Hip-hop artists bring ‘beats’

Rap, dance highlight local talent

By PAUL COMRIE, Features Editor

Published: May 21, 2008

On Friday night in Royal Brougham Pavilion, Portland-based rappers Jelani "G-Natural" Greenidge and Jaamar "J-MAC" McKelvey, rapping about breakfast cereal, received enthusiastic applause from 150 attendees.

As hip-hop crew "The Iccsters," they performed during the fifth annual Night of Beats, including the song "Cereal," which features rhymes about rap skills and a relationship with Christ using cereal metaphors:

"The love of God compels me to move / and kind of like Kix, he's kid-tested and mother-approved. / So strong, you don't need to spike it / and makes Life so good even Mikey likes it."

During their set, Greenidge said that some people still think that being a "Christian rapper" is a contradiction, almost like being a "Christian porn producer."

But Greenidge disagrees with that sentiment. He has been writing raps for 20 years and McKelvey has been doing the same for nearly as long. The two men know that mixing hip-hop with Christian themes is not always accepted in either secular hip-hop culture or Christian culture, but that it works.

People tend to think Christian rap is not going to be good, Greenidge said, but his group is trying to change perceptions.

"I want to bring...more than something that just rhymes that isn't bad," McKelvey said.

Christian hip-hop artists are still trying to challenge these perceptions, and the Night of Beats, hosted by SPU's intercultural club Mosaic, provided several local Northwest acts with this opportunity.

Performers included rapper Isaac "Rubio," with SPU senior Lei Marie Lafaele making a guest appearance, dance group After Choir Flava (ACF), The Iccsters, Seattle-based rapper Fuhyda "Hotta" Rogers, and rappers and SPU seniors Philip "Sharp Skills" Jacobs and David "King D" Carnahan. There were also audience-participation events, including dance, freestyle rap, and beatbox competitions.

The night of music and dancing ended with a set from the show's headliner, up-and-coming R&B star Emmanuel from Tacoma, Wash.

Jacobs, who emceed the event and the onstage competitions, said on Monday that the turnout for this Night of Beats was not the greatest he's seen, but that it had a good sense of direction and professionalism.

"It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it," he said.

As an outlet for expanding the SPU community's awareness of hip-hop culture, Jacobs said Night of Beats acts "like a base" for exposure. He cited the inclusion of hip-hop performances at SPU's Talent Show in January as another way the school has embraced hip-hop in recent years.

"If people want hip-hop, and they embrace it, then there should definitely be a push for it on campus," he said.

Junior Bel Aldrett, Mosaic core facilitator, said that Night of Beats began five years ago when a group of minority students came together to bring hip-hop culture to SPU. Mosaic has always had a hand in it, she said.

In addition to helping coordinate the event, Aldrett and sophomore Rosa Covarrubias helped cover on-campus advertising for the event. Alumna Britney Stevens, SPU's coordinator of multi-ethnic programs, helped Aldrett and Covarrubias coordinate the event and run a small army of volunteers consisting of Mosaic core and on-campus apartment PAs.

Senior Nikkita Oliver, Mosaic advisor, booked all the talent for the event.

Syreeta Martin, a University of Washington junior attending the event, came to Night of Beats last year.

"I liked this one because there were a lot of high-school students, which brought a lot of energy," she said. "I felt that the artists were really supported by everyone."

Her sister, 2006 SPU alumna Tiara Martin, used to help out with Night of Beats while she attended SPU and was also in attendance on Friday.

"This year was pretty cool," Tiara Martin said. "It seems like they got some pretty awesome artists." The sisters highlighted The Iccsters and Hotta as some of their favorites of the night.

Cleveland High School student J'Von Buckley, who attended the event with members of Emerald City Bible Fellowship and won the night's dance competition, said that Night of Beats helped show that hip-hop is still alive.

"Everyone said that hip-hop's dead," he said. "Hip-hop ain't dead yet...it's a growing movement."

© 2008-2010 The Falcon        Contact        Advertise        SPU.edu