RASQACHEPEDIA: 2MEX

RASQACHEPEDIA: 2MEX

2mex2mex2mex2mex..

..is a free spirit, homegrown icon of Indigenismo Chicano art, and a voice for every shy nerd longing for “Anarchism essential”. 2Mex is like a superhero that puts on a mask and cape in order to take on an alter persona, and like every hero, his true self is when he's at his best: Sun God Son mode. 2Mex, Alex, lived with his mom for the majority of his career (at home like a good Mexicano), but 2mex, the legend of the notorious Los Angeles underground scene, is a fearless MC than can string syllables together with a level of intricacy that rivals Big Pun (R.I.P. & check him out if you never got around to it) or Eminem on any day. And like Eminem, 2mex was never unnerved when involving touchy parts of his personal life in his songs or revealing insecurities in his lyrics. After putting out an impressive discography of half a dozen solo albums and another dozen collabo-albums over the course of 15 years, with extensive touring and selling verses via e-mail (I bought one, oh yeah!), 2mex has been able to make a living off of being a self-employed rapper without having compromise at any moment and continues to make a living showing up in your home town. So go check him out!  

RASQACHEPEDIA: SELENA

RASQACHEPEDIA: SELENA

Selena was another understated mega-diva, and no offense to Selena Gomez, but there will always only be one true Selena and she doesn't need a last name. She was a self-made Madonna (with help from her entourage), and Taylor Swift, Nikki Minaj, Katie Perry, & Beyoncé rolled into one Tex-Mex-mix of flavor, style, and a booming, beautiful voice that could ease into any style of song and gracefully accompany an impressive resume of guest vocalists in enchanting duets.

The secret to Selena's success was the full backing of her team. Selena was more than the leader of the team. She was the icon and message carrier for everyone's hard work and dedication to creating a larger than life experience. Her band was incredibly talented and could play in a wide range of genres. Her outfits were apologetically out there with bright colors and sequins with a just touch of sex appeal, and many have been directly copied by nearly every 21^st Century pop diva. Any where Selena went, there was an army of behind the scenes workers making sure that she was the center of attention. The key though was that they were all part of the “Selena Family” and this united them so that they could create the perfect conditions for her greatness to flow naturally.

As much as Selena was an unstoppable force of stardom, she curiously gets left out of the conversation when people talk about the greats. It was almost impossible to leave the house in the mid 90s without hearing “Dreaming of You”, even if you didn't know who was singing the song. Most of us know there was a Hollywood film on her life, starring J-Lo of all people, and maybe half of us have seen the film, but for the most part, Selena is not a huge part of public consciousness. Perhaps she was stunted by the stigma that music by Mexicans is only for Mexicans, or maybe “gangsta rap” had been taking over all the crossover potential, but for those who knew, none of that other stuff mattered. From 1989 to 1995 Selena put out an album each year but 1991 and her dedicated fan-base bought over 63 million copies of her music, not including live albums or compilations.

Selena was simply born at the wrong time and never got the exposure she deserved or would have already attained had she launched her career 20 years later. For this reason only, she remains unassuming to anyone not from Texas, or otherwise in-the-know. It would have been a pleasure to have seen her live longer and see how far her career would have gone in these changing times.

RASQACHEPEDIA: MALCOLM X

RASQACHEPEDIA: MALCOLM X

I was recently at a friend's 65th birthday and as an ice breaker for her short speech she jokingly remarked that after all this time she hadn't figured out how traffic works. A few people yelled out their answers, and then I chimed in with mine, "cowardice." I explained that everyone is afraid to step on the gas until they see the person in front of them moving, but if we all had the courage to go forward when we saw the light turn green then we could, in theory, all proceed at once so long as we were sharp about when to use the breaks. Malcolm had the vision to see a few spaces of where he and the people sitting in traffic were and that the cars were already moving, so he was blairing the horn and sticking his head out the window yelling, "C'mon! Lets move it already!"

What a tragic story, a prodigal son destined to fall even with the focus, grace and impact as one would think humanly possible. Malcolm was so powerful because he had two rebirths in a short lifetime. One can only dream about what he would say if he were alive today. In times like these, when the sheep are so fearful of the wolves who watch the pigs in their big mansions, we need a couple of fierce lions to guard the herd not lay down. We need a warrior that is willing to lead from the front and follow through on an organized plan of action. We need a leader who will look at the world for what it is and not be afraid to look at their enemy as their neighbor. 

Malcolm X was a man who drew his strength from his convictions. He didn't need anyone's permission to say what was on his mind because he wasn't just speaking for himself. Malcolm was looking at the bigger picture and saying what needed to be said. It was only until after he visited Africa and The Middle East, Mecca in particular, that he was able to broaden his perspective even bigger and broke the illusion of a purely black vs. white idea of good vs. evil (so to speak). And with greater conviction came an even greater sense of duty and drive to spread his new ideas with more tenacity than ever before, even challenging his former mentor, Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. He thought there views closed minded and wished to show Black activists that there was another way to stand up for themselves. It was unfortunate that he had to prove his point by dying at the hands of his former organization, who were curiously more threatened by Malcolm's ideas than the white people they claimed to hate so much.

RASQACHEPEDIA: FRIDA KAHLO

RASQACHEPEDIA: FRIDA KAHLO

Frida Kahlo, a goddess among men, a woman whose life was so fully lived in both the scope of majesty and travesty in such a short period that her life energy can still be felt to this very day. She was the original Diva and a woman with true friends around the world. Her paintings are free from genre and yet steals from every style she pleased to, post-modern to surreal, and the master of the portrait. Her uniqueness separated her from humanity while attracting so much of it to her, eager to experience the world through her eyes, but she forever belongs to her physical and emotional deformities, and to a life that never could have been.

Frida was a master of turning pain into beauty and she had so much pain to paint with. She suffered from polio before puberty, a life threatening bus accident to welcome her into adulthood, endless surgeries, a removed foot, and an endless heartbreak at the hands of her own bravery to try to claim Diego Rivera, a beast too wild to tame, for her own. The result was an autobiography of paintings which depicted the details of her pain with childlike playfulness and real-life intensity. Viewing her paintings is like drifting through her dreams and nightmares, the dialogue we all have in our heads, spoken in color.

Frida was also a woman who lived the life she wanted to life, no matter what anyone said or thought of her. Frida was a shear force of nature. She went and approached Diego Rivera as a teenager, a larger than life personality, and seduced him all the way into marriage. She made legions of women in the U.S. jealous of her Mexican flair, celebrity lifestyle, and unbound originality. She traveled through Europe having affairs with men and women from across the art world and broadening her own vision as an artist. With the help of an eclectic circle of friends, she pulled off successful galleries in New York, Paris, and finally back in her home, Mexico City, an opening she arrived to still in bed because she was too weak to arrive any other way. With every tragedy in her way and a life that was cut short, Frida still found a way to live the life she wanted to live and lived it to the fullest at every moment, no matter how much pain caved in on her. 

RASQACHEPEDIA: EMINEM

RASQACHEPEDIA: EMINEM

Eminem is an interesting figure for a number of reasons, but most notably for being a poor white kid from Detroit who would eventually emerge as one of the biggest names in Hip Hop ever. While his socioeconomic status fueled him as an early MC, his skin color initially held him back (with special thanks to Vanilla Ice). Facing adversity as a child made it a little bit easier to face the haters in the rap game, which he did so with a balance of grace and rough edges.

In a genre dominated by artists who told glamorized tales of their lives, Eminem stood out by using the ugly truths in his life to tell much more engaging stories and connect to fans on the personal level. His earlier albums allowed for him to uncover battles with drug addiction & the emotional scars of growing up in a broken home and starting one of his own. Like a snake shedding dried up skin, a more confident Eminem was able to emerge, sharing his experiences as a father, a role model, and as a more mature artist with a political conscience & humbler sense of humor. While it can be easy to miss the old Slim Shady, the raw nerve, it has rewarding for fans to watch him step out of the fire.

Let's not forget about his technical abilities. Eminem may not be the greatest rapper to ever live, (and who can even make that call,) but he is the best at what he does. Even if you are not moved by his songs or don't agree with the content, it is hard not to respect his ability to put syllables together and use his voice like an instrument at a degree of intricacy and variance that dwarf's his contemporaries. He handles pressure on the mic in a line of work that is incredibly competitive and never loses his edge. Eminem has a way of getting better the more the odds are stacked against him, and even uses them to his advantage, a quality we can all admire.  

RASQACHEPEDIA: BATMAN

RASQACHEPEDIA: BATMAN

For the first entry of Rasqachepedia I thought it was important to use a fictional character in order to demonstrate how fiction impacts our real lives and what we get out of it. Rasqachepedia is not about facts or statistics, but more about discussing figures - artists, leaders, & legends.

Batman is truly a legend, who's story has been passed down and retold over and over from writer to illustrator to reader, reincarnating in films and video games, inspiring an increasing fan base as his legend grows and evolves. Bit it's never been about the permutations, or his popular, yet rather silly villain ensemble. It's always been about the man behind the cowl, Bruce Wayne. Outsiders are too caught up in whether he's wearing black rubber or gray spandex, & it's no one's business if he's having an affair with Robin. The legend of Batman is about a man who lost everything that mattered to him, but got back on his feet to dedicate everything he had left to one cause: defending the lives of the people of his city.

Batman is a man with total conviction, a quality that is universally admirable. He is willing to sacrifice his own life to save even the lives of the terrorist criminals that plague him. Batman's strength lies not in his gadgets or above average physical abilities, but in his pure will power. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose. The combination of a childlike sense of compassion and a cloud free sense of judgement is what allows him to act without hesitation and do what is necessary. This focus empowers him to utilize his strength, intelligence, speed, agility, and instruments to the greatest of his abilities. 

Despite all the crime in Gotham, Batman's real battle is with his own pain, a constant struggle to transform his profound angst into legendary actions. No amount of good deeds will ever erase the sorrow he feels from the loss of his parents. His stunted emotional growth subtly pushes the reader to feel sorry for him,  rather than recognize his sociopath activities. For the sake of the story, we forgive him for running around hospitalizing thugs and criminals instead of getting over the trauma like anybody else. Instead we are enthralled as we watch him go deeper, only to rise to new heights. As long as Batman's pain transcends into justice, fans will continue to be inspired by his struggles and sacrifices to do what is right. 

"Mictlancihuatl"