Blue Scholars

Seattle based hip hop group with roots in Hawaii.

Creed Chameleon

Creed Chameleon recently released his 4th CD. Creed is a Waipahu graduate and on of the more popular local artists. His latest milestone was opening up for the one and only Nas at Pipeline Cafe last month.

Check out his latest video:



Also check out his website for more info.

http://www.creedchameleon.com

From Walls to Windows...

Graffiti has been considered a public nuisance since the day the first person scribbled something on a park bench.  What people don't realize is that, true graffiti artist look at some of the graffiti thats currently out there and shake their heads too.  Graffiti is more than just scribbling something on a wall or bench.

Here are some examples of some of my favorite artists.

FX Crew Mural, New York

FX Crew Mural, New York

 

Katch One, Hawaii

As graffiti grows, so do its artists.  A lot of former graffiti artists are making their way into business through clothing lines, live painting, etc.  Mark Ecko is a former graffiti artist and is now CEO of one of the major urban clothing lines.  Locally, former graffiti artists are starting to make their way into the mainstream.  Here is a couple pictures of murals created by former or current artists.

PFOM Live Painting, Oahu

 Check out http://www.coloredboogers.com/ for a timelapse video of a legal wall by two of hawaii's elite writers.

Wordsmiths...

Hip Hop is a word that is thrown around haphazardly nowadays. It seems like anything that rhymes is considered to be hip hop. I heard a song with a hook "lol smiley face, lol smiley face". It seems like hip hop has lost its artistic aspect. I come from an age where hip hop artist were considered "wordsmiths". Wordsmiths were emcees that were able to use play on words to deliver a message with an artistic flare. Here is an example of a play on words:
  
"Real fellas hustle by using their intuition, while fake fellas aint about doing they into wishin" - J. Cole

"...like the Hudson or PCB, while I'm dustin fellas off, because I'm hot like sauce, the smoke from my  lyrical blunt makes me <*cough*>" - Method Man

In the first example he uses "intuition" and "into wishin" as homonyms. In the second, instead of saying "cough" he actually coughs. These were the artistic ways that emecees got their message across.

Newkon... Hawaii's Hip Hop Entrepreneur

Newkon is the tag name of one of Hawaii's hip hop entrepreneurs.  He started by starting HyperSquad, which was a dance studio that taught hip hop style dancing.  Hype 50, one of the top teams in MTV's latest Americas Best Dance Crew competition, are dancers from his studio.

When Newkon first opened the studio he hired a group of local graffiti artists to do murals inside.  After watching them work, he decided to try it himself.  In a short time, he has become one of Hawaii's most popular legal street artist.  He sells his work at local shops like prototype, he does murals inside and outside of shops and is recently starting his own clothing line, Newkoncepts.

Check out http://www.newkoncept.com/

Ewa's own.... Anjelo Baligad AKA BBoy Lil Demon...

Last year my neice at Ewa Elementary was telling me how good our little nephew was at breakdancing.  Since he was only 6 years old at the time I just kind of shrugged it off.  Next thing I know I'm watching youtube videos of him on the Ellen Degeners show and competing in competitions like Freestlye Session, one of the biggest Hip Hop events world wide.  Word is, he landed a spot on an upcoming movie, Step Up 3D.   For those that never saw him, check out his evolution as a bboy...








As a former breakdancer, I can apprectiate the difficulty of the moves and combination of moves that he is doing.  It takes a great deal of strength and creativity.  I just can't believe hes so young and doing these advanced moves..

Good job representing Hawaii Anjelo!!!

You can follow lil demon here: www.facebook.com/anjelodemon