By: Martin Tucker
Staff Writer
Thursday, Sept.30 ,the four members of iLL-Literacy, a spoken word psychedelic funk hip-hop fusion band, had members of the Asian Pacific American Student Union and Floetic Movement recalling their favorite pickup lines that grew increasingly hilarious.
It was a night to remember filled with pipe cleaners, a slow motion hill toe, “the bad janks with the fat janks,” and Def Poetry alumni Dahlak Brathwaite saying, “Don’t you shank that piñata!” Although it wasn’t all just fun,there were serious discussions on campus politics, leadership in different clubs, and social issues like APASU President Amber Thiangthong explaining the importance of individuals like Vincent Chin and Fred Korematsu in the context of American history, as well as a call for Asian American studies.
Drizzl and Nico Cary, also known as N. I. C., led the workshop in a commentary on why they hold leadership workshops along with their performances and how they came up with the idea for their new college exclusive program CampusBuiLLd. They stated that they felt “irresponsible” for having a provocative performance that would inspire students to recognize recurring issues in their own schools and to just leave without giving them ideas about resolving those issues. It’s remarkable that these four artists care that much for students they don’t even know, and that was just the first day.
That same evening, when Ada Clock proclaimed Amber to “open the doors” to a decent crowd of APASU and FM members as Thiangthong took the stage after iLL-Literacy’s MacBook pros played Outkast’s “Return of the Gangsta,” Jay-Z’s “Pray,” and some Mos Def. Joined by Ka’Lyn Banks, president of Floetic Movement. They introduced Michelle Dodd, a Chesapeake slam poet, who was nervous before Nico Cary comforted her with “You about to tear the house down, spit hot fire .” Dodd spoke on the parallel intangibleness but certainty of God and love. Simba Castano, an ODU freshman and Brave New Voices alumni, spoke next delivering a passionate poem before handing off the mic to Floetic poet Martin Tucker and later to 2005 ODU Alumni and Virginia Beach Public Schools Social Studies teacher, Marco Mercade, who performed poems ranging from inspiring his students to setting out a blueprint of how to be successful through college and beyond.
The main event started with Ada Clock strapping on a guitar with an amazing MPD attachment, Dahlak building the beat for Michael Jackson’s “Beat it,” and Adriel “Drizzl” introducing the crowd to what would be one of the most memorable nights of their year. Overcoming technical difficulties, iLL-literacy started with their funk spoken-word rap song “Circus Lights” then transitioning into “Welcome to Fantom Island” where Drizzl proclaims proudly, “I got my mind on my money and my money in a mattress.” Nico later spits a tongue twisting verse accapella with perfect delivery and a movement that is reminiscent of a half-black, half-chinese Lupe Fiasco.
Highlights included a dance break and a call and response session as Nico made the crowd go wild with “ODU, what it do!” They took a break from music as Dahlak performed “An Old White Man” about the absurdity of language restrictions in a society where many more dangerous things are left unrestricted, which seemed to be almost a homage to George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words.”
Immediately after the poem, Drizzl, Dahlak, and Nico provided three scrolls which contained a list where they vented their frustrations at everything they hated from the Dragonball-Z movie to Lunchables. While Ada Clock set up the next song, Drizzl performed a humorous but heartfelt piece on a woman’s ethnic makeup in the context of a club scene, a “beautiful rejection” poem he wrote in college after taking a women’s studies class at UC Davis where three of the members went to school. Dahlak ended the spoken word section with an impersonation of Katt Williams in a poem titled “I Know You Like it Rough,” where he deals with the hip-hop generation’s preoccupation with violence saying, “This is a generation of one night stands promoted by one hit wonders.”
iLL-Literacy finished with their feel-good single, “Gentleman’s Kool Aid,” that takes Fela Kuti’s idea of “wearing a suit doesn’t make you a gentleman” and applied it to hip-hop before Dahlak led the entire room in a constrained but fun electric slide
At the end of the show, Ada Clock, who received his name playing a fullback in high school with a dark-skinned halfback affectionately known as “Midnight,” broke down the equipment, including a high tech set up of Macs, instrumentation, and MPCs while the four of them took pictures and signed autographs.
Marco Mercado thought it was a “great collaboration” between APASU and Floetic Movement to put on this event, and having seen iLL-Literacy for the second time, “liked that they added music” to their performance.
Jazzmin Crawley, vice president of Floetic Movement, stated that it was “an awesome kickoff for the beginning of the school year”and it was sure to be a successful first stop on their CampusBuiLLd tour.
What’s most interesting is that iLL-Literacy started out as a student poetry organization that held open mic and poetry events at UC Davis and have been successful for seven years together as a professional group. It speaks volumes to the potential of student organizations and student artists.
Photo by: Eric Diep | Mace & Crown
