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Yesterday’s Hip Hop
A slumping economy. Soaring oil prices. A country ensnared in a massively unpopular war against an ideology. The late 60s and early 70s represented an amalgamation of movements from civil rights to feminism to hippie to environmentalism. It was a time of social unrest, of massive change. A time when art and music reflected and fed off of the political atmosphere. The soundtrack of the time featured some of the greatest music ever produced: The Beatles, Zeppelin, Motown, the Stones, the two Bobs—Marley and Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Elton John. It also included Chris Iijima. Today, during a time eerily similar to a generation before, Yonsei Tadashi Nakamura, a second generation filmmaker, has set out to make sure that Iijima’s name and legacy will always be remembered, will always be included. Nakamura, a Los Angeles native, has created a 30-minute documentary that recollects and reintroduces the life of the singer-song writer who many consider to be the voice of the Asian American community during a time when they had become invisible. “It was blues, folk music,” Nakamura told the Rafu Shimpo. “It was specifically speaking towards that Sonsei generation about the Vietnam war and social issues that were going on, as well as creating that Asian American identity.” After Iijima’s death in 2006, Nakamura set out to create a tribute to his life. His film, “A Song For Ourselves” is that vision realized. The doc is a collection of photographs and videos integrated with music that he hopes will not only validate the Sonsei experience and the work that was done during the Asian American movement, but also introduce that history to the younger generations. “For me it was an empowering thing to see not only that Japanese Americans were politically active during the 60s and 70s, but also that they were artists,” said Nakamura. “Not only artists, they were creative people who utilized their art for political purposes. We never learn about that in school or even in Asian American studies classes in college.” The film, which is set to premiere in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo, is the third installment and a continuation of Nakamura’s focus on the Asian American movement of the 60s and 70s. “It’s a part of history that I think our generation can really identify with,” the 28-year-old filmmaker said. “With hip-hop and rock and people being able to do music on their own because of the digital age. I think there’s a lot more independent musicians and artists out there. I think it’s important to know that there have been successful artists and musicians in our community who have come before. My parallel with what Chris was doing back then is my relationship with hip-hop now.” Along with the film’s premiere will be a concert featuring a blending of both those who came before and those who are doing their thing now. Charlie Chin and Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, who toured with Iijima and helped create the Asian American voice of the 70s, will take the stage. They will be joined by some of today’s finest Asian American hip-hop artists: Blue Scholars, a duo out of Seattle; Kiwi, a Bay area rapper; and Bambu, a Los Angeles MC. “Hopefully what this film does is provide that sense of history. Like, yo, we’ve been out here, doing this for a long time,” said Nakamura. “Even in the 70s we were hip and cool and sexy and talented. At least for me that gives me that, ‘Yeah, we’ve been here for a while. We’ve been doing our thing for a minute.’ I take pride in that. It also inspires me to continue that legacy and, just really feel like I have a place in that, where I belong. It’s not me in someone else’s territory. This space is for me.” |
