JenRO

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Jennifer Robles is a recognizable figure in her South San Francisco neighborhood: navy-blue bandana folded over her forehead, tattoo of the Golden Gate Bridge scrawled across her right forearm, pants baggy enough to hide her slight, 5'3" frame. She answers her cell phone with the sharpness and urgency of a numbers runner, spitting her habitual greeting three times in a row: "What's the deal, what's the deal, what's the deal?"

"Typical San Francisco-reared gangstress" might be your first impression of JenRO, until you see the random collection of objects scattered around her bedroom: a furry zebra-striped bedspread, a Gay Pride calendar with dates scribbled in permanent marker, a desk cluttered with cologne, amps, lava lamps, empty Pueblo Viejo bottles, CDs from Jen's favorite artists in rap, merengue, and reggaeton. Most noticeable of all, though, are the baby-blue walls covered with images of the standard-bearers of West Coast gangsta rap: Equipto, Snoop Dogg, Playa Rae, Tupac, San Quinn, Messy Marv, Killa Tay, and – larger than all of them – her name spray-painted in black graffiti letters.

It's not unusual for a 21-year-old newbie MC to situate herself in a pantheon of big names. What's striking about JenRO, though, is her inclination to mix the different sides of her personality, making the seemingly disparate worlds she inhabits – queer, Latina, gangsta – all of a piece. On her debut album, "The Revelation," which dropped on the label La Movida in September, she spits lyrics about everything from street hustles to hooking up with fly girls. Watching her take the stage in settings as far removed from each other as San Francisco Pride and San Quentin prison – where Jen has performed with the nonprofit anti-gang organization United Playaz – you wonder how easy it is for a queer female artist to embrace the contradictions of her sexuality and her gangsta consciousness, and express them in a genre whose penchant for misogynistic and homophobic lyrics seems like a prohibition against women in general, and queer women in particular. But JenRO enjoys pushing the limits of the medium, and she looks at the labels others might use to describe her with a blend of ambivalence and disregard. Ultimately, she insists, "I choose to say who I really am." And if her honesty means she can't front like a mack daddy, she's not worried – she's got plenty more to say.

How did you get interested in hip hop?

In eighth grade, I used to hang out with a friend after school and we'd talk shit about people – the way eighth-graders do – and put it into rhyme. So my first raps were mostly cracks about people I knew; I wrote them down and recorded them on a cassette player. The first [time] I actually performed was at summer camp – I was supposed to do a skit about preserving the redwood forest. Instead, I rapped about raccoons getting it on in my bunk bed, to the tune of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice." The counselor picked me up and dragged me offstage.

Rappers like Busta Rhymes and Juvenile were really popular when I was in high school, and it seemed like everyone around me listened to hip hop. We used to form cipher circles anyplace we were hanging out – basements, garages, playgrounds. I even used to panhandle on Market Street, where I made about $13 an hour rhyming and playing beats on a little drum pad. But the main hangout for rappers was at the top of the stairs that led up from the school auditorium. When I first got to high school, I always saw guys rapping there during lunch, and I wanted to join them. I tried to get my best friend to go with me, but she said that hanging out with dudes was too boring, and that I was wasting my time. Eventually, I just came up to them by myself, and started spitting my own lyrics. Whenever I joined the circle, someone would start rap - Alternet and Bitch Magazine

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Join our mailing list:

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Media headlines via email.














Jennifer Robles is a recognizable figure in her South San Francisco neighborhood: navy-blue bandana folded over her forehead, tattoo of the Golden Gate Bridge scrawled across her right forearm, pants baggy enough to hide her slight, 5'3" frame. She answers her cell phone with the sharpness and urgency of a numbers runner, spitting her habitual greeting three times in a row: "What's the deal, what's the deal, what's the deal?"

"Typical San Francisco-reared gangstress" might be your first impression of JenRO, until you see the random collection of objects scattered around her bedroom: a furry zebra-striped bedspread, a Gay Pride calendar with dates scribbled in permanent marker, a desk cluttered with cologne, amps, lava lamps, empty Pueblo Viejo bottles, CDs from Jen's favorite artists in rap, merengue, and reggaeton. Most noticeable of all, though, are the baby-blue walls covered with images of the standard-bearers of West Coast gangsta rap: Equipto, Snoop Dogg, Playa Rae, Tupac, San Quinn, Messy Marv, Killa Tay, and – larger than all of them – her name spray-painted in black graffiti letters.

It's not unusual for a 21-year-old newbie MC to situate herself in a pantheon of big names. What's striking about JenRO, though, is her inclination to mix the different sides of her personality, making the seemingly disparate worlds she inhabits – queer, Latina, gangsta – all of a piece. On her debut album, "The Revelation," which dropped on the label La Movida in September, she spits lyrics about everything from street hustles to hooking up with fly girls. Watching her take the stage in settings as far removed from each other as San Francisco Pride and San Quentin prison – where Jen has performed with the nonprofit anti-gang organization United Playaz – you wonder how easy it is for a queer female artist to embrace the contradictions of her sexuality and her gangsta consciousness, and express them in a genre whose penchant for misogynistic and homophobic lyrics seems like a prohibition against women in general, and queer women in particular. But JenRO enjoys pushing the limits of the medium, and she looks at the labels others might use to describe her with a blend of ambivalence and disregard. Ultimately, she insists, "I choose to say who I really am." And if her honesty means she can't front like a mack daddy, she's not worried – she's got plenty more to say.

How did you get interested in hip hop?

In eighth grade, I used to hang out with a friend after school and we'd talk shit about people – the way eighth-graders do – and put it into rhyme. So my first raps were mostly cracks about people I knew; I wrote them down and recorded them on a cassette player. The first [time] I actually performed was at summer camp – I was supposed to do a skit about preserving the redwood forest. Instead, I rapped about raccoons getting it on in my bunk bed, to the tune of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice." The counselor picked me up and dragged me offstage.

Rappers like Busta Rhymes and Juvenile were really popular when I was in high school, and it seemed like everyone around me listened to hip hop. We used to form cipher circles anyplace we were hanging out – basements, garages, playgrounds. I even used to panhandle on Market Street, where I made about $13 an hour rhyming and playing beats on a little drum pad. But the main hangout for rappers was at the top of the stairs that led up from the school auditorium. When I first got to high school, I always saw guys rapping there during lunch, and I wanted to join them. I tried to get my best friend to go with me, but she said that hanging out with dudes was too boring, and that I was wasting my time. Eventually, I just came up to them by myself, and started spitting my own lyrics. Whenever I joined the circle, someone would start rap - Alternet and Bitch Magazine

When I first saw JenRO, she was performing at the Dyke March in front of 10,000 people, mainly women, all cheerin’ and dancin’ to her sick beats. She spit her rhymes in a rough and outgoing style as she bounced around the stage, energizing the audience. The crowd went insane for her, and – frankly – so did I. I met her afterwards and her personality seemed really tight. She was rockin’ a beater with some slightly baggy jeans and a bandana tied around her head. She asked me “Wuts good?” and then acknowledged me with a handshake and a hug. I was an instant fan.

JenRO, otherwise known as Jennifer Robles, was born in San Francisco and grew up all over the Bay Area. Her mother was born in El Salvador and her father was born in the Philippines. She has been involved in music her whole life, but started writing poetry in elementary school. Soon, her poems and stories became raps and she performed for the first time at the age of 10. Since her first CD, Unreleased & Uncensored, she has traveled all over the U.S. and gone to Canada, Mexico and the Philippines. Her San Francisco Dyke March performance was one of her biggest, compared to the smaller venues she usually performs in. She’s an intelligent woman rappin’ in a male dominated community, yet her music is known and loved by many.

On July 19, I sat down with JenRO to talk about her music and life as a queer female rapper in the Bay Area.
BAY YOUNGSTAZ: Aight, so we here wit JenRO. How you doin’?

JenRO: Doin’ koo. I’m hot, nice day, just chillin’.

BY: So tell me about where you grew up and about your life and family.

JR: Well I grew up all around the Bay. From Frisco to Vallejo to south Frisco, to…uh, those are the three main places that I lived at. So, you know, I lived here all my life. I lived in New York for a lil’ while, but I was born and raised in the Bay Area.

BY: What was life like as a kid growing up in the Bay Area, knowing that you were queer?

JR: It was hard at first because I’m young and I didn’t know what people were goin’ to say. Even before I knew I was queer, I was the type of person that really didn’t care what people thought. So then when I found that out, I’m like “Man, I don’t care what people think, so why am I trippin’ off of what they gonna think of who I like.” So I came out when I was like 13, and especially around that time, it was kinda weird for someone to come out that young. At first, a lot of the teachers were like “Oh, We’re hearing all these rumors that you’re gay and all this stuff,” and I was like, “Yeah so?” So after a while, I didn’t care. I started doin’ a lot of activism within the queer community for youth. Then in high school, I started the first Gay/Straight Alliance, so I pretty much made a movement and used my skills to just help other people come out too. So after a while it got easy and after that it was over once I started uh, checkin’ out…(laughs). Just playin’…

BY: How did your parents react when you came out?

JR: I think I got it really easy because I’m the youngest and I have an older sister that’s a lesbian, that I didn’t grow up with cause we different moms. So, once they knew about her they didn’t like it, but a few years later, I come out, so they were like, “Oh what, you too?” Of course they would want me to be with a dude and I used to have little boyfriends in beginning of middle school, but whatever. It was like, after a while, I was just mad, and I started looking at the chicks and it was over after that (laughs).


BY: How and when did you get started on your music?

JR: Well, I grew up in hip-hop…my whole life. Ever since I was born I been listenin’ to hip-hop; that’s all I knew. So, I really started writing when I was young, like elementary school. I was into writing in my lil’ diary and stuff like that (giggles). After, in middle school, I started making poems and turnin’ them into raps. And then in the end of middle school and the beginning of high school, I actually started put - YO! Youth Outlook

On stage, JenRo looks like your average, aspiring hip-hop star, with mic in hand, hat cocked to the side, baggy jeans, and a hip-hop attitude that is both cool and confident. A quick scratch below the surface reveals, however, that JenRo is anything but average. The Bay Area MC is what some would call the queen bee of homo-hop – a vibrant, underground hip-hop movement dedicated to open expression of GLBT identities and issues on the mic. Part musical genre, part political statement, homo-hop and its enthusiasts throw the lyrical middle finger up at anyone who says there is no room for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender voices in rap music, and fight for a day when sexuality will be a non-issue on the mic.

JenRo, who recorded her first rap song on a tape recorder at age 13, never thought to conceal her lesbian identity on the mic. “Honestly, I never really made a serious decision to keep it on the DL,” she told the Gay & Lesbian Times recently via email. “At 14, I would just rap [about] whatever came out in my rap book, which was real life. I wrote what I did that day and about the girls that I liked – you know?, normal teenage stuff. Not until recently did I have to think that it was a problem for people to listen to how I really feel and live. But I think it’s important for me to be out as an artist because there are many people who go through the same struggles as me and can’t find music to relate to. Hip-hop is about being real so I’m not going to follow other ‘closeted’ MCs because the rap game will never change without leaders.”

The “rap game” that JenRo is referring to is illustrated by a long history of homophobic and misogynistic sentiments in hip-hop music. We can all easily recall the images of GLAAD protestors picketing outside record stores to protest bigoted lyrics from mainstream MCs such as Eminem and DMX. Many homo-hop artists, including Deadlee, a gay MC based in Los Angeles, believe that the best way to combat against this bigotry is to provide listeners with a strong, proud alternative.

“I think all the pressure some gay organizations have put on the reggae and rap artists that are homophobic has at least brought light to the issue,” explains Deadlee, who has always felt the importance of being an out MC. “My only problem is that there is a fine line between an artist’s right to say what he wants and organizations like GLAAD who try to stifle it. I think what GLAAD could be doing is showcasing or helping all these gay/trans/lesbian rappers to get there messages out to the masses. They have chosen to attack Eminem, DMX, etc. and give no light to artists like myself who are fighting the battle with the same language. I think if a rapper like myself is heard and seen that it is much more powerful. So my deal is to let people say what they want to say, and hope the gay community gets behind all the homo-rappers. That would be a lot better strategy to combat this homophobia in the rap game.”











Deadlee



On the forefront of homo-hop’s battle for visibility is Phat Family Records, an untraditional label whose focus is producing compilation CDs featuring top unsigned homo-hop and homo-friendly artists from around the world, with all proceeds going to GLBT charitable organizations. Phat Family’s compilation series is now in its fourth volume and has helped artists in various U.S. and European cities to connect, collaborate and spread music across the globe.

Many of Phat Family’s artists perform annually at the PeaceOut Festival, an international gathering of GLBT hip-hop artists, activists, fans and supporters, which takes place every year in Oakland. PeaceOut is hosted by East Bay Pride and produced by Sugartruck Recordings (home to popular artists such as DeepDiCkollective and Katastrophe) in conjunction with A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Records. And as homo-hoppers from around the world will attest, the PeaceOut festival provides performers and fans with more than just a weekend fu - GLT Gay & Lesbian Times

On stage, JenRo looks like your average, aspiring hip-hop star, with mic in hand, hat cocked to the side, baggy jeans, and a hip-hop attitude that is both cool and confident. A quick scratch below the surface reveals, however, that JenRo is anything but average. The Bay Area MC is what some would call the queen bee of homo-hop – a vibrant, underground hip-hop movement dedicated to open expression of GLBT identities and issues on the mic. Part musical genre, part political statement, homo-hop and its enthusiasts throw the lyrical middle finger up at anyone who says there is no room for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender voices in rap music, and fight for a day when sexuality will be a non-issue on the mic.

JenRo, who recorded her first rap song on a tape recorder at age 13, never thought to conceal her lesbian identity on the mic. “Honestly, I never really made a serious decision to keep it on the DL,” she told the Gay & Lesbian Times recently via email. “At 14, I would just rap [about] whatever came out in my rap book, which was real life. I wrote what I did that day and about the girls that I liked – you know?, normal teenage stuff. Not until recently did I have to think that it was a problem for people to listen to how I really feel and live. But I think it’s important for me to be out as an artist because there are many people who go through the same struggles as me and can’t find music to relate to. Hip-hop is about being real so I’m not going to follow other ‘closeted’ MCs because the rap game will never change without leaders.”

The “rap game” that JenRo is referring to is illustrated by a long history of homophobic and misogynistic sentiments in hip-hop music. We can all easily recall the images of GLAAD protestors picketing outside record stores to protest bigoted lyrics from mainstream MCs such as Eminem and DMX. Many homo-hop artists, including Deadlee, a gay MC based in Los Angeles, believe that the best way to combat against this bigotry is to provide listeners with a strong, proud alternative.

“I think all the pressure some gay organizations have put on the reggae and rap artists that are homophobic has at least brought light to the issue,” explains Deadlee, who has always felt the importance of being an out MC. “My only problem is that there is a fine line between an artist’s right to say what he wants and organizations like GLAAD who try to stifle it. I think what GLAAD could be doing is showcasing or helping all these gay/trans/lesbian rappers to get there messages out to the masses. They have chosen to attack Eminem, DMX, etc. and give no light to artists like myself who are fighting the battle with the same language. I think if a rapper like myself is heard and seen that it is much more powerful. So my deal is to let people say what they want to say, and hope the gay community gets behind all the homo-rappers. That would be a lot better strategy to combat this homophobia in the rap game.”











Deadlee



On the forefront of homo-hop’s battle for visibility is Phat Family Records, an untraditional label whose focus is producing compilation CDs featuring top unsigned homo-hop and homo-friendly artists from around the world, with all proceeds going to GLBT charitable organizations. Phat Family’s compilation series is now in its fourth volume and has helped artists in various U.S. and European cities to connect, collaborate and spread music across the globe.

Many of Phat Family’s artists perform annually at the PeaceOut Festival, an international gathering of GLBT hip-hop artists, activists, fans and supporters, which takes place every year in Oakland. PeaceOut is hosted by East Bay Pride and produced by Sugartruck Recordings (home to popular artists such as DeepDiCkollective and Katastrophe) in conjunction with A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Records. And as homo-hoppers from around the world will attest, the PeaceOut festival provides performers and fans with more than just a weekend fu - GLT Gay & Lesbian Times

JenRO is the out, loud, and proud Bay Area female emcee whose recordings include "Dykes in da house." A 25 year old San Francisco rapper of El Salvadorian and Filipino descent, she has been rapping since she was just a little kid. Her first CD was Unreleased & Uncensored. It tells it like it is from her perspective as a gay woman in a male dominated world. One of her biggest audiences to date was when she performed to a crowd of about 10,000 at the San Francisco Dyke March. The interview video below with the artist is courtesy of YO!TV - Ameoba Music

JenRO (pictured left) was among the artists featured in the new hip-hop documentary Pick Up The Mic: The Evolution of Homohop that graced the stage of Amoeba Music San Francisco yesterday (June 25) for a free in-store performance. The instore both marked the release of the critically acclaimed documentary on DVD, and also helped celebrate Pride '09. As you know, the big SF LGBT Pride parade & party is on Sunday, June 28 -- and Amoeba will be present, with our own booth where you can win fabulous prizes! Details here and here.

JenRO's Amoeba performance was tight and captured the emcee's pure Bay rap flavor and gift for lyrical flow. JenRO is not just a good queer hip-hop artist -- she is a talented emcee, period. For more on this San Francisco female rapper, who, as she rapped at Amoeba yesterday "was born the same year that CDs were created," visit her website, or hit up her official info phone line @ 415-692-5695, or check out the video interview with her on Yo!TV included in the Recognize: Bay Area Female Rappers Amoeblog from a year ago.
- Ameoba Music

JenRO (pictured left) was among the artists featured in the new hip-hop documentary Pick Up The Mic: The Evolution of Homohop that graced the stage of Amoeba Music San Francisco yesterday (June 25) for a free in-store performance. The instore both marked the release of the critically acclaimed documentary on DVD, and also helped celebrate Pride '09. As you know, the big SF LGBT Pride parade & party is on Sunday, June 28 -- and Amoeba will be present, with our own booth where you can win fabulous prizes! Details here and here.

JenRO's Amoeba performance was tight and captured the emcee's pure Bay rap flavor and gift for lyrical flow. JenRO is not just a good queer hip-hop artist -- she is a talented emcee, period. For more on this San Francisco female rapper, who, as she rapped at Amoeba yesterday "was born the same year that CDs were created," visit her website, or hit up her official info phone line @ 415-692-5695, or check out the video interview with her on Yo!TV included in the Recognize: Bay Area Female Rappers Amoeblog from a year ago.
- Ameoba Music

If your Valentine uses the term “gender binary” or holds a women’s studies degree, surprise him/her (or whatever label they happen to use) with tickets to hear JenRo. This Salvadoran-Filipino, bilingual, lesbian feminist rapper from the Bay Area is one of the smartest and most creative hip-hop artists to emerge in recent years. Far from a gimmick, JenRo has the skills and beats to blow away the typical stale male rappers. With lyrics about sexual identity, self-acceptance and hanging out with her home girls, JenRo might be one of the most honest MCs rapping today.

Fans of VH1 might recognize JenRo from her appearances on “My Coolest Years: In the Closet,” where various celebs wax philosophic about growing up queer. JenRo says her experience as a youth in the Bay Area was unique: “Being from the Bay Area helped and made it easier to be out, for sure. But high school is still high school.” She started rapping and participating in poetry slams at 16, and was quickly discovered by the local media. Equally comfortable performing at hip-hop clubs and gay pride festivals, she says: “I just really like high-energy venues, not mellow clubs. I like to get the crowd worked up and be able to see everyone’s faces when I perform.”

JenRo has crossed the country, but this weekend’s shows mark her first time performing in Oregon. Los Angeles-based label La Movida will release her first record, “The Revolution,” in March.

Cortney Harding

7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, Wax, 5101 N. Interstate Ave., 503-283-9093, $6, all ages; doors8 p.m., show9 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 13, Doug Fir, 830 E. Burnside St., 503-231-9663, $5
- Portland Tribune (Portland Life)

Rap battle ends in a fatal shooting as Gonzalo Martinez flees to Mexico - Channel Investigation Discovery (I.D)

Rap battle ends in a fatal shooting as Gonzalo Martinez flees to Mexico - Channel Investigation Discovery (I.D)