Empire of Funk shows influence of Fil-Ams on US hip hop culture

By: Hiyasmin Quijano - 10 years ago

LOS ANGELES—An anthology consisting of a collection of raw documents explores how some found a sense of belonging in American hip hop and in turn influenced it through their own works and talent.

Mark R. Villegas, Kuttin’ Kandi and Roderick N. Labrador’s Empire of Funk Fil-Am’s documents the contributions to hip hop music by Fil-Am entertainers, band members, independent solo rappers, mainstream artists, poets, dancers, writers, DJ’s, sound and video engineers.

There are stories from successful Fil-Am’s like Arnel Calvario and DJ Qbert on growing up Fil-Am, hip hop language and challenges to accurate hip hop representation. Street and club style dancing went into mainstream pop culture and was introduced as “breakdancing” and “pop-locking.” Hip hop also includes elements of MCing, scratching, beat boxing and DJing.

In Empire of Funk, Arnel Calvario explains, “All of us who went to underground/street events such as Radiotron and sessions in our parks knew that each of these three styles were breakin’, poppin’ and lockin’.”

Calvario is the founder of Kaba Modern, a dance group that brought urban dancing to different genres of music, university students and popular TV shows like “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

“I knew that urban dance would have cultural significance and that I would pursue my dreams to be a part of its social movement,” stated Calvario in his contribution, Soul in a Whole: Successes and Representation from Kaba Modern and Beyond.

DJ Qbert, who has represented the United States and in won world competitions, says, “Filipinos have this thing as musicians, entertainers, or what have you.”

Other Fil-Am artists rose, such as Bambu, Prometheus Brown and Kiwi. Prometheus Brown quotes Kiwi’s lyrics: “I love this underground rap shit/ I love my moms thick Filipino accent.”

“I got into it because all my friends and cousins were into it–hearing Kiwi rap bridged parts inside of me that was not connected yet,” wrote Brown.

Brown and other Fil-Ams connected through Isangmahal Arts Collective, which has been actively supporting cultural space through sharing experiences since 1997

Bambu of Los Angeles and Brown of Seattle would later team up and give a dose of their heritage through rap songs such as “Lookin up.”

Empire of Funk includes an introduction by DJ Kuttin Kandi, accomplished female international DJ: “I’m sure there were many Filipino American kids who were swept up by the whirlwind of hip hop culture.” Hip hop attracted youths of various ethnicities in America.

“Hip hop music is what my brother and I grew up with. It was what all the kids were listening to,” said Mark Villegas. He came up with the title Empire of Funk. The word “empire” came from how US imperialism conquered people of various ethnicities who were then were forged together.

“Funk” to Villegas shows how Filipinos “are never really what they seem to be, never finished, always in a process.”

According to Roderick N. Labrador, an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii who met Fil-Am hip hop artists through show promotion: “We wanted to address the fact that hip hop is not new to the Filipino community.”