Politic'n w/ Frequency Activism

R.M. London w/ Frequency Activism

Frequency Activism is a political hip-hop/soul/funk/jazz group consisting of vocalists Hired Gun (also of 3rd Party), PaintDragon (flute and saxaphone), Stat (Vocals/Guitar), Mista Mayday (Beats/Vocals), The Specialist on drums, bassist, Sean Canedy and guitarist, Matt Turcotte. In other words, a full funk band with emcees trading off with a jazz vocalist with dense, politically charged lyrics layered with a DJ.

After listening to their new album, Hip Hop In Strange Places, which they provide on their website (and on Rhymehouse.com) as a free download, I wanted to catch up with the members (Mista Mayday, Hired Gun, Stat, and PainDragon) and get inside their mind about the politics that they rap about, and how it molds their powerful music.

Rhymehouse: On 'Hip Hop In Strange Places' you feature a lot of political/socially conscious lyrics-- Do you think music is a proper platform for politics?

Mista Mayday: I feel that music as a form of free expression can be utilized by anyone for anything they choose, both positive and negative. It's already used to sell name brand fashion, overpriced liquor and luxury cars all day on the commercial side of things. Political freedom of speech is vastly restricted in the main stream media via self censorship by corporations who dare not offend their advertisers. This makes the independent scene that much more important to add balance.

Music has been a tool of underground grassroots movements since the dawn of civilization. It has been a vehicle for oppressed people to pass on their stories and values down through generations and Hip Hop is no different. From the Underground Railroad, to the Industrial Workers of the World to Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Bob Marley right on up Public Enemy and The Coup music has always been a proper platform for politics.

Hired Gun: Music is a vehicle for expression of ideas. Pretty much anything is in bounds. It's on the "artist". Some look to entertain. Some look to inform. Some are personal. Others look to shock. Some do a little of all this. Hip Hop in particular has a strong tradition of revolutionary and socially aware music. I'd ask why wouldn't you think it is?

Political is such a loaded term, it's a catch-all phrase that has come to symbolize artists who are long on rhetoric, but short on historical fact and social awareness. Music's role with politics and protest goes all the way back to the Union songs at the turn of the century. If you think about songs such as "Yankee Doodle" in the context of the American Revolution, it goes back even further. Music has to be one of the best tools to reach people, to connect to the masses, so in some regards. I think music is *the* platform to discuss serious and relevant issues that affect a whole host of communities.

Stat: One cannot avoid being political in music. Regardless of what you decide to write, it's a political statement. Obviously, much of the music we make will be identified as political. I would argue that someone who makes a party track is also making a political statement, ironically by not making a "political" track. In creating a song, you are given the opportunity to make a statement, and ultimately it's your personal politics that decide the content.

Rhymehouse: Name some issues in America that you feel strongly about. How can these issues be changed?

Mista Mayday: Lack of universal health coverage, a bloated military budget and anorexic social programs. In my opinion the first real step is to correct our broken electoral system and remove the corporate funding and lobbying that influences the decisions of our representatives and limits the choices of voters. To keep it short, we need publicly funded elections with equal media access for all qualifying candidates and an instant runoff form of balloting. This would leave elected officials beholden only to the public as we would be their only campaign contributors. It would prevent privately owned networks from choosing which candidates do and don't get to appear in debates, and it would allow voters the opportunity to vote for independent parties without feeling like their "wasting" their vote by not voting for the "lesser of two evils."

Hired Gun: I'm very passionate about racism and the state of the poor. Neither of these problems I think is easy to fix or deal with. It will literally mean a complete revamping of our system of government, and social ideas and norms. Electing a black president is not going to eradicate the systemic conditions of the inner city. It will not expose closeted racists who still hold positions of power in the private sector and in government. Pop culture will continue to caricaturize people of color still, and we have remained to be secondary examples in all things.

As well with the poor, the ideas of a living wage and real policies that crack down on corporate corruption are some things that I'd like to see happen. Serious regulation or even elimination on how special interest impacts our elected officials. You can't have a true democracy that is paid for with the dollar.

Stat: There has been a bit of disconnect between the social justice movement and the call for environmental justice. Whereas Mayday has been primarily focused on the former, I've found myself more concerned with the latter (you can guess who's idea SUV was). There is certainly conflict between the two movements, but they are also interrelated, and working together has helped us merge the two in the way we live. Our consumerist society leads to both extreme wealth inequality world-wide as well as the destruction of the environment. Change can't come about without first examining the way in which we lead our lives. The purpose of a lot of our songs isn't to tell the listener how they should live, rather its to hopefully raise questions that the listener can answer for themselves.

PaintDragon: Sure, America's got issues, but the first things that come to my mind are global issues. The way people relate to each other is being altered by technology at an alarming rate. Email, cell phones, and the internet have changed the pace of the world, and not necessarily for the better. Traffic congestion, overpopulation, and the depletion of our natural resources also contribute to what can be seen as a lack of common courtesy between people. One of the ways that I think we can combat these issues, in the States as well as around the globe is to be better humanitarians. If we work on being able to relate to our fellow humans on a similar level we can face issues as a united front worldwide. Politically speaking, our foreign relations have been disrespectful and embarrassing. The next administration will need to take a hard look at foreign policy, think out of the box, and take us in an entirely new direction.

Rhymehouse: If you ran for President who would be your running mate?

Mista Mayday: I'd run for VP under Howard Zinn if he'd have me on the ticket…

Hired Gun: Mr. Mayday.

Rhymehouse: Mista Mayday is a huge supporter of the Socialist party-- What would be the benefits of a Socialist Government?

Mista Mayday: Democratic Socialism or Participatory Economics can be summarized quite simply like this: Economic Democracy. It is in essence an extension of democracy from the political sphere to include the economic sphere, meaning the public would not only have a say in choosing their representatives but would also have a say in decisions about production and distribution of products and services. By replacing production for profit by production for human use we would eliminate all of the terrible side effects of a market based economy, ie; wasting limited resources, polluting the land, processing and manufacturing artificial food, developing and pushing new unsafe drugs, forcing wages into the basement, outsourcing labor, spending billions on advertising and illegally invading and occupying foreign countries, etc…

As an important side note to readers who may not be familiar with Socialism I would like to point them in the direction of www.parecon.org for information. The Soviet Union was neither democratic nor socialist. True socialism has yet to be tried (without being overthrown by US backed coups like in Chile in 1973)and we love freedom and democracy even more than the mainstream political parties.

Rhymehouse: (Mista Mayday) You said you would vote in favor of House Resolution 333 to impeach the current Administration. Why?

Mista Mayday: The example being set for future administrations is scary. Having been a public school teacher for years I can put it quite simply, "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile." The recent trend of lying to the American people to wage war, illegally spying on citizens and condoning torture must be stopped in their tracks now. Former attorney General Ramsey Clark has compiled the complete Articles of Impeachment which can be viewed at www.impeachbush.org.

Rhymehouse: In your opinion, who was he greatest U.S. President? Why?

Stat: Hard question. I've liked Jimmy Carter a lot post-presidency. From what I know, I'm not convinced I liked anybody's presidency enough to dub them the greatest.

Hired Gun: Ronald Reagan. He was for the people.

Rhymehouse: How can our next generation of leaders learn more about current issues, politics, and what REALLY goes on within our government and country?

Mista Mayday: Seek out independent media sources like DemocracyNow to hear different sides of the story. Be very critical of the media.

Hired Gun:The information and resources are out there. Whether it's seeking out activists, and artists who have lived it and done it, to doing the research yourself looking at unbiased/neutral sources. It's really about those that want to make change, asking the questions themselves, and then actively seeking the answers.

Rhymehouse: What else can we look out for from the Frequency Activism Camp?

Hired Gun: You can look for a solo album from Hired Gun, The People's Verses. You can get more information at www.freshrootsmusic.com. Also Statistics and Hired Gun will be dropping a collabo project shortly thereafter. Stay tuned

Stat: You can certainly look out for Mayday's bid for Congress, running in the 2nd district of Connecticut. Check out www.votevachon.com for more details.

PaintDragon: Come see us at Wrench in the Works on May 2 for a great live show! http://www.wrenchintheworks.org/

 

Click the album cover to download Hip Hop in Strange Places!