Very few people get to make a living out of what they are truly passionate about in life. In the rare instance that one does, the pay is often minimal. Actually, the real payoff is usually more like bragging rights. Just ask the crew behind the TV show Distortion 2 Static (D2S): When it comes to hip hop and independent media, it’s not about a salary, it’s all about reality.
D2S is an independent endeavor, now in its third year of broadcasting, with a weekend midnight time slot on television in the Bay Area (WB20). The series recently received SF Weekly’s “The Best of 2005” Local TV Show award. Formerly a public-access show, D2S’s original less-than-desirable time slot was at 2:30 a.m. However, twentysomethings might disagree with this statement.
Distortion 2 Static weaves interviews, artist profiles, music videos and performance footage into each episode, and takes great pride in representing for the hip-hop culture through the lens of a Bay Area perspective. Featured performers include Filipino American DJs like Triple Threat, Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike, Quannum Projects MC Lyrics Born and Feenom Circle. Charismatic twin brothers Ariel (aka ?REL?) and Aries (aka ?Prince Aries?) Nunez are the on-air hosts, guiding the flow in between segments.
Behind the camera, the Nunez brothers are equally dynamic: Prince Aries oversees all art direction and design (post-production graphics, web design) and REL handles the editing. Both attended San Francisco State University, graduating in design and industry and broadcast and electronic communication arts, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the crew: Halline “Halo” Overby assists with interviewing, promotion and production; Phil “Chicken Skratch” Chua handles advertising, marketing and promotions, as well as some production; and Zack Devincent oversees business logistics, while also acting as the liaison between D2S and WB, actually negotiating their contract in 2003. As a rising organization that’s fiscally sponsored by the Bay Area Video Coalition, it’s safe to assume that everyone knows how to do a little bit of everything.
What the crew lacks in a steady paycheck, they more than make up for with creative control over content and direction. They take a decidedly DIY (do it yourself), grassroots approach and make it a point to film in the field (at various concerts and events) and to give airtime to emerging talent.
Asian Americans in hip hop may be a novelty elsewhere, but in the Bay Area most of the widely recognized DJs are Filipino, and many hip-hop activists have Asian Pacific American faces.
“Filipinos [and other minorities] are in some ways ‘pampered’ in Daly City & San Francisco, and we sometimes don’t realize that we can’t be the next big Jay-Z or Eminem, because we’re not black or white. … Even Q-Bert & D-Styles, who to many are considered the best scratch DJs on the planet, couldn’t be as big as Jay-Z, and they’re basically the equivalent of him in the DJ realm,” explains Chicken Skratch. “As much as people say that race doesn’t matter, it does … ”
Japanese American DJ Mike Nice was featured on the turntables of the third season’s premiere episode. Mike Nice has been a staple of the San Francisco club circuit, oftentimes spinning records alongside friends (and fellow APA DJs) Triple Threat, Derrick D, Oliver “O-Dub” Wang, or Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist.
This summer, D2S interviewed The PACIFICS, a trio of Filipino American MCs (and a DJ too, of course!), hot off a performance at Lumpia Palooza 2. Hailing from Chicago, The PACIFICS (People Accumulating Creative Ideas Foregoing Ignorant Conclusions of Society) recently released their sophomore album titled Sunday’s Chicken. Said to sound like early A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, the group espouses true school hip-hop ideals and skilled lyricism.
The PACIFICS thrive off the accolades they receive from the community in Chicago and beyond. Marwin Taba, also known as KP, says, “My APA identity factors in many ways. It is something I want to represent, but it is not the only way I want to be represented. As far as musicianship, my race shouldn’t matter.”
“Everyone is basically together within the hip-hop community as a whole; it’s just the presence of APAs in the hip-hop community has progressed over the years,” says Rex Quijano, known as Strike III, adding that just like D2S, The PACIFICS don’t buy into stereotypes or limits.
In the early spring, Distortion 2 Static will be reunited with The PACIFICS, taking the stage as the hosts of Directions in Sound, a music and music video showcase presented by the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Picking up where the Mountain Brothers and Jin left off on the mic, Distortion 2 Static will unveil a new generation of beats and rhymes from the Asian American underground.
The PACIFICS are releasing a brand new 12-inch on October 20 for their crowd favorite, “Talk is Cheap feat. Rakaa (Iriscience).” It will have the original, a remix and a brand new song, so if you dig vinyl — pick it up! For more info on The PACIFICS, visit their website at www.thepacifics.com.
DETAILS: Distortion 2 Static airs Sundays at 12 midnight on the WB20. Visit www.distortion2static.com, or catch them at a club around town.
“Filipinos [and other minorities] are in some ways ‘pampered’ in Daly City & San Francisco. We sometimes don’t realize that we can’t be the next big Jay-Z or Eminem … ”
– Chicken Skratch, D2S
Contributor Christine Padilla, a consultant in events planning and project building, can be reached at cvpadilla@gmail.com.