Donate by purchasing the Hip Hop Congress for Haiti song for a $39 donation ($1 per MC) at http://goo.gl/nWXls
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Oakland/ Bay Area record label and promo company RonDavoux Records/RDV promo recently released a 20+ minute Video and song featuring 39 artists from around the world on Jan 12, 2013 in memory and support of the Haitian community after a devastating 7.0 Earthquake killed over 300,000. people ( WATCH VIDEO NOW http://youtu.be/VvlYjns5c-g ) Many more were injured, displaced or lost family, possessions and general stability. As time has passed mainstream media seems to have forgotten about the massive disaster’s impact on a already struggling country. Most Haitian citizens still do not have basic needs like food or shelter. Extreme poverty and Corruption have made it hard to rebuild. DLabrie president and founder of RonDavoux Records, and Deputy Director of the National Hip Hop Congress decided to spearhead this project immediately after the earthquake in 2010. The song took 3 years to release which he says is a testament to HHC and RDV’s long-term commitment to the cause.
“Many don’t understand, This is not something we did just to get attention for the moment or just to have a dope song. We wanted to raise awareness of the situation and show a strong unified stand of solidarity , what better way then to give 39 artists a space to express their diverse opinions on one song”
Although the song that started out with one verse which appeared on his 2009 Mixtape “EOG Volume 3” ( Download Free Here http://goo.gl/Ld8c6 ) was intended to come out a lot sooner, DLabrie struggled to get the whole project complete with no real funding. He spoke to over 500 artists and put out public requests, and text blasts on social media to request verses or drops from anyone from famous to up and coming artists from ANY genre. The MC states that some artists were not available to record , others did not reply, while many showed immediate support.
“my fellow RDV crew & HHC member Rahman Jamaal was with me at Swisher box studios in Oakland and he laid a hook and his verse, then i had my longtime fam Stress from Queens and Damion Glass from the Town (Oakland) drop 8 bars, suddenly the light bulb went off to make this song like “Self Destruction” or “All in the Same Gang”, those songs were so powerful for Hip Hop. Nowadays its hard to get anyone to listen to anything that’s not immediately in their face or coming through a mainstream outlet. Sometimes you have to go above and beyond to get a message out. I figure you may ignore my verse but you cant ignore a whole group of artists saying the same thing”
DLabrie who also goes by the alias MR NETW3RK which is the title of his new album (Listen or Purchase here http://goo.gl/UX8V9 ) utilized his and Hip Hop Congress’s huge international network to make this happen with little resources. He also stated that many engineers didn’t want the burden of putting together such a long song which could crash computers, become a tedious hassle & total up to a huge amount in studio fees. Part of the delay of releasing the song was the fact that the track changed hands with at least 3 or 4 different studios before finally being mastered and completed.
“Peoples verses were everywhere; in my email, on flash drives, in different studios, on various computers , on cds, its just amazing how many people just started sending verses a few times we closed the song and finalized it and then realized we had to go back in and add 6-7 more verses. I also lost a verse from my homie Da Passion from the Bronx. He told me when the song was released. I thought I had everyone, I really wanted all the artists to get their voices heard, he would of made it an even 40”
While the song and graphic images in the video are one way to get the word out about Haiti. DLabrie also is working hard to form a lasting relationship with Haitian leaders and help bring programs and resources directly to Haiti through Hip Hop Congress. He has done several phone interviews to public radio in Haiti and spoken to Haitian ambassadors about ideas while learning the challenges.
“Many still don’t have basic necessities, a lot of people think it just happened and everything went back to normal, its still just as bad and sadly a lot of the aid sent to Haiti never actually reached the people on the ground. Censorship wont allow for a song of this nature to be played in full in Haiti. Its a sensitive situation. They said we can start a riot with a statement this powerful, I have good friends like JR Valrey who went to Haiti and helped give medical aid among other things. Speaking to the artists on the song most of them including myself sent a lot of stuff to Haiti in 2010 and donated as well”
Although it remains to be seen how far this Hip Hop Congress for Haiti Movement can go and what is to come of it, this is a brilliant example of Hip Hop , Education, Activism & Unity within the positive impacts of Hip Hop. If you missed the chapter on Haiti in History class just listen to this for a full recap of Haiti’s history as the 1st independent Black nation not in Africa. RonDavoux remians true to it’s motto “Grind Relax and Give back” and Hip Hop Congress is without a doubt since 1997 still “Changing the World …1 Cypher at a time!!
Story by Aaris Schroeder of UBO Mag based on Interview with DLabrie
For more Info :
http://www.DLabrie.com
http://www.HipHopCongress.com
http://www.twitter.com/DLabrie
http://www.twitter.com/RDVpromo
http://www.twitter.com/HipHopCongress
http://www.facebook.com/RDVpromo
http://www.facebook.com/HHCNational
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ABOUT HIP HOP CONGRESS FOR HAITI:
Hip Hop Congress for Haiti is a Hip Hop song created by Hip Hop Congress & RonDavoux Records to Raise Awareness and Inspire people to donate money and supplies to Haiti in support of rebuilding the country after the devastating earthquake in 2010. The song features Rap, R & B, Soul & Spoken Word from 39 Artists from around the world supporting Haiti in solidarity. HHC/RDV is releasing this song on the 3 year Anniversary to remind everyone that the struggle in Haiti is far from over. The song also discusses various topics about Haiti’s Historical Value from the perspective of each Artist & their diverse views!
LIST OF ARTISTS
1. Yung Azz J of RDV (Oakland,CA)
2. DLabrie of RDV (Oakland,CA)
3. Stress of Crimson Vision (Queens, NY)
4. Damion Glass (Oakland,CA)
5. Rahman Jamaal of RDV (Redwood City,CA)
6. Akil the MC of Jurassic 5 (L.A to Atlanta,GA)
7. Marvaless (Sacramento,CA)
8. Bueno (Sacramento,CA)
9. Bigg Mann of Cap Biz/Geddog Records (Sacramento,CA)
10. Knowble of Serendipity Project (Santa Cruz, CA to Boston,MA)
11. Knobody of Hieroglyphics (Oakland,CA)
12. Tone of GorillaPits (San Leandro,CA)
13. KLoc of GorillaPits (San Leandro,CA)
14. Remy Red of The Dragons (San Leandro,CA)
15. XSF of The Dragons (San Leandro,CA)
16. D-Nick of F.E.W (Chicago, IL to Flint, MI
17. YDMC of RDV (San Jose,CA to Atlanta,GA)
18. Ony Oz of One Survival Movement (Richmond, CA/Sacramento,CA)
19. Ms Vybe (Sacramento,CA)
20. Dorn the Overseer (L.A)
21. Blaze 5 (Las Vegas ,NV)
22. Halo Bzerk (Las Vegas ,NV)
23. Dru Diamondz (Bronx N.Y)
24. Big Roma
25. Dot Goodie Hustlanity/Team Goodie Ent.(Oakland,CA)
26. Lil Blood of Livewire Records (Oakland, CA)
27. Maj Gutta of Hustlanity Ent. (Oakland, CA
28. Rux – RuxWorld /Nu Realm Ent. (Vallejo, CA)
29. Chonkum of BlockMonsta Muzik/Team Goodie(Oakland, CA)
30. Young Deshi (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
31. Sellassie of In House (San Francisco, CA)
32. Machetero (Watsonville, CA)
33. Mikhael (Bay Area,CA)
34. Megabusive of Isolated Wax (San Jose, CA)
35. Johnny Afro of KZSU of Stanford Radio (East Palo Alto, CA)
36. Pygmalion
37. Nat the Boss of HHK Records (Oakland, CA)
38. J Ross Parrelli (Auburn,CA/Long Beach, New Jersey)
39. Hippie Hop (Tracy,CA)
