4elementzz

Cora One will doing LIVE graff art this SATURDAY at 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering. Served with love.

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Maya Jupiter will be sharing creative space at the 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 21st at El Centro Cultural de México. Stay ready!

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Born in La Paz, Mexico to a Mexican Father and Turkish Mother, Maya Jupiter grew up in Sydney, Australia. It was in Sydney’s Western Suburbs where she first fell in love with hip-hop.

Maya’s love of writing rhymes helped her express her fear, pain, joy and hope as a teenager and later on she realized the power music held in using it as a tool to make a positive difference in her community.

It is with this ideal that she co-founded Artivist Entertainment, an entertainment company committed to creating and supporting art and music that inspires positive social change alongside Quetzal Flores, Veronica Gonzales, Alberto Lopez and Aloe Blacc.

Maya has release two solo albums, the latest created with Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez of Grammy Award winning, EastLos rock band Quetzal and her husband, singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc. The album is inspired by Son Jarocho and stays true to Maya's love of hip-hop, dancehall and soul, made up almost entirely of live instrumentation, including Mexican harp, tarima and jarana. Her lyrics are powerful, vibrant, and uplifting.

Maya’s first album ‘Today’ debuted in 2003 on Mother Tongues, the first label dedicated solely to women in hip-hop. She later performed with Latin Jazz band Son Veneno, formed a group called Foreign Heights, presented and produced several hip-hop radio shows including the national ‘triple j’s hip-hop show’ and her own ‘Black Beans, Brown Rice’ Radio show on www.radiosombra.org and was a VJ for Channel [V] Australia.

http://www.reverbnation.com/rpk/mayajupiter

From occupied Ohlone territory, Ms CHHOTI MAA will be manifesting on the mic at the 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 21st in SanTana. Get there.

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CHHOTI MAA was born out of a tradition of migrants and forced by the Mexican post-NAFTA exodus her raps have roots in her grandmothers poetic recitation. She developed through poetry and got training in gospel and soul singing in Albany, Georgia. In 2007, CHHOTI MAA established herself as a rapper/singer in Richmond VA in 2007, but really deepened her freestyle & lyrical skills in Trujillo, Peru in 2010. CHHOTI MAA's music deals with decolonial living, migrant swag and reconstructing the womyn temple. CHHOTI MAA is a cultural producer-organizer, educator, bruja, writer and artist.

www.soundcloud.com/chhotimaa www.facebook.com/chhotimaa

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Vinyl selectress J-Heart will be spinning on the ones & twos at the 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 21st in SanTana. If you’re down...

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J-Heart. A Dreamer, Roller Skater, Beat Junkie, Love Visionary, Long Beach born Scorpio. www.soundcloud.com/msjheart

LilyBreeze will be manifesting love thru one of hip-hop elements at the 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 21st in SanTana. Come get this love.

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LilyBreeze is a freestyle dancer from San Fernando Valley. She has been a student of hip-hop culture since the age of 12. At 14, she started her professional dancing career performing and traveling the world with Versa Style Dance Company. She is a driven and passionate soul hoping to empower, inspire and bring joy to the world through her art.

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Medusa will be manifesting higher ((vibrations)) at the 2nd Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 21st in SanTana. Come vibe with us… ———————————————————————————————

“In one of the rooms in the hip-hop culture house engraved on the walls” is a live account of the 1 Super Soul Sista, who has the blessing to be dubbed “the Angela Davis of hip-hop”. Starting off MCing as a 16 year old pop-locker, Medusa continues to cultivate hip-hop seeds across the country in unprecedented numbers.

The love of hip-hop encouraged her to follow higher callings than her knowing. Pop-lockin with the Groove-Atrons gave her talents a platform to win the Best Female Dancer in the 1st Hip-Hop Dance Awards at The Palladium. You will find no other who will bring it to you like this, someone’s music that makes you feel strong, proud, and encourages with the manner of ONE love. Medusa gained an even stronger fan base overseas, in the country, on college campuses across the nation, and has virtually become a guru to the underground hip-hop scene and artistic community.

She is respected and adored as a Queen to the word and power of her music and what she stands for, not just the fact that she’s the undisputed Queen of West Coast underground hip-hop. She has also received a Grammy with the band Ozomatli and LA Weekly has voted MEDUSA “BEST HIP-HOP ARTIST” two years in a row.

Medusa is also a motivational speaker, being asked to give her knowledge and opinion at colleges and seminars on the effect of hip-hop on children and women, in relations to culture and life. MEDUSA is expected to leave the rap community speechless, but revolutionize the music industry as a whole.

Wellness salute! These vegan + gluten-free protein bars are the perfect quick & healthy snack for recovery after workout. Ingredients//

2 cup gluten-free rolled oats, ground into flour 2 tbsp vegan protein powder (I used Vega Mocha protein) 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 tbsp agave ¼ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp vanilla Dash sea salt 3 tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips

Method// Stir all of the ingredients together until well combined. Mixture will become thick and bit dry. Add a splash of coconut milk if necessary.  Press the mixture into a wax paper-lined 9X13 pan to form 6 bars. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes for bars to harden. 

To store: Wrap bars in foil and store in the refrigerator. :: On repeat “Happiness” by The Foreign Exchange ::

Vegan Mango Chia Pudding

//Ingredients

1 cup mango, diced 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk 2 tbsp chia seeds 2 tbsp agave ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tbsp coconut, toasted

//Method

Blend the mango & puree until smooth. Pour the mango puree evenly into mason jars, glasses or bowls. Set in the fridge. In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk, chia seeds, agave & ground cinnamon. Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes until it becomes a thick pudding. Cover & allow to set for at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight.

Pour the chia mixture on top of the mango puree in even portions. Serve with chopped nuts. Cover if you’re storing over 1 day, it lasts 4 days in the fridge, covered.

:: On repeat “A Little Soul” by Pete Rock ::

Ashley Moon of Earthstonez will be transmitting love thru one of the hip-hop elements at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering this Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Served with love. http://on.fb.me/1v22rQi

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Ashley Moon grew up singing, dancing, modeling and acting, never meeting a stranger. She started writing cheesy R&B songs in junior high, dark poetry in high school, and eventually expressive spoken word and conscious hip hop. Recently she’s been exploring bizarre performance art and channeling on the spot. She’s excited to be involved with this event because it's important we all continue to inspire, bridge and build. • • • • 4elementzz: What does it mean to be a womyn in hip-hop?

Ashley Moon: For me, being a womyn is powerful and beautiful, though often strange and uncomfortable. As for hip-hop, I’m not sure how “in it” I really am - or can claim to "represent"- because it is one of many expressive outlets I am fortunate to identify with. Obviously, womyn are the minority in hip-hop and with that, comes risk and vulnerability, which in a way makes it more exciting and demanding of our resilient spirit. When Earthstonez formed, we were booked all the time, I think partly because being an all female hip-hop crew, we are such a rarity. After five years of shows however, I sort of burned out on the scene and its loud, masculine energy, where what’s often displayed is an, “I’m tough and cool” vibe, and even with conscious peoples, it felt more like venting and anti establishment than anything. Expression is key and art is art, no matter what, but I began to crave more of a positive connection, to build bridges and possibilities. I ventured out to explore live music and other realms.

HOODsisters will be blessing our creative space with he(art) at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Served with love. http://on.fb.me/1v22rQi

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HOODsisters (Honoring our Origins, Ourselves and our Dreams) is an all-womyn collective dedicated to creating awareness through public art. As community members, we hope to transform our hoods into beautiful spaces for healing and self-empowerment.  • • • • 4elementzz: How can we utilize our various creative forms of expression to speak up on sexism, misogyny, and homophobia in hip-hop? HOODsisters: The various creative forms within the four elements of hip-hop are ideal vehicles for womyn to break misogynistic barriers. We often talk about seeing more conscious female emcees, which is definitely needed (a womyn commanding the stage, rockin’ the mic with potent lyrics and controlling her representation as an artist all carry messages of strength), but womyn in turntablism, breaking, and graffiti art have an ideal opportunity to challenge stereotypes while engaging locally.

In our community, the HOODsisters have previously supported the GR818ERS (a coalition of local students and hip-hop artists dedicated to improving cultural and racial relations) in their monthly and annual events that incorporate all four elements of hip-hop and offer a space for both young womyn and men. It’s important for young males to see young womyn classmates or neighbors alongside male counterparts engaging in the very same activities with equal amounts of enthusiasm, creativity and skill. And it’s just as critical for the younger set to see a womyn expressing herself through a spray can or in any other typically male-dominated domain, so that these behaviors are not seen as the exception for the next generation.

The HOODsisters, as a public art collective, are especially sensitive to visual images and murals in the community. It’s one of the main reasons we formed as a group: to create a safe space for womyn to gather, express themselves creatively, and choose the images seen daily by our community members. The first person we painted together was Assata Shakur, an African-American activist who happens to be Tupac Shakur’s godmother. Maybe a young man will see Assata’s last name on the mural and wonder if there’s a connection to his favorite rapper; perhaps he will even go beyond wondering and begin a Google search that leads him to a womyn with a history of radical thought. Maybe not. But the possibility is now there and that’s enough for the HOODsisters, and I’m sure that possibility is what drives most womyn in hip-hop. Yes, we’re dealing with sexism, misogyny and sexism, but the four elements of hip-hop are accessible ways to engage communities at a local level, so we can begin to see shifts on a global scale. It’s possible.

From drum beat to heart beat, Alas will be manifesting on the mic at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana.

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Alas makes music that braids her lived experience as an undocumented mujer subsisting on stolen land with the theories of rebellious decolonization. Her words pump from the raw heart of a living revolutionary to heal with her double hearted mujeres en la lucha while pushing resistance movements to sustain an effective level of militancy. 

Blosm will be transmitting love thru art at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Street poetry is our everyday!

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Blosm was raised on oldies, punk rock & hip-hop, a straight mixture from the early 90's. Her major influences came from the local social political murals and gang writing in her environment. She couldn't help but to want to display herself, her voice or her visions on public walls. That's how she became a graffiti writer and a self proclaimed member of the unspoken element of hip-hop. 

• • • • 4elmentzz: How do you rise above the misogynistic "boys club" culture as a female graffiti artist? Blosm: In all honesty graffiti is an anonymous hobby, although my name itself admits to my female identity. In the beginning, the acceptance of a female graff writer was welcomed, only because boys will be boys but as my career has evolved, I found that some men out there can't hang with female competition even though the battle concept in hip-hop is central to graffiti and is expected in every piece you drop. Being a female should never be a issue even though graffiti is a male dominated sport. This only leads me to feel that I need to continue to paint and not worry about my peers being mostly male. Leading by example.

On the flip side, I get tremendous support from the dopest men in LA graffiti, and I recognize that what I do now paves the way for the future, as those before me did for my generation. I really don't appreciate the use of the female identity as a gimmick in hip-hop or in general, by men or women. If you truly got love for the art of graffiti and want to be a respected writer, show it and prove it.

Guerrilla queen, Sista Eyerie will be manifesting on the mic at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Come vibe with us!

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B-girl Motavation will transmitting artistic expression thru one of the hip-hop elementzz at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana.  Yo. 6 days left to support us thru our Indiegogo campaign. Pass la palabra. Many thanks!

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DJ Yellow Black Bird will be transmitting love thru sound at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Please continue to share our Indiegogo campaign with your friends, colleagues, music lovers, dreamers, hip-hop heads. Many thanks!

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Vegan hip-hop queenz, Krudas Cubensi will be manifesting higher ((vibrations)) at the 1st Annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering Saturday, November 15th in SanTana. Please continue to share our Indiegogo campaign to support this love project. Give thanks! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Captured by: Lucero Archuleta Photography

Odaymara Cuesta and Olivia Prendes are Cuban hip-hop MCs, independent musicians, poets and theater performers representing womyn, immigrants, queer and people of color action as a central part of world change. They choose art as a weapon to fight against oppression, for justice, for balance, for our rights and to celebrate life. Both born & raised in Cuba, they began in artivism around 1996. They migrated to United States in 2006 and since then, they have been performing, recording, giving workshops, educating and touring in the Caribbean, North, Central and South America, bringing Cubensi hip-hop, dance hall, cumbia, old school, mix tapes and new strongly beautiful beats from all around the world with their amazing Afro Caribbean rebel lyrics and voices to empower communities.

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4elementzz: How do you use your craft to redefine ascribed normatives of gender and sexuality?