Rebel Diaz
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Rebel Diaz

New York City, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | SELF

New York City, New York, United States | SELF
Established on Jan, 2006
Band Hip Hop Latin

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"Rebel Diaz:Revolution Has Come"

“They sending us to prison instead of sending us to college.”

Here’s something new from our homies Rebel Diaz. Always raising a fist for everyday people, Rebel Diaz don’t disappoint with “Revolution Has Come”. The video was directed by Sense Hernandez of Beast Factory. - RubyHornet.com


"Protest Song of the Day: ‘The Revolution Has Come’ by Rebel Diaz"

To recognize the power of protest music, acknowledge its role in creating a culture of dissent and how musicians translate social issues and systemic problems into song, The Dissenter has launched a daily feature that highlights a protest song every weekday.

Hip hop duo, Rebel Diaz, has recorded and produced a song for the 2012 Election. Posted on YouTube just days before Election Day, it is off of their upcoming album Radical Dilemma and aims to communicate that voting should not be the main focus of action ever four years. Americans should “vote every day” with their actions and serve their community.

It conveys the message that “Revolution is Love” because “love for humanity” cannot be taken away from communities. “In the face of structural violence like racism, underfunded schools, and inadequate housing,” Rebel Diaz describes, “our weapons of defense are education, sustainability, and community building.”

The song shows no love for either of the most prominent political parties, “The Democrats and Republicans both up to no good/They both got in bed with the multi-nacionales/They sendin’ us to prison instead of sending us to college.” Rodstarz raps, “Swear to God on my mama, never supported Obama” because he is a “Chicago Riot Starter like a Haymarket Martyr.” He would “rather focus on the streets organizing the tribes.”

Organize the community to confront the police, who terrorize communities. “Identify the problems and move on to the solutions/You should be involved.” Build and show love, “instead of shootin’ them guns.” When the police see the people are united and not engaged in internal fighting, then they might go to the local precinct and confront them and tell the police to stop the War on Drugs. Stop criminalizing the youth.

It is a militant anthem for power to the people. And, in the tradition of Howard Zinn, it promotes the belief that it does not matter who is sitting in the White House. What matters more is who is sitting in across communities throughout the country.
- The Dissenter


"Hip Hop Group Pens Track Praising Striking Chicago Teachers"

Striking Chicago educators have received their share of criticism but political hip hop group Rebel Diaz is giving teachers some lyrical praise in their new track, "Chicago Teacher". The two brothers, Rodrigo "RodStarz" and Gonzalo "G1" Venegas, who make up Rebel Diaz currently run a community arts center in the South Bronx, but grew up on Chicago's North Side and attended the city's public schools. On top of thanking the teachers that taught them reading, writing, and music, they offer some real talk commentary on the hot button education policy issues that are at the heart of the strike.

In the first verse, Rodstarz gets to the nitty gritty of oft-voiced critiques of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, standardized testing, and corporate influence in education with lines like:

"Rahm's a fake pretender with a corporate agenda
Neo Liberal Offender, of course you offend us!
This ain't about money! That’s far from the truth,
they want better work conditions to teach the youth."

and

"Top down education...Chicago—the birthplace
And now its spreading nationwide all over the place
They don’t teach us how to think they teach us how to test!
they teach us how to work to put money in they checks!
The CEOS need to get up out the classroom
before these streets get hotter than the sand in Cancun!"
The second verse by G1 goes even harder:

"Too many children left behind
by this corporate assembly line
how they privatize?
education is a human right!
and they kids gon' be fine
they send em to private schools
while ours get sent to prison
or given a job servin' fast food
cash rules
so it gets treated like a business
bought and sold
by businessmen turned politicians
so if Rahm was the chief of staff
and Arne Duncan got his start
in Chicago sellin' off
the education system
then Obama gotta respond
the teachers or the corporations?
Which side is he on?"

The Obama administration and Secretary Duncan have had no official statement on the strike, only expressing that they hope it ends quickly. Despsite the tentative deal between the school district and the union, the teachers are continuing the strike for a second week. Union delegates say they need more time to get feedback from the membership. Emanuel's vowing to get a court order to force teachers back to work. One thing's for sure, whenever and however the strike ends, the issues Rebel Diaz is rhyming about aren't going away anytime soon. - GOOD


"The Revolution Has Come… Rebel Diaz Speak Truth in Times of Turmoil"

I’m so proud of Hip Hop right now… Ice Cube, Brother Ali, Boots from the Coup, dead Prez, Jasiri X and Invincible have all dropped material in the past few weeks that has uplifted the community and inspired us to fight for better tomorrows.. Adding to that list is Rebel Diaz who skillfully sampled and flipped the chant from the Black Panthers..’The Revolution Has Come‘ and added their own 2012 twist..

It was just recently we lead rapper Rodstarz on our Hard Knock Radio show to give us crucial updates as to how things were faring under Hurricane Sandy. The day after the storm hit Rod explained to our listeners how poor folks were getting mistreated and how Mayor Michael Bloomberg had shut off power to housing projects days before the storm came..

He talked about how folks in his community had to organize themselves and make sure the elderly were taken care of because the city wasn’t going to do it..The day we did that interview there was some criticism from punditary types who lived nowhere near Rodstarz’ South Bronx neighborhood, but insisted that he was wrong with his info..They were citing press releases from Bloomberg as their source to counter Rod’s arguments.

Now that the dust is settling and the waters are receding, we see that all over NY in poor communities, there’s been neglect in the recovery efforts and was Rod was accurate and on point to the fullest with his assessment and breakdown of the situation.

Him and Rebel Diaz are and true to the spirit of ones who loves their people and seeks justice..This is a song underscores that sentiment and should not be slept on.. Turn it up and let it be the sound track to your day to day struggle for freedom.. - Davey D's Hip Hop Corner


"LIVEDC-ANA TIJOUX-REBEL DIAZ AT THE BLACK CAT"

The next time Ana Tijoux comes to D.C., she’s going to need a bigger space than the Black Cat’s Backstage. The Chilean rapper played to a capacity crowd on Thursday night, with no small amount of ticketless chagrin transpiring outside. The mathematics of the fire code aside, her energy and voice are big enough to stretch Backstage at the seams, and would be more than enough to fill the main space upstairs.Tijoux is touring on a record called La Bala, which is stuffed with subversive, revolutionary lyrics over a range of sounds from soulful to militant. She is strikingly beautiful, and showed no trace of the chronic shyness that almost kept her from a performing career in her youth. Her singing voice is clear and glistening, more inspirational than seductive (though she probably has that arrow in her quiver when she wants it). And oh-by-the-way, she can spit.
There’s no other type of musical performance where you’re exposed as you are when rapping. There’s no hiding, physically or musically. Stringing an intricate verse together in style is one thing when standing in a studio booth. Reproducing the precision, the tweaks of cadence, the lyrical complexity that you put on wax, with a hundred people staring up at you? That’s different. And Thursday left no doubt: Tijoux was rapping her balls off. She bends her voice, tucks it into little folds in the track her bandmates -- a drummer, a DJ, a bassist -- construct around her. She breaks into song for hooks, sometimes mid-verse, but rides the pocket of the beat, flexing her voice between a birdlike warble and a revolutionary’s debating tone
About 40 minutes into her set, she brought the openers up to help her on “Sacar La Voz.” They’re a veteran Bronx trio called Rebel Diaz who are sonically and lyrically simpler than her, but just as earnest, and almost as good. Putting three emcees on stage made for some fun back-and-forths, and a bit of friendly oneupmanship. As it should be.
Whether we like it or not, there is simply more pressure on a female MC to prove she belongs. The language barrier, captivating singing voice, and soft-focus NPR intro that most American fans got to Tijoux make it a little easier to forget that she’s a woman who raps, and therefore a woman who deals with silent skepticism by grabbing a mic and destroying it. Over the course of her set she flexed about a half-dozen separate solo styles, did a bit of round robin with the Rebel Diaz guys, and talked about how she got into hip hop in the first place. (It was ‘98, playing Wu Tang with her friends in Chile and learning to freestyle over RZA beats. Bonafides, established.)By the end of the set, she had played most of La Bala, including its heavily political opening trio of “La Bala,” “Shock,” (inspired by Naomi Klein) and “Desclasificado.” The banter, which she forced herself to do mostly in English even though her initial crowd check confirmed that about 80 percent of the room were spanish speakers, was similarly pugnacious. Rebel Diaz called out Joe Arpaio, to derisive shouts, but Tijoux chose a harder target. She pointed out that President Obama’s overseen more deportations than his predecessor. Also mentioned: the U.S. as world leader in incarceration, the interconnected nature of all human life, and the universality of hiphop because “the world is a ghetto.”
But nobody dwelled on the politics, and there were no lectures. Tijoux decided it’s more fun to have the choir sing along than it is to preach to them. She got us all to help out on the hooks to “Shock” and “La Rosa de Los Vientos,” a tune by the group she helmed before setting out solo. And when they tried to quit the stage after an hourlong set, the back door had barely closed when the “Otra! Otra!” chant got going. They gave us a couple more to take home, including “Obstáculo” from her previous album, 1977, and then we all poured out into the night and the heat and the uncharming prospect of our real lives.
- BrightestYoungThings.com


"CTU strike song: 'Imma keep rhyming til salaries start rising'"

Occupy Wall Street didn't produce much potent protest music, but in just a couple days of Chicago's teachers strike at least one rapper has enshrined the debate in song.
It's not bad, either. "Chicago Teacher," by Chicago-native hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz, patiently lays out the points of the dispute between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city. A chorus of "Homey, I was taught by a Chicago teacher!" doesn't come off nearly as hokey as it looks here in print, and they're clearly on the side of the teachers: "Rahm's a fake pretender with a corporate agenda / neoliberal offender, of course you offend us!"

Here's the song (free!), lyrics (complete with Chief Keef reference!) and more below ...
Chorus:
Homey I was taught by a Chicago teacher!
Chicago teacher, Chicago teacher!
I learned to read and write from a Chicago teacher,
So I'm inspired by the fight from our Chicago teachers!
Rodstarz:
The teachers are tired, the students dumbfounded,
the budgets get cut so classes are overcrowded.
Streets full of violence, the blue code of silence
so imma keep rhyming til salaries start rising!
The unions uprising! takin to the streets!
The workers are United so the Mayor's got beef!
Rahm's a fake pretender with a corporate agenda
Neo Liberal Offender, of course you offend us!
This aint about money! That's far from the truth,
they want better work conditions to teach the youth.
Politicians, I don't trust em, its all in the name
the president, the mayor all want political gain.
Theyd rather put the kids in jail, shackle em wit chains,
then provide an education that challenges the brain.
Top down education..Chicago- the birthplace
And now its spreading nationwide all over the place
They don't teach us how to think they teach us how to test!
they teach us how to work to put money in they check!s
The CEOS need to get up out the classroom
before these streets get hotter than the sand in cancun!
so join the picket line like mr pickett in his prime,
put on ya red shirt like the bulls in 95.
hit the streets with a sign that says im fightin for mine
IT'S A FORK IN THE ROAD AND U GOTTA CHOOSE A SIDE
And yes im proud to say I was a public school student
IT WAS PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER THAT FIRST TAUGHT ME MUSIC (2x)

G1:
Went to lil Lincoln School in a lil school bus
DEsegragation. Paid 20 cents for lunch
Reduced price ticket
For the lower income children
Art and music classes
In between Math and English
Now its different
They just teachin to the test
Forced by the feds
Or they losin that check
Too many children left behind
by this corporate assembly line
how they privatize?
education is a humam right!
and they kids gon be fine
they send em to private schools
while ours get sent to prison
or given a job servin fast food
cash rules
so it gets treated like a business
bought and sold
by businessmen turned politicians
so if Rahm was the chief of staff
and Arne Duncan got his start
in Chicago sellin off
the education system
then Obama gotta respond
the teachers or the corporations?
Which side is he on?
The streets is getting hot
They blame the heat on Chief Keef
But it's a million others like him being created every week
If we don't teach we don't learn
And the streets is gon burn
Before it gets worse
I put on my red shirt
Rebel Diaz is a project of Rodrigo "RodStarz" Venegas and Gonzalo "G1" Venegas, England-born and Chicago-raised sons of Chilean activists. Now based in the Bronx, they released a debut album of their politically charged hip-hop last spring, "Radical Dilemma."

Haven't heard much other music occuring in or related to the strike thus far, save this valiant group of teachers and their take on Woody Guthrie's "Union Maid."

Have you? Do tell.

And here's my playlist of union songs, should anyone need to learn a few. - Chicago Sun Times


"Rebel Diaz and Secret Project Robot Do Art Their Own Way"

The unmarked exterior at 389 Melrose Street in Bushwick gives little indication of what's inside. The art group Secret Project Robot has transformed the interior of a former auto shop into an electric maze that feels like a black-lit neon discotheque. At this new home, the gallery/collective has been hosting its packed-out block party psyche-delicatessens—bashes that began at Secret Project Robot's former location at Monster Island, where a dizzyingly oversexed atmosphere filled the room in what felt like nothing less than Williamsburg's halcyon moment.
Secret Project Robot has a lot to do with what kind of world I want to live in," says Rachel Nelson, co-founder and happy participant in the eight-year-old collective. She walks through the warehouse out onto a walled art garden of wooden verandas painted like an installation of Mondrian-style cubes. The aesthetic here captures a larger art movement's bucolic vindication at having created a world outside the dulling conformity of the daily grind.

Indeed, while the blue-chip art world struggles to recover from its art-as-investment bubble, young artists mistrustful of the system have formed groups all over the city with the intent of taking back some of art's cultural resonance. Instead of announcing a set of well-intentioned demands by means of manifesto, the fractal-art movement (handmade, street art, low-brow) has enacted a paradigm shift by changing the dialogue to a kind of micro-economic collectivism, where art's new role is nothing less than the complete transformation of marginalized and decayed neighborhoods into creative utopias (be they Williamsburg, Silver Lake, Detroit, or Portlandia). Groups like Secret Project Robot and the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective in the Bronx (RDAC-BX) have each set up community spaces in an effort to create beauty from the rubble, regardless of whether the establishment cares to tune in.

"In Brooklyn, and especially here in Bushwick," continues Nelson, "the idea that you'd come to New York to make it big has given way to the idea that you make art for the sake of itself, not in some competitive way. It's all about people making art and music and doing gardening in more of a community than you could hope to get in the exclusive gallery scene."

During the day, the main atrium of Secret Project Robot is eerily quiet. Pizza boxes are strewn on the floor, garbage bins are filled with empty beer cans, and the occasional disheveled artist wanders from studio to kitchen and back to studio again. The casual atmosphere at times conceals the serious consciousness that permeates these four walls. Works like a teepee made from potato chip bags, a mannequin outfitted in a Gay '90s/No Wave gown, and a blooming abstract collage on canvas made of sweaty bandanas evoke the sense that cultural debris has been reconfigured here as both an affirmation of environmental concern and a big "fuck you" to the contemporary wave of consumerism.

The trance-y atmosphere of their experimental-music events is the major draw of Secret Project Robot. The gallery has hosted a veritable who's who of hipster and otherworldy acts, such as How I Quit Crack (née Tina Forbis), who performs decked out in neon lingerie amid bouquets of fluorescent flowers while breathing warped vocals over layers of crescent beats, distorted synths, and heavy feedback as transcendent as it is bat-shit weird. It somehow makes perfect sense within the swirl of Secret Project Robot's New Wave stoner backdrop.

Nelson co-founded the collective with Erik Zajaceskowski. It operates today as a nonprofit, where, according to Nelson, an artist receives 100 percent of profits on works sold. As their Orwellian name might suggest, Secret Project Robot's "art party" environment is more than a simple withdraw from the matrix of everyday insanity. The denial of "apathy and cynicism" and the call to action is never far from anyone's lips.

"Art that is controlled and funded by corporations is keeping people contained and controlled," implores RodStarz, a founding member of Rebel Diaz. "Art that is made for and by the people, especially art that comes from oppressed communities, will reflect the struggles of that community."

Off 149th Street near Hunts Point in the South Bronx, the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDAC-BX) boasts the second-floor warehouse of a formerly abandoned candy factory. The space is covered in fractal murals that mix social realism, graffiti, and protest imagery every bit as romantically passionate as Secret Project Robot is self-consciously hip. RodStarz (Rodrigo Venegas) and his brother, Gonzalo (a/k/a G1), were born in England into a Chilean activist family, and raised on the North Side of Chicago. They opened RDAC-BX in 2009 as a multidisciplinary arts studio, where a steady parade of painters, MCs, and filmmakers with names like Vithym, DJ Illanoiz, and YC the Cynic make their way on a daily basis to create, perform, and attend workshops on political education.

On the first Friday of every month, Rebel Diaz hosts an open-house party where artists and audience co-mingle in the performance of live hip-hop, fist-pumping a call-and-response of social outrage that drives the crowd into an unrestrained frenzy. By the early morning hours, when the nighttime haze reaches its peak, core members like Starz, G1, and MC Elijah Black step up to the mic and deliver with such intensity that attendees are practically frothing at the mouth from the conduction of positive over negative energy.
"A group like Rebel Diaz is important, 'cause kids in the Bronx relate," Starz notes. "They're getting stopped-and-frisked like it's an after-school activity. So when we make music about that, they feel it. It becomes more than Rebel Diaz as a group."

"We create our own lanes," Starz reflects with wide-eyed sincerity. It's a view shared by many here—that art can be a means to political capital in the Occupy environment.

"I'm sort of pessimistic about whether art can change the world," admits Secret Project Robot's Nelson, as a purple sunset recedes behind the art space. "But," she concludes, "I think art can change your world."

- The Village Voice


"Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz: Editors Pick"

Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz- Editors Pick - Washington Post


"Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz: Editors Pick"

Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz- Editors Pick - Washington Post


"Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz: Editors Pick"

Ana Tijoux, Rebel Diaz- Editors Pick - Washington Post


"Occupy Wall Street Celebrates Anniversary With Concert"

Tom Morello and others perform in New York to mark first year of protest against corporate greed and corruption

Bronx rappers Rebel Diaz perform at the Occupy Wall Street anniversary concert in New York. - Rolling Stone


"South Bronx Rappers RodStarz and G1 - Rebel Diaz Hope to Bring Hip Hop Into the Occupy Movement"

OCT 20, 2011 - The rap duo group Rebel Diaz, comprised of RodStarz and G1, seek to bring Hip Hop into the liberal world of Occupy Wall Street. In a recent Wash Po article, RodStarz said, “We wanted to bring hip-hop to the white liberal table,” RodStarz says. “For the first time in a long time, large numbers of young white kids are no longer benefiting from the privileges of capitalism. Maybe they’re feeling what immigrants and poor communities have been feeling for years.”

They have launched the #occupytheairwaves campaign and made available for download 2 new songs, "Troy Davis Lives Forever" and "We the 99%" on their website here. Below is the duo performing live down on Occupy Wall Street on Democracy Now.
- www.jtmp.org


"Rodstarz: Rebel Diaz, Hip-Hop for Social Change, and OWS"

On Wednesday, Nov 2 People’s University invited speakers to Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. The New Significance was there to capture a segment of the program.

RodStarz of Rebel Diaz, a bi-lingual hip-hop duo from the South Bronx, told the story of the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective, their new mix tape “Occupy the Airwaves,” discussed movement building strategy, and performed.

Filmed and edited by Chris Spannos.

Length: 12:36

Watch the extended video profile on Rebel Diaz produced by The New Significance:
thenewsignificance.com/?2011/?08/?26/?tns-video-exclusive-rebel-diaz-radical-dilemma/? - The New Significance


""These rappers made it rain, so my flight's delayed.""

"These rappers made it rain, so my flight's delayed."
Rebel Diaz linked up with DJ Dez Andres during their recent trip to Detroit and this track was born. "American Nitemare" carries the staple Detroit sound provided by Dez Andres, while Rebel Diaz focus on themes of societal responsibility and inequality. It comes at a perfect time, as Diaz has been heavily involved in the #Occupy Movement and is currently in Chicago visiting our own #Occupy setup and throwing a Chicago release party for their latest mixtape #OccupyTheAirwaves. Rebel Diaz have a new LP, Radical Dilemma, coming December 21st. Can we get a BBU x Rebel Diaz joint going? - Ruby Hornet


"Rebel Diaz - #OccupyTheAirwaves"

Rebel Diaz - #OccupyTheAirwaves - ByronCrawford.com


"Rebel Diaz “#OccupyTheAirwaves” Mixtape"

Rebel Diaz are leaders of the people, revolutionary voices for a new generation of young people rising up to the corrupted powers that have failed them. From the legal lynching of Troy Davis to the uprising of the people at Wall Street, “#OccupyTheAirwaves Volume 1? is a collection of songs designed to educate and spark the seed of rebellion in the people around the world.
Mixed by DJ Illanoiz, the “#OccupyTheAirwaves Volume 1? is a prelude to the upcoming album from Rebel Diaz, Radical Dilemma, which is scheduled for release on December 21. The group, comprised of MC’s Rodstarz and MC/Producer G1, are also operators of the Rebel Diaz Art Collective in the Bronx, a hip hop community center promoting music, education and the arts. - Common Breath Media


"'Occupy' Inspires Protest Music"

While new songs were being tried out at the Washington occupation, the political hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz from the South Bronx was exploring Occupy Wall Street.

“I feel like we’re living in a historical moment,” says RodStarz, whose partner in Rebel Diaz goes by the name G1. “There’s definitely an energy, and it’s not only here in the United States. I think folks are just fed up.”

At Occupy Wall Street, Rebel Diaz noticed that people of color were under-represented among the demonstrators, some of whom were strumming acoustic guitars. Rebel Diaz doesn’t do acoustic guitars.

“We wanted to bring hip-hop to the white liberal table,” RodStarz says. “For the first time in a long time, large numbers of young white kids are no longer benefitting from the privileges of capitalism. Maybe they’re feeling what immigrants and poor communities have been feeling for years.”

Rebel Diaz had a hook and an idea for some lyrics when a television camera spotted the duo at the occupation. RodStarz and G1 started freestyling lyrics for the camera.

Back home in the South Bronx, they polished, recorded and uploaded the new song, called “We the 99%.” It’s on their new digital mixtape, “#OccupyTheAirwaves.” After years of performing, they plan to release their debut CD, “Radical Dilemma,” in December. The pair also aims to release a remix of the song featuring performers from occupations across the country.

Chorus:

We the 99 the 99 the 99 percent

We here, we arrived and we came to represent

Sample verse:

Your daddy lost his pension

Your daughter’s school needs fixin’

Your brother’s back in prison

The lesson here ain’t kumbaya

Like overnight the change gon’ come? Nah

But what they got?

We got 99, they got 1

Problem — and it’s us! - Washington Post


"Occupy Wall Street Struggles to Make ‘the 99%’ Look Like Everybody"

Two weeks into Occupy Wall Street’s takeover of Zuccotti Park, a group of Bronx community organizers and friends rode the subway down to Lower Manhattan to check out a movement they supported in principle.

When they got there, they recalled, they found what they had suspected: a largely white and middle-class crowd that claimed to represent “the 99 percent” but bore little resemblance to most of the people in the group’s own community. That community, the South Bronx, is one of the poorest areas of the country and home almost exclusively to blacks and Hispanics.

“Nobody looked like us,” said Rodrigo Venegas, 31, co-founder of Rebel Diaz Arts Collective, a center for political activism and hip-hop run out of a warehouse in Mott Haven. “It was white, liberal, young people who for the first time in their life are feeling a small percentage of what black and brown communities have been feeling for hundreds of years.”

Even as the Occupy Wall Street protests have spread and grown, many critics have pointed to the visible scarcity of blacks and other minorities in the protesters’ ranks, notwithstanding the occasional infusions of color, whether from black celebrities like Kanye West, or from union members who have rallied with the protesters, or from a Muslim prayer service at Zuccotti Park last week.

But that reality has begun to change, with minorities and people of color increasingly taking to the streets, as the movement responds to the criticism that a people’s movement should look more like the people.

A survey conducted at Zuccotti Park by Fordham University a month into the protests, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18, found that 68 percent of the protesters were white, 10 percent were black, 10 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were Asian and 5 percent were from other races.

And, many critics have noted, the black and Hispanic protesters participating in the protests have tended to come from the middle class, just as the white protesters have.

The adult population of New York City is 36 percent white, 27 percent Hispanic, 22 percent black, 13 percent Asian and 2 percent other races.

The reasons that minorities have tended to be leery of the protests are complex and deeply rooted.

Minority communities, said Gonzalo Venegas, 26, Rodrigo’s younger brother, “have a history of resistance but also a history of fear.” (Both brothers have remained involved in the protests.)

In a cheeky but ultimately serious Village Voice piece on blacks and Occupy Wall Street, the black essayist Greg Tate mused that a blacker protest movement would have drawn harsher treatment from the police. “Thanks to our overwhelming no-show of numbers,” he wrote, “49,000 shots haven’t been fired at OWS yet.”

Some critics have also accused the protesters of being reductive in their claim to represent the majority and oblivious to their own privilege, and argue that racism, rather than capitalism, continues to be the main problem for many minority Americans.

In recent weeks, though, minority leaders have begun to rally for wider participation of people of color, and groups like “Occupy the Hood,” started by a man in South Jamaica, Queens, have begun to boost their presence both online — Occupy the Hood’s Facebook page now counts more than 8,800 supporters — and on the street. A “People of Color Working Group” has been meeting regularly at Zuccotti Park.

Outside Manhattan, Occupy the Bronx has held rallies near Fordham University and Yankee Stadium, and Queens residents are planning a march in South Jamaica on Saturday, to “symbolically reclaim” foreclosed houses. Earlier this week the N.A.A.C.P put out a statement in support of Occupy Wall Street, which is planning a civil rights rally and an event with Harry Belafonte over the weekend.

Associated protests like recent ones in New York against the police’s stop-and-frisk policy, at one of which the the black author and activist Cornel West was arrested, have also drawn their energy from Occupy Wall Street and forged ties across color lines.

When race has come up at Zuccotti Park, it has sometimes been a fraught and delicate subject.

Sonny Singh, 31, a Sikh musician from Brooklyn who joined Occupy Wall Street early on, recounted the scene in Zuccotti Park the day the general assembly drafted its “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City” — the closest thing to a political manifesto the protesters have put out thus far.

Mr. Singh said that he and a few other “brown” people at the assembly were appalled by what was going to become the first paragraph of the declaration: “As one people, formerly divided by the color of our skin,” the document began, “we acknowledge the reality: that there is only one race, the human race.”

“That was obviously not written by a person of color,” Mr. Singh said, calling the statement naïve. “Race is a reality in the lives of people of color, you can’t put out a statement like that without alienating them.”

Mr. Singh and others pushed back, and eventually got the phrasing changed to be more sensitive to racial realities within the movement. They also kept returning to the protest, and started the People of Color Working Group, which states as one of its goals working toward “a racially conscious and inclusive movement.”

The group’s meetings have been “the most multiracial, people-of-color space I’ve worked in since I’ve lived in N.Y.C.,” Mr. Singh wrote in an e-mail. Between 50 and 100 people have consistently attended, he added, with 170 people at the largest meeting.

Patrick Bruner, a member of occupywallst.org’s press team, agreed with early criticism of the movement as not diverse enough, but said things had improved.

“I think that at the beginning this movement wasn’t as diverse as we would have liked it to be,” he said. “Everyone realized it was an issue and we all worked very hard to solve it. Our diversity has grown very steadily, at the same rate as the rest of the movement as a whole.”

Groups like the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective said they had noticed the change. “The energy this movement has been creating is going to spread,” Gonzalo Venegas said. “We are not playing a game of ‘we are suffering more than you.’ We want to build with them.”

Frank Diamond, a 26-year-old Haitian-American from Jamaica, Queens, who was holding an “Occupy the Hood” sign at a recent rally, said that many working-class blacks who had originally watched the protests from a distance, were starting to realize they should join.

“It takes a wave to realize that the boat you have been riding is too small,” he said. “We need to be represented here too. This is about us, too." - New York Times


"Rebel Diaz on Democracy Now!"

The hip-hop brother duo Rebel Diaz attended the Occupy Wall Street march in Lower Manhattan yesterday and stopped to tell Democracy Now! why they came down from the South Bronx to join thousands of others demanding change. As they walked along Broadway toward Zuccotti Park, the heart of the protest encampment, they performed a song written about the Occupy movement spreading across the United States. It’s called "We the 99 Percent." - Democracy Now!


"Rebel of the underground: an interview with RodStarz of Rebel Diaz"

Rebel Diaz and Beeda Weeda headline the ‘Black and Brown Get Down for Oscar Grant’ concert Wednesday, June 9, 9 p.m., at the Rockit Room on the eve of Oscar Grant triggerman Johannes Mehserle’s trial in LA, the first time a Cali cop has ever been tried for an on-duty murder! Event details below
by Minister of Info JR


Rebel Diaz: RodStarz, Lah Tere and G1
Right alongside the other premier political hip hop acts of the day – dead prez, Immortal Technique and Mos Def – Rebel Diaz is one of the frontliners when it comes to using hip hop culture in the worldwide fight of the haves vs. the have-nots. I respect them because their music isn’t just about making money; it is about them rapping and assisting social and political movements like what they are scheduled to do in the Bay, where they, along with Beeda Weeda, are headlining “The Black and Brown Get Down for Oscar Grant.”
If you don’t know about these lyrical trailblazers, you might need to get some new MP3s for the collection. Check them out and come see them live in concert in the Bay (full details below) …

M.O.I. JR: Who is Rebel Diaz? How and when did y’all hook up?

RodStarz: Rebel Diaz is RodStarz, G1 and Lah Tere. We all grew up in Chicago. RodStarz and G1 are brothers and Lah Tere and RodStarz became friends in college. G1 made the move to NYC while attending NYU and RodStarz joined him. A year later, Lah Tere joined them and Rebel Diaz was born.

M.O.I. JR: How would you describe your sound?

RodStarz: In your face. On point. Loud. Local. Global. Hip Hop. Nueva Cancion. Salsa. Boom bap. Resistance. Chicago. Puerto Rico. Chile. South Bronx.

M.O.I. JR: Can you talk about some of the political campaigns that your group has aided and assisted in recent memory?

RodStarz: Think of one and we most likely have supported, whether through music or action. But for the last year and a half we have focused on our main project, which is the RDACBX Autonomous Community Space.

The Rebel Diaz Arts Collective is a warehouse and abandoned factory in the South Bronx where we set up shop in November of 2008 and turned into a liberated autonomous community hip hop center. The collective itself is made up of about 20 other community activists, artists, mcs, djs and students.

We now have a studio, performance stage and area, an art gallery and a backyard open space for muralists all open to the community. This is all autonomous work done free of the restraints of the nonprofit industry model. For more info go to www.rdacbx.org.

M.O.I. JR: How did you feel when you heard about the murder of Oscar Grant? How did you feel when you heard about the Oakland rebellions that followed?

RodStarz: Enraged. Sad. Disappointed. Pissed off because this keeps on happening to our young Black and Brown brothers in our communities. We just had the Sean Bell murder in New York and those cops walked free!

The uprising in Oakland was inspiring. The media tried to twist it up but we know what that was. There’s a history of struggle in Oakland. The people responded how New York should have.

But we gotta keep that energy and rage consistent and get organized. Never forget Oscar Grant and keep fighting.

M.O.I. JR: Why do you think Black and Brown people should combine forces to fight the state sanctioned forces that are oppressing both communities in the U.S.?

RodStarz: We first gotta stop thinking we are separate on some Black and Brown color lines. Black Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans are Afro-Latinos. In California, the racial lines are increased because of the lack of a Caribbean population.

We are the descendants of slaves and of indigenous peoples who had their land stolen. The system divides us as a divide and conquer tactic. Our history of struggle shows that. Look at the Brown Berets and the Black Panthers.

We are the ones that are in prison. We are the ones being murdered by the pigs. The pigs on the corners ain’t no different than the pigs on the border. Our young people are the ones being sent off to fight an unjust war. It is our schools that are underfunded and overcrowded. We are the low wage workers.

Look at Arizona! They legalized racial profiling. Jim Crow all over again.

M.O.I. JR: Whats new wit’ Rebel Diaz?

RodStarz: After Cali, we are headed to Detroit for the U.S. Social Forum. Then we hittin up Venezuela for the Cumbre Internacional de Hip Hop in early July. After that in NYC we are doing Central Park Summerstage with Anita Tijoux, a dope mc from Chile. We are gonna be in Cuba in August and of course the RDAC BX.

We are about to put out some new music this summer from Rebel Diaz and the members of the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective: YC the Cynic, Circa95: Rephstar and Patty Dukes, Jon Mega, Bliz da Don, Rela, Marcel Cartier, Waco Division, Dj Charlie Hustle and Inti Kana.

M.O.I. JR: How can people hear your music online?

RodStarz: Go to www.rebeldiaz.com.

Email POCC Minister of Information JR, Bay View associate editor, at blockreportradio@gmail.com and visit www.blockreportradio.com.

Listen to Davey D’s interview with Rebel Diaz on KPFA’s Hard Knock Radio June 8 at http://kpfa.org/archive/id/61669.
‘Black and Brown Get Down for Oscar Grant’
Rebel Diaz are coming all the way from New York City to join Oakland’s own Beeda Weeda as headliners for a benefit concert on the eve of the trial of police triggerman Johannes Mehserle, who murdered Oscar Grant. Don’t miss the “Black and Brown Get Down for Oscar Grant” on Wednesday, June 9, 9 p.m., at the Rockit Room, 406 Clement St., San Francisco, where the recent dead prez concert was held. Big Dan, G-Wett, Mahasen, East Bay Politix, Los Rakas, YC the Cynic, Kalae All Day on the Wheelz of Steel, DJ Beats Me from Distortion 2 Static and DJ Leydis round out the performance lineup.

Opening the show at 9 p.m. is a panel on “What Artists and People Can Do for the Oscar Grant Movement” featuring RodStarz of Rebel Diaz, Kamel Bell of Anhk Marketing, Jack Bryson, father of two of Oscar’s friends who were beside him when he was murdered, The Brown Berets and more. The moderator is POCC Minister of Info JR. Pre-sale tickets are $15 at http://beedaweedarebeldiazsf.eventbrite.com/. Get yours today before they’re all sold out. For more information, email blockreportradio.com. - San Francisco Bay View


"Solidarity Hip Hop Style"

Solidarity is not a matter of sentiment but of fact, cold and impassive as the granite foundations of a skyscraper. If the basic elements, identity of interest, clarity of vision, honesty of intent, and oneness of purpose, or any of these is lacking, all sentimental pleas for solidarity, and all other efforts to achieve it will be barren of results." -Eugene Victor Debs

When massive numbers of students at Howard University in Washington, DC threatened to take over the campus's A Building in early September, most newspapers turned the other cheek. Perhaps it was the demands of the demonstration--after all, few students in the midst of this recession can relate to drops in student financial aid or bureaucratic administrations (and yes, I'm being sarcastic).

It wasn't until the celebs came out of the woodwork that the story got any kind of national attention. Specifically, it came when hip-hop mogul and Howard alum Sean "P. Diddy" Combs Twittered--yes, Twittered--his support for the students:

"NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!!! Let me know if yall need me to come down there yall! I got yall BACK! Let's go!!!"

It's almost as if he were actually there. Except he wasn't. Reading the story on TMZ was to soak in a strange moment when the politics of celebrity, technology and the hip-hop generation collided in a rather warped way.

Diddy isn't exactly a stranger to Howard's legacy of protest. During his time as a student there in 1989, the campus exploded--once again taking over A Building in opposition to the appointment of Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater to the Board of Trustees. The uprising was so big that both Atwater and University President James Cheek eventually stepped down. What was young Mr. Combs contribution? Turning pictures of the building occupation into posters and selling them for $15 a pop!

Today, when both music and politics are a business before all else, Diddy's own personality has seemed to embody hip-hop's ethos--at least to the mainstream media. Much ink has been spilled debating how effective Vote or Die was. Diddy's Twitter certainly brought the protests more exposure, and you can't knock that. But in the end, his own position as a captain (or maybe a lieutenant) of the music industry naturally limits his ability to relate to the grassroots and the anger boiling in most ordinary heads' stomachs.

If corporate news outlets can crank out endless stories about a Twitter message and act as if a hip-hop mogul's support for a student activists is such a novelty, that's probably because so few of them are acquainted with the real power--and real solidarity--that the music can display.

One need only look to last spring when the acquittal of Sean Bell's murderers in blue provoked an array of tracks dedicated to Bell and protesting the verdict. Thanks to the internet, artists like Bun B, Papoose and Joell Ortiz were able to crank these songs out and get them to folks' ears within days.

Even past that, though, hip-hop holds a real potential to concretely link arms and push forward. I saw it myself this past April at quite possibly the best hip-hop show I have ever been to: Roots of Resistance.

Presented by the Gaza Aid Project and several local activist groups, Roots of Resistance was a direct response to Israel's bombardment of Gaza this past winter. The outrage provoked by this most recent crime of apartheid can still be felt now in the revitalized "BDS" movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) on campuses across the country.

Walking into the Logan Square Auditorium, it was clear that the organizers weren't pulling any punches about their solidarity with the people of Gaza. Palestinian flags flew from the front of the stage, which was also flanked by large portraits of Leila Khaled and quotes from Assata Shakur.

Even more significant was the diversity of the crowd: Black, white, Arab, Asian, Latino, sporting all different kinds of styles and dress, out to see an absolutely killer lineup. Rebel Diaz, Shadia Mansour, and DAM, along with M1 from Dead Prez rounding out the night.

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After a few local opening acts--including the inimitable BBU, whose brash and bouncy sound will later get them an excellent writeup in Pitchfork--DAM take the stage: "Are you read for some Palestinian hip-hop?" emcee Tamar Nafar shouts into the mic. Naturally, the crowd goes wild.

Thanks largely to the film Slingshot Hip-Hop, DAM's international profile has grown exponentially. Hailing from the Israeli town of Lod, all three identify as Palestinian, rapping exclusively in Arabic. Surprisingly, the language barrier is a non-issue. It may sound corny, but different tongues can't overcome the fact that hip-hop's instinctual rebellion is itself a global language. "I learned English by having my dictionary in one hand and Tupac's lyrics in the other" says Tamar.

Mahmoud Jreri, also of DAM, takes it one step further. I'm lucky enough to interview him before the group takes the stage. "Music can connect people. And if I can use it so that I can bring a message or deliver something to the people that they don't know in a cool way--and not in a suit and tie and speaking down to them--just coming from the street and speaking their language, maybe they will know more about it because it's cool to hear it."

DAM's set is spectacular. Funny, poignant, infinitely energetic. But throughout their songs, there's little question what they are there to do. Their final song is possibly their best known: "Meen Erhabe (Who's the Terrorist?)." Loosely translated, their lyrics are a searing indictment of Israel's crimes against Palestinians:

"You attack me, but still you cry out,
When I remind you it was you who attacked me,
You silence me and shout:
'But you let small children throw stones!
Don't they have parents to keep them at home?'
What?!?!
You must have forgotten you buried our parents
Under the rubble of our homes.
And now my agony is so immense.
Who's the terrorist?"

Try finding that kind of outspokenness on MTV.

I ask Mahmoud a frank question: what would have have to say to a young Black or Latino hip-hopper who hears DAM's rhymes but wonders why he should care. "I think we share the same social and political struggle," he responds, "or any minority living in a different place on this earth. If I can bring them my message through music, they can bring me their message through music. I knew about Latin and African American music through hip-hop, and how they live. I hope that I can bring my life to them, tell them how I live. It's a world-wide struggle for equality and for ending the regimes so people can be equal."

Shadia Mansour takes the stage after DAM. She is a slight woman, wearing a traditional Arab thob. And though her music is steeped in tradition, there is nothing meek or conventional about it. "I can never get onstage and perform without letting the Zionists have it," she says dryly.

Mansour performs a gorgeous mix of hip-hop and Arabic folk. One would think this would make for an awkward mix, but in her case, it works incredibly well. Her songs are delivered in a singing voice that is haunting as her flow is fierce. Once again, the lyrics are in Arabic, but like with DAM's set, it's no question where her sympathies lie: "If the struggle lives in Palestine, then the struggle lives in Africa, it lives in South America, it lives all over the world."

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Shadia Mansour is the last Arab act to perform that night. But that feeling of unity in struggle doesn't dissipate in the least. Rebel Diaz, the trio of revolutionary lyricists from the South Bronx, go on directly afterwards. There is an undeniable urgency to their songs--a steadfast, unrelenting stomp that simply refuses to let go. I've interviewed them beforehand, and judging from the words of the group's RodStarz, it's obvious that the urgency isn't an act.

"This is needed because right now, we're in Logan Square, a community that's being gentrified--Puerto Ricans getting displaced left and right. The reality is that some of these young people coming out for a hip-hop show tonight are going to leave with a message: the shit that's going on in Gaza is an abuse of human rights, it's inhumane, it's genocide. So it's needed because that's why hip-hop is here. Hip-hop is here to say 'listen!'"

It's hard to not listen to Rebel Diaz's set. They don't just move around the stage. They own the stage! As each of the three--RodStarz, G1 and Lah Tere--take turns on the mic, you can see the other two completely focused on what's being said. Over the years they must have played and performed these lyrics hundreds of times. But hearing them delivered tonight, it's apparent that not one word has become stale or played out.

The crowd, for their part, are lit up by this. They gladly listen as the group pleads to connect the dots between Gaza and the US: "When we talk about Palestine, we need to talk about freeing Puerto Rico, about stopping police brutality, we need to talk about immigrant rights." When Lah Tere, the group's sole female member, speaks up for the brothers in the crowd to respect their sisters in the movement, the audience applauds loudly.

In light of all this, M1's set is somewhat anti-climactic. Given that he's performing Dead Prez tracks with only half the group there, much of the performance is disjointed. That being said, there are real moments when the spirit of the night comes to an appropriate high point. He kicks off with "Turn off the Radio," and performs most of the group's favorites (often including stic.man's verses).

It's important to point out that without Dead Prez, some of the performers at the Roots of Resistance show might not be here. What's more, it's entirely possible that some of the organizers might not have been where they are either. M1, along with stic, have built themselves up over the past fifteen years, turning countless young heads onto radical ideas of struggle and liberation. But it's not about M1 tonight. It's about all the groups, and--more importantly--the broader world they are attempting to change for the better. This is apparent when he brings up all the other acts to perform with him during "Hip-Hop."

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During these few short hours, Chicago's Logan Square Auditorium became a bit more than a mere venue. It became a platform stumping for real, tangible solidarity. As G1 told me, "it creates a space where we can lead struggles." This might be interpreted as hyperbole, but given everything that is going down in the United States right now--from racism and homophobia to the very assault on our right to a decent living--ideas like these are carrying a lot more currency.

It's been five months since this show, and it's example sticks in my head as a sterling example of what is possible through music and hip-hop. For years, I had read about the Rock Against Racism shows during the '70s, which brought punk and reggae acts together to fight a growing fascist threat on the streets of Britain. The accounts of dynamic, immediate music channeled into a bottom-up social struggle--which in essence admitted that music had a natural and vital role to play in the real world--had seemed like something urgently needed today.

This is the kind of solidarity that a Twitter message simply can't get at. Even the Vote or Die campaign, with its top-down, celeb-focused modus operandi, couldn't quite play at the possibilities of hip-hop that were displayed at Roots of Resistance.

Music itself can never be "the weapon." As Mahmoud Jreri said, "music is important, but for a real revolution you need more than that. You need people who fight, you need people who take your issue to the media, and you need people who fight for your rights. And this is how you will get your freedom."

That may be true, but one can't knock the role that music--hip-hop especially--plays in not only giving that fight a voice, but providing a glimpse of what this world might look like if all our voices mattered.

Roots of Resistance is far from the last word. As the world-wide recession continues unabated, the struggles that could open up can't be predicted. Young people's anger isn't going anywhere, but neither is their creativity, their intelligence, and their ability to reach across boundaries and link arms in the fight for something better. There's really no limit to what can get done when that energy is unleashed. It's just as true for music as it is for activism, and even the notion of running the world for ourselves.

Alexander Billet, a music journalist, writer and activist living in Chicago, runs the blog Rebel Frequencies (http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com). He is a columnist for SleptOn Magazine and The Society of Cinema and Arts, and a regular contributor to Socialist Worker and ZNet.
- Society of Cinema and Arts


"Yes there is anti-Obama hip-hop"

You know the social pressure to pretend as if you give a shit about Barack Obama is intense when even the mighty dead prez is being relatively mum about their political views.

They once did a song about how it’s alright to rob a white pizza guy, if you’re broke and you’ve got the munchies, but they’re not gonna go so far as to try to persuade someone not to vote for Barack Obama, if that’s what they wanna do.

I’d say their new song, “PolitricKKKs,” is definitely an anti-Obama song, in that they call him a sell-out, and suggest that it would be pointless to vote for Obama on the grounds that he’d be the first black president, since there already was a black president - that guy John Hanson, who was one of the few presidents before the US was officially a country, before George Washington. Though I know there’s a debate as to whether or not that’s really true. At any rate, you get the idea that “PolitricKKKs” wouldn’t have popped up on the Internets a week or so ago if it wasn’t for the election. The new dead prez album isn’t set to hit the streets until some time next year.

Still, if they’re gonna go all the way there with it, why not actually discourage people from voting for Barack Obama, or even offer an alternative? I mean, if they see the guy as being such a sell-out. It’s not like he’s the only liberal candidate in this election. On “PolitricKKKs,” stic.man raps, “I don’t want to discourage my folk. I believe in hope. I just want us to want more.” I don’t get it. Is it because they don’t want to be viewed as the rap group that tried to cockblock Obama?

Maybe it’s because they just don’t see there being much of an alternative. I’m pretty sure I saw M-1 in a video supporting Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, around the time it was announced that McKinney had selected Clemente as her VP. But in “PolitricKKKs,” M-1 gives the two of them what I’d say amounts to a vote of no confidence. “McKinney, Clemente off in the Green Party. No disrespect, we need a red, black and green party.”

And who can blame him? Cynthia McKinney probably played herself in getting down with the Green Party. You don’t even see her name mentioned when they announce the results of national polls on TV, but something tells me that she probably could have gotten just as many votes on her own, running as an independent. The Green Party, for whatever reason (probably because they smoke too much weed) is just useless in national elections. I stay watching cable news, and I haven’t seen Cynthia McKinney on TV at all this year. Ralph Nader, meanwhile, stays on TV.

This group Rebel Diaz come off as similarly ambivalent in their song, “An Open Letter to Barack Obama from Rebel Diaz,” or whatever it’s called, an hilarious reworking of Eminem’s “Stan.” You get the idea that Rebel Diaz is on board with Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, since the two of them are name-checked at the very beginning of the record. But later on it’s, “This is just a criticism, and I hope that you make it. Because if you don’t, we’re one heartbeat away from Sarah Palin.” With mixed messages like that, I wonder how many people they’re really gonna bend to their point of view.

The strongest part of the record, I thought, was the last verse, where they got specific re: their beef with Obama: “Mr. Barack, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. corporate sell-out to the imperialist dollar. What about Sean Bell? What did you say after the verdict? I know it had to touch you that a black man was murdered.” [...] “What about the situation with the peeps in Palestine? You support Israel. They are not a friend of mine.” [...] “You had three different chances to address the bailout, but what I wanted to hear never came out your mouth.”

Finally, it’s too bad Rage Against the Machine haven’t been as active in this election as they were in, say, the 2000 election, when they were instrumental in aiding in the forming of my own views re: politics. It’s too bad kids today don’t have the same opportunity I had. I’m assuming Rage has been stymied by the fact that they’re hardly a real band anymore. They probably can’t get along well enough to do anything other than get that paper out on the ’90s nostalgia circuit.

I’ve seen them twice now in the last couple of years, and both times it was nucking futs. It’s obvious there’s an entire generation of kids waiting to hear something, anything from them since they broke up back in 2000, and everything that was once worthwhile seemed to fall to shit in pretty short order. At this year’s Lollapalooza, in particular, they kept having to stop the show just to get people to settle the fuck down. I kept waiting for them to address this year’s presidential election. When they finally did, it was something along the lines of, “If Obama wins this thing, and he doesn’t end the Iraq War, we’re gonna have to set the White House on fire.” The fuck?

Zach de la Rocha always did strike me as a little bit crazy. I’m pretty sure he was the main reason the group broke up in the first place. Later on, I read an interview Jeff Chang did with Tom Morello. Check Morello’s response to the question of whether or not he’s planning to endorse Obama.

No. I think that in my music and in my politics, I’d like to keep them completely uncompromised. If there’s a candidate that I see eye to eye with up and down the line, then I’ll endorse that candidate. With his saber rattling about Iran, with his determination to continue an imperialist war in Afghanistan, there’s a lot that’s iffy about that, but he’s certainly better than McCain. I’m not going to give either one of them a chance to breathe when they’re in office. It’s important to continue to put the pedal down when either one of them is in office.

Sweet, a guy who’s actually not willing to compromise. Is it any wonder he’s viewed as more of a rock artist than a hip-hop artist? - XXL


"For Latino hip-hop group, music is freedom"

Rapper Rodrigo Venegas wouldn't settle for silence - he wanted passion from his audience.
"When I say ‘We want', you say ‘Freedom,'" Venegas shouted to the diverse group of students before him.
"We want!"
"Freedom!" his audience responded.
Three Latino hip-hop performers, Rodrigo Venegas, his brother Gonzalo Venegas, who are both Chilean, and friend Teresita Ayala, who is Puerto Rican, sent chills through the attendees of a crowded Hornbake Library room yesterday with these words.
The trio, which calls itself Rebel Diaz, used hip-hop music as its medium to touch and educate students about the current state of immigrants - a group they say are too often oppressed in the United States - as a part of the university's celebration of Latino Heritage Month.
The month of recognition, which began on Sept. 15, the independence day of five Latin American countries, has been filled with similar events that both promote culture and speak against what many members of the Latino community call social injustices.
Wearing T-shirts reading, "No human being is illegal," the group cited media reports on high incarceration rates of minorities as the cause of discrimination and widespread ignorance.
"We see it as the hip-hop generation's responsibility to defend immigrant rights," Rodrigo Venegas said.
Yajaira Berna, Latino Student Union vice president of public relations, said Latino students who are uncomfortable embracing their identities often face challenges as a result of such discrimination.
"Latino students almost have a double life," she said. "They listen to hip-hop and rap and hang out with their American friends, yet they come home to parents who only speak Spanish. I had to figure out how to fuse together both of my identities."
The event played out like a conversation between speakers and attendees: The members of Rebel Diaz referred to audience members as their brothers and sisters. This tone was a primary goal of the Community Roots-sponsored event, according to group co-president Jazz Lewis.
Although some students challenged the group, asking them to justify the presence of violence in modern-day rap, many expressed support, such as one student who said he moved out of "apple country" to escape his neighbors' racist mannerisms.
And the Venegas brothers are no strangers to this kind of discrimination, they said, describing an incident two years ago when they were assaulted by police officers after translating for a New York street vendor.
"They beat us up and charged us with assaulting them," Gonzalo Venegas said. "We went to trial for a whole year, our case was dismissed and the judge said to us, ‘Keep up the good work.'"
The brothers saw their experience as not only a victory but also a reflection of a widespread anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. today.
Lewis, a black senior government and politics major, said Rebel Diaz's message hits close to home.
"The possibility of being arrested and harassed by police is a really true experience to me," he said. "Even while I'm going to the University of Maryland, I'll get questions [from police] like, ‘What are you doing here?' and ‘Why are you out at this time of night?'"
Lewis said that type of discrimination makes him feel unwelcome in the place he calls home.
"Is my law enforcement here to protect me, or are they using me to reach a quota?" he asked. "They shouldn't have those questions."
Senior history major Natalia Cuadra-Saez, who organized the event, said she hoped students left realizing the importance of the immigrant population.
"Without immigrants, this nation wouldn't be what it is," Cuadra-Saez said. "They're often that force that pushes hope to a new place."
She said she hoped last night's event taught some groups a lesson: "I've been kind of disappointed in Latino Heritage Months not having enough social justice events," she said of previous years' programming.
Latinos aren't the only students who related to Rebel Diaz's message. Community Roots member and Students for Justice in Palestine President Samira Farah, a Somali-American, said hip-hop's ability to give marginalized communities a voice resonates with all races.
"I was born in Somalia, which is war-torn," she said. "A lot of people are drawn to hip-hop because it explains their struggles and reflects what's going on in their communities."
Lewis said he hoped attendees left the event inspired to use their voices.
"[Students] are not alone," he said. "They can voice their opinions. People want to hear their opinions and don't have a problem with that."
Rebel Diaz spoke of plans to return to the campus next semester to give a full performance.
"Music is universal," Ayala said. "It will always capture people's souls." - DiamondBackOnline


"Rebel with a Cause"

Rebel Diaz make political hip-hop for the people
by Stefan Christoff

Rebel Diaz is a politically engaged hip-hop trio from the Bronx, New York and Chicago that voices the struggle of the diaspora, from Chile to the Caribbean.
Rebel Diaz consists of Teresita Ayala (known as Lah Tere) and brothers Rodrigo Venegas (known as RodStarz) and Gonzalo Venegas (G1), born of Chilean activists. The trio position themselves within a history of political resistance through music and question the shallow glamour of hip-hop acts that (g)litter the Grammys. Over the past couple years Rebel Diaz have performed in Chile at the Planeta Rock festival in Santiago, at South by Southwest in Austin and throughout North America to packed houses, including a date in Montreal this spring, along with celebrated Chilean-French hip-hop artist Ana Tijoux .

Hour had the opportunity to speak with Rebel Diaz about contemporary political currents in Chile, artistic activism and the history of hip-hop.

Hour How, and why, did you get started in music?

RodStarz Our story starts after we moved from Chicago to the Bronx, shortly after we released a mix tape featuring Teresita Ayala (Lah Tere), and got really positive feedback.

We want to make honest hip-hop. Hip-hop culture is originally from the Bronx, an immigrant borough, where conditions of poverty and unemployment shape people. So hip-hop here is directly related to the immigrant experience: DJ Kool Herc was from Jamaica,

you had b-boys with mambo influences, one of the first graffiti writers, Taki 183, comes from Greece. Rebel Diaz is inspired by this history.

Our music talks to [and about] struggles to overcome oppression in communities dealing with gentrification, police brutality, war and the prison industrial complex. We wonder why so many young men are being sent off to war and not to university? Rebel Diaz talks to these realities - it's music for the people by the people.

Hour It has been over 30 years since the first hip-hop hits and many critics say the hip-hop featured at the Grammys today is detached from the origins of the culture. What are your thoughts on hip-hop today, especially how it has spread across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East? Many hip-hop movements in the global south really embody that original spirit of hip-hop in the Bronx and are about community music, words of resistance. Could you share your reflections on the 30-year anniversary of hip-hop in this context of conscious hip-hop going global?

G1 It is so important to place hip-hop culture in this context. It is a continuation of a cultural legacy that started with slave songs that continued with the blues, then with jazz, with funk... hip-hop follows this legacy. Today, hip-hop is global. Internationally hip-hop is rooted in a culture of resistance, a culture that originated in the South Bronx at a time in the borough when urban warfare was real. In the global south where war is a reality, where our resources have been taken over, pimped by northern colonial powers, you see hip-hop emerging in response to these contexts all around the world. In Brazil, Chile, across Africa, hip-hop culture is really developing. So today hip-hop is a soundtrack to those streets, not only the Bronx streets.

Hour Rebel Diaz has been touring globally and you recently opened a community centre. Can you talk about your latest group projects?

Rod Starz In the South Bronx over a year ago we opened up a multimedia, autonomous community space called the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (on 149th street), right in the middle of the community.

Our space is in an old factory (now community centre) and includes a music studio for young people to record, walls for graffiti artists to come paint on. We have open mics and stages for young people to have opportunities to perform. At the same time, it is a safe space for women. We believe that the inclusion of women into hip-hop is so important - we don't believe in the misogynistic lyrics that corporate America hip-hop pushes. These values are not representative of our communities.

Also Rebel Diaz has been travelling. This past January we were in Chile, 10 days before the earthquake hit, building with the people, participating in a festival called Planeta Rock. It was amazing being in Chile and participating in a festival named after the Afrika Bambaataa track. We also participated in the South by Southwest festival. It's an industry-driven festival, but while in town in Austin we did workshops with young people at local bookstores and opposed the Israeli government presence at the festival with Detroit MC Invincible because they allowed Israeli government-sponsored artists to perform who are trying to improve Israel's image internationally during the siege on Gaza. Our point being that the Israeli government should have nothing to do with a music festival in the U.S. at this time. As artists who believe in freedom for Palestine, we spoke out.

Our music is about spreading a message and also acting on our words.

Hour The Rebel Diaz sound includes many influences. Could you talk about your sound and musical inspirations?

G1 In Chile, our parents were political activists and we grew up listening to nueva canción music, the folk protest music movement from Latin America in the '60s and '70s, made by artists like Victor Jara or Mercedes Sosa. On the production side, these elements are present in Rebel Diaz music, both in the ideas and the music, the guitar style and rhythms from the nueva canción movement.

Also we incorporate the aesthetic of hip-hop production - we sample, reinterpret the past, put it into a present-day context. Lah Tere is from Puerto Rico and brings a different element to Rebel Diaz, and there are also Caribbean influences as well.

Growing-up in Chicago in the '90s, we are also influenced by the straight hip-hop, boom-bap ear, so all these influences go into Rebel Diaz.

Hour In Chile today, the massive earthquake last winter and the recent election of a conservative government has caused major shifts in the country...

Rod Starz Chile's recent shift is so strong that the access of the world shifted forever.

Today in Chile we are coming to terms with a major natural disaster in the earthquake, and the unnatural disaster in the presidency of Sebastián Piñera - the richest man in the country, the owner of LAN Airlines, the national airline, the owner of Chilevisión, a national television station.

Today in Chile we have a crony of the Pinochet dictatorship and the Milton Friedman economic vision coming back into power, anyone who read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine will understand the implications.

In Haiti post-earthquake aid was militarized, or in New Orleans after Katrina where the poor were displaced. Today are seeing a similar situation in Chile post-earthquake. Media images of poor people trying to find food after the earthquake were labelled as looters, and used by the government to justify martial law in poor communities impacted by the earthquake. A natural disaster in Chile is leading to militarization and this is all part of a larger disaster which is capitalism and neo-liberal economics in Chile.

It is critical to keep an eye on Chile right now. - Hour Ca


"Rebel Diaz: Hip Hop with Cause"

By Isabela Raygoza
July 24, 2014
Name: Rebel Diaz

Where They’re From: The Bronx by way of Chicago

When They Started: 2006

Genre: Hip-hop

For Fans Of: Bocafloja, Ana Tijoux, Immortal Technique

Sounds Like: The streets revolting against institutionalized oppression

In the case of Rebel Diaz, hip-hop is more than just music: it’s a vehicle of resistance. Birthed in England to Chilean activists, bred in Chicago, and now based in The Bronx where the group formed, siblings Rodrigo Venegas (AKA Rod Starz) and Gonzalo Venegas (AKA G1) have dealt with their fair share of systematic injustice, including being violently assaulted by the NYPD for defending an innocent vendor. As MCs, they constantly speaking up against hate crimes in political institutions. The bilingual duo seeks to fully expose the negative realities that the system tries to conceal via their lyrical prowess. Rebel Diaz’s recent full-length release Radical Dilemma does no less than that.

Embodying an ethos similar to the New Chilean Song Movement — late ’60s protest folk that shook up the social-political order during Chile’s repressing, which Rod Starz and G1 stem strong influences from — the album strives to do some shattering of its own. Rapping “The dictatorship of our nation is called a corporation” (“Revolution Has Come”) and “I know it in my heart that the system is abusive, and I also know a movement is more than music” (“Motivate! Move!”), these modern day intellectuals shed light on pressing matters that should concern all masses. Flowing over old skool hip-hop and Latin folklore-inspired beats, Rebel Diaz gets your veins pumpin’ and head fiercely boppin’ to their purposeful and exhilarating rhymes.

In addition to making political rap music, the brothers also put their efforts where their mouths are and opened up a community arts center in The Bronx called Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX) where they host workshops, performances, and gather like-minded peeps who are eager to fight for the cause.

Below check out their video for their song “La Patrulla” featuring King Capo, which highlights the intrusiveness of police surveillance, lies the media tells, and the need to take action - MTV Iggy


"Rebel Diaz + Dead Prez join forces: Which Side Are You On?"

April 30, 2015
by Chuck Creekmur (@chuckcrekmur)
Music, Videos. SHARE |
We are living historic moments of oppression, to which the people have the right to respond with historic moments of resistance. The Which Side Are You On REMIX came out on our Radical Dilemma album, but the time is NOW for the song and the message it represents. It was an honor to link with Dead Prez and the comrade Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, artists whose shoulders we stand on, who have paved the way for a Rebel Diaz. From #Baltimore to #Ferguson to #Chicago to #TheSouthBronx to #Ayotzinapa to #Athens to #LosAngeles and beyond.. #WhichSideAreYouOn?! - AllHipHop.com


"La Musica y Rebeldia de Dos Hermanos Chilenos en el Bronx"

La música y rebeldía de dos hermanos chilenos en el Bronx
Rodrigo y Gonzalo Venegas son Rebel Diaz, una dupla de activistas que incitan a tomar acción frente a la injusticia social a través de su música, charlas y actividades que organizan en su centro comunitario ubicado en el sur del Bronx. Este fin de semana tocarán en Chile con Ana Tijoux.

Catalina Jaramillo
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Los hermanos Rodrigo y Gonzalo Venegas, alias Rodstarz y G1.
El video de “Revolution has Come”(La revolución ha llegado), del álbum Radical Dilemma (2013) de la banda rapera del Bronx Rebel Diaz, formada por los hermanos chilenos Rodrigo y Gonzalo Venegas –alias Rodstarz y G1-tiene 56.916 likes y comienza con la imagen borrosa de dos hombres en un auto, uno con una máscara del presidente Barak Obama y el otro con una del republicano Mitt Romney, contando billetes y riéndose a carcajadas. Le siguen imágenes en blanco y negro de una protesta que luego se diluyen para mostrar a Rodrigo, el mayor de lo hermanos (35), con una boina negra y su pelo largo trenzado, organizando a un grupo de activistas primero y luego limpiando pisos en un colegio del sur del Bronx. Rodstarz mira la cámara de frente y levanta el puño, se superponen imágenes de noticieros y aparece el texto “Revolution has come”.

La canción, publicada en YouTube días antes de las elecciones de 2012, es un manifiesto. Su letra es clara, directa y poética, y llama a la comunidad a tomar acción. Los demócratas y los republicanos son la misma cosa, dice, ambos se han vendido a las multinacionales; vivimos en una dictadura de las corporaciones donde cada vez hay menos empleos, educación y salud accesible, y la Tierra está en sus últimos latidos. Por eso cantan en inglés:



“Sedientos de petróleo y sangre, están violando a los recursos.

Los días se están poniendo oscuros, pero es luz lo que yo ofrezco.

No dividir ni conquistar, estoy hablando de poder popular.

Las horas están pasando apúrate, apúrate, agarra tu entrada para el futuro.

Identifica los problemas y avanza a las soluciones.

Tienes que involucrarte, construir, mostrar amor.

Ese es el paso número 1, en vez de dispararles armas.

Corre de la policía, ¡nosotros unidos! No más peleas internas”.



Para los hermanos Venegas, ha llegado el tiempo de rebelarse contra la injusticia social, no a través de las armas, sino que de la educación y la creación de comunidades autosustentables. Su propuesta resuena con las ideas de miles de millennials en Nueva York y otras ciudades.

En 2011, hicieron una gira con su mixtape “Occupy the Airwaves” que animó las protestas de Occupy en todo el país con canciones como “We the 99%” y “I’m An Alien”. Cuando un policía mató brutalmente a Michael Brown en Ferguson, Rebel Diaz lanzó “Run” con el dúo hiphopero de Colorado The Reminders y producido por el chileno residente en Nueva York Kid Koi (ex guitarrista de La Pozze Latina). Luego produjeron el documental The Mike Brown Rebellion. Y la gira de su disco Radical Dilemma los ha llevado a Grecia, Alemania, Italia, Francia, Canadá y Venezuela.

Pero Rebel Diaz nunca ha sido sólo música. Desde 2008, los Venegas mantienen un centro comunitario en el sur del Bronx con salas de música, equipos de grabación y una biblioteca, donde realizan talleres, conciertos y micrófonos abiertos. Además, entre otras cosas, producen un programa de radio y Ñ don’t stop, un segmento online en inglés para Telesur, cadena de televisión latina en Estados Unidos con sede en Venezuela, en donde mezclan música, política y activismo, levantando las banderas de todas las minorías.

De a poco los hermanos chilenos se han convertido en invitados frecuentes en debates sobre violencia policial y justicia social en medios, universidades y en conferencias fuera y dentro del país. En el Foro Social de Estados Unidos de este año, realizado en Filadelfia, Rebel Diaz fue el invitado principal. Así, la banda se ha transformado en parte del soundtrack del movimiento social estadounidense, siguiendo de alguna forma la historia de sus ídolos de la Nueva Canción en Chile.

Los Venegas del Bronx

Rodrigo y Gonzalo Venegas son tan chilenos como su apellido y tan neoyorquinos como el Bronx, donde han vivido por más de 10 años y por donde se mueven con igual comodidad que por patios universitarios, marchas y salas de reunión.

Rodrigo nació en Inglaterra producto del reencuentro de sus padres exiliados. En Chicago, donde los hermanos vivieron antes de Nueva York, se hizo conocido como uno de los mejores b-boy (“break-boy” o bailarín de breakdance) en la escena de rap de su barrio. En Nueva York conoció a su pareja, la activista Claudia De la Cruz, con quien tiene un hijo y quien también participa del colectivo Rebel Diaz. Gonzalo, G1 o simplemente G, tiene 30 años, nació en Chicago y estudió música en la Universidad de Nueva York (NYU).



A pesar de haber nacido afuera, ambos mantienen fuertes lazos con Chile. Hablan chileno, se identifican como chilenos y celebraron la victoria de la Copa América como chilenos. La Nueva Canción los influenció desde la cuna y se conocen la historia política de sus padres al detalle.

Que los hermanos Venegas canten de revoluciones es, como dice Rodrigo, casi inevitable. “Uno no puede crecer con la historia nuestra y no ser rebelde”, dice. Sus padres, María Pizarro y Mario Venegas eran miembros del MIR. Su padre estuvo detenido y desaparecido por cuatro años y pasó por Villa Grimaldi, Cuatro Álamos, Tres Álamos, Pichuncaví y Ritoque. Su madre y el mayor de los Venegas salieron clandestinos a Inglaterra, donde más tarde se reencontraron con Mario. “Había pasado lo de Charles Horman, el periodista americano asesinado en el golpe de la película Missing”, parte diciendo Rodrigo sobre la liberación de su padre. “Y como había presión de los gringos -porque seamos honestos, pueden morir miles de chilenos pero cuando matan a un gringo, ahí queda la patá-, soltaron simbólicamente a algunos prisioneros. Y en ese grupo estaba mi papá”.

Mario se doctoró en Química y la madre en Economía en la Universidad de Londres y juntos partieron primero a Houston, Estados Unidos, y finalmente a Chicago.

En las calles de Chicago, entre latinos y afroamericanos, los Venegas conocieron el hip-hop y sus letras de resistencia. Y en su casa, donde siempre llegaban otros exiliados chilenos, se escuchaba Illapu, Inti-Illimani y Quilapayún. “Crecimos en un ambiente de solidaridad internacionalista muy grande -con Puerto Rico, Sudáfrica, Nicaragua, Venezuela…- y eso terminó por crear a Rebel Diaz”, dice Rodrigo.

Pero la semilla de la banda fue plantada en Chile, cuando Gonzalo vivió en la casa de su abuela en Peñalolén a sus 15 años. Ahí conoció a un grupo de vecinos que hacía música. “Yo había empezado a hacer música pero no había hecho nada con computador. Y había un loco, uno en todo el barrio, que tenía un PC, superlento, pero que tenía la mano de bajar programas gratis”, recuerda Gonzalo. “Con ellos aprendí a crear canciones con estructura, coros, a producir una maqueta… Lo que son las ironías de la vida: uno va para allá, a un barrio superpobre, donde los techos son de aluminio, y además de volver con nuevas destrezas, ¡también volví con equipos! Ellos me pasaron un mezclador y yo les pasé un micrófono”.

En 2003, Gonzalo se ganó una beca para estudiar música en NYU y le propuso a su hermano que se mudara para allá. En 2006 formaron Rebel Diaz con la artista Teresita Ayala, alias Lah Tere, quien luego se retiró.

“Los picados inteligentes”

Siguiendo el ejemplo de sus tíos putativos, los ex dirigentes miristas Víctor Toro y Nieves Ayress, que abrieron el centro latino “La peña de El Bronx”, hace casi 27 años, los Venegas se tomaron un lote vacío que se usaba más que nada para consumir drogas y lo “liberaron”, es decir, lo limpiaron y transformaron en un jardín comunitario donde hacían tocatas. “Para nosotros los pandilleros no son los enemigos, son la gente de nuestra comunidad”, dice Rodrigo.

En 2008, por defender a un vendedor de verduras hispano en el Bronx, terminaron en la cárcel. Uno de sus seguidores, el profesor Mark Naison de la Universidad de Fordham, repartió la noticia, según narra un reportaje del Village Voice que explica todo el caso. Para suerte de los Venegas, un amigo filmó el incidente y luego de 10 horas y 150 manifestantes afuera de la comisaría, la policía los soltó acusándolos de obstrucción a la justicia y resistencia al arresto. A los pocos días, un grupo de policías allanó la casa de Gonzalo en el East Harlem. Norman Siegel, abogado de derechos civiles, tomó el caso, la presión de la prensa creció y al año siguiente los liberaron de los cargos. Los hermanos demandaron a la policía por daños y ganaron. Con esos fondos compraron equipos para el Rebel Diaz Art Collective (RDAC-BX), el centro comunitario que crearon en marzo de 2009.

“Somos los picados inteligentes”, dice Gonzalo. “Siempre le damos las gracias a la comisaría 41 por auspiciar nuestro local”.

En 2010, recibieron una beca de 35 mil dólares de Union Square Arts, y crearon un espacio para presentaciones, un estudio multimedia, un laboratorio de computación y una galería de arte. El centro fue desalojado en 2013, pero con ayuda de organizaciones del Bronx encontraron otra casa donde siguen realizando actividades sociales. El trabajo que hacen para el centro es voluntario, pero viven de la venta de sus discos, merchandising y de honorarios de conciertos y talleres de política, activismo y multimedia que hacen en universidades y ONG.

“Quizás porque estuvimos en buenas escuelas y porque tuvimos la capacidad de navegar en todos los ambientes desde chicos”, dice Gonzalo, respondiendo a la pregunta de cómo lo hacen para usar todo a su favor. “Todo surge de la necesidad, de no tener a nadie más que te diera una oportunidad. Por eso también creamos un espacio para darle ese espacio a otra gente”.

Visita a Chile

La historia de Rebel Diaz se comenzó a entrelazar con la de Anita Tijoux mucho antes del 2009, cuando comenzaron a hacer todas las giras en Estados Unidos juntos. Sus padres estuvieron presos juntos en la dictadura. Pero ninguno de ellos sabía eso cuando ese año se encontraron en el festival South by Southwest (SXSW), en Austin, y Ana necesitaba una banda.

“Al principio no mucha gente conocía a Ana y ha sido bacán ver cómo ha crecido su audiencia”, dice Rodrigo.

Rebel Diaz acompañó a Tijoux en su última gira por Estados Unidos este año y luego viajaron juntos a Venezuela. En Chile, actuaron juntos en 2014 y este sábado se presentarán en Angol, en Wallmapu. Al día siguiente estarán en el aniversario de los 50 años del MIR en Concepción.

Durante su visita quieren terminar su último disco, el primero completamente en español, que tendrá colaboraciones con Tijoux y Aldo Asenjo alias “El Macha” de Chico Trujillo.

En el futuro, Rebel Diaz quiere abrir un nuevo centro en el sur del Bronx y seguir conectando a rebeldes de todo el mundo.

“Hay que crear”, dice Rodrigo. “La meta es you can’t just oppose, you have to propose (no puedes solo oponer, tienes que proponer). Con la protesta, pero también con la propuesta. El hip-hop siempre está reinventándose, usando pocos recursos para hacer muchas cosas. Somos pobres, pero tenemos cultura”. - La Tercera - National Newspaper in Chile


Discography

#OccupyTheAirwaves Mixtape Vol. 1 (2011)
Warrior Wednesdayz (weekly new music series May-October 2011)
Otro Guerrillero Mixtape Vol. 2 (2008)
Otra Guerrillera Mixtape Vol. 1 (2006)

Photos

Bio

Fronted by MC’s Rodstarz, MC/Producer G1, and backed by Producer/DJ Illanoiz, Rebel Diaz shows us the true global power of Hip-Hop. After first performing at an immigrant rights march in New York City in 2006 in front of a half million people, the bilingual crew has taken the international community by storm with their explosive live shows. With influences ranging from Dirty South bounce to South American folk, Rebel Diaz combines classic boom bap tradition with Hip-Hop’s global impact. The group’s versatility has allowed for them to share the stage with the likes of Common, Mos Def, and Public Enemy, while feeling right at home with acts like Rage Against the Machine and Calle 13. Recent tours in Europe and Latin America have only solidified their international appeal.

With roots in Chicago and now based in the South Bronx, NY, Rebel Diaz has also piqued the interest of the academic community with their poignant social commentary and energetic performances. They have spent the last 7 years visiting dozens of colleges and universities, facilitating workshops, speaking on panels, and performing at national conferences. Building on this growing network of positive young people in Hip Hop, the group opened a community arts center in the South Bronx in 2008, the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective.

On the heals of their critically acclaimed Otro Guerrillero mixtape series, and 2011's #Occupy The Airwaves mixtape, Rebel Diaz will soon be releasing their debut album, The Radical Dilemma.

Band Members