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The GRAFFITI VERITE' Volumes 1
- 11 DOCUMENTARY
Series ((Request
Watch it Now Streaming)
Announcing
the new Mpeg 4 download delivery system for GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground
(Part 1) Ideal
for portable media: ipod, iphones, itouch, Sony Walkman or any players
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with most versions of Quicktime. Download GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground
(Part 1) now
at Payloadz.comGV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground
(Part 1)
Available NOW
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NOW
For more info about GV10
please contact Loida @
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GV11
Review by Angie "Hiphop Angel" Griffin
" I think the spirit of Hip-Hop, you know. it's an abstract energy. It's the pure, untainted, spiritual rhythms of the Universe," a quote by Justin Bua in Graffiti Verite' 11 (GV11) DON''T BELIEVE DA NOIZE! Voices From Da Hip-Hop Undaground is what initially grabbed my attention.
With
most individuals viewing Hip-Hop as a genre of music, Justin
Bua introduced Hip-Hop in a dynamic way, in the freshest fashion.
The descriptions and insights of Hip-Hop culture from various International artists and activists within GV11, contributes to this film's success, giving the audience a much broader picture of what Hip-Hop is, Universally.
The essence of the culture is alive and well, and Voices From Da Hip-Hop Undaground gives an amazing view of the appreciation of the Hip-Hoppas due to their passion for Preservation, Love and Respect for what they have either adopted as their lifestyles or was born into.
Kudos to Director Bob Bryan for a quality film that can be an educational experience for many.
Review
by Angie "Hiphop Angel" Griffin: Woman of God=Truth,
Journalist/Personality (hobby), Event Professional (profession), student,
Friend and sister to many... I am Hiphop Angel.
Temple
of Hiphop
Universal
Zulu Nation
Atlanta, Georgia
Favorite
Quote: "If
you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody
has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall,
don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it,
or work around it." --Michael Jordan
Wow.
Thank you! You are doing a real good!
I've
loved all of Bob Bryan's documentaries about Hip-Hop because, although
I thought I'd seen it all, I find new twists on topics I'd taught about
for four 
years.
Then I downloaded GV11
Part 1 "Don't Believe Da Noize: Voices From
Da Hip-Hop Undaground", and I was stunned to find a documentary
that covered culture, not the four elements, but culture -- the heart of
the topic that lead me to teach about Hip-Hop in the first place.
Then I was stunned to find through this documentary another teacher, Alan Sitomer, who'd written books from the perspective of teaching AS a "Hip-Hop teacher." It's one of those moments when you realize that ADD is only a symptom of watching so much of the same-old, same-old media.
"I never knew what a "nig..." was until you called me one. As I got older, I decided to own it. Now it's a self-described term of endearment."
My mom and dad are Jamaican. When I was really little, my mom and I were in a downtown Miami Burdines. I was chasing a little girl through the racks when her mom grabbed her by the arm and told my mom to, "go back to the country you came from, nig..." As my mom tells it, the woman was Cuban. When I saw this quote above I fell in love with this doc. You've got to see the homemade Boondocks cartoon ("Ravishing Raspberry" and the two women (Shawnee & Shawnelle Gibbs) who put them together. It's taken me forever to write this review because I identified with so much of it.
"Hip-Hop
asks the kinds of questions kids are asking, and it helps them find their
own answers. Hip-Hop asks, "What would you like your answer to be?" 
Hip-Hop
respects teens' tendency to revolt and asks, "Who are you gonna be?""
-- Alan Sitomer, Author/California
Teacher of The Year
Then I learned that there is a teacher by the name of Alan Sitomer (Hip-Hop Poetry and the Classics). Yeah. He's been California State Teacher of the year and is a Disney (yes, Disney) author of books about, among other things, being a Hip-Hop teacher (not necessarily teaching about Hip-Hop.) We're FBfriends. I follow him on Twitter. What more is there to say? Wow. If you're interested in education theory, follow him and read his blog about things like eReaders.
If you only listen to party music, here's another reason to dig deeper: "It's a commitment to getting your voice out, the truth out, inspiring the youth ... it has rules, regulations and standards, "--Mike Deet, Filmmaker (Hip-Hop Resurrection-From NYC to New Zealand) and ... "There are whites in Hip-Hop, but they don't care about the Black agenda, the Mexican agenda. They frown on political Hip-Hop. They just want to wear the gear and dance." -- Adisa "The Bishop of Hip-Hop", author/co-founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation.
GV11 Part 2, where are you?
I can only hope that the discussions about class and feminism, that are broached towards the end of this film, are handled in the same way from multiple perspectives and without moralism or one singular point-of-view.
"Hip-Hop creates it's own culture within all other cultures." -- Glenn Towery, composer/director/producer
That is new knowledge to think about.
Review by Allan
Baldwin, Writer
Favorite
Quote: "A
little sincerity is a dangerous thing and a great deal of it is absolutely
fatal"---Oscar Wilde
This
is a great introduction piece on Hip-Hop as culture and its influence over
everyones lives. This documentary asks the question; is Hip-Hop still a
culture or a tool by marketing machines to sell-a-lifestyle which we have
adopted as a culture?
Not
in so many words but that is the thought and question I kept asking myself
as I watched. It can also bring up the old question of "is art imitating
life,
or is life imitating
art?"
The
interviews are good, he talks to people from all aspects of the Hip-Hop
world. All the sequences run well, I thought some of the cartoon skits
were a
bit lengthy but at the end
it gives you a break from the usual run along documentary style commentary.
Overall, as a Hip-Hop aficionado, I must say this doc needs to be seen because it diggs a lot deeper than just giving you the history of Hip-Hop. It asks the right questions without being "preachy" or "political".
The underground has been talking about how abused Hip-Hop (especially rap) music has become and we really need to be educated on the power of sound, visuals, and the subconscious mind and how everything influences us.
This documentary starts that discussion. Are your thoughts thinking for you, or do you think your own thoughts?
See this people....
---Angelo
Rodriguez
"Everyone
needs money, that's why they call it money"-A David Mamet line, delivered
by Danny Devito in the movie "Heist"
GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE! Voices from da Hip-Hop Undaground IS
AN EXTRAORDINARY, GRAVITATING AND A "MUST-SEE" DOC FILM !
It answers many questions that the everyday music fan has about Hip-Hop...it
also brings all cultures together.
----Anji
Champagne Lloyd., Champagne
Productions- Music Placement. (For Bookings: champagnelloyd@gmail.com)
Favorite Quotation:
"A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.."
Napoleon Hill
i've
just watched GV11 DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE! Voices
from da Undaground that you sent me and i gotta say "its
amazing".
i loved the fact that i have never heard of these artists and they are all hungry to be recognized.
home girl whose a mc/painter needs to be my wife (Neila)!
loved the animated cartoons (Gibbs Sisters, & Justin BUA) as well.....overall i think the film (GV11) covered what Hip-Hop is all about, from mc to deejay, beat box to painters.......it made me feel like i wanted to see more.
a
well shot, directed and put-together piece.
---ANDREW
shaw "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" --Benjamin
Franklin
hip-hop
since 1975
retarded
since 1989
With everything converging in the Hip-Hop culture, Bob Bryan' signature vision and creative intelligence have entered a new phase.
Looking ahead, Bryan' intent is to undertake movie projects that integrate and then enhance each element of the Hip-Hop culture (the Emcee, Deejay, Bboy, Graffiti Artist and the Beat-Boxer) as individually described in each of the documentaries within the GV Documentary Series.
Thoroughly
worked, produced and directed in Los Angeles, CA GV11
DON''T BELIEVE DA NOIZE! puzzles out (with these Underground
Hip-Hop Artists) the main elements' (the Emcee/Lyricist) positive
messages, who has creatively contributed to worldwide racial integration,
inspite of commercial Hip-Hops' over-saturation of negative socio-political
propaganda that seem to impact the US society and the rest of the world.
"Who
am I? The MC, la-di da-di
I
don't wear Versace, I wear DJ's out quickly at the party
Who
am I? If you're like me Hip-Hop is in your body"
--- KRS ONE (the teacher)
No
Doubt!! Just a lil throwback to make you remember who is the Emcee:
KRS-ONE was right...THE MC!
LET'S
TELL 'EM MORE ABOUT THE MC... TO LET PEOPLE KNOW !!
THE
MC!
What
more can I say to let you appreciate Bob Bryan's masterpiece?
You Know What? "DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE" is a brilliant work and worth rating as an UNDERGROUND CLASSIC.
---MALICK
NDIR, Thiès, Senegal
About
me:
Always
off in my inner Private World! What more can I do to get down earth...Dream
on Dreamer!
Who
I'd like to meet:
Anyone
living around the world!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sourangndir
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/malickndir
DON'T
BELIEVE DA NOIZE! Voices from da Hip–Hop Undaground
Don’t Believe the Noise: Voices from the Hip-Hop Undaground, a film by Bob Bryan, answers every unasked and unanswered question about the lost art of the Hip-Hop generation. The voices are coming from the Hip-Hop survivalists who still envision the originality of the art.
Somewhere after the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper Delight” and the notorious “F*ck the Police” by N.W.A the synergy of which makes the Hip-Hop lifestyle a truly pure art form of sending a message has been homogenized. Don’t Believe the Noise will send you back to Hip-Hop 101 for some old fashion schooling.
Get ready for the Hip-Hop ride of your life and bring a notepad because the education is fast and real.
Justin Bua, a celebrated Hip-Hop "Distorted Urban Realism" Artist, is one of the subjects of the film. His knowledge of the urban culture is on a level even unbeknownst to me.
John O, rapper/M C/Radio Host of Tha Gecko Brothers appears in the film also shedding light on the emergence of the catatonics when it comes to artists directing trends not corporations. The artist is left with the direction of a suit instead the voice in his head that kept him up all night writing.
“ Like I said I know this a business, but I think its within ourselves, rappers or MC’s or whatever you want to call them to whatever we say is hot at that time. These people are going to jump on it. So we need to be able to change it to whatever we want to” .
A true statement of the commercialization of the Hip-Hop culture, big business has taken over hip-hop or the remnants of the original idea.
The Gibbs sisters, Shawnee Gibbs and Shawnell Gibbs, bring the women’s point of view of the industry and culture. They are the creators of Adopted by Aliens an animated series. They understand the importance of the messages that they were sending out, as well, and base their projects on materialism and teenage issues.
The
stories are compelling. The direction is interesting and entertaining.
The movie overall made me turn the Hip-Hop station on my cable box. It
just took me back to the days when I was performing
“Rapper’s Delight” for the white kids at my elementary school
on the playground.
---by
Rhonda Harper, Creator & Editor WUN
MAGAZINE. WUN Magazine
is a division of Inkwell Lifestyle Brand.
(wun)
Magazine & (wun) Love Radio.
A look at action sports as seen through the eyes of many people around
the world. This group is an extension of my column on Surf Noir,
(wun) Magazine and blackathlete.com
which covers extreme sports on a multi-national level. We intend to cover
athletes that would normally NOT be covered by mainstream press agencies.
rhonda.rochelle@wunmagazine.com
Facebook
Addy
GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE ! (Part 1)
Voices from da
Hip-Hop Undaground
Review by Troy
“Pappy” Johnson
Don’t Believe Da Noize Part 1, brings forth the ideals and confusion about the inception of Hip-Hop and its bona fide culture. We all know and can agree that Hip-Hop originated in the Bronx.
What caused this phenomenon? Are you ready for the revelation of the Hip-Hop truth?
To answer this question, one must reflect back in history to fully grasp what I’m about to reveal to you. Or as so eloquently phrased in Hip-Hop, “Keeping it real or Keeping it 1 hun-nit." The results of dreadful conditions and an obnoxious infrastructure of an impoverished community, the Ghetto, toxic attitudes and the lack of money, laid the canvas of a much needed outcry for change.
GV11 reveals that Hip-Hop was created for the betterment of its people. Actually it filled the vast unfathomable void in communities of which there were no outlets, stress relievers or escapes. Kat’s like Afrika Bambaata & Kool Herc, (notable Forefathers) saw that there was a need to unite the people of their enraged community. So they took it to the streets. By bringing their music and lyrical talents to local parks or, in most cases, “their blocks” allows the once frustrated gang-violent participants and lost souls to a euphoric plateau of expression and pride. Thus, the old cliché “music soothes the savage beast.” Their voices were able to be heard through song, dance, language & graffiti which awarded a way for them to bring forth their political views based on what affected their lives. LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING has taken a new meaning.
What those two brotha’s did back in the 70’s has become bigger than anyone could’ve possibly imagined. Although Hip-Hop was started as an Afro-American culture, Don’t Believe Da Noize reveals the global success that this newly expressive culture has evolved.
What was once exclusive to Urbania, (the inner city) is now living and breathing in White Suburbia, Europe & Asia. Its popularity is vast and equally shared by youth around the world. The Hip-Hop culture ‘aka’ Nation thrives on its ability to use its abstract energy to bring the inner city youth both Black & Hispanic into a mainstream now a true American art form. "You see, suburbia follows what the inner city does.”
This documentary shows us that music is power!
Bob Bryan reveals to us that music executives saw this in Hip-Hop and realized that they can capitalize on the plight of this culture by glorifying Debauchery, Hedonism & Materialism. Bling-Bling & a big booty will always sell. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Rappers that have conformed and remain with this format are selling out the culture, “Sucka MC’s”. These MC’s lack realism, truth & originality.
On the other hand this degradation has spawned a culture within the culture. It is a sub-culture that plays on your mind. A handful of artists have devoted their craft to uplift the people. These Masters of Ceremony, (MC’s) are called Conscious Rappers. They are bound by rules, regulations & standards when presented, they inspire social & political views. To name a few: KRS-1, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, The Last Poets, Public Enemy, Nas, Gangstarr & Common.
What GV11 does is allows the viewer to ask some questions of oneself and to navigate their own answers, but it does not give you the answer. It allows you to reflect in your own heart & mind to answer your own questions. Adolescence is a time of natural revolt. Decision making and delegation is not your own. Hip-Hop respects that; it asks you, “Who are you going to be?”
Thanks to this informative footage, we should have an appreciation to this incredible work of art; “Hip-Hop”. It shows us that when art is real it can stretch across ethnic boundaries and that it is a way of communication that is more than language. It has created its own culture within all cultures. It teaches you clean out your ears and open your eyes.
So
if someone gives you a negative opinion about Hip-Hop, you ask them have
they seen GV11: Don’t Believe Da Noize (Part
1), if not “Shut the hell up
until you do.”
---Review
by Troy “Pappy” Johnson
GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA HYPE!: Voices of da Hip-Hop Undaground
Review
by Jon Epstein (Eppico)
When Adam and Eve were coaxed by a serpent, delicious fruit, and ate from the tree…Hip-Hop was born. I’m just a white Jewish male living in the West San Fernando Valley; what makes me feel a beat, and want to be a spoken word artist? I found the answer to that question in Bob Bryan’s film: GV11 Don’t Believe Da Noize.
DON’T BELIVE DA NOIZE is a film about the origins, conflicts, and multidimensionality that surrounds from within and around the pulsating energy of Hip-Hop culture.
All of the film’s interviews are poignant and relevant. They offer a true education in the life of an Urban Artist. Artist/MC Shin-B says of Hip-Hop: “Not just a genre of life, it’s a culture.” Justin Bua, an artist extraordinaire specializing in “Distorted Urban Realism” speaks of the Hip-Hop movement as “A new day begins in Urbania.” Lo-Key (MC) comments: “Hip-Hop is story telling.” The movie portrays the legitimacy of Hip-Hop as an art form found in many different mediums: words, rhymes, music, dance, fashion, mural and canvas art. Hip-Hop is abundantly accessible and can be used by anyone to express pain, repression, and a deep hunger for freedom as well as joy and gratitude. “The Beat is mass hypnosis, the Beat is infectious” are the words of Keidi Obi Awadu (LIB.com Radio Talk Show Host) further illustrating this phenomena.
I was moved by Bryan’s honest portrayal of the Hip-Hop Machine. It was made evident that the Color Agenda vs.Corporate Greed concept is a viable conflict and ironically a viable spring board for furthering the growing art form. “Loving one another and not tearing each other down; not trying to stab and shoot” are the powerful words of Affion Crockett (Hip-Hop MC & Dancer). Artist Kahlil (MC) says: “Debauchery, hedonism, and materialism sells. This is America today; we have been programmed to consume.” And so the locomotive of capitalism keeps rolling on, but the words of the politically active inspired can be heard over the sound of the billion dollar industry’s cash box ca-ching.
Bryan educates the viewer that the origin of Hip-Hop began in the underprivileged streets of the Bronx; it was a way of self expression and empowerment and over the years has been taken over by artists selling gangster violence and sex. “Big booties and bling bling will always sell” and “Hip-Hop has become so misogynistic, and a lot of young girls are buying the thinking that they have to sell themselves to make it” are points of view that Shawnee and Shawnell Gibbs (Animation Filmmakers) make apparent through their work.
Hip-Hop isn’t just a form of entertainment and diversion; it’s a platform for poets, philosophers, and scholars. The truth can be heard by younger ears when the beat is hard and pop is tight.
Bryan’s
piece GV11 Voices from Da Undaground is
one of a series the producer has made available to expand cultural awareness
and make abundantly clear the need for a modern day reality check; kudos
to Bob Bryan’s film and intellectual mastery.
---Jon
Epstein (Eppico) Poet... to
quote The Grateful Dead..."What a long, strange trip it's been"
Voices of da Undaground reaches out to the wide aspects & artistic dimensions that characterize Hip-Hop, as well as, the creativity that has been inspired by the true Hip-Hop Culture.
GV11 touches the very soul of the Undaground Hip-Hop artists’ drive and motivations that exist behind the myriad manifestations of this popular urban art form, which in the recent past has so often been identified in Commercial Hip-Hop with "Hate and Violence."
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE! (the documentary), shows that Hip-Hop was born as a way to express young people's emotions; who live in an environment where negativity seems to have a vicious daily negative spiraling impact in their communities.
Here, Voices of da Undaground shows exactly how they've overcome that negativity, not only as songwriters and Visual Artists but also as TV Concept Developers, Animators, Directors and Producers.
GV11 definitely shows you the true
complex face of Undaground Hip-Hop and the Positivity & Hope that comes
along with it.
---Boban Braber, Oosterhout,
Netherlands
Graffiti Verite 11 goes beyond the stereotypes of today's bling-bling, shot 'em up rap music and takes you on a journey deep inside the underground of today's Hip-Hop culture.
Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground documentary shows the true creativity, talent and artistic genius of Bob Bryan as he crosses the lines of race, color and creed to bring us all together as one unified Hip-Hop Nation.
GV11
continues in the tradition of The Graffiti Verite
Documentary Series by helping to preserve the life of a rapidly
growing endangered species that many of us know as HIP-HOP.
---Eric
Canada, Independent Filmmaker/Consultant and Hip-Hoppreneur
Is
the Film Game the New Rap Game? Interview with Eric Canada conducted
by Cedric Muhammad
And so begins the battle cry of “Don’t Believe Da Noize!”, part one of a new documentary entitled “Voices from the Hip-Hop Underground”, directed by Bob Bryan about Hip-Hop culture, that quintessentially urban American movement encompassing music, art, poetry, fashion, and politics.
Like
Jazz, Hip-Hop’s roots go deep into the streets, housing projects, and backyards
of urban Black America.
Bryan, a veteran documentary filmmaker, has in the past explored the
subject of language in many forms, with Hip-Hop often at the center of
his inquiry.
If you’re expecting a lot of Angry Black Men rapping about the Thug Life and glorifying the “Bling-Bling Factor”, as one male Beat Boxer (Joshua Silverstein) calls it, fugetaboutit! While “Don’t Believe Da Noize” dances around this much criticized aspect of Hip-Hop, it doesn’t dwell on it as the sole attraction.
In
his latest doc, Bryan’s subjects have a marvelous range of ethnicities,
genders, and ages: Artist Justin Bua,
who “grew up next to a welfare hotel with junkies, pimps, hustlers”,
Kutmasta Kurt, a DJ who sports a Nacho Libre-type mask, Adisa
Banjoko, “The Bishop of Hip-Hop” and co-founder of Hip-Hop
Chess Federation, and
Shin-B,
an electric female Korean-American rapper, just to name a few.
Rapper Affion Crockett acknowledges that Hip-Hop “started in the streets, with children who didn’t have much…it started out of the gang life in NYC, with Bam (Afrika Bambatta) and Herc (Kool Herc) , break dancers and graffiti artists. It’s about preserving it and literally loving one another, not tearing one another down, not stabbing or shooting. It’s art (MC Affion Crockett).”
Adisa, an articulate, ardent young rapper insists that Hip-Hop “got all kinds of people jumpin’ in…they don’t care about the African man’s agenda, the Puerto Rican’s, the Mexican’s.” He claims further that “they” (presumably White people) are just wannabe Hip-Hoppers who wear the gear and dance, but lack the authenticity of those who live the Hip-Hop life from the beginning. Fair enough. Black historians have long alleged that Elvis Presley shamelessly stole the songs of unknown Black musicians and songwriters without proper acknowledgement or financial compensation.
What makes Hip-Hop culture decidedly different from that of the ‘50s and ‘60s is that urban America is no longer the strictly segregated black and white landscape of five decades ago. Yes, there are stratified neighborhoods and turf wars aplenty, but with the explosion of the internet and the ability of young consumers to make music and videos on their own, it allows for a much greater mixing of races, ethnicities, and the like to get out their messages of unity, equality, and positive vibes. Racists, beware!
The film unfolds rather loosely; Bryan isn’t concerned with following a strict historical guideline and doesn’t particularly feel compelled to put the whole phenomena of Hip-Hop culture into a complex political context, except to emphasize that what began as a Black urban reaction against poverty, drugs, and injustice has since blossomed into one that embraces every race equally. In fact, if you look around at haute couture, popular film, and beyond, Hip-Hop has been admired, poached upon, and otherwise adopted across the cultural board.
While Bryan’s entourage of high energy DJs, artists, and rappers do owe a debt of gratitude to the early founders of Hip-Hop (Dolemite, The Lost Poets, Rudy Ray Moore, and KRS One), the sheer force of multi-culturalism all but erases the notion of one pure influence.
Take Korean-American rapper, ShinB, for example. She talks about the mystique of the whole “Asian fetish…Madame Butterfly, the Oriental Princess,” and with her tough, confident performance, I’m sure that ShinB will be a guiding force in changing that tired old stereotype of the submissive Asian woman.
Threaded throughout Bryan’s upbeat documentary are interviews with African American cartoonists / filmmakers and sisters, Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs, who have created a charming cartoon, “Adopted By Aliens”. The central character, a young black girl named Whitney, struggles to find her way in a, well, alien world. Mixing real facial features like lips, eyes, and noses, with computer-generated faces and bodies, the Gibbs sisters explore what it means to be a young African-American woman in modern America. One of the Gibbs sisters comments, “Because I create media, I know that someone wants me to feel a certain way to buy into something and I’m just not buying it. I’ve got my own ideas. We analyze things, creating our own stories. You can’t tell us who we want to be because we already know.”
With her big glasses and nose buried in a book, Whitney isn’t your typical Hip-Hop sex goddess. She is nevertheless impacted by the ever-tempting “Big Booty and Bling-Bling”, for which Hip-Hop continues to receive both intense notoriety and respect, depending on what side of the fence one stands.
“Music,” proclaims rapper and LIB Radio DJ Keidi Obi Awandu, “is the most indelible form of art because it sticks with us. We can hear it once and know the words. Music is power, the most powerful art form.” If this is true, and I tend to agree, then the potential of Hip-Hop to alter how people treat one another is immeasurable. The music of a generation ago, at its best, changed the hearts and minds of conservative politicians, just as this generation’s Hip-Hop and rap continues to call out those who would prefer to ignore the mess that is inner city America. Bryan skillfully allows his subjects to speak – rap – spray paint – and dance for themselves. There is no "Voice of God" telling the audience what to think or how to interpret comments, no one definitive authority with unquestionable gravitas.
Well, ok, there is writer and educator Alan Sitomer (Hip-Hop Poetry & The Classics, Teaching Teens and Reaping Results, Hip-Hop High School), who states that he “believes things can change for the better… I don’t think that anybody needs to be born in the ghetto to empathize and sympathize with the plight of America today.” This is true; one can find unhappiness, substance abuse, police brutality, injustice, and a need for righteous indignation just about anywhere in the country. It is not exclusively the domain of one ethnic group.
Listen to what these guys have to say about Hip-Hop and its effect on their lives: Composer/Director/Producer Glenn Towery: “When an art is real, it can go over ethnic lines, it becomes a way of looking at an occasion that is more than a language, more than a cultural thing that people do. It creates its own culture within all cultures – that’s what hip-hop is.”
Mac G: “It’s a modern communication device used by urban Americans to get their message across.” In his rap song, “My Rhyme”, he says, “My rhyme is dreams and hopes…It’s my rhyme/all that I have –“
Lo-Key Tha Y.G (MC). : “It’s story telling about what goes on– you can be the viewer, telling a basic story…I wake up in the morning thinking about rap and go to sleep thinking about rap.”
Jroz One-MC / Lyricist: “I am so in love with the art, in the beauty, the rawness, I can’t stop learning.”
Justin Bua: “The spirit of hip-hop is an abstract energy, it’s the pure untainted rhythms of the universe. If the concept of hip-hop was distilled to its essence, maybe it would just be ether, you wouldn’t see it. It’s that powerful.”
It would be too easy to dismiss such rapturous engagement with Hip-Hop as youthful enthusiasm. “Pure, untainted rhythms of the universe” (Artist Justin Bua) may sound like hyperbole, but that is why this youth culture is so damned compelling. These young ones – and those older rappers still bitten by the Hip-Hop bug – have such a steadfast belief in the power of music to bring about sweeping reform.
The hard-driving, edgy art, music, and fashion of Hip-Hop culture packs a resounding punch. No matter the color of your skin. Listen to ShinB. Listen to Berne, a very seriously physically cut Belize man who, as he prowls about the Venice boardwalk and pumps weights at Muscle Beach, describes his collection of rap songs, “After Deportation.” Or MC/producer Khalil as he discusses the allure of Hip-Hop as fashioned by the media machine that promises to make you “sexy, rich…because that’s what sells.” These are extremely savvy, urbane artists and it behooves anyone still with one foot in this world to shut up and listen – and dance.
When you have such a groundswell of performers, artists, graphic designers, DJs, and so on who love what they do, who understand that the “unexamined life is not worth living” (thank you, Socrates), who have the courage and foresight to stand up for what is right, you have a generation of Americans of all colors whom the rest of us can feel confident will do a beautiful job of getting along with one another.
Filmmaker Bob Bryan certainly recognizes the value of Hip-Hop as going beyond mere entertainment, though that’s pretty ok too. Even if you’re not a huge fan of the genre, it’s well worth checking out for the sheer positive energy, tongue-in-cheek urbane graphics, and good-looking bunch of young rappers and artists.
---Nika
Cavat is a freelance essayist, poet, short fiction writer, and
veteran educator. She is Chair of the English department at Crossroads
School in Santa Monica, CA where she has taught English and
film for twenty years. An occasional spoken-word artist herself,
Nika has written on Pakistani art, Armenian bookbinding, South American
literature, and films of all genres. She resides in Venice Beach with her
daughter, Aurora.
As usual, film maker Bob Bryan has captured the essence of the Hip-Hop Underground in this film! It reminds me when I was listening to the early days of "broadcasting." The real emotions and the disconnect from what the "record industry" is selling!
It's passionate, Informative and Insightful!
The film (Voices from Da Hip-hop Undaground-Part 1) shows the wide range of ethnicities involved, and their obvious intelligence. "
Amazing!
---Tom
Rowe, Director of Photography
" In watching GV11, I just discovered something that, while I may not adopt it as a way of life, find extremely interesting because of all it includes. Hip-Hop cuts across age, race, gender, music, ethnicity, and art to cut out a culture, within a culture, within a culture of its own. Beginning in the Bronx this art form took off to become a unique way of expression. I grew up with rock & roll, yet it never became as total a lifestyle as the Hip-Hop generation.
In Bob Bryan's new film DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE, he takes you to the very heart of what makes the Hip-Hop generation so great! I've always enjoyed the combination of music, motion, and emotion. This is what Hip-Hop encompasses and more! It is an idea that expands and then goes beyond its limitations to expand more. Throw in a way of dressing, videos, art, and the expression of words played to a driving beat and you have an idea of what Hip-Hop is.
The main force behind this way of life is the teenage generation, who seek a way of expression unique from their parents against whom they rebel, but in a way that is acceptable to society. It is their own identity. Parents may not understand it, but to those involved in the culture, it is vital only that they do.
What fascinated me most about Bob Bryan's film (GV11 DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-hop Undaground-Part 1) is just how Hip-Hop / Spoken-Word Artists keep a beat with their voices, speaking the words at a fast pace and getting the message across. They may not understand all the issues, but allow themselves to find answers within their very lifestyle. While I was watching the film, I found myself moving to the music and the words and discovering the emotion behind this movement.
No matter where you are in
understanding Hip-Hop, when you see this film, if nothing else, you will
gain a greater understanding of who is involved in Hip-Hop and why it's
so important in today's culture."
---Michelle
Angelini
of
Hip-Hop is now on the verge of vanishing, as many think that “Hip-Hop
has become pop”. However, as Bryan shows in his latest masterpiece,
there are plenty of hungry emcees who want to keep the rap real.
Bryan also balances the sensitive issue of race by interviewing emcees of all ages, color and gender and people that know “you don’t have to live in the ghetto to empathize with the plight of America today”. Rap has gone from regional to global, from the breakers on cardboard, to CEO’s in boardrooms.
GV11
paints a picture of the where the genre started, where it is, and where
it is going, but as we all know now, how we get there is in the hands and
the mic of the emcee."
---Jeffrey
“The Rhymecologist” Walker, Emcee,
Poet, Author, Teacher
http://www.rhymecology.com/
paz y amor
---KIAWITL,
a.k.a. Lady BINX (http://www.myspace.com/kiawitlxochitl)
"Imagine
for a second that you are Alice, and that GV11
is the hole that will drop you into the wonderland of the Hip-Hop culture
in America, where it all began. Once you push that play button and
GV11 starts to play you fall further
and faster into the intense new world. A world with all kinds of
unique characters making poetic and enlightening statements as it regards
who they are and why they exist in this world of Hip-Hop. About Hip-Hop's
origins and the direction it is heading now.
You
are presented with a menagerie of rappers, beat-boxers, dancers, filmmakers,
cartoonists, radio personalities and just plain simple folk who love Hip-Hop.
You are immersed in the culture, not only from the philosophical point
of view but the very soul and heart of Hip-Hop lies before you, its heart
beating rhythmically and without restraint. A total immersion. That is
what it felt like to view GV11.
That was my experience.
I
urge you not to take my word for it. Everyone should experience GV11
on their own, because as much as it will be personal to them I am certain
that something will have changed in you when you push that button at the
end and come up out of that world of Hip-Hop to return home."
A MASTERPIECE!
---Glenn
R. Towery, Filmmaker,
CEO
FAIRY
GOD BROTHER PRODUCTIONS & FILM COMPANY, LLC.
"GV11 DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground (Part 1)" would keep any true, hard-core "Hip-Hopper" engrossed. Flooded with amazing visual urban art, narrated by lovers and experts of the genre itself, and backed-up by a diverse soundtrack of music, it takes an in-depth look at the growth and development of Hip-Hop culture from its conception to the present state.
Contributors such as Alan Sitomer (whose work from the book "Hip-Hop Poetry and the Classics" I've included in some of the workshops I've taught), the amazing directors/producers Michael Deet and Shawnelle & Shawnee Gibbs, as well as "Distorted Urban Realism" visual artist Justin Bua, show viewers that Hip-Hop is more than lyrics to a beat: it's a movement, it's a tool for learning, it's a vast art-form that spans race, gender, and smashes language barriers.
As a lyricist/poet myself, I was thrilled to hear Spoken-Word mentioned as a forefather of Hip-Hop as we know it today, referencing The Last Poets, as well as, my friend Sekou the Misfit. Its inclusion of Latin, Native American, Asian, White, and Caribbean M.C.s showcases the international / intercultural flava Hip-Hop is infused with.
GV11
is a timely film that needs to be shown to anyone who believes the mainstream
'noize' is the only voice of Hip-Hop. GV11
proves that there is more to be heard, seen,
and felt."
---Shanelle
Gabriel, Singer/ Lyricist/ HBO
Def Poet
Visit
http://www.shanellegabriel.com for show schedule, blog, music, and
videos. www.twitter.com/shanelleg
"START
SOMETHING"- The Album
A
Blend of Music and Spoken-Word Poetry
Available
on CDBaby.com,
iTunes, and PoetCD.com
Announcing
the new Mpeg 4 download delivery system for GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground
(Part 1)Ideal for portable media:
ipod, iphones, itouch, Sony Walkman or any players that accept the Mpeg
4 format. Available in Mpeg4 format only and plays with most versions of
Quicktime. Download GV11
DON'T BELIEVE DA NOIZE: Voices from Da Hip-Hop Undaground
(Part 1) now
at Payloadz.com
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The
GRAFFITI VERITE' DOCUMENTARIES SeriesVolumes 1 - 11
are
NOW AVAILABLE for immediate
NETFLIX
ONLINE RENTAL (Worldwide
rental distribution - DVD's delivered directly to your home)
