Rebel Díaz is a hip hop group from the Bronx. The group is made up of two brothers: Rodrigo Venegas and Gonzalo Venegas. Rodrigo’s nickname is RodStarz. Gonzalo’s nickname is G1. They are Chilean. Their parents immigrated from Chile during the military dictatorship in the 1970s. Previously the group was made up of four members: the brothers, Lah Tere and DJ Illanoiz. Many of their songs are a mostly in English with some Spanish mixed in. The group uses their songs for activism and protesting political and social injustices. Many of their lyrics show their support for the counter-hegemonic people and groups. Many examples of this can be found in their song “Which Side are You On.” In this song, they collaborated with other hip hop artists to show that the black and latinx communities are on the same side. This song is a remix of the original “Which Side are You On,” which was created to protest miners rights in the 1930s. They have a performed at concerts, an immigration rights march, other marches. Rebel Diaz has done many good things for their community. They have worked with and encouraged the youth and have set up a community arts center. In 2009, the two men were arrested for trying to stop police from harassing a street vendor according to an article by JustSeeds. The police arrested and beat the members of Rebel Diaz. By this time, Rebel Diaz had a decent sized following for standing up for the rights of the people and many showed up to protest their arrest. Because of their influence over the people, a judge pardoned them and told them to continue helping the community.
In an interview with RT, Rebel Diaz talked about the “forces displacing their people from their land,” the “criminalization of youth of color and immigrants,” and how they really talk about that in their music. They talk about legalization of immigration, police brutality, healthcare, and the poor and the wealth distribution. They talk about how we have to make the change. They are trying to represent and cover a number of problems in the United States. They also talk about these problems in their songs. In 2013, they had a music video called “I am an Alien.” The song is about legal and illegal immigrants. The group members are running from ICE officers. At the end of the video, one of the members opens up his jacket to reveal a shirt saying “No human being is illegal.” They really make big statements not just with their music but also with their video images. The interview was in 2010, and they talk about their disappointment with Obama. At this time, Obama had failed to take action for any of the things he had promised for minorities and the poor. In the 2016 election after Obama, Rebel Diaz chose to not pick a candidate. They openly were against Ted Cruz and even tried confronting him. Rebel Diaz is very involved in activism and continues to make new songs and spread the word.
Comments
Post a Comment