- My name is Chris Rolle,
better known as Kazi
My mother didn't want me,
so I flew to the streets
Stole everything
from food to eat
To the shoes on my feet
From nothing I rose
to leave my mark on this globe
To give back so that others
wouldn't have to go through it
To use music as the conduit
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
what up, what up?
Thank y'all for coming out.
My name is Chris Rolle.
I'm the director
of the Hip Hop Project.
In the music industry nowadays,
they focus on the superficial.
We focus on things of substance,
issues that affect all of us.
And the music
you will hear tonight,
trust me,
it will inspire you.
So if you ready
for the Hip Hop Project,
I want y'all
to put your hands together all
and make some noise.
Check, check, check.
Is this thing on?
Can y'all hear me out there?
Listen.
It's Kharma Kazi
and the Hip Hop Project.
This is how we gonna do.
This is roll call.
What we're about to
bring to you,
is the next generation:
MCs, poets, singers.
I hope y'all ready.
First up to bat is CaNNoN.
- It's C-A-double N-O-N
up in ya neighborhood
Strollin',
holdin' that pen and a pad
Fill in that paper good
Roaming the city
Holdin' my giddy-guitar
on my back
Passion for music high
I'm a monster on a track
- Just in terms of my life,
always moving,
living nomadically, you know,
that was the norm for me.
Back then, I wasn't really
thinking about it.
I was just surviving
and just trying
to make a way for myself.
Being in the streets,
I always felt like
it was something more,
and I felt like I was just
wasting my life away.
I just want to be
an exemplary person.
I think life would be a waste
if I didn't make a difference
while I was here,
'cause it is hard out here, man.
And especially if you don't have
a father or any parents,
you need somebody to pass on
some information to you
and they can leave an impact
on your life,
so that's just where I'm going
right now.
- It's time now to meet
this week's hometown hero.
He's 24-year-old Chris Rolle.
He grew up as an orphan
on the streets of Crown Heights,
pretty tough streets.
But he took his love for music
to help pull himself
and a whole lot of other people
out of trouble.
- My dream was to create
a program where young people
could start healing
through hip-hop music.
And then they travel
all around the country
and try to inspire other
young people to do the same.
Every day I was rushing to work,
you know.
Matter of fact,
people have to tell me,
"Yo, 2:00 in the morning,
what are you still doing here? "
Hey, yo, I'm making
this curriculum for tomorrow,
making phone calls,
and making an agenda.
I just had a passion for it.
- If I had to say
I need a block full of paramedics
for no means
and I know faggots
will fuck em' nasty
And I'd never hit a girl
with the right snuffer
Hey, yo, we got tougher
Blue gats and box cutters
You're a cocksucker,
I'm a pussy
Why you labeled
as the block deffer
I leave you in this hot gutter
See this rap game, nigga
Pig fell in his shit...
- When the kids first came in,
they thought they were
just going to jump
into writing this album.
As I heard the stuff that they
was writing about, you know,
I was just like,
"Y'all not ready. "
- When I first went
to Hip Hop Project,
I was back doing the,
"your mama this,
your mama that,"
you know what I mean,
the straight-up
hard grisly battles,
spitting in your face.
I said, ah,
you ain't a threat
Bitch, push me
Show me your Hartsfield
And your best friend's a pussy
like Odie from Garfield
On the real
I ain't come
to fight or battle, no
I'm in this damn park
looking like a light show
Chicks acting real cocky
But in a minute,
they'll slob me in the lobby
Sliding their necks
similar to Bill Cosby
And while he acting
like he die-proof, no, look,
Metal will travel through your left side
like spiral notebooks
You're like,
you have to get rid of me
When you the biggest bitch
on the island
Like the Statue of Liberty
I'm laughing, you killin' me
You ain't got
half the ability
Clack-clack, pow!
We kick it and pop it
if you like to
- I said, yo son, hold up,
I said, yo.
That last rhyme
I heard you spit
Was as weak as baby shit
Stuffed with strained peas,
raw milk, and runny grits
You a funny bitch
I'll snatch you by your hair
out your high chair
Stick a bottle up yo' ass
for blowing that hot air
You say that's not fair
But you did came rappin'
in my domain
Fuck is wrong with your brain?
I'm hotter than a propane
Cookin' all you
bald head faggots
You need a Rogaine
If people didn't tell you
that I was the grimy one
The love now, hate later,
some timey one, the slimy one
The shit I do is strictly
off the record
- Everybody's talkin' about
the same exact thing.
They was killers.
They was gangsters.
They were selling drugs.
It just wasn't
what the program was about.
As we begin to grow,
more and more people
will be coming around,
so there got to be some type
of code that we live by.
I feel like at the bottom
of any religion
or any program you're in,
they just want you to do
certain things a certain way
or live by a certain principle.
- Before any other process
could happen,
he had to be on the same page
with the young people.
They had to share the same mind.
So he started
with basic principles of living.
- Integrity, right?
Well, you know, you just got to
keep your word at all times, man.
- He pretty much lured us in,
"Yeah, come and make
your own album,
"come make your demo,
free studio time,
free production. "
Cats went in there.
It was the total opposite
ofwhat they seen.
- It's a frickin' office
with computers, you know,
two white people
sitting at a desk.
That was it.
- He wanted to expose
young people to the music business.
He also expressed
how important it was
to elevate the consciousness
of these young people
and to help them heal.
So hip-hop was just the in.
- I discovered
the Hip Hop Project.
I had seen a flyer in my school.
Music is something
that I've always been fascinated by.
Ever since I was young,
I had a passion for music.
- What is your name?
What is your name?
I had been exposed to hip-hop
at, like, a young age.
When I turned 15, I was like,
"Yo, you know what?
"This is something I want to do.
You know what I'm sayin'?
I know that in my heart. "
Of course I want to be signed,
publishing deal,
make album after album.
What else would I do with
all this fire inside of me?
Like, where else would I put it?
My mom's condition is,
she was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in 1996,
and before then, the doctors
didn't really know what it was,
because, like,
she would have all this ailment.
The doctor scheduled her
for an MRI,
and then I guess that's when
they found out that she got MS.
Having it just made her
completely, like, suicidal,
you know, twice, attempted
to just commit suicide.
My writing
is what kept me alive,
because there was so much rage,
so much anger,
and it was like
I didn't know how to get it out.
- What I'm hungry for is just
whatever opportunity there is.
As long as I can do what I love
and survive
and as long
as it's around hip-hop-
I love hip-hop,
you know what I'm saying?
Because this is just-
it's like an outlet
like no other.
I used to just write rhymes
in class or whatever.
I wouldn't do no work.
I wouldn't do nothing
but write rhymes.
I fucked up in ninth grade,
and I had to really redefine
who I was
and find another path.
My father got incarcerated
probably, like, three weeks ago.
He got arrested for drugs
or whatever, selling drugs.
And, you know,
they raided the house,
and how I felt then,
it was like
they were doing something wrong,
not my father,
you know what I'm saying?
He really put his education
aside when he was younger.
That left my father illiterate
to the point where he barely
can write his name.
I won't settle.
I won't settle for
what my mother settled for.
I won't settle for
what my father settled for.
- 34th Street, Penn Station.
- It's like the price
of my range
Only nigga balls
entertaining on the A train
Feel it
It's NY to Calico
We don't give a fuck
Brave niggas
let the Cali blow
You see your head
on your front porch
On your fuckin' patio
What the fuck you wanted
for the ravio
Nigga named Cann
From NY, man
BK Brookdale Hospital
where I was born
But I felt the earth shake
- CaNNoN was always
a wordsmith.
He would rap,
but some words,
I wouldn't know
what the hell he said.
It's like he'd just
find a dictionary
and use the biggest words he
could find to rhyme or whatever.
But I could tell
he had crazy skill, you know,
just how he always hitting
the beat.
He had mad rhymes,
just mad rhymes.
- Lookin' for war
The nigga that seek
you shall find
You ain't hurt,
look at your lungs
And you weak and you blind
Y'all niggas is like charcoal
waiting for flames
Get outside of rhyming
and I'm taking my name
Load 20 in the clip
Keep one on the chain
- He had a little hard-core,
selling crack in Manhattan thing
going on, you know.
But that wasn't him,
and it was obvious
it wasn't him,
but he was still trying
to find himself.
I could tell he was searching.
- Different stakes
Became ironic
Do what y'all niggas
predicted
No, I got you redesigning
You infatuated
Besides, they say
they always hate our verse
- Princess, she had some rap.
Oh, man, it was so whack.
And she would kick
that same rhyme everywhere,
but never on the beat.
- Lyrically she telling virgins
Fuck you,
said I'll pop your cherry
You got passion and shit
Y'all like alcoholics
trying to sober...
- So I had to try to find a way
to get them to a point
of seeing that they got to rap
about something else
and really knowing
why they should do it.
- What we need is more stars,
people who are individuals,
who will write their songs
about whatever is on their mind.
And knowing that people
don't have enough of that social
or political
or uplifting material,
because you make
another gangster record,
or another record about
how many cars you're gonna buy,
it's boring as fuck,
and you all know that's boring.
- If you going through stuff
in your life,
that's what you need to put your music
or your art about.
That's what it got
to represent.
And that integrity is going to
come through in the music.
That's what people connect to.
That's soul music.
Every day you turn on the radio,
you got materialism,
you got misogyny,
you got-
- Money, hos, and clothes.
- Money, hos, and clothes.
Violence,
you know what I'm saying,
so I want to challenge y'all
to say something a little different,
you know, to say something
that's going to touch somebody's heart,
move them to change their life,
inspire them in some way.
So I want you all to think back
to a moment in your life
that touched, moved,
or inspired you
and-and share that with us,
because when you share
a little bit of yourself,
you open others to share
a little bit of themselves.
- Yo, what you want?
I just want to know if I could
stay here just for the night.
Don't go thinking you're going
to sleep on a bed or nothing.
Go back, go sleep on a rug
or something,
'cause you see them three boys
back there?
Them are my sons.
Them is my sons.
You ain't my son.
You know, I think it's a shame
That you cringe
when you think of my name
And the reasons you get mad
I'm thinking is lame
Sometimes you say you hate me,
I be feeling the same
It never shows,
but I be feeling pain
We don't get along
because I'm so much like you
Move around, hustle,
just like you
My pops wasn't there for me
just like you
I'm so stressed out
But I'm scared of
what the dust might do
How you think I felt knowing
that no one wanted me
Knowing this man, my father,
commonly referred to as no one
I used to feel no one's pain
Rain for 40 days
and 40 nights
My life is 80 wrongs
and 40 rights
And still beneath the hope,
the single thought you might
Be a part
of your firstborn son's life
But that was
That was just a dream,
You gave up
That's what I take
You know, listen
You know, listen, Pop
I'm not holding back
my words
And the thought
of consequences
Got me holding back my verbs
You got some nerve
talking like you walking shit
But when you try to walk,
it's like your talk
It's sounding awkward
It's fucked up
Yeah
But I stick through it all
14 years
I didn't miss you at all
So let it harbor
in your chest
Until there's peace
in your rest
Or rest in your peace
Whichever comes first
'Cause I ain't wasting
no more words
- Hip-hop is about drums
and bass and tones and power,
you know, "rah. "
I remember when
Grand Master Flash
and Melly Mell
and the Furious Five,
and Run DMC even,
every time they'd end a song,
they'd go, "Aa-ahh!"
You know, because it was about "rah,"
letting that energy,
let that fire out, you know.
So when you hear the drums
and the bass,
that just gets you moving,
and then I get to, like,
say whatever I want,
and I can curse if I want to,
not that you promoting it,
but you just letting me do me.
"Ah!"
You know?
So that's freedom.
It's freedom to just be able
to say whatever I want
and nobody's gonna stop me.
Nobody's gonna check me.
Nobody's gonna tell me
that it's wrong,
because there is
no right or wrong.
And once I do that
and I get all my stuff on the table,
then I can just be myself.
Now I feel safe.
Now I feel like
you know who I am.
I put my stuff out there.
Now I can keep moving forward.
And hip-hop allows us
to do that,
allows our young people
to do that,
because it's the music
of our generation.
- Now, who are some
of your favorite rappers?
Who?
Little John and the-
Hold on, hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on.
Y'all teaching me something
right here.
In New York,
when you say Little John,
everybody be like, "Who? "
What? "
See, that's funny.
That means that there are
different regions
that respond
to different things, right?
So I don't even know
if somebody from New York
could really capture
something from the South.
So I'm gonna bring a MC up,
and let's see if y'all can
really feel this New York MC
for the people who like
people like Little John.
Play a beat, any beat.
Let me see if y'all can feel
some New York stuff.
Let's see ifwe
can blend it together.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Come on dance, y'all.
Come on, let's dance.
- Come on, where the South at?
I'm representing the South
today, baby.
You see it?
B- boy down, baby, ATL,
a'ight?
New Orleans, a'ight?
VA, where you at?
So they want to see if we can
rock like the Southerners, huh?
They want to see it?
No doubt, baby.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yo, you know what's on now
I'ma change the game
in a little while
I'ma flip and primp,
just listen
My style just different
And you niggas know
I'm the sickest
So you gonna do,
nigga, better move back
When I act, listen black,
better pull back
I'ma a smack me a chump,
tryin' to act tough
Really got no time
for that bullcrap
Mics are flamin'
I'm lanes are changing
I'm keep a nigga runnin' like
he really not brave enough
Every time I flow I got to know
when I'm dangerous
Ain't no other nigga coming
close to brave as this
See now I'm down,
but in the meanwhile
Freestyle
as my niggas see now
I'ma speed it up now
just the way that I heat it up
Then I'm gonna take an impression
on a wonderful rhythm
How you gonna test me,
MVP
All of these lookin' minor league
All better flee
when I spit that heat
Now to comp with the verse
coming out of my teeth
Look I'ma take it over
into closure
Got a group of niggas
right behind my shoulders
Waiting to explode
like a supernova
Whack niggas in the game,
now I'm moving 'em over
Y'all ain't ready for that beat.
Y'all ain't ready for that beat.
- If you had the ability
to have everybody stop
and bob their head
and listen to
what you had to say,
meaning the whole world stops
and listens to you,
what would you have to say?
- Y'all walk with me
real quick.
Uh.
Thinking back to '84
When I was a pain
in my mother's eye
From the day of birth,
I ripped her insides
I wasn't planned
I was an option
The first she kept
but the second conceived
Wondered if she knew the same
would happen to me
Mother's Cry,
that's basically
talking about my ordeal
and having to make a decision
on whether or not to have a child,
which I didn't.
I knew my life be different
As I walked up in the clinic
Four months pregnant
The seed growing
in my stomach
I can feel it
Just talking about how I felt
walking in the clinic,
how I felt, you know,
just thinking back, like, you know,
if my mother sat with me a minute.
The source of my music
is basically my life,
personal situations that people,
I guess, are scared to touch on,
or, you know, to let go.
So for me it's like, you know,
freeing myself
from, you know,
pains inside of me.
I just free myself
through my writing and my music.
You don't know
what it is like
Attached to your baby
And you 'bout
to take its life
I wanted to keep it
But the consequence
I couldn't handle...
- Well, Ma Dukes
just passed on Monday.
I was in this classroom when
this girl came up and was like,
"Oh, Chris, you got a call. "
I was like, "What is it? "
She's like, "I don't know if I should be
the one telling you this. "
And I was like, "What? "
He was like, "You know,
basically I was in the hospital. "
He's like,
"Basically your mother died. "
I never experienced death.
Like, I never been to a funeral
before in my whole life.
I regret it;
I told my moms that Sunday
that I was gonna see her.
And I didn't even
go nowhere that day.
I didn't even go see her,
and she was right down the block.
But I spoke to her on the phone.
She called me,
and the aide was,
like, making out everything
that she was saying.
She was like, "She misses you.
She wants to see you,
and she wants to come home. "
And I always hate it when
my moms is in the hospital,
always hated that shit.
I'm telling you,
that's definitely what keeps me, like,
even wanting to do stuff is music.
What I think it is about music
is just that it's something
that's, like,
you know what I'm saying,
when you feel like you
don't have anything in the world.
It's a sense of ownership.
- I'm proud to accomplish,
you know,
regardless ofwhether
it's a high school diploma
or getting my GED.
I did it,
and I did it on time.
Running late.
When my father left,
I didn't know what was next,
so I got to build my own future,
you know what I'm saying.
And it's just like,
I see my father.
He was limited,
and I'm not gonna be like that.
I'm not limited in what I can do.
- Yo, P.
Hey.
- I know.
- So how you feelin'?
- Good, good.
Long time comin'.
- Oh, congratulations.
- Hold on, hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on.
Going back to Art Start,
do this rehearsal.
I try to make every show
a rehearsal for something else.
And also just keeping
everybody together,
keeping CaNNoN busy.
- I don't know
any program director
that expends the level
of personal time and attention.
I remember going up
to his office at Art Start,
and it'd be like 10:00,
and he's calling them
to see if they got home.
They're talking about
a life issue,
and he's giving them
all the time in the world,
like he doesn't have
anywhere to go,
like he has nothing to do.
He's just, yeah,
just real laid-back,
"Yeah, you know, I understand.
"Well, maybe
what you should do is this.
Well, you know, I find that-"
and I'm like,
"Wow, this is amazing. "
He never put them off.
He always put the needs of those
young people before himself.
- I think he does it because
this is his way of giving back,
giving kids things
that he wasn't given as a child,
as a teenager,
as a man growing up.
- I was born in Nassau, Bahamas.
Six months later, my mother,
she left to come to America,
and she was supposed
to come back for me,
but she never came.
Any orphan who don't know
their parents,
you're always going to wonder
what the person is like.
And I had expectations
of knowing myself,
trying to figure out what
my mother would be like, you know.
When I was 14,
I came to New York to live with her.
I was looking to have
a relationship with her,
and I guess
I had animosity towards her.
She kicked me out,
and I just was on the streets
since I was, like, 15.
Pride will make you not want
to ask anybody,
you know,
if I could stay with them.
So I would get on the train,
write rhymes,
and just go to sleep
right there.
I started needing money,
so I just started rolling
with gangs
and cats in the streets
who was just showing me
how to get money,
was showing me just how
New York streets works.
So this is Brooklyn.
This is the main
shopping district,
downtown Fulton Street.
And here's where we,
you know,
this is where we come
and get paid at, you know.
I was taught how to go
in a store,
and we could take
a whole section.
There's these huge bags
we would make,
that the alarm systems
wouldn't go off.
I always say the criminal mind
is a creative mind,
and it's all
where you put that energy.
At that time, all my creativity
was in finding ways to survive,
and now I'm using it
in other ways.
All right, person,
you come,
have your hand open
for receiving.
I want to put myself
on the examining table,
so y'all can do me,
so I can go home
with some stuff to meditate on.
- I would say something
to grow on
is being patient
with people's emotional problems
that they come to you with.
You know, some people
might see you as a person
that they never had
in their life
or the person
they wish they had.
So you cool, just be
a little bit more mindful toward-
you know, towards the question
and the emotions
that people come to you with.
- You never let me
give up on myself.
You're always there.
I appreciate that,
and I see that.
- All my life,
my father wasn't there.
So I didn't really have
that male figure in my life.
And when my father
finally did come in.
I look at you,
and you've been more
of a fatherly influence on me
than that man has.
- More than anything,
emotional ruts,
quicksand I call it.
You try to find yourself
when you're in those
and have people around you
that you can tap into
that can pull you up,
because once you go down,
you got to be careful
during them times,
because you're vulnerable
to a lot of things, man.
- Nobody's ever
emotionally stable, you know,
because life gives you all types
of different hands.
But how you deal
with those things
and that will come
from watching your breath,
breathe easy,
build your discipline.
All that emotion that you got-
because that's all it is,
is energy-
if you put it into something
that could channel
that out of you,
so it's something
that you're constantly doing
that is to get away from the everyday stuff
that stress you out.
The first three years of the program
is about self-development.
We became a family
because of it.
- The goal of the Hip Hop Project
over the next six months
is to produce
and complete this album.
We can't want it more than you,
so everybody's got to work.
And it's critical that you do
a lot of pre-production at home,
a lot ofwriting at home,
because now when we go in the studio,
time is money.
I've worked in every area
of the music business.
I started at Def Jam,
and then I went to Arista Records.
I was the director
of urban artist development.
- I went to this conference.
I saw Kheperah walk in,
you know.
And, you know, I was like,
"All right, she's fine, you know. "
- I see this brother with a kufi on,
red, black, and green.
He said, "How you doin'?
I'm Divine. "
- Everybody's pulling on her time,
and you know, I'm more humble.
I'm falling back or whatever,
and she was so nice.
She held my hand and said,
"I'll speak to you in a second,
brother," or whatever.
So, you know, she made me feel
so relaxed and calm.
You know,
she has a knack for that.
- The next day, he called me.
And he said,
"What's the thought for the day? "
And I was feeling that.
I began to look forward
to that call in the morning.
- And I think that was really
the moment it just sparked.
And ever since then,
it was just like chemistry.
- Yo
These are trying times
I'm livin' in
And Brother Hathaway sung it
And with pain I encounter
a large abundance
My faith seem
to hold mad weight
But when the hurt hits
I question if God is even
the one for me to run with
Why would the most high
put his children so low?
Wasn't no act of suffrage,
shit, I damn sure ain't vote
To choose a route
through such bondage
Through my mind and my soul
Ah, bring it back.
I met great people,
but God made man
They try to hate me
But it's he who overstands
the circumstance
Also the creator
who put me in this gloom
And made the decision for
my moms to transcend so soon
Also put many others in doom
I'm more fortunate
than half of the world
But yet I still feel omitted
Why must I feel misery
and be stuck and left with it
Trying to see it
in a way like
Maybe God did it to test
our strength and build it
For the end
which is the great one
But where I'm at
Feel like the ending reward
that I'ma gain one
Only God knows what's next
I wish his image projects
And I could reflect
what he truly want of me
And there's no such thing as death
But I feel like it's just stains
Left from my past life
haunting me
I don't know what to think
But I know what I feel
Feel a chunk of me gone
The other half getting killed
I don't know what to think
But I know what I feel
I feel a chunk of me gone
The other half getting killed
- Where it all started.
Mali, what's the deal, baby?
In the Bahamas, I was really,
like, a hip-hop fanatic.
Coming here was just
like destiny,
like I was supposed to be here.
- You know, he had this, like,
weird style of dressing
because we was always
with the baggy jeans,
and, you know,
that was our style of dressing.
He come through
with the leather hat, you know,
jeans kind of tight,
tight vest,
because he's fresh
from Bahamas.
And, you know, he had
the different accent at the time,
and we didn't understand nothing.
He was like, "And I believin'
that we should do this,
and we should do that. "
- I started getting into
the music scene,
and, you know,
I was managed by Doug E. Fresh
and this guy named
Donovan Thomas,
and I would go on tour
with them.
Hindsight 20/20
Take it to the cemetery
Whether the clock stops
early or late
Either you rot in hell
Or you knock
on the pearly gates
Every morn's a chance
to right your wrong
Don't sweat this song
Life goes on
- I would help him
get on at different places.
And we used to have
little sit-down talk sessions
about what he wanted to do
with his career
and the different directions
that he wanted to take.
I find what he's doing now incredible,
because he passed on
the information
and just carried on what it was
that I was doing for him.
- You go first, right?
- Then she go.
- Then she go.
Then it should be chorus?
- Yeah.
- Don't CaNNoN go before you?
- Nah, we changing that,
'cause, musically,
it won't sound correct.
- It's like, they're doing
the first 16, then-
- Hook.
- Then hook,
then it's CaNNoN and-
- Princess.
- Princess.
- Right?
- I thought they came after.
- Hold on, hold on,
let's stop, stop.
Yeah, I'm getting confused.
- No, it was supposed to be
Verse, me, hook.
- Right.
- Ty, Divine.
- Ty, Divine, hook.
- Hook.
- Bridge.
- No bridge.
- No.
- Hook, then bridge.
- Right.
- Ah.
- All right, let's go.
- Yeah, this is how
we do this now.
Come on.
Good morning, America.
We got something for you.
Yeah.
Oh, like, what's up?
Yeah, relax.
Yeah.
Let's do this like this.
Check it out, yo, V-E-R
Oh.
- Calm down a little bit.
- All right.
Yo.
Uh-huh.
Rap critics.
V-E-R
S to the fifth letter
Ain't nobody destined
to spit better
H-H-P damn right
Yo, we love what we built
Whether you black
Or you got the skin color of milk
- Oh, shit.
Kazi!
Ah, man.
We runnin' out of tracks man.
- Yo, Kazi, man.
- Click all of them.
This is all-
this is all the hook?
The budget that Art Start
has given me
is not enough to really go
and do it full out.
So we're going to have
to find studios
and outside contributors
to help us complete this album.
- Today we are Ralph Pierre
and Maurice.
Ralph Pierre and Maurice.
- Maurice.
- I guess we are here
to raise money
for whatever we're here
to raise money for.
- What kind of people
are here tonight?
- A bunch of people I'm sure
have nothing to do
with hip-hop at all.
- Yes, but they have lots
and lots of economy.
- A lot of it.
- Lots.
- A lot of economics.
- Well, we at
some guy's apartment.
We're about to throw
this little show for him
I guess so he can see what
pretty much Art Start is about,
Hip Hop Project,
and see what we working with.
- You know, seriously.
I was, like, looking around.
I'm like going, "Who let these
people into my house, man? "
You know?
- All right, howdy, howdy,
howdy, howdy.
How's everybody doing?
This is Scott Rosenberg.
This is my high school
teacher, y'all.
And at lunchtime,
we used to get together.
The principal used to try to like, well,
we say hate on us,
which is basically
being an obstacle
in our path
of expressing ourselves.
So what Scott would do,
he would get a lunch-a classroom.
He would bring some beats
and some music,
and we'd just express ourselves,
and it was like
my favorite class,
and I always said it would be dope
ifwe had, like, a school,
or, like, a program, like,
kids could just express themselves.
And so about three years later,
here we are.
Hip Hop Project's
going on strong,
and thanks to big Scott
for making it happen.
- I knew my life be different
As I walked up in the clinic
Four months pregnant
The seed growing
in my stomach
I can feel it
I had to make a decision
I'm thinking
this could be different
If my mother sat with me
a minute
Couldn't believe it
Tried to punch myself
in the stomach
And get rid of its life
Scared
Popping pills hoping
it just disappear in the night
In a matter of seconds
Laying on the table while
the doctor flashing the light
I feel an injection
And he robbed my baby
like a thief in the night
You know, it'd be greater
when we start getting paid for it.
I won't feel so bad
about telling my story.
I'm so fucking poor.
- Good morning.
Lemon.
Hello.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
- How can I help you?
- To see Lemon.
- Excuse me?
- Lemon.
- Have you been here before?
- Yeah.
- Write today's date,
write his name,
and then your name.
- I don't like going to the jails.
It's like you feel incarcerated yourself.
- Just do me a favor,
stand right here.
Just make sure you don't have
anything in your pockets.
Make sure
there's nothing in them.
Okay.
- You'll go through all the securities
and the checks.
You're going to see somebody you love.
It kind of takes a toll on you.
I guess he's all right.
I told him what's
more important right now
is that we all get the lesson
from what occurred.
- I'm going to get
Christopher up for school.
I'm hanging in there with him,
because I really want him
to at least get a high school diploma
and move on.
That he owes me,
and I'm going to make sure
I get it from him.
I'm getting extra tutoring for him,
because his mother was so sick
that he was paying
more attention to his mother.
So that held him back a lot.
He was very-
he's a very bright kid,
but he was concerned
about his mother.
It was very tough for him.
So now he's just getting back
on the right track.
- There was a lot of things
I felt I wanted to say to my moms.
For one, she never heard
my song about her.
I would've liked for her
to hear it, like, at least once
so she could know, like,
how it truly made me feel.
Introducing a cat that y'all
assume don't have any problems
But they building every day
Constructing nothing
but pain and ache
Death internally
Feeling my cardio
slowly decay
I got stress where I feel
like I'm about to crack
Or self-destruct
But I never show people that
Every day, see,
my moms lie on her back
Unable to do for herself
because of the fact
Was diagnosed
with multiple sclerosis in '96
At age 12 had to grow
into a man and shit
Handling mad responsibility
I just wanted to be a kid
Felt God
acted inconsiderately
I used to live the life
Always got what I wanted
Moms was doing great
Then I just
watched it plummet
But materials
ain't mean shit to me
it was when she got worse
And became my priority
Pops wasn't around
So she was
who I looked up to
Gave me love,
emotional support
Plus she bought me stuff too
Watched her go from walking
in walkers
From taking care of herself
To needing all them damn
doctors to support her
She couldn't do something
as simple
As go to the toilet
to remove her bowels
To me,
that's fuckin' foul
Had to used those
adult diapers known as Depends
Then I helped give her
a shower
On the weekends
During the week,
she got a bed bath
Every second I wished
Shit just switched to
how it was in the past
But it never happened, y'all
And I constantly asked
I can't win
this battle shit
Is always leaving me gassed
Shit changed in a flicker
or flash
Hard not to be sad
When them good times
just didn't last
Why me
Never understood that
for nothing
Feeling cursed like somebody
imprecated something
I once had it all
Watched it fall
Crumble right
before my eyes
Its affect was strong
Hoping shit would change
But it didn't evolve
It just grew progressively
And it still go on
I once had it all
Watched it fall
Crumble right
before my eyes
Its affect was strong
Hoping shit would change
But it didn't evolve
And now this hurts, y'all
- Today's my first day of school
at Mercy College.
I'm going to feel really odd
walking into class
really, really late.
I'm kind of nervous about juggling
all of my responsibilities.
I think if I can make it
through this,
I'm going to be able to make it
through more stuff
that I'm going to have to endure
as I go into my career
later in the future,
so I'm gonna be all right.
My anger motivates me.
Where I want to go in life
motivates me.
Hip-hop motivates me.
Just doing this album,
that'll be enough fulfillment
for me,
because it's like
I didn't give up on my dream.
- I was stressed out because
I had to call all these different studios
to try to get them
to give us a reduced rate.
Out of nowhere,
I get a phone call,
and it's somebody
from Russell Simmons' office
saying that Bruce Willis
and Russell Simmons,
they're working together,
and he just says,
"Yo, I'm going to donate
a studio to you. "
Actually, I thought it was somebody
that was playing at first,
but I realized
that they were actually saying
that we could get a studio.
So, man, I was hyped.
That's the gift of a lifetime,
especially being an artist myself.
It's like a gift from God.
- Yeah, I dressed up.
- What's up, man?
Wow.
- How you feelin', man?
- Good.
- Yo, thank you, man.
- Oh, you're welcome.
- We used to record in,
like, a little closet,
you know what I'm saying?
So I knew it was going
to come together some way.
You know, we were just trying
to get all these different studios
to, like, donate the time
or whatever.
But, yo, just-
- The world moves
in mysterious ways, man.
- It does.
- Rap has been an expression
from poor, disenfranchised people.
It has reached the world,
but it's been a voice
for voiceless people.
What it's done for race relations
in this country is phenomenal.
It has made this world
much smaller.
- Color lines live
in people's minds
that are over 35,
40 years old.
You know, the world is changing
little by little.
- Music is going to bring
together the young people.
That's what I stand behind.
And also hip-hop is changing
the world as we see it,
if you to turn on
your television every day.
And right here,
it's bringing us together.
- Through art,
people survive,
and expression really gives you
a chance to dream
and to have vision.
And with the school systems
not supporting these kind of efforts,
it's so important
to have projects like these.
- I have a lot of faith
in these kids
and the entire program.
In five years,
hopefully there'll be 25 Art Start programs
in 25 other cities
in this country.
- The landlord is trying
to evict us.
It's all due
to my ma's passing.
After she passed,
the building was trying to say
that we had no legal right
to stay here.
We don't have no problems.
We're good tenants.
We're never late with rent,
you know what I'm saying?
So there's no reason to, I feel,
that we should move out of here
just despite that the building
would want to rent the apartment out
to somebody
who will pay more money.
You just counting each day now, like,
okay, this is the last Sunday
I'll stay here
or the last whatever,
you know.
You count-you marking the days.
I don't want that to happen.
- Sometimes people say
they want to do something,
and then the opportunity
presents itself,
and then you're like,
"Do I really want to do this? "
You know,
or you sabotage yourself,
because sometimes we're afraid
of our own success.
I thought people were more hyped
before we got the studio.
When you get
what you've been striving for,
it's like you get stuck
for a minute.
Everybody kind of like scared
or something, you know?
Not holding their weight.
Why you don't have
your four songs?
- Not being consistent
and lack of motivation.
If you don't finish what it is
that you start,
the energy that you had
making it's
not going to be the same
the next day.
So it's like,
you just push it to the side,
and it's,like,
just not following up.
- Being truthful with yourself,
most people just be fronting
all the time, lying.
You know what I'm saying?
In time past, you know,
and I'm speaking from experience,
you really don't accomplish what
you thought you would accomplish
because you was living
in an illusion.
You know what I'm saying?
We all go-we all do it.
- My schedule is crazy.
I'm doing school,
putting an album together,
helping my family,
staying strong,
and trying to stay sane.
Nothing in life
is going to come to you easy.
You're going to
have to struggle,
or you're going to have to
work hard.
I can't imagine where my life
would be right now
if I didn't go
to Hip Hop Project.
This is what made me
go to college.
This is what made me understand
that, okay, you had an abortion,
but it ain't the end
of the world, baby girl.
You're going to be all right.
Today, my dad got sentenced.
So I'm going to call my mom
and find out what happened.
- Hello?
- Hey, Mommy.
- So you don't know
how much time he got left still?
- Did she get to speak to him?
So yeah, y'all
should definitely see that man,
because usually,
if you get sentenced
and they give you
a little time or whatever,
that's only a detention center.
So they send you to another spot
after you're sentenced or whatever.
- Yeah, send him upstate
or whatever.
- Yeah.
- All right.
So we'll see.
It was crazy.
- Basically, what goes down
is a court date,
and this'll determine
whether or not
we're going to be staying here.
So it's a pretty crazy day.
See you later.
All right.
- We are going in to see ifwe
could win the apartment back.
I feel it's going to happen.
There's no other way.
We're hopeful.
Yes.
- Ivy did, what I would say,
is the most responsible thing
she could do.
Her daughter passes.
She goes and gets custody
of her two grandchildren.
She gets all the documents
together from school,
and then she goes
and presents it to the landlord.
And the landlord's response is,
pardon me, but,
"Fuck you, and I'm going
to evict you and kick you out.
Let me do that first thing,
you know, immediately. "
And that's what he did.
It'll probably take a full year
of litigation.
- I pray for guidance
and focus today
to accomplish
a productive meeting.
I also pray for strength
and courage and unity
to go the distance.
A lot of times,
we start a project,
and along the way,
people fall short,
and meeting the goal
is not as easy as it seems.
Focus on principle rather than
the price of gold,
things that can stay
with us always,
not just things that just
pass through our hands.
Sometimes a situation calls for you
to let certain things
just roll off your back,
but sometimes, you know,
I'm human too.
Some days I do not fuckin'
want to be here.
I really don't, you know?
But the only reason I'm here is
'cause I put my word out
that I'm going to be here.
And that's the only thing
I've found in life.
That's the only thing I respect
about anybody, you know.
We're all just here.
We all want to work,
so let's get it on, man.
I mean, nobody get a fucking
gift like we got, you know?
And it's like we got the gift,
and everybody got lax.
Everybody, like, took a step back.
- 2:00 p. m. ain't the same.
- 2:00 p. m.
Do it at 1:00, because he just
going to be sitting there.
- Can you be there at 1:00?
- I can't be there at 1:00.
- It's been a long time trying
to make it happen and pushing
and selling people on the idea
and thousands of phone calls
and trying to, you know,
look past when people going
through their emotional ruts,
pulling them up,
draining myself.
I'm just tired of trying
to push everybody.
If you keep pushing people
or keep holding their hand,
they never get a chance
to do it they self.
So right now I'm just
trying to focus on myself
and learn to let go.
A lot of people counted me out
since I was young.
They would say I was
going to be a criminal,
and I was just headed for jail.
I kind of came back
just to let them know, like,
you know, I'm doing good.
And I had some ups and downs,
but for the most part,
I feel like I'm successful.
This is where I grew up at.
When my mother left me,
her friend May
used to live here.
Wow.
Been a long, long time.
My mother used to send money,
and instead of giving it to me,
May used to spend it,
her and her husband.
I remember them kicking me out,
and child welfare,
they found me out there
on the corner
just standing up crying
and stuff.
I'll always remember
this place.
Every time I pass here,
I get, like, little flashbacks.
The children's emergency hostel
is a home for kids who aren't wanted.
I haven't been in this place
in more than 20 years.
I was like, three years old,
and I was here for two years.
You got to be the first one
out of the bathroom
to make sure you get
your clothes.
Because we used to go to school,
we had no underwear, no socks.
But you know, back then,
you didn't really care.
You just was, like,
happy to have something to wear,
you know what I'm saying?
I seen two little boys in there,
and I guess I used to be
just like them, and, you know,
just-I just feel like
I just came a long way.
And it's funny how life is,
you know?
Just-you never know
the twists and turns
that's going to happen.
And hopefully one day
I can make enough money,
and I can give back
to places like this,
you know what I'm saying?
Because they-they-
you never know who'll be in here next,
you know what I'm saying?
So I stayed there
until I was four years old.
A lady by the name
of Catherine Brown,
she worked there
as a social worker.
- At that time,
Christopher was observed
that he was not having
any visitors.
So I asked permission
to have Christopher come
and visit with us.
Maybe something more
could be done for him
than for him to spend
the rest of his time
at the children's emergency hostel.
- We developed a relationship,
and she asked me,
did I want to come live with her
for a longer period of time,
and I said, "All right. "
- As he got older,
he had a problem wondering,
how could strangers love him
rather than his own mother?
- He was searching,
and she knew, too, that he was
searching for an identity,
and that was something that she
was determined to help him find.
- All I learned about adolescents
I learned from Christopher.
He really put us through-
through a lot,
but we still persevered with him.
- Her family
was pretty welcoming
until I was about 14 years old,
and I did something that broke
the camel's back, I guess.
They asked me
if I wanted to stay,
and I said, "No. "
I put them through too much,
and I didn't want to be around all the hate
that was from the rest of the family.
I went back
to another orphanage.
Supposedly they were saying
I was crazy,
and they was filling you up with
Ritalin and drugs and all this stuff.
But there wasn't nothing
wrong with me,
you know what I'm saying?
The psychiatrist just said,
"This guy is looking for
something more in this life.
There's something missing. "
So he contacted the American Embassy,
who found my mother,
and they sent a letter to her
and asked her,
did she want me to come live with her?
And I got on the plane
a couple weeks later.
- I felt like I was a failure,
you know,
that I didn't do what
I was supposed to do for him
and all of that, you know?
But when I looked back
as time went on,
I realized that, you know,
it was-it was better for him.
- I want to see Chris
be an example,
particularly kids
who are institutionalized,
so they, too, can have something
to work towards,
because they can see success
at the end.
Mm-hmm.
And finally, too,
I'd like to see him bond
with his biological mom.
I think that's primary.
Should you decide to get married
and have children of your own,
you would know the importance
of a family life,
and you'd be able
to pass that on to yours.
- It's good seeing you.
- Yeah, you too, Chris.
- You take care.
- Yeah.
Don't let the girls
run away with you now.
- You never know
where life leads you,
and you never know when you're
going to see somebody again,
and I really wanted Mumi to see
that I turned out good.
It wasn't a waste of time.
- Yeah, this is for
my kids' kids' kids.
For our kids.
You know, H-H-P.
Uh, shit.
Go-go-go-getters.
Aha.
Yeah.
Look at our hip-hop
Nothing but jewelry
and fake cars
Its Big Pac
Damn we shooting at A stars
I hope when they aim at me
They got the pupils
of Ray Charles
Don't let a positive
turn to a negative
Here's a jewel that I learned
from a relative check
Every gesture
is a world to be mastered
So if you reach from your hip
Does it mean I got a earl
in my casket
People like to rhyme
for their block
I think my flow greater
I'm not a Hove hater
But then again,
I made it a ill habit
To study the creator
of Illmatic
I want a album
with diamond at least
'Cause I'm sick ofwatching
these innocents die in the street
Sing to me
There's a world out there,
black man
That really don't care
about you
Fear and doubt you
There's a world out there,
black queen
That really don't care
about you
Fear and doubt you
There's a world out there,
black man
That really don't care
about you
Fear and doubt you
Here's proof your relationship
a messed-up world
'Cause while she-
Oh, I messed up she.
She, I said she.
He.
Now here's proof your relationship
a messed-up world
'Cause while he lying
and cheating
Denying you need him
You crying,
you weak
And you don't,
you just a messed up girl
I get a hip
Oh, fuck.
Blah.
- Every day,
there's a session in here.
Everybody just seems
more enthused
and more to where they step
into the plate at bat.
It gets to the point to where
it's like once we create,
we don't want to stop.
- I'm glad to be back.
I definitely see the growth,
see the change.
As we move on to the pinnacle,
taking it to the top,
I pray that everybody
stay together, stay focused.
Pass it to my left.
- Recording in the studio.
Speaking to my pops more often.
- When you say with your pops, right...
- Yeah.
- Who initiate that?
You call him or-
- Now it's to the point that,
like, if he can hit me up
or I can hit him up,
it doesn't matter,
but usually it would take me
to call him.
- I'm learning that now.
Like, with my moms too,
I'm waiting on her to try to
resolve the whole relationship.
Just because somebody's
your parent
don't mean they got it all together,
you know what I'm saying?
- Holla.
- So you sometimes will be the one
to have to take the lead
and initiate stuff, so...
- Not living on the streets
no more.
- Holla.
- That's a big, big, big, big,
big accomplishment,
thanks to Kazi and family.
- I had a great time
in the Bahamas.
I had a very good time
with my foster mother down there
in terms of just,
every day we had a conversation,
and, you know, just a lot of-
lot of things just undone.
You can go years holding animosity
or thoughts about somebody,
and, you know, it was like
a spiritual journey, man.
I was-a lot of changes,
definitely a lot of changes.
- Dear Daddy
Hey, how you doin'
I hope you're holding up
And the pictures
cheer you up
I sent you 50 dollars
And I hope it was enough
College is all right
But the professor's
kind of tough
The boys been actin' up
Junior's getting big
And James is into girls
I keeps them in their books
I make sure they home
and not coming in late
I give 'em money when I can
if Mommy doesn't have it
Otherwise we fine
I guess she's a'ight
You know she don't like
to talk about her feelings
The other morning
when she drove me to school
She started crying and
The other morning
when she drove me to school
I seen tears
- I like that, but I don't want
you to do it so emotional.
- So you want me to be
more monotone?
- Not monotone,
but when you hear yourself about
to really like, burst out,
tighten back on it, all right?
- All right.
I used to live the life
Always got what I wanted
Moms was doing great
Then I just
watched it plummet
But materials
ain't mean shit to me
It was when she got worse
And became my priority
Pops wasn't around
So she was
who I looked up to
Gave me love,
emotional support
Plus she bought me stuff too
Watched her go from walking
in walkers
From taking care of herself
To needing all them damn
doctors to support her
She couldn't do something
as simple...
If I don't do music,
it's like then I can't see
'cause the world, like,
gets ahead of me,
like, there's a whole bunch
of people out there
that want to do the same thing
and are as passionate
or something,
and then, like,
while I'm sleeping,
they could be, like,
breathing on my neck,
taking-
wanting to take that slot.
- I think he's crazy.
- Why?
- Because his schoolwork
is very, very poor.
Christopher,
read it for yourself.
- What?
- What your-
- Read my progress report?
- Yes, please.
- Okay.
Okay, it's two 55s,
and two non-credits.
- I think the music is good,
but he needs, you know,
to get out of high school,
get into a college
so if the music fail,
he have something
to fall back on.
- The music's not
going to fail, though.
- It will,
and you don't know.
- I know it's not going to fail.
- Anything can happen.
- No, anything can't happen.
It can happen,
but that can't happen
unless I-unless I meet,
you know what I'm saying?
Unless I meet my maker
real soon,
that's not going to happen.
Like, I'm guaranteed it.
I know, like, there's nothing.
I'm guaranteed it.
- All these years
that your mother was alive,
you were in school,
I'm picking up,
you feel like
we're both wasting time
if you can't even produce
a high school diploma.
At least that, so later on,
if something happens,
you won't be so disappointed
with the music
because, I mean,
nothing is 100% sure.
- Yo, y'all been missing out, G,
like, because me and CaNNoN
been grinding, grinding.
- But you cannot miss school.
No, wait.
I just need to interject.
No, I'm not-
It's not on you.
I'm saying it for the table.
I appreciate the artistry
and the spirit,
but you cannot miss school.
If you start missing school,
it's no different from being
on a basketball team.
You're not going to play.
You're going to be benched.
- Yeah, listen up
Listen up
Listen up,
I got a story to tell
We were young with dreams
On doing the rap thing
But something was missing
That's knowin' the industry
Once we got it
We started the process
on wanting to progress
Kazi told us just to switch up
the topic on writing
I gave him headaches
Always verbally fighting
Always refusing to do
what this man was implying
The rest would listen
I would be
the only one trippin'
While others made
the transition
I was resistant
Huffin' and puffin'
Ready to give up
and say fuck it
But something inside me
Told me to keep budgin'
I didn't want to
write songs that were gonna
Talk about how we ought
to give hope
To those from the gutter
I was young and dumb
Talking about guns and drugs
Following others
And spittin' about shit
that I never done
When they elevated
I wasn't down
for those changes
We was all one book
But still on different pages...
I hope that the message that we putting
in this album really gets heard.
It's important that we leave
a good road for kids to follow
that is not all about
selling drugs and having guns.
Hey, yo, CaNNoN had a song
on when his mother died
Then Princess had a song
called A Mother's Cry
Both songs are fire,
and it truly inspired
People to listen
And besides,
that gangster shit was tired
I was only getting by
with these one-verse rhymes
Then I would wonder why I had
to go and play the sidelines
Once the group started shining,
it was leaving me hurt
But what a jerk
It was my fault
for lacking in work
Thinkin' Tohki
with his poetry
Was explosively
opening
His opportunities
I was noticing Divine
had a plot
On taking over these blocks
with Team Revolution
Now we got Canarsie on lock
Young niggas in the grind
making shit happen
And here I am unfocused,
females were my distraction
The school situation
left a nigga devastated
Feeling like
I let my mother down
Inside my heart was aching
I started losing faith
Thinking on erasing myself
up off the scene
'Cause I felt out of place
But my peoples
around the way
They said I needed to stay
On overcoming the pain
I need to step up my game
But in the meanwhile
Agony left
It was very clear to me
That her monkey ass
was full of herself
This the truth
that I'm spitting
I'm putting out
my business
So fall back and relax
Pay attention and listen
- Music is really a gift.
I remember watching
a documentary about Fela Kuti,
and he was talking about
to be an artist or a musician,
it's a blessing,
and when you abuse that
and feed the people
nonsense or garbage,
you-you know,
you have a high price to pay.
And that hit me, you know?
Especially doing this work.
Music is a healing art.
It's a release, you know?
Don't hold that stuff inside.
It cause ulcers and cancer, man.
Put that in your music.
- The man in the mirror
I've been through it all
My struggle was long...
Every time me and my moms
was supposed to link up,
something happened,
or she had to go to work.
But if mending
that relationship,
if that's going to help me
in my life
and help her life,
I'm down to meet her halfway
and do the work that it takes
to reconcile with her,
and that's what
this is all about.
How am I gonna tell
other people to heal
if I'm not healing
the situation?
So I definitely need
to connect with her
and have a-
have a conversation.
I chose to stay in the studio
until sometimes
7:00 in the morning
and then go to school
and sometimes disregard it.
I'm just now wisening up
and really trying
to graduate high school.
And it definitely
been stressing me,
because my life without music
is no life at all.
- I'm just hanging in there.
I'm getting ready to give up,
but I'm giving him
one more chance.
He's serious for the first time.
- Yeah.
Turn the music up.
Real artists put their heart
in their songs
So everybody
just follow along
You hear me?
Now all I ever wanted to do
was just rap and be wise
But everybody mind
they business
And they capitalize
Now everybody
who ain't affiliated
They really hate it
and made it
Oh, just so hard for success
Pardon my stress
But it's hard to ingest
the pain
Without a doubt, I was...
- Accomplishment is what
every human being live for,
purpose, just to say
that I did something, you know?
I can see the finish line now
and just to get through it,
these-these next couple
ofweeks.

- I think media training
is so important.
If I get a great interview
out of you,
it makes me look good.
You do a great interview,
it makes you look good.
So if I'm like, yo, you know,
"Lou, what's up man?
"Tell me,
where did it all begin?
And you're like, "You know,
I'm saying, um, you know. "
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Cut.
I'm going to wrap the interview,
like, "Word, word, good luck. "
- One reason why this program
works is because theory-
like, in school,
they give you theory,
but this works
because we do it hands-on.
Being that you did say Lou,
what ifwe pretended
that you was interviewing him
right now or whatever?
- All right, we're right here,
MTV Beach House.
We've got one of the hottest cats
on the streets right now.
- Yes, sir.
- My man, Lou,
down with the HHP project, right?
- Yeah.
- Pleasure, man, pleasure.
You guys are doing it big
right now, right?
- Yeah, man, you know,
just collaborating with a lot of people.
We're making it happen,
you know, putting out the album.
- Mm-hmm.
- Lot of hard work.
And I've been learning a lot
through the process, you know,
that you have to go through
the process, you know?
So there's
no getting around that
and just trying to stay focused.
- What he did right is,
you give people more
than what they need,
then they're always going to
want to put you on their airwaves.
Verse, where you from, man?
- Born in Harlem,
from the Bronx.
- From the Bronx?
What's different about you
than any other artist I've heard,
because there's a hundred artists
coming out a day, bro.
And you know, we're kind of
getting tired of them, man.
So what is it that you're going to do
to pique my interest?
- Whether you're white, black,
or whatever,
you're going to relate to the talent
and the actual content.
- I want to hear
what that sounds like, man.
Just, you know, a cappella, man.
Give me about eight bars, man.
Kick a verse, Verse.
- Every label's a label shit
They want to enable spit
And I'll be watching you daily
in the cable shit
And I just escaped the game
Because the black
is like the over rhyme
Just escaped the prick
who own this clothing line
So now holes in the coat
Pop knows my rhyme,
but you know
Everything is just
so one to none
You're not a dickhead
But you understand
where I'm coming from
Stayed back,
you said you like me, right
Because we're kind of
laid-back
Blazin' the interview,
don't mean to be critical
But this lyrical part
really a part of the interview?
- To leave the mastering plant
and know that that's on the way
to the manufacturing plant,
you know,
I had the big Kool-Aid smile.
To me, that's the biggest thing
I did in my whole life.
And I didn't do it by myself.
I did it with my family.
I'm going to cry.
Oh, man, it's been a long time.
We got 16, 17 cuts on the album,
and it's bangin', you know,
everything is hot.
I'm on my way to Queens
to see my mother,
have a conversation with her
that I've been meaning to have
for a very long time.
Instead of sweeping it under the rug
or ignoring it
or going through the same thing
over and over again,
I'm just going to deal with it,
today, you know?
- Oh, hi.
- Hello, Gene.
- Okay.
- How are you doing?
- All right.
- Can I come in?
- Sure.
- How are you doing?
- Okay.
- Been a long time.
- Mm-hmm.
- You got a new 'do.
- Yeah, I cut my hair off.
- It's the first time
I'm out here.
- Yeah.
- This is nice.
Coming here,
there's so much stuff
I guess I had to ask.
I don't know where to start.
- Start someplace.
- I guess...
Well, so why you-
why you left?
- Why I left you?
- Yeah.
- It's not a matter of left you.
There is millions of people
in this country
that came from other countries.
- All right, mm-hmm.
- And lots
that left their children
before they joined them again.
It's only some rebel.
- You never take up
no responsibility for it.
It's just like it wasn't-
- Take responsibility for what?
- For what?
- Mm-hmm.
- Where you was
all that time, man.
- All what time?
- 14 years.
Where was you all that time?
Let me tell you,
just as much as I'm supposed to
listen to you,
you need to listen sometimes too,
because parents
don't always know what they doing.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, so sometimes
y'all got to humble up
and listen to y'all children.
I'm willing to understand
the parts
about where I wasn't
totally right, you know?
But I'm asking you to hear me,
you know what I'm saying?
Listen to what I'm, you know,
what I was going through.
When you see a kid
that's supposedly acting up
or being rebellious,
it's a cry out to say,
"I want your attention.
I want you to love me. "
Because that's all it was.
I ain't-I'm not a bad person.
I never was a bad kid.
Even when-in the Bahamas,
when I was always in trouble,
that's all it was, you know?
And it seemed like
that was the only time
I got attention from people,
when I was acting up.
And I guarantee,
you talk to any of these prisoners
in these compounds,
they'll te-
you talk to them,
they just-
their actions is really not
about just being bad.
It's deeper, you know?
And we never got to that level,
you know what I mean?
- So now you're coming to say,
all this, all this.
I knew what I went
when I left you then.
I didn't know the situation was
going to turn out the way it is,
because that's not
what we planned.
And when you plan,
you always plan,
it never work like you plan.
And it turned out different.
If I could reverse things,
I would reverse my life different.
I wouldn't do as what I did before.
To apologize for whatever.
Apologize for what?
- My point exactly.
- Apologize for what?
I don't see what you say
to apologize for.
- No doubt.
- If any apology,
you have to apologize to me.
- Well, Gene, I apologize
for bringing any animosity to you
when I came here to America.
If I disrespected you,
I have a lot of stuff
on my chest.
Rather than take that
as an attack on you,
just take it as just pain.
I would like to make
the first step toward repairing
or healing any bad situations
or scars in our relationship.
So I apologize.
So...
- Would you be willing
to just give him a hug
and say, "I'm sorry"?
In his heart,
he's an innocent little boy
that's looking for his mother,
you know?
And he's my man,
and I love him.
- Listen.
I did all of that before,
and he never accept that.
- And you understand
that he was a child
dealing with an adult,
dealing with his mother,
and like he said,
he was in pain.
What would it take
to move forward,
understanding that
where he was at the time
and where he is now
is a great transition.
And let me tell you something,
your son is an incredible man,
and I know you know it.
All you have to do now
is just be there.
- Listen, I'm open to anything.
- Okay.
- He's welcome
if he want to come.
My door is open.
- Okay, thank you.
- Did you have that kind of
a conversation with your mother
about how everything happened?
- No.
I really never carry
any animosity, though.
I wish life were better.
I said, if she was there,
maybe life would be different.
Maybe I would get the education
that I want
or the profession
that I had wanted then.
And-but I still doesn't
hold it for her.
- Well, you know,
maybe I'm not as strong as you.
- The situation happens,
and you got to correct it.
That's what life is.
- Gene, I said I was
going to come here today.
I never touched
your hand before.
- Oh, you never?
- When I ever touch your hand?
- Well, I guess.
- I never held your hand.
I said I'm going
to come here today
and just let go
ofwhatever I've been holding,
and, you know, I just want to
make up for where I was-
where I wasn't always-
When I wasn't always
understanding, you know?
So-
So, you know, I'd never
want you to leave life
and not know that I thank-
thank you for giving me life,
and, um, you know, and I-
I'm going sit by you.
Did I ever give you a hug?
You know, the first day
I saw you, Gene,
you were standing-
you know, I was standing on the escalator
right behind you with Natalie, right?
And then you walked-
I watched you walk up,
and I stood there,
and I just watched you.
You went to the baggage claim.
You asked the man,
"I'm looking for a little boy,"
whatever, whatever,
and I was standing there watching.
Then I raised my hand.
I gave Natalie a hug,
and we just said, you know.
So I never gave you-
- Well, you didn't
want to hug me,
but I just let it be.
- It's all good.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'm sorry.
- Okay.
- You all right?
- Mm-hmm.
- Hopefully, my life,
other people could look at it
and learn.
I let the camera
and y'all into, like,
a lot of places
where I-I didn't want to,
but I figure everybody
goes through this stuff in life,
and it's the people who share it
is really the strongest.
- I just want to say I love you.
- I can't rise
if I got weight on me, you know?
So I feel liberated.
I decided in the time of change
to make some big changes,
and so around the energy
of the Hip Hop Project,
you will have
a new leadership here.
I decided to leave
the Hip Hop Project
to follow my dream
to be an artist.
Well, this is my home studio.
Been building this for a while.
I'm still building it,
but it's getting there.
You know, I came into Art Start
as an artist,
which is why I was able,
you know, to connect with them.
But now I want to dedicate
all my time to just doing,
you know, doing the music.
So it's just now
to find somebody
to fill those shoes
when I'm gone.
- Whoever he brings in
has to have that same touch
on their lives.
'Cause that's
what made it important.
That's what kept us there.
It wasn't just because
it was some curriculum.
It was because he was involved
in our lives on a day-to-day.
If they not doing that,
they'll be losing that whole essence
to what the Hip Hop Project
is even about.
- You know,
I've been thinking about,
you know, this transition.
I was trying to figure out who would be
the person to take my place.
So I'm looking all around,
and lo and behold,
sometimes what you're looking for
is right in front of your face.
I guess what I'm trying to say
is that I would like
nothing more
than for you to be
the new program director.
Plus, you know, like,
I was a student at Art Start,
and somebody passed me the baton.
I would like to pass it to you,
you know?
- Elijah, you with me?
I'm nervous, man.
Okay, here goes.
Let me say
I'm not getting any younger,
and of all the women
I've met in my life...
Elijah.
- My whole life has changed
- You give me so much that I-
that I had to throw away
my little black book.
And now...
Elijah?
- Everything is different now
Girl, I finally
have settled down
And became a one-woman man
- All right.
And I've been resistant
to open my heart,
because trust is not
an easy thing to give away,
and I know that these-
you know, when things are good,
it's all good, but...
Elijah?
- Would love me
if I was down and out?
Would you still
have love for me?
Girl
- All right.
But now I know,
and there's no doubt
you are the one.
And I guess-I guess
what I'm really trying to say is...
Elijah.
- I'm on my knees sayin'
- Marry me
Diandra, yo,
I be getting two-ways from her,
like, once every month,
"Yo, Lou,
you're going to make it. "
- I did not know this was
gonna to happen in '99.
You know what I'm saying,
that it would even go this far,
that it would take this long
to do the album,
you know what I'm saying?
- Thank you for everything,
you know what I'm saying?
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you
for your understanding.
Just your love is unconditional,
you know what I'm saying?
Being a father,
even when my father's not here.
Thank you for being there
just to help me along this way.
- Only thing I would say
to the pinnacle
as y'all move on,
always give back.
I've been saying that
since day one.
Make sure you've got
those certain ten
that you know
you're giving back to.
- Three time, three time.
- My brother.
Check, check, check.
Is this thing on?
Can y'all hear me out there?
Listen
It's Kharma Kazi
and the Hip Hop Project
This is how we gonna do.
This is roll call.
What we're about to
bring to you,
it's the next generation:
MCs, poets, singers.
I hope y'all ready.
First up to bat is CaNNoN.
It's C-A-double N-O-N
up in ya neighborhood
Strollin',
holdin' that pen and a pad
Fill in that paper good
Roaming the city
Holdin' my giddy-guitar
on my back
Passion for music high
I'm a monster on a track
Do it all
Ain't no limit with tunes
from start to finish
I spark a image
Could make a cat feel me
or party wit' it
I'm a bad dude
Name a weapon in war,
I'll blast you
Stomping land wit' my troops
Better be prepared
when we pass through
Royalty quality,
Princess no denying me
Test me and your tracks
will get burned
Like music piracy
Bombing ya speakers
hot flow conceivers
Ill with the skill
and the business of music
Listen
Pay attention
and I'ma teach ya
Hate lays runnin'
with they lips
What's been said
I just grind
and keep shit in the fam
Like inbreds
It's double H-P
We shining crazy
like loony prisms
Flows official booths
Get injured when we up in 'em...
All right, so I want to welcome
y'all to the Hip Hop Project.
I'm Princess.
I'm the director
for the Hip Hop Project.
Let's go around
and just say your name,
how old you are,
what school you go to.
- I feel like
when I leave this life,
I did something,
and you still see it.
You know, you leave a legacy.
So I could come in
a year from now,
and I'm sitting
in the back just watching,
and know that I had a part
in giving it life.
In my lifetime,
I seen a lot of things.
Ups.
Downs.
Trials.
Tribulations.
But you know what?
Through it all,
I learned one thing.
You got to stay strong.
The odds was against me
I was favored to forfeit
But I overcame,
maintained through hardship
My mama didn't want me
I came up a orphan
Could've been a nut
in the condom
Flushed in a toilet
My destiny altered
My fate
has been offered
Had a vision
I would make it regardless
This is my testimony
Hear me clear
Life was whooping
my derrire
To the man upstairs
Said a prayer
So I could stand and stare
At the man in the mirror
I been through it all
My struggle was long
It was tough
I was strong
Though my mama was gone
Kids used to tease me
I'm full of my pride
When no one was lookin',
of course I cried
I felt awful inside
I tossed at night
From the bottom
I was forced to rise
I know the ground
gonna shake
And the winds will blow
Through the highs
and the lows
My survivors know
- Oh, you got to stay strong
Life still goes on
- I know the ground
gonna shake
And the winds will blow
Through the highs
and the lows
My survivors know
- Oh, you got to stay strong
Life still goes on
- I know looking at my life
All the hardship
I been through
Made me sharp as a Ginsu
Heart was an igloo
I took the bitter
with the sweet
Living in the streets
Getting into beef
Limiting my peace
I saw
Murphy's Law
Multiplied by four
The drama I endured
Never stumbled fall
Street-smart,
book retard
I evolved
Chips stacked against me,
and I still beat odds
I go to the depths
of my soul
Introspect
Focus my steps
Then go for the goal
Owe so many debts
To the shoulders I've wept
I want y'all to know
I've been coached by the best...