Baba's Blog

Thank you! Going away party at Bam

2009-05-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone who came out to BAM Café last week Friday! It was a night that affirmed my strong connections and history with this great city! Moving to a new place and leaving my home is not easy. I am moving for a fantastic opportunity to work with a great organization in Contact Theatre, but I leave behind family, friends, and collaborators. That Friday made me realize that I am not leaving anything behind but expanding my network and community and NYC has got my back with love and support.

On a personal level I had friends in the audience from every chapter of my life, from all my school years, artistic worlds, and students from the last ten years of my work as an educator.

It was truly a night of Hip Hop culture with emceeing, beatboxing, turntablism, popping, and breaking all being represented. I had folks comment that it was one of the best Hip Hop shows they have been to and I want to thank all the guest artists who contributed to that. Thank you to Core Rhythm, D-Cross, Eagle Nebula, Duv, Creature, Kwik Step, Rokafella, P-nerves, Mike Supreme, Bboy Atomic, RU, and all the dancers who got down in the cypher! I also want to thank Playback NYC and Yako 440 for surprising me with a great moment of interactive theater! Shout out AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. for their great PR. The place was packed with over 300 people! And a big THANK YOU to Darrell McNeill and the whole BAM Cafe crew for hosting us!

It was also special to have my father perform and blow the crowd away with his humor, politics, and spirit and to have my mother who carried me in her womb in that very room 35 years ago when they were rehearsing there. As my friend Mars Jupiter said I went from "rocking the womb to rocking the room!"

The night continued at South Paw with dancing all night to the sounds of DP One and DJ Kevlar. Kwik Step became the spontaneous host and rocked the mic all night! It was a true New York night of culture, community, and good vibes!

check http://www.flickr.com/photos/25155524@N02/sets/72157617594516114/ for more photos!

Shout out to Kamau Ware for taking great flix!

BABA ISRAEL Named Artistic Director of Contact Theatre

2009-04-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contact:
Thysha M. Shabazz, AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc.
Phones: 718.756.8501 main • 646.410.0246 (direct)
Mobile/Text: 757.450.3655 • 646.522.4169
Email: thysha@akilaworksongs.com

Immediate Release: Friday, April 3, 2009

NYC’s Hip Hop/Theater Artist BABA ISRAEL
Named Artistic Director of Major Theater in Manchester, England!
ISRAEL Continues to Integrate Hip Hop, Theater, and Youth Arts

http://www.contact-theatre.org/ for more info on Contact

New York City - - Hip Hop/Theater Artist BABA ISRAEL announces today that he has accepted the position of Artistic Director of the Contact Theater. Contact is a pioneering theatre in Manchester and one of the most successful theatres for young people in the country. It has an established international reputation for producing exciting new work and nurturing young diverse audiences. Charles Lauder, Contact’s Chairman says “This is a thrilling appointment at a pivotal time for Contact. Baba Israel has an international pedigree and has undertaken remarkable work for and with young people. He brings a range of attributes and talents that make him ideally suited to inspire and lead the young people who are at the heart of Contact’s activities as well as its vibrant management team. We are hugely excited at the prospect of Baba taking us on the next stage of Contact’s continuing development.” Baba Israel shares in the excitement: “In 2005, when I came to Contact, I was blown away and returned to New York describing the place as a model venue for cutting-edge art where young people feel at home, take risks, and grow as people. I have worked there in many capacities and I am now honored to become the Artistic Director of such a forward thinking organization.”

ABOUT BABA ISRAEL
Born and currently living in New York, Israel is a poet, emcee, theatre artist, beatboxer, director, producer, and author. He has toured extensively across the United States, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia, performing with artists such as Outkast, The Roots, Vernon Reid, Rahzel, Afrika Bambaataa, and Bill Cosby. As a teacher, he has worked in a wide range of disciplines and with several cutting-edge arts organizations, including Urban Word, BAM, Arts Horizons, New World Theatre, among others.

As a director, Israel’s work includes Project 2050 (New World Theatre), Maxwell Golden (UK) and Sharpening Sawds (UK). He is also Co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Playback NYC Theatre Company which aims to bring theater to under-represented communities.

~ more ~

No stranger to Contact, Baba Israel has performed there previously. Last year, he performed in Process and Boombap! Showtime to rave reviews. “This is a revolutionary moment,” Israel comments. “A Hip Hop-based artist moving into a position of sustained leadership with the purpose of energizing the lives of young people through the arts is major. I bring a background and perspective that is grounded in not only Hip Hop but in theatre, jazz, poetry, and other genres.”

Baba Israel will start his new position at Contact this summer and plans to maintain his career as a hip hop/theatre artist.

For more information on this artist, please visit www.babaisrael.com. For more info about Contact, please visit www.contact-theatre.org. Send an email to Claire Will, Director of Marketing and Communications, at clairewill@contact-theatre.org. All media inquires are directed to April R. Silver or Thysha Shabazz at AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. at 718.756.8501 or via email pr@akilaworksongs.com.

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A busy week in NYC

2009-02-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

Rocking with DP One at the RHINO FX Launch party!

This week was intense, it was a busy one and reminded me of the all the places that being an artist can take you.

I started the week getting styled with Kid Lucky for a Commercial shoot for Panasonic. Wish I could of kept the clothes and kicks-

It is for a new digital camera coming out, I have to say I just bought a Panasonic camera for its dope HD video, so it felt good to be in a commercial for something I use. The commercial is for European TV so I will spread the word when it is up on the web. It should be dope..

Imagine- Me, Kid Lucky, a ferry load of tri-state commuuters, and the Statue of Liberty- Stay tuned for more..

The night before the shoot I rocked a great show with Jason Lindner's Now Vs Now at the Zinc Bar- did anyone take pics?

It was a 4:45 am call for the shoot and me and Kid pushed through and had a great time.

The director was mad cool and let us use our creativity.

The next day I taught a class at NYU for Daniel Bank's program Hip Hop Theater Education in and out of the class room. What a rich and stimulating group of young minds. We had some great dialogue and beginning work in Playback and Beatbox.

We talked about Hip Hop as form of popular education, the creative and cultural tension between tradition and innovation, New York as the birthplace and the growing reinterpretations of Hip Hop globally, and the various schools of thought on defining Hip Hop Theater. It was inspiring and made me want to teach more at the university level. If any one has ideas- hit me up..

Then I rushed to the Launch party for Rhino FX- a super crazy Animation/Video/Production house- I rocked a set there with Dp One on the tables, and Jason Lindner and Jorge Contentinentino on Horns and Flutes. It was a new launch for them and I did some voice over for there new promo reel check it at http://www.rhinofx.com/ There work is amazing! you can find them on Facebook

It was a great vibe! The Next morning after a few hours of sleep I left the BX at 6:30 am to meet Yako and Bboy Frankie to do a hip hop connections show at an elementary school in Jersey. Hip Hop Connections is a show we do that deals with Hip Hop's elements, history, and expression. It was a great show, the principal had a Looney Tunes tie (which is always a good sign) The students were engaged and we talked about creativity, imagination, the importance of reading, finding inspiration from our friends, families, and teachers!

By the end of the Day I was wiped, zombie mode, made it through a revealing and slightly confusing Battle Star episode.

Sat was all about Valentines balloons, chili, vegan banana splits, and communication, plus Krypto-Nate Robinson won the Dunk Contest!

Update for Feb 09- Playback NYC, NY Times, Arts education, and more

2009-02-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's the second month of 09 and life in NY is feeling good.

I spent most of last year on the road traveling the world. It was Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, philippines, Berlin, Holland, UK, Czech Republic, Australia. Anyway you get the idea..

It was a great and dizzying experience. I met many inspiring artists and new communities. At the same I realized I was running from my life in NY.

New York has changed, we are talking major gentrification, a sort of hipster/young professional invasion, a continued closing of important artistic venues, and the continued displacement of communities of color and poor folks.

Maybe its the uneasy feelings about the economy that are bringing that nervous comfort of my eighties experience. It has been a process to face my feelings about New York and renew my love and commitment to this unique metropolis.

I have to shout out Danny Hoch's Taking Over
His show was a cathartic release for me, it tackled the many angles and contradictions of a changing New York. I also want to shout out the folks who keep New York raw and creative.

This is all said after a two week family retreat in LA, a very intimate conference held by KRS ONE in the LBC( where a vision for a Hip Hop city was laid out), and a show in LAS VEGAS where Yako and I opened for a major computer companies keynote, I am back in New York and staying put.

I am back in the teaching trenches and working on some great education projects with Organizations Urban Arts Partnership, Urban Word, BAM, John Jay College, and Arts Horizons. I am about to start working with an ESL and finished a project called Intersession at New Design High School with fellow UAP teaching artist Bami. We created a multi-media animated comic with Poetic narration and beats. The student explored individuality, self expression, challenging society, and the challenges to the self esteem of young women.

Yako and I were in Australia and were posted up in the bunker studios with Sloth of Meta Bass and did some mad Hip Hop Dub tracks. We are starting to get in the lab and edit that record and an all beat box record. We are planning for a mess of new music to start making a web presence. It has been too long!!!!!!

Playback NYC, the improv theater company I co-founded got together with members of Hudson River Playback, and Big Apple Play to do an important show in Long Island. Big Shout out to Paul McIsaac who spearheaded this effort! “After Grief and Anger — Healing and Change,” the performance was an effort to promote better understanding between Latinos and non-Latinos in the area following the killing last November in Patchogue of Marcelo Lucero in a bias murder. click here for the story in the NY TImes.

That's my first update for 09 and look forward to adding more news, music, and videos. Peace and see you in the cypher.

baba

2008-12-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

Baba Israel and Yako 440 have been happy to relink with Morganics in Sydney

Lots of good news and adventures to tell...
Read on...

NEWS::..

Metabass MCs (Baba's old crew from Sydney) had an incredible set with Yako 440 dropping beats and bass at the Beach Road Hotel in Sydney Australia.

Baba and Yako caught up with King Kapisi, his wife Tere, and Leo Tanoi at a dope graff exhibition at Tap Gallery in Sydney.

Baba and Yako with Morganics, Wire MC (who has just released a dope album), and Mon ChiChi on Shantan's Hip Hop show on FBI Radio.

here Baba catches up with Shantan who he first met in 1995 at a production/writing workshop at the massive community event Hip Hopera directed by Morganics.

Morganics' record label Invisible Forces has two new releases out now:

Continuing the relationship between New York and Australia, Invisible Forces has just released Baba Israel and Yako 440's album "Beatbox Dub Poetics" in Australia. A true school masterpiece from the New York
underground ranging from jazz to beatbox, to dub and poetics, it is an album that reminds you of why you got into Hip Hop in the first place.

Baba heads to Australia

2008-11-27T10:10:00.001-08:00

Baba Israel and Yako 440 are heading to Australia.

There will be shows with Morganics, Elf Transporter, King Kapisi, Miles Merril, and DJ Ability, and opening slot for Saul Williams, and a special reunion show with Meta Bass.

Baba and Yako will be in the lab with sloth.

also there is a new beatbox record in the works.

Stay tuned for pics and show details!

peace,
baba

Baba rocks with the Knicks

2008-11-15T13:21:00.001-08:00

As a life long knicks fan it was a treat to rock at MSG for the Knicks Poetry slam. Big up to Urban Word, at the cutting edge of spoken word education for holding it down. It always inspiring to see the youth kick with passion and knowledge.

Also big up to Homeboy Sandman for rocking it, Jah-c and the Antidote for holding me down and Hired Gun, Eagle Nebula, Toni Blackman, First Wave, who were all in the house!

peace,
baba

Baba Israel in Vietnam with the Dana Leong Band.

2007-12-13T04:36:00.001-08:00

Baba Israel in Vietnam with the Dana Leong Band.

Vietnam was a whirlwind experience of nature, pollution, exotic food and drink, and great audiences. We started the trip in Ho Chi Min city. Our time was spent learning to cross the streets. Engaging traffic moves somewhere between a trust exercise, Frogger, and a dance piece. The streets are filled with hundreds of motor scooters. The air was thick with pollution.

We spent the day in the main market place. Here people were getting their hustle on. Selling everything from t-shirts, pants, shoes, spices, jewelry, crafts, pickled meats, and giant King prawns. The merchants grabbed, poked, tickled, and engaged in anyway to make contact. Bargaining is part of the game and I respectfully talked a down a few shirts. I ended up beatboxing in the food market area and a woman jumped in in making beats on her pots and pans.

We played at the Ho Chi Minh Opera house and had the historical honor of being the last group to play before renovation. The concert went off with Dana and I jumping into the crowd and getting folks on stage to dance and vibe out! We turned the Opera House into a club for the night!

We played with a great local Jazz musician Tran Manh Tuan, and also jammed at his club in Ho Chi Minh city. In Denang we had one day of beach time by the China Sea. It was good to breathe the ocean air and recharge from the pollution. From there we traveled to Haifan which was a very laid back place with a beautiful park. Jason and I went for a late night walk and marveled at the unique street culture. There were people cooking and sharing food in groups right on the sidewalk. At the town square we found the old folks doing their nigh time exercises. We joined in doing some qigong. Then we were approached by some local guys who showed us some Kung Fu forms.

In Hanoi we did a workshop for young musicians. It was challenging at first because of the language barrier. We soon realized that it was actually their eagerness to get up and jam. There were piano players, drummers, and horn players. We had a great jam with Dana, Elliot, and Jason passing on their knowledge and helping to assign parts and arrange the jam. I flowed over the jam and afterwards broke into some beatbox. The drummers got really excited and I went into beatbox workshop mode! They translated their drum skills to their mouth with the quickness! After a great show in Hanoi we were ready to go as the pollution and traffic was getting the best of us! In Hanoi we encountered the infamous Snake Wine? Did I drink some?

Nah, I am a vegetarian

Baba Israel in Papua New Guinea with the Dana Leong Band

2007-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Baba Israel in Papua New Guinea with the Dana Leong Band!

We arrived in Papua New Guinea and were welcomed by local students along with members of the US embassy including Jon who proved to be a wonderful host. Due to security concerns we did not get to see much of the city but did check out the Botanical Garderns where we hung with Tree Kangaroos and beatboxed with the tropical birds.

Our first activity was a workshop with local musicians, students, and young people. The audience was a little shy but was energized by the youth who came and joined in and beatboxed and danced with massive amounts of energy.

After the workshop there was great small group interaction with drummers and keyboard players sitting in with Jason and Elliot while Dana and I fielded questions and made connections.

Here we are with the brave volunteers who came and joined for us the workshop. Mr Murray the music teacher who jammed on the indidegneous flute the Kakumba, two young beatboxers, and a dope emcee/reggae artist.

Later that night we performed for the larger community with an opening set by local musicians who combined indigineous music with rock, jazz, and pop influences. They had a great spirit and made us feel welcome. We were very moved by their performance! We rocked the show after with Dana launching into the crowd.

After all this hard work Jon took us out on a wonderful cruise! We swam in this ocean and made it to a beautiful island!

On our last day we did another school show with a really inspiring audience that showed us so much love! Before our performance some of the young folks shared traditional dance. PNG is a special place that faces a challenging transition from its ancient culture to the modern world. It is place with many languages and cultures, they face the problem of violence and violence against women. Yet there is a great enthusiasm, teachers, and elders who are helping to guide the positive energy of the youth. We were moved by the welcoming we received.

Baba Israel in Fiji with the Dana Leong Band on the Rhythm Road

2007-11-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

We left Los Angeles wed at 10pm en route to Nandi, Fiji. The flight was smooth, Dana, Elliot, and I got solid sleep, and Jason was up arranging a tune. We were met by two great representatives from the embassy who really made us feel welcome. We went straight through customs and headed to our second flight to Suva. After a quick 30 min flight we were met by Jeff and Kavi from the US embassy. We drove from Nasori to the Capital of Suva. The radio was a mix of Bob Marley, Shakira, and some local reggae and country styles.

The drive was beautiful, palm trees, lush tree covered mountains, and fields with Cows and Bulls. The main languages are Fijian, English, and Hindi. We passed churches and Hindu temples. After checking in to our hotel, Dana and I strolled through downtown. We checked out local shops and one of the markets. After negotiating some enthusiastic salespeople and sharing some beatbox we made our way to the local music store, Dragon Music. There we met the owner Ken and local singer/guitarist Will. Ken is providing the sound for the gig tonight and had been to NY years ago. Will invited us to check out his band at a local jazz spot traps where we were invited to sit in. Now I am back in the hotel and getting ready for the gig.

Dana and I met up with Monak and Jeff and hit up a really nice Indian spot! My veggie self was very happy! I had the Punjabi Thali and that was all good! Then Monak, Dana, and I hit the walk along the sea and snuck a quick look at the venue. We then continued along the water and headed to the fresh fruit and vegetable market. Wow that was amazing. Piles of ginger, pineapples, eggplants, the colors and smells were fantastic. We walked through and headed back to the hotel. A local man then approached us. He showed us an ID that said city council; he was warm and vibed with us. We were excited to connect with him. He then passed us some local artifacts, swordsticks and a mask. I had been thinking of getting a mask. It felt like a really special gift. Dana pulled out a CD of our music and bam, a moment of cultural exchange.

Well the cynics who are reading this are probably already onto where this is going. He then asked us form money and it got awkward. We dropped some money and it was all good. It never feels good to get hustled and it is always a little damaging to the sense of openness you can have. At the same time it is a wake up call to the universal struggle. It reminded me of cats in NYC who sell CD’s by giving you one and then asking for a donation. The human dynamics of generosity and of survival are all around the world. Well hey I got a mask and he’s got some cash.

We just came from the show! It was at the civic center in Suva. People were so welcoming and gave us great energy. We were rocking out with Dana blowing the soul, Jason ripping the keys, and Elliot pounding the beat. Dana jumped into the audience and serenaded them as we brought the tempo faster and faster!!!!! We connected with the audience and had two people come up and give words to freestyle off.

At intermission the Melanga singers came out and just blessed us with songs and dances that represented a diverse range of Pacific cultures. They were tight, with beautiful vocals, chants, stomp, and tight choreography. Tura came out and tore it up, taking off his shirt diving on the stage, and letting himself free. They had a deep connection to their music and really connected with the audience. I felt privileged to hear and experience their performance. They reminded me of the joy of music and the way men and women can sing and dance to create the perfect balance of strength and beauty. At the end of our set people came up and danced with us on stage. Oh, earlier in the night I got initiated into the Kava (a root ground with water and drank in a wooden bowl with specific claps) drinking ritual. It gave me a sweet feeling and got me open for the show! The Melanga singers offered a song to us at the end of the night. It was a cook island chant about advice from parents to kids. It was beautiful and really touched me. I felt a pure joy coming from them and that hit me. Fiji welcomed us and this was a night I will never forget.

The next day we did a workshop with local musicians and youth. We had gone out and jammed the night before at Traps. Dana and I sat in with a great band called Jericho. They were pretty much a cover band, but wow Will the singer could blow and the drummer was really tight. We had a great jam with them and met a lot of people who ended up coming to the workshop along with members of the Melanga singers and other folks from the concert. I facilitated the start of the workshop with some exercises to find out who was in the room. We found out where people were from and what instruments they played.

We then did some rhythm games and I taught a beatbox basics. I also gave some Hip Hop history. It was really interesting to see how little people knew about the origins of Hip Hop. No one knew about Kool Herc or even the Bronx. After a little shyness, everyone got to beatbox and a few folks really tore it up. We did some group beatboxing with members of Melanga harmonizing with vocal beats and scratches. Then the whole band improvised and one of the Melanga singers sang with us. We took questions and Dana, Jason, and Elliot talked about their musical history, training, passions, and special tricks. We ended with a jam session with a young singer from New Zealand named Megan. The workshop was a great feeling and it felt good to connect directly.