The People Living Underground (PLU) b-boy and rap competition will hold its ninth contest this Friday and Saturday (April 16-17) at the Puget Sound Christian Center in Tacoma. Unlike previous competitions, PLU 9 will feature a panel discussion on Friday, allowing open dialogue between community members and original b-boys from various crews. There will also be a pre-event party featuring a performance by Ohmega Watts, Othello, and Braille and Muneshine--known collectively as Lightheaded. The following day will feature a graffiti showcase with Seattle and Tacoma urban artists, as well as a b-boy and emcee competition that many will want to see.
It was only a matter of time before the automobile industry fully embraced hiphop culture and its artists. While Cadillac came out with its custom-edition Snoop DeVille, a new make manufactured by Toyota, called Scion, is throwing a series of monthly free events in Seattle and across the U.S. Scion's marketing campaign for its new line of automobiles is focusing on hiphop in an attempt to reach young urban adults. The idea is that the brand is geared toward people who are looking for something slightly ahead of the curve, cars that are a bit different. Since hiphop is now a big part of what drives American culture, it seems only natural for Scion to establish a consistent presence in the metropolitan community.
This Tuesday, April 20, Toyota will be organizing a screening at the University of Washington campus of three classic movies that everybody, if they haven't seen them already, needs to put at the top of their lists in order to get a better understanding of the evolution of hiphop culture. Those three films are Wild Style, Style Wars, and The Freshest Kids. The former two have been talked about extensively, however The Freshest Kids is one of the more overlooked films (mostly because it's the most recent of the three). Directed by Evan "Israel" Brenner, it goes into deep detail about the past 25 years of b-boying and hiphop culture, with great interviews from pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa and legends like KRS-One, as well as current stars like Mos Def.
In addition to film, Scion will also be showcasing talented national and regional deejays at various free shows. Last month, Peanut Butter Wolf and DJ Scene rocked Chop Suey, and this Wednesday, April 21, Scene and B-Mello will share the wheels with legendary pioneer Jazzy Jeff (also at Chop Suey).
Josh Levine, president of Rebel Organization, Inc., the grassroots-marketing group connected with Scion, emphasized how important it is that they align themselves with figures in each respective community: "We are trying to use these outlets to look for new talent to come up. Anybody can throw a bunch of money at bringing high-profile artists, but we want to invest in the community and look out for the hungry deejays who are really doing it."
Finally, corporate America is marketing to the urban community by investing in it and letting the community do it themselves, rather than the method in the past few decades of reselling the culture back to its creators in a watered-down format.
