Blog Post 4: Rebel Diaz-After the Concert

Rebel Diaz gave a great performance last Friday and an interesting workshop before the concert. I found it interesting that they used the workshop to tell us about the history of hip hop, the Bronx, and growing up in Chicago. I expected something completely different and that was a great surprise. They were very well informed on the topic. They talked about hip hop being a cultural memory for people growing up in the Bronx. Groups of all ages would get together, listen to music, and dance. The dancing gets passed down through generations and is a combination of many different dances. I thought it was cool that hip hop was not just focused on a small age group and was a mix of a bunch of different cultures coming together in NYC. Their whole workshop was based on memory. Some of the workshop consisted of the two brothers looking back on their time in New York and growing up in Chicago. RodStarz shared the how was once one of the infamous B boys. The brothers told us about the community arts center they once built. They told us stories and showed us pictures to share the memory so we could relate and understand its significance. The workshop was a very engaging experience.

I really enjoyed being able to listen to their catchy songs while sitting on the lawn with my friends. They were engaging. However, the songs are not just catchy tunes that you would find on the radio. These songs talk about big issues happening in the United States. Rebel Diaz also engages with issues of memory in the lyrics of their songs during the concert. They brought up names of activist groups, poorly treated and wrongly imprisoned men, dictators, and leaders. They tend to support counter hegemonic groups in their lyrics, some of these groups being radical and violent. The brothers continuously brought up the idea in their songs and in the workshop that they represent the people who may not have the power to stand up to the government. They are standing up to the hegemony in the United States. I think that this stance is very brave, and I understand why these communities look up to the musical group. They are bringing up points that we should be discussing like immigration, the wealth gap, and police brutality. I am very glad we had the opportunity to listen to them play and experience the workshop.