July 15 >> Gangstas in the Home of NURock

TEXT EXCHANGE:

3 July 2007/1023am
LOURD: Gang! may topic na ba tayo sa Jul 15 episode?
GANG: Meron, dapat 101 on Global Warming, sina CP ang guest. Pero di pa confirmed.
LOURD: Kung wala, gusto mo yung mga tondo tribes? Mga totoong street gangs at rappers
GANG: Hmm. Teka cancel ko lang sila CP, move natin ang Envi topic to another date...
LOURD: Saya nito! Ang gagaling ng mga bata. Pwedeng mag-freestyle MC battle on air. Wasakan to
GANG: okey game. hindi ko sila kilala so pakitext sakin ang info para malagay sa website....

9 July 2007/829pm
GANG: Lourd, may website ba sila sa movie? Paki send info, names etc etc, ilang days na lang kasi hindi ko pa napopost para ma accomodate mga tanong ng listeners...
LOURD: jimdiamond.multiply.com (temporary site yata) di pa kasi ata tapos ang www.tribu-themovie.com
LOURD: ang galing nito, maski walang questions, kaya nila punuin ang show, maski 2 hours! verbal jousts, pero ilagay mo na lang na sila yung actors sa film ni Jim Libiran na TRIBU...
GANG: teka, di kaya tayo ma-drive-by nito? katakot...pwede ba yung mga mababait lang ipa-guest natin sa NU? TEKA!! may mabait bang gangster?
LOURD: wasak ka no, basta... okey 'to

14 July 2007/559pm
LOURD: pa meryenda tayo sa tondo crew bukas ah
GANG: o ba, pano? dala tayong pagkain sa NU o ilabas na lang pagtapos? Mag painom na lang tayo sa Meatshop, yung dating Tribu... (uy okey ah, Tribu din)
LOURD: sandali ha, baka ibang meryenda ang ibig nilang sabihin.. baka illegal, I'm finding out, text you back.
GANG: uy waw, okey ...
LOURD: Ok, chibog lang pala...pre or post show... di pala sila umiinom.....
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And so it came to pass, hip hop gangsta rap artists got their 15 minutes (1 hour or so, in fact) on the airwaves usually dominated by rock and roll. Rock Ed Radio invited the gangstas in the context of their life as poets and artists, life as Filipinos in the front and center of an impoverished state (sometimes) .... I suppose in the end hiphop is not so much a genre of music... let's see...
There lies a proverbial blue-flame line between those who live by gangsta rap and the one who adheres by rock and roll. A silent hot, cold divide that's always been there, supposedly.

Last night, the rock listeners of NU107 listened to four real-life gang members who are starring in Jim Libiran's much-awaited film called TRIBU. Libiran, a finalist in this year's Cinemalaya festival, created more than a film, so they say. He also got real life gangsters together to enflesh his Palanca winning script. If the statistical norm Filipino won't even walk within the same block as a hiphop mob because of all the violent misconceptions about this underworldly people, we gotta hand Libiran the trophy just because he dove right into it. Film making, I learned, is really about courage and a steady stance on things.

Shilbert. Poet with bling. He is a father now and hardly looks like the mob leader I had in my narrowmind.
Raynoa and Lloyd. Poets both. Living beatboxes, too. Terse, sharpshooting verses, wrapped in rhythm and moving in rhyme. Ang huhusay nitong mga 'to ... Shown in photo above is Lloyd. He narrates the loss of his friend during the recent fiesta. His friend got separated from their group and was gunned down. When I asked Lloyd if approaching the authorities (say, the police) was an option for something like this, he says sometimes it's useless to do so. My first instinct was to think that gangstas have their own justice system, but on closer scrutiny .... this sentiment echoes even to those who don't have gangs. The gang collective just magnifies what we all go through. Reacting to poverty, searching for identity, respect, discipline, livelihood and love. That is what we all do. They just make the search more obvious.

Billy is the funny one. His manner of rap is lighter than the rest. His poetry shines through when we asked him to freestyle a reaction to the present national situation. I always believed that sense of humor is intellect dancing. There is no doubt that these young men are sharp and quick on their feet. Most of us stay staring at the cursor on a blank white space, they are merely asked a question and poetry spews out. Poetry drawn from the life in the streets. Every rap piece is a celebration that they are still alive and that they manage to win some, despite the cards they hold.

Jim Libiran breaks ground on this film. With every chance to have a Sam Milby type to sell his docu on street gangs, he chose the better route. Get the actors who know the drill best. Not much internalization here, just depiction of a life they already know. I suppose in the end that's a better decision than to make a powder-puffed matinee face be on board for this one.

I prefer the French word for Director, (Realisateur) because it indicates, not someone who orchestrates all the elements of a film, but someone who "makes real" onto film something that is real in real-life. (huh?)) With all the plastic components around us, figuratively and literally, we sometimes don't know when we're real. We all have projected lives in the photos of our blogs and Friendsters and we multiply that audio-text depiction of our lives on Multiply. Some fakes are abound the Friendster realm, I know. But this movie is real life. This movie is contemporary Tondo history, organized for our consumption. Written by the unbiased and those who know the societal movements best. A good analogy for us, Filipinos. After all, the Philippines is one big figurative Tondo. Mas maayos pa nga ata ang totoong Tondo, sa atin, in general.

Rock Ed Radio thanks the rap artists, Raynoa, Shilbert, Billy, Lloyd for taking the time out to be guests on a rock station. For crossing that cold line of fire between them and us. (it's always that, huh, US and THEM and them and us....) Salamat at nabanat ulit ang pinupulikat na naming mga utak at pananaw.

On a personal note: Salamat kay Shilbert na kino-correct ang aking Tagalog grammar. Haha. I also want to thank the gentlemen for breaking my image of what a gangsta is. I was always teased for my name before (even if its roots are in the Visayan term of endearment "pangga.") May nagsabi sakin minsan na lola ng barkada ko nung high school, "Ay, hija, ang sama naman ng pangalan mo!! " So pwede ko na i-text yung lolang yon...

16July2007/622am (maaga ako nag text kasi nga lola yun eh)

GANG: Lola, okey lang na Gang ang pangalan ko, kasi mahuhusay at mababait ang mga nakilala kong totoong gangster sa Tondo. tulog ka ng mabuti at mag efficascent oil, ha. Good night po.

Read more on Libiran's TRIBU.
Also on http://www.tribu-themovie.com/
and my blog http://sumandali.blogspot.com/

text: Gang Badoy/ photo credit: Ispok Sy copyright2007

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Gangsta not as you know it.

Film director Jim Libiran is neck deep into making his much-awaited film TRIBU.

Based on real-life tribes of Tondo, this film may very well be a better cultural mirror than our old and terribly biased history books.

Learn about the film. (http://jimdiamond.multiply.com/)

And listen to its reality on Sunday.

Samahan si Lourd at Gang kausapin si Jim Libiran at ang mga lider ng mga tropa't tribo ng Tondo; this Sunday on Rock Ed Radio. Your alternative Social Studies class on air.

July 15, Sunday at 8pm on NU107.

text: Gang Badoy/ photo credit: Jake Verzosa, taken in Taguig. Subject of photo is not from Tondo. Just FYI.