Hopie in Manila: Right at Home w/ Her Roots

"I feel very happy and blessed, to just even have the fanbase that I do have...and if this is where it ends or if this is the pinnacle of it all, then it's more than I could really ever ask for..." - Hopie

Last month, we were graced with a semi-impromptu visit from the immense Bay area-based Hip Hop force - HOPIE. Having left as a child and before any point of recollection, this trip served as her first real bonding experience with Manila. While newcomers tend to go through the standard culture shock, the petite femcee seemed to find her footing here from the moment she stepped onto Philippine soil. She was able to speak our native tongue (though she swears her "accent is f*cked up"), soak in her surroundings, and get down with the music scene for sure.

The Hip hop in Her, Cafe808 and Soulsonic TV were fortunate enough to connect with this talented lady in a 3-way collaborative coverage of her stay here. In our sit-down interview with her at Kerplunk Studio, we were able to pick her brain on her growth as a fresh artist with Diamond Dame to her true self in Raw Gems to her being"a rappin' ass person" that plans to keep putting out music. Before hitting the booth with a heavy-duty performance of "Trunk (Remix", we proceeded to cover an array of topics with Hopie about who she is down to the core, her thoughts on being a female in a male-dominated industry, her dream collaboration, etc. Most importantly, how she felt right at home with her roots.

-The Hip-Hop In Her http://the-hinh.blogspot.com/

"Sexy is being you" - Hopie

http://the-hinh.blogspot.com/

New Video: "Ctrl Alt Del" -Miscellaneous

First official music video of The Mighty Miscellaneous from their upcoming album "Almost Done" which is gonna be released on June 15, 2012

Events This Week:

THE MIGHTY MISCELLANEOUS SINGLE/VIDEO LAUNCH. "Control + Alt + Delete" @ PABLO CUBAO X on Feb. 29, 2012
performances by: Ill-J, Chilitees, The Mighty Miscellaneous


FlipTop: Mindfields @ TEN 02/Skarlet Kitchen -March 1, 2012 -9 PM
4 Way Old School Battle Tournament
Beatbox Battles
Performances
Open Jam

Cipher of Styles: Exploring the Filipino Hip Hop Diaspora

Akei Music Working Group Popular Music Initiative,
Independent Cultural Xchange, the
UP College of Music Department of Musicology and
UP Manila Musicians' Organization (UP-MOrg)
present
musiKolokya - Popular Music Series
Cipher of Styles: Exploring the Filipino Hip Hop Diaspora
by Mark V [filamfunk.blogspot.com]
5:30PM - July 22, 2011 | Friday @ Instrumentaryo Asyano, Abelardo Hall- College of Music, UP Diliman, Quezon City

Sari-Sari Sounds podcast with Paolo Toledo [sarisarisounds.com]

Mark Villegas is a filmmaker and b-boy from California. He grew up in Florida where he was immersed in the hip-hop scene where Filipino-Americans were integral. His films investigate and document the intimacies of Filipino and Filipino-Americans with hip-hop culture. He is also a Ph.D. student in the Culture and Theory Program at the University of California, Irvine. He received degrees in sociology and political science at the University of Florida and his master's degree in Asian-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He recently presented a paper, "Cipher in the Dark: Filipino-American Significations of Hip-Hop," at the Association of Asian-American Studies Conference in New Orleans. His popular blog "Hip Hop Lives: Traditions of Filipino Performance" is coming to its 5th-year anniversary [filamfunk.blogspot.com].


musiKolokya of the UP Department of Musicology
Ang musiKolokya ay tagpuan ng mga mag-aaral, guro, mananaliksik, manlilikha, artista, kritiko at manunulat sa musika. Layon ng tagpuan ang pagpalitan ng mga ideya at pananaw tungo sa pagpapayaman ng kaalaman sa musika, kultura at lipunan. Ang mga diskusyon, bagama't malalim ay impormal at kaayaya. Ang tagpuan ay bukas para sa lahat. Para sa karagdagang impormasyon, tumawag sa telepono bilang 981-8500 lokal 2635 o magpadala ng e-mail kay Dr. Verne dela Peña, tagapangulo ng Departamento ng Musicology o sa verne.dela_pena@up.edu.ph.
http://www.upd.edu.ph/~music/


Akei Music Working Group Popular Music Initiative
The Music Working Group of Akei believes that the Philippine music ecosystem and the elements constituting it--the artistes, industry personnel and education institutions--could all be further enhanced to make them all globally competitive. For our first program, the Popular Music Initiative, we will focus on popular music studies as a subdiscipline of musicology including its practice and media resources.
http://www.facebook.com/AkeiPH


Independent Cultural Xchange
Independent Cultural Xchange (ICX) aims to transform partying into an art (plat)form through delivering singular parties that are considered not as just events but more as experiences.
http://www.facebook.com/icxparties

Contact
+63 917 619 1511 | +63 922 884 7622
chesquita@gmail.com | justinbreathes@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/AkeiPH

Cafe 808 @ Sari-Sari Sounds

http://www.sarisarisounds.com/

Cafe 808 is a local hip-hop show @ sari-sari sounds that plays and features/interviews local hip-hop acts from underground to mainstream
You can catch it every Wednesday (Philippine Standard Time): 1:30 PM, 4:30 PM, 9:30 PM, 12:30 AM, 5:00 AM and Re-Runs every Friday: 1:30 PM, 5:30 PM, 10:30 PM, 5:00 AM