.”

Erykah Badu breaks it down on Mo’Nique

It’s not easy being Erykah Badu—not that I’d know what it’s like to be Erykah Badu. But Erykah Badu is like a goddess living among humans—and that must be a challenge. It takes incredible strength and endurance to be a badass beauty like Erykah Badu who challenges gender roles, stereotypes and societal expectations of the woman. You gota hold your ground against much resistance. She is fierce, talented, bold and fearlessly speaks her mind; while society can respect and admire strong women, society doesn’t always want strong women. Strong women aren’t easy to control or manipulate. Strong women can think for themselves. Strong women check other women and other men on their bullshit. And who likes getting checked??Probably nobody. But hey, somebody’s got to do it.

Everything Erykah Badu speaks on in this video touches my heart and soul, but I’d have to say my favorite is at the end…when she’s talking about drummers and drumming camp. YUP! Watch the video to find out more:

What if the Tea Party were black?

The question is simple: Do we perceive mostly white folks’ anger over whatever topic/issue differently than we would if it were people of color?

Don’t get confused like Jenny Beth Martin in the interview. We’re not talking about WHAT the issue is or WHO the issue affects. We’re talking about PERCEPTION. People keep talking about a “color blind society” and insisting that we live in a post-racial era. People argue, “I’m not a racist!” and then go on to do/say racistly-inclined things. We must expand our consciousness of racism in order to understand how racism functions in American society—meaning, racism isn’t just about intention. Racism draws upon perception. The difference between intention and perception is self-awareness. When you call somebody the N word or a chink, you are intending to offend. When you see a group of black men from the inside of your parked car and reach for the car lock, you act on perception. Racist ideas and images of people are perpetuated every day through the media, thus we internalize the racism without knowing (“intending”) and this ultimately influences our perceptions. This is how people become conditioned to carry out dominant ideologies. So how do we challenge the racism perpetuated from external sources and confront our own internal perceptions? Question the messages you consume and be fully aware of your self and the judgments you put out into the world. How do you distinguish between human nature and human conditioning?

My Buddy with his Buddy with his Buddy

Bic Plastics and Marka27 Presents “Buddy Custom Show” from YRB Magazine on Vimeo.

I saw the Egyptian-inspired piece come to life!! From naked Buddy to Blakhenaton! Late nights kicking ass in the studio with my buddy, Problak. <3

Nick Cave: Soundsuits

I went to Nick Cave’s exhibit “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth” last week in L.A. and it made me hella happy. This dude is nuts and his work is brilliant! Thank you to the internet, you can now experience a digital tour in the same museum!!

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO TOUR OF NICK CAVE’S EXHIBIT.

“Experience the largest presentation of work by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave, featuring thirty-five of his Soundsuits—multi-layered, mixed-media sculptures named for the sounds made when the “suits” are worn. Reminiscent of African, Caribbean and other ceremonial ensembles as well as of haute couture, Cave’s work explores issues of transformation, ritual, myth and identity. His virtuosic constructions incorporate yarn, sequins, bottle caps, vintage toys, rusted iron sticks, hair, and more. Mad, humorous, visionary, glamorous and unexpected, the Soundsuits are created from scavenged ordinary materials that Cave re-contextualizes into extraordinary works of art.” –Fowler Museum

I Love My Job

Check out my girl Yhinny on TV representing our organization, Artists For Humanity (AFH). I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it, but I am the Digital Media and Literacy Mentor at AFH, so I help teenagers make videos, gain social media skills and up their writing game in every way. They like to call me The New Miss Lit and Undercover Meanie (I don’t know where this one came from…). I’m sure I’m not the only one, but at least for me there is something about artists not liking to talk about their “jobs”, especially if their “jobs” are so removed from their goals as “full time” artists. But my “job” is so fucking dope that I couldn’t NOT talk about it. Click here or on the image above to watch the video clip (no embedding options).

I WANA GET BUTT NAKED TOO, I DO!

So by now, I’m sure many of you have seen Erykah Badu’s new bad ass video where she gets butt-ass naked! BUCK YEA! There’s a lot of interpretative symbolism floating around the blogosphere—primarily the idea of stripping down to fearlessly bare one’s individualism against all societal norms. I was having a conversation with one of my girls last night about baring your body and she said something like, “Yea, but not YOU Miss Feminist!” Oh contraire, I must dispel the myth that “feminists” are against flaunting sexuality. If anything, I am all for sexual liberation. It just sucks sometimes that a woman’s sexual liberation is oftentimes filtered through the patriarchal framework that can then turn sexual expression into “whoring” or “slutty”. I recognize the dangers of our society’s superficiality. As an artist and an intellectual, it’s important for me to legitimize myself through my creative talents, work and words before stripping down. Brains and beauty before body. The last thing I want to hear is some bullshit from haters trying to discredit like, “Oh she only got there because of how she looks” or “Oh, it’s because she got that PHOTO up.” Please. I know I can’t control what people think, but I can control what I put out there in this world. And I will make sure I always produce substantiating work. Also in recognizing our society’s superficiality, I know how easy it would be for me to claim notoriety through sex and body. I can wear less clothes, I can smile for the camera. Easy. But this was never my mission to begin with. Look at Tila Tequila. She made a name for herself by exploiting her own body and sexuality, and now she can’t escape this. Tila wants to make music and make art and even find love—but no one takes her seriously in these industries. I refuse to fall into that trap. I want to be influential with my brains not (just) my body. This is the route I’ve chosen for myself. Others may choose differently. All power to them and the pursuit of happiness.

Erykah Badu is a bad ass female. She got naked and it totally flipped the script—even in a patriarchal society. She’s also well established as an artist and incredibly respected as a strong woman. You don’t gota question her motives in taking off her clothes in this situation. So trust me when I say, “I wana get butt naked, too! I do!” And I absolutely plan on doing so one day. FOR ALL OF YOU. That is a quasi promise. Watch out now.

Are you a TEA BAG or EGGROLL?

Nobody likes filling out boring paperwork, but the 2010 Census is here and I’m a huge advocate for everybody getting it in!! (No pun intended…or do I???) Anyways, the way it works is simple—if you don’t get counted, then you don’t exist. If you don’t exist, it’s hard for the government to pay attention to the needs of your respective community. Demographics collected through the Census are used to help determine funding allocations for services, programs, etc. For example, if there are 15 million Asian Americans in the United States, but only 2 million fill out their Census papers, then the government is going to say, “There’s only 2 million of them? Let’s give more money to __fill in the blank with bigger Census respondents__.” Yadidameeeaaan?? The thing takes less than 10 minutes! Spend 10 minutes to make the next 10 years count! (No pun intended, haaaaa!)

The 2010 Census came up with these AWESOME “Action Posters” for different ethnic communities to encourage people to fill out the census. The best ones reflect PEOPLE of a particular community to “Take action!” I’m scrolling through the website and the African American poster looks great, the Alaskan Native one looks great, even the Arabic poster looks hot!

Then I keep scrolling and I’m met with raw confusion. So confused, this shit had me rolling. Peep:

Bengali—a TEA BAG?!

Haitian—where are all the HAITIAN people at??? Hmmm…

Hindi—another TEA BAG?! They recycled the Bengali poster here…

Hmong—Eggrolls?!?! Damn, son. They couldn’t at least show a picture of Hmong people eating or making eggrolls?

Khmer—Tea time baby.

Korean—Tea time baby. I liked how they chose a different tea set.

Laotian—Doing what they do best…serve food?

Puerto Rico—Are these REAL Puerto Rican hands? (Also, is it just me or does that boxing glove look like a lobster claw?)

Thai—I don’t care what any of y’all say…TOM YUM SOUP is da best!!

Urdu—You look kind of familiar…

Vietnamese—Oh, my peoples! I like the decorations on the tea pot.

I won’t lie…I don’t know what an Urdu person looks like, but that tea pot portrait ain’t helping!! So the lesson here is simple: If you don’t want to be represented as an EGGROLL or TEAPOT in 2020, FILL OUT THE CENSUS!

Check out all the 2010 Census posters here.

Big ups to my homies at APAForProgress.org for putting me on.

***Added 4/4/10 …I was just informed that Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. Urdu is not a nationality. Thank you M. Wong for correcting me!

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