BEATS, RHYMES & RESISTANCE

last week at the VC film festival, i ran into one of my biggest inspirations in the documentary field, Lakandiwa de Leon. back in Spring 1999 when i was a freshman at UCLA, i went with my big homies Ray Ribaya and Rich Bis to the community premiere of his collaborative film with Dawn Mabalon and Jonathan Ramos,  Beats, Rhymes & Resistance: Pilipinos and Hip Hop in Los Angeles, at SIPA in P-Town (now also known as the Historic Filipinotown community of LA). it was made through the UCLA EthnoCommunications program, taught by Robert Nakamura and John Esaki. peep this groundbreaking film that was

an early inspiration for Sounds of the New Hope:

it was the first time i was ever exposed to the amazing talent of Filipino American community folks. i remember being blown away by Faith Santilla, DJ Kid Wik, and Kiwi. Kiwi was the first Filipino American rapper who made me realize that Filipinos can do this shit. (Before that, I only knew about Francis M) thank you all for changing my world..

-ET