On Saturday May 9, The Living Word Project partnered with Riverside Theatre, MAPP International, Mighty4 and Samurai Graphix to present LIFE is LIVING, a public outdoor installation to catalyze deeper thought and community action around the value of life and our relationship to our planet. LIFE is LIVING is an attempt to use Hip-Hop culture to de-corporatize the GREEN movement, emphasizing LIFE in neglected neighborhoods as a pathway to arts integration and green living.
The event in Harlem featured: The Estria Invitational Living Word Graffiti Battle, The Mighty 4 B Boy Battle hosted by Paulskeee and the JamesTOP Blackbook Battles with live performances by Kurtis Blow’s Hip Hop Choir, Brave New Voices Green Team, Riverside Inspirational Choir, Grace Kelly Jazz Quartet, and D Cross, hosted by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Youth Speaks Executive Director James Kass will accompany two incredible young poets to the White House as they perform for President and Mrs. Obama. Jamaica Osorio (Hawai’i) and Joshua Bennett (Philadelphia), both prominently featured in HBO’s Brave New Voices, will share poems as part of a night of artistic exploration around the power of voice. Joining James Earl Jones, Michael Chabon and others, these two young poets will represent the Brave New Voices movement as part of a new generation of poets and cultural leaders.
Pushing the limits of DIY once again, Tone Tank and director / crazy friend Paul Korzan spent weeks creating the paper Mache set pieces for this video, which was shot almost entirely in Tone’s cramped, dungeonous basement in Brooklyn. “It started off with me deciding to make a full-sized, paper Mache, red ’68 Cadillac, and it just kept going” says Tone. When asked to describe the aesthetic of the video, the rapper / clothing designer / toy-maker said it was “Kind of like ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ meets ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse’, with a rapping sea creature driving a Cadillac with dinosaurs, luchadores, and debaucherous women.” Indeed.
You can download King of the Surf Guitar Rap for free at www.scumlife.com
I’ve got stuff on all different computers, so I forgot to upload these ST fam photos. They’re still out on the Chrome Children tour, so check them out in a city near you…
