Issue 2: Americana

Letter from the Editor

Modes of transportation are super instrumental to my creative process because it allows me to affirm two things: 1) I can flee on my own and 2) I can always come back when I’m ready. My process embraces departure and reentrance – leaving memories as moments in time and returning to them as tombstones – not to mourn – but to use as inspiration for myself and the people around me. When you’ve got a foundation, it’s hard to truly ever stray from that core value because it is who you are.

Trains are the best; we’re rarely riding on trains that go backwards, and we should use that as a life lesson.

No matter how far we go and no matter how many times we return to the same physical space, we must never go backwards. Moving in reverse often creates a toxic environment. We’re too busy looking at everyone else moving forward that we keep forgetting how to do it ourselves.

A lot more time went into making this issue of DWNTWN because I allowed myself ample time to do so. There are more visuals, editorials, photos, stories, designs, and thoughts that are incorporated into this issue.

We’ve got to keep moving forward in life, especially when we’re thriving in a generation that comes across as materialistic, vain, and uninterested. We, as a cohort, have a mission to push each other onward. Americana was created to inspire a new generation and curate the experience of forward-moving and forward-thinking people.

With that said, I present to you 002: Americana.

T|H

REVIVE THE FIVE MILE CITY HOW I LEARNED TO SHUT MY MOUTH PEDULING FORWARD NO CHURCH IN THE WILD OPEN LETTER TO WHITE HIPSTER BOYS ONLY HERE FOR THE CULTURE TRG: THE HYBRID FEMINISM: THE BLACK MARKET TO FIFTH AVENUE AMERICANA: INTROSPECTIONS OF MILLENNIALISM BLACK RAIN WE DON’T THINK LIKE YOU CONSCIOUS RAP IN THE DAYS OF THE DEAD WE OWN THE NIGHT FROM THE KINGDOM TO THE HUB NO HASHTAGS, RETWEETS, 140 CHARACTERS, & GHOSTS HOW LEGACY WAS IJ-INSPIRED WORDS. ARBITRARY LITTLE BITCHES. WHO IS TRYING TO BE COOL?

CONTENT

REVIVE T H E FIVE M I L E CITY

The city is 5 miles wide, the county seat of Middlesex County, and the home to Rutgers University. New Brunswick sits on the Southern banks of the Raritan River and stands tall as “The Healthcare City”, home of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Also, nicknamed as Hub City, “the Bruns” is equidistant from Philadelphia as it is New

York City. As we look to discover New Brunswick as a cultural center, a creative incubator, and a force to be reckoned with, we talked to Saskia Jabalon, a New Brunswick native on the thrill of the city, the duality of New Brunswick’s culture as the home of a top-tier school and the impoverished locals crying for help, and more. @Sashimi_lee

TH: Do you consider New Brunswick the hood?

SJ: I would say that it has “hood” elements, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the Hood. It really depends on the people you’re hanging around with, honestly. You could get into some real hood shit if you hang around the wrong people. I’m in the scholarship program RFS (Rutgers Future Scholars), and one of the kids who were in this program with me actually got stabbed a few years back, so he wasn’t able to receive his scholarship or anything. He was on a track to college, he was fine, but he was hanging around the wrong people. It’s like that around here. People get shot just for walking on the wrong streets. So, yes, it has hood elements. On Remsen Street, people get shot there all the time. Rutgers New Brunswick is so different from the “real” New Brunswick.

That’s what it is. When you’re a college kid and you go to the places where the college kids are at, you’re fine. You may get robbed, but it’s not that big of a deal.

TH: You look outside and see all of these new buildings and apartments. As a New Brunswick native, what does that mean? Does it look good? What’s it doing to your family? What’s it doing to your friends from middle school and high school?

SJ: Well, if you really grew up in New Brunswick, you’re going to be surrounded by a lot of poverty, and that’s the largest “hood element”, if anything. There’s a lot more poverty than there is any kind of violence. You’ll see a lot more drugs. People are doing a lot of petty theft and petty crimes. You get used to it. I used to wake up and see cars on my block with the windows smashed open because the college kids or people in general who didn’t know better would park their cars up on my street because it’s free parking. They would leave their stuff in their cars because they didn’t know any better and they’d get robbed. The owners of those cars would come back to broken windows and slashed tires. I was thinking about this the other day. By 2030, the New Brunswick that I know is not going to be here anymore because the way that [Rutgers] building certain things. They’re pushing out the impoverished citizens of New Brunswick to make room for the college kids and high-class executives who can afford to live in The Vue. I’m thankful that I get to experience New Brunswick as it is right now, but it’s sad to see things getting washed over.

TH: Where do you find yourself more comfortable, the Rutgers-New Brunswick side or the authenticNew Brunswick side?

SJ: I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s sometimes more safer in the Rutgers section of New Brunswick, I won’t lie, just because there are so many sexual predators in New Brunswick. There’s a lot of that going on here. There’s this large money pursuit in all different types of sex industries, whether it be sex trafficking or … there are a lot of whorehouses here by French Street.

There’s a lot of prostitution going on. The last time I looked it up, I saw that there were 6 sexual predators in New Brunswick per mile, and it’s only 5 miles across so that’s about 30 sex offenders here. It’s insane and you can feel it. When I’m walking in Rutgers-New Brunswick, I don’t get as much street harassment as I do in the “real” New Brunswick. You have the older guys who don’t care how old you are, even if you’re a minor. It’s sad. You get to use to it, sadly. Growing up here, you just know not to even turn their way, no matter what they say. I always walk fast and all of my friends always ask me “Why do you walk so fast?” It’s because of that. You really aren’t supposed to spending your time out late at night in New Brunswick. Now, don’t get me wrong! New Brunswick isn’t all that bad. It has its good sides. I feel like people are a lot more authentic around here. I feel like because we are a community and we all go through these different struggles, it’s easier to relate to one another. Whereas when you look at college students, you come across all different kinds of people from all different walks of life. They may not even understand the basic concept of being poor or going through some kind of struggle. We’ve got a lot of rich kids who can’t grasp that but you can’t blame anybody for that because it’s their experience, If somebody can’t go to college because they don’t have papers and they’re illegally living here, you understand that because you grew up around that. New Brunswick’s got a strong sense of community.

“By 2030,

the New Brunswick that I know is not going to be here anymore.

TH: What’re your thoughts on George Street?

SJ: George Street is the perfect metaphor for gentrification in New Brunswick. If you walk all the way down George Street where the Starbucks and Chipotle are and then you walk in the other direction near my house where you see the Picken’ Chicken and the bodega are, you can see the change perfectly. The air is different, the lights are different, everything is different. It has that sense of whitewashing a culture, the culture that lives in the bodega, the community. You know, you have the Dominicans and the Dominican hair salon, and that’s our community. At the same time, it was always good and cool for us kids to take a break and go shopping. It was kind of like our Manhattan for us, you know? Going downtown. It’s the cool thing to do, like “Let’s go downtown and be around all the college kids.” It was cool for us to get a change of environment, but at the end of the day, it’s still gentrification. Yeah, that New Brunswick culture where everybody knows each other isn’t there when you go towards the college part of New Brunswick. I’m going to miss the small things like that. You know, just being able to know the person who’s selling me a tomato. It’s sad too because I’m seeing all of these things being built and it’s good for the kids who are able to experience it right now, like that multi-million dollar high school that was built for New Brunswick but isn’t in New Brunswick. We all take the bus over there. I know that when 2030 comes around and this place is fully gentrified, Dominican, Mexican, and Black kids aren’t going to the people who fill that school and that’s their plan basically…to make this city “the place to be.”

HOW I LEARNED TO SHUT MY MOUTH A N O N Y M O U S Jaded by the industry, I seldom wonder if there is a good person out there; interns are stepping on each other’s backs and the legitimized employees make sure you feel less than by the time you clock out at the end of the day. There’s this predisposition when entering the entertainment industry about how cruel people can be. Up until now having five internships, three in music and one in entertainment, I never understood.

It’s sad because most people enter the entertainment industry as naïve as I was before coming into this position. Something happens after two months and the flames, snakes, and spikes come out of their personality when directing their subordinates, and I always question their motive operandi. All sweet conversations become snark comments that cut deep.

Surprisingly enough, the head producers and writers are the nicest ones; the young, hot receptionist who recently turned 25 along with her group of collectively pretty girls who narrowly escaped college are the ones stabbing each other in the back, as if that’ll get you somewhere. The producers and directors come and engage with the lower class, like myself, and they’re fascinated at the universities and programs that we’ve done, and vice versa (obviously.)

Everyday, when I ride the elevator down to the lobby, I question my self-worth, and that shouldn’t be. I think that people confuse niceness with idiocy or mediocrity, and they place you in this category so that they can watch you fail, and point their fingers to the boss and say “I told you so”.

What ends up happening when that occurs is that you get placed in this lower dynamic of people (granted, we’re interns, so we’re already at the bottom.) and you begin to self-categorize and socially identify with this state of in-authenticity. Where I find cognitive trouble is that people who are already doing well aim to be the best, and in doing so, they are putting other people down, their perception of the interns is very similar to that of the receptionist.

The knives that cut deep can sometimes feel so warming after several times. The cruelty experienced on a daily basis begins to feel normal because that’s the entertainment industry’s way of saying that you made it. It’s a beautiful thing to exist in a spot of immense creativity, where ideas are flying on a Boeing jet, sometimes never to reach a destination, other times reaching to places as relevant as Laguardia or LAX. So excited to be in this place of knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and copious amounts of talent, we suck it up.

We, as in assistants, interns, coordinators, and producers, suck it up because we understand that entertainment thrives in chaos, and chaos seldom happens in a place where everyone is consistently saying “Please” and “Thank You” especially to a group of millennials who feel entitled to the opportunity to meet the head of media conglomerates and nightly television hosts. What we find out is that people aren’t mean, people are helpful; the receptionist’s disdain towards us isn’t to be intentionally mean, but it’s to say “I’ve been there, and I don’t want to see you mess up like I did” and we listen because we’re afraid of what will happen if we don’t.

“I’M A JOURNALIST, AND THROUGH THAT PROFESSION, I GIVE PEOPLE THE OPTION TO REACT.” I sat down with someone who looks beyond his years as a college student and figures out what he needs to be successful, while taking so many losses in-between. He’s comfortable with who he is, what he has done, and wherever he may go. While he’s done so much, he’s trying to conquer one more part of the world: entrepreneurship.

PeduLing Forward

Late nights and early mornings creep up on Chisa Egbelu, a senior at Rutgers University, who rarely takes ‘no’ for an answer. As a full-time student, he still carries 40 hours of work outside of the classroom. He interns for Google’s Community Leader program, which is designed to bridge the digital divide in New Brunswick, he is the executive producer of Rutgers Recess, the number one student-run show on WRSU, a place he considers a safe haven, he hosts Wake Up Rutgers, the University’s rendition of the TODAY show or Good Morning America, he interns at the Eagleton Poll, which is run by a political institute which administers surveys to obtain political consensus on what’s going on in New Jersey, he is the Vice President of the Collegiate 100, an auxiliary group of the 100 Black Men, created to mentor individuals and seek it in the same breath, and other things that would require him to open up his LinkedIn profile to understand more. He studies Journalism and Media Studies in hopes of teaching the world how to think critically.

“We live in a world now that is so inundated with images and sounds and people telling us what to think.”

Growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Egbelu was offered the unique experience to live, analyze, and experience the hood, the suburb, and the country in one location. “Baton Rouge has a lot of inequality, here, and as a result, the hood in Baton Rouge is not very far from anywhere and being a Black individual, just because of the way that people put you in a box or think certain things of you, it’s not very difficult to relate to the primarily Black portions of the community which often times tend to be an area of lower economic state.”

He existed in a world where he wasn’t allowed to fit in a box and because he couldn’t do so, he never knew how to. “I was one of the few black kids in a primarily white school in a primarily black city, so no matter where I was, I was always different. When you’re always different, you always feel different to a certain extent, and when you always feel different, you develop different thoughts or you see things differently or you become more aware about different things” as he best explained. It was that aspect that drew me to learn more about what he was doing now.

If everyone did equally as great, then everyone did equally as bad.

Chisa Egbelu is the co-founder and CEO of a start-up company called PeduL, which is a higher education crowd-funding platform, similar to that of Kickstarter or GoFundMe, but this platform is used for books and term bills. There is a huge emphasis on community.

“We’re going to make it possible that someone can donate to someone who lives down the street. If you want to say, “clean up those streets”, then help those kids go to school.” This platform is important for today’s economy where 62% of Americans don’t believe that most people are able to afford a public college education. It’s a personal matter, to be honest because people are consistently deterred from going after their education because of the prices of school, and “it’s an experience that I’d like a lot of people to have.”

Here’s how it works through his words: “On our website, we’re going to have it so that you can look at your location and see people who do have accounts, that do have funds that are active, or do have pages that are active, so that you can help out in your community and you can help where it counts. You don’t have to go through any process where you don’t know where the money’s going. You know exactly where it goes. A big part of our website, in theory and on paper that yields to our advisors as a big success is that fact that we will be transferring the money from the campaigns directly to the university. What that means is someone raises $10,000 on his or her PeduL account, we take that money directly to Rutgers University, for instance, in the form of a third-party scholarship. That gives the donors a lot of security. You know exactly where this money is going to, this is for education and it is going to help that individual.”

Even though the team is strong now, it hadn’t always been. Egbelu brings up the struggle around finding people so reliable throughout this process. “I’ve probably gone through six business partners, people who came on, realized how big the task was, and then were like “I don’t think I can do this” and luckily, I’ve gotten to the team and we’re all really about it.” That team of six is instrumental to making sure that PeduL launches by the start of the spring semester in 2016.

They plan on starting at Rutgers because it’s home base, but have high aspirations of branching out to other schools as PeduL grows.

“We live in a world now that is so inundated with images and sounds and people telling us what to think.”

It’s an interesting path that we see him on, While PeduL isn’t innovative or disruptive, it has the potential to be. If the company becomes as successful as it is intended to be, it could limit how much money donors are giving to the schools because it goes to the students’ PeduL account. That idea alone has the ability to redirect cash flow, because anyone can be a donor, anyone can have a scholarship, and anyone can affect the lives of someone they don’t fully know.

PeduL is a promising company with a promising future, just like the co-founder, who has so many opportunities in front of him that he doesn’t know where to go. “I don’t know if I want to go on-air and work television or go into tech companies and see what I can do there, or go ahead and see what I can do with my own company, and go that route and focus my energy there. I’m really excited to graduate because it’ll be really interesting not having all my energy in 15 things.

I can’t wait because I’ll be able to put my energy into one thing.” Later down the line, he wants to have his own nationally syndicated television show that allows him to talk about things that matter in a humorous and entertaining way, along the lines of John Oliver, Jon Stewart, and Trevor Noah, even though that won’t be the format that he chooses to take. and he gave me some advice to take home with me before I left.

“Even if everyone does have a story and most stories do have some sting, you have to find it and dig for it. Of course, not all stories are intriguing as others. It just doesn’t make sense. Not everything’s a 10. If this person is the standard, then where is everyone on that scale? If everyone did equally as great, then everyone did equally as bad.” @ChisaMaYnE

NO CHURCH IN THE WILD

This piece concludes Seyram Avakame’s interview on cultural objects. Released in the earlier part of 2015, DWNTWN discussed music, fashion, and conformity with him. To wrap up, we talked to him about the hierarchy that exists in the Black community, specifically at private white institutions as well as his cultural identification, and the importance of religion, or lack thereof.

We’re often placed in categories before we can even speak. We’re defined by the way we talk, the way we walk, and the way we identify. The black community is one that places significant emphasis on labels, organizations, categories, and hierarchies. African-Americans exist with few options; when we are given options, it distinguishes us. Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated creates divisions in the socioeconomic status and therefore privilege amongst Blacks. The Emma Bowen Foundation was designed to separate the “serious Blacks” from the ones who wanted to simply “turn up” throughout their undergraduate careers. Post-college, there are other organizations that further exemplify the hierarchy that exists amongst a small community to begin with.

Honing in on college life, Avakame gave us an interesting look into the Black social scene. He compared this social hierarchy to being a celebrity. “At the epicenter, you have athletes and Greek life, the ones who participate actions are seen as “superior.” Outside of that is just Greeks or just athletes; they are on the rings right out of that.” Looking at Rutgers University, in particular, there is a noticeable look about how fra-

ternities and sororities present themselves, which is different from the way that other blacks carry themselves, in certain situations. Acquaintances continue to be “in the know” by associating themselves with Greeks and athletes in order to boost their reputation because those two social spaces are deemed “cool” and “popular.”

“Now we’re seven rings deep. Then, there are the black folks who are usually STEM majors. That’s the eighth ring out. Then you have the Black kids who were raised around white folks who wear those chunky entity skater shoes and/or play Lacrosse and wear vans. Outside of that, we’re at the ninth ring and the ninth rings are the nonBlacks who want to be down, usually referred to as “Reverse Oreos.”

If you asked Sey where the best place to be was, he would tell you that in a dartboard of ten rings, it’s best to be in the first few rings where you’re just outside to circles of Greeks and athletes, but above their acquaintances because of the connections and the ability to permeate social boundaries, but also the lack of ostracizing from people in the fifth or sixth ring.

“When people think you’re poppin’, it affects their vations and calling it fact for so long that we cannot judgment.” decipher what the truth is. There are certain ideas and guesses that have been backed more than othAfterwards, I asked him about what cultures he con- ers, but it’s all still a guess. siders himself part of, to which he responded the Black culture, even though he is not fully integrated “Every time a guess was made that was too fatal, in it because of his background of being Ghana- that’s when the next civilization moves on.” Religion ian and first-generation, but also he identifies with is something that we, as humans, have placed a trepeople who left the faith that they were raised in. mendous amount of emphasis on, but to Avakame’s point, it might be time to re-evaluate that truth.

There is not a regret in leaving behind something that he feels can always go back to, but that’s not “People don’t want to sit down and think about that where he is. He does not know if he’ll turn to his because it negates everything that they have put religious foundations. meaning into through their lives. Some people have built their lives around being that purpose.” The “Only when I’m too scared to stomach the truth, idea of religion was created to validate purpose, and that’s not me right now. You know the lies that giving that external validation the power to control people tell themselves, just to be peaceful? Some your life, when in actuality, we had the power all people would not have legitimately lived if it had along and we were just afraid to use it. not been something to put their faith in because we need it so much. The human condition – we need Both the black college scene and religion have been something to put our faith and hope in, otherwise formalized in order to give people a sense of purpeople wouldn’t even get out of bed that people have pose; social hierarchies and prayers give people reano idea what we’re doing here, we’re just guessing” son to smile, but is it time that we found something else that does that?

His philosophy is that everything, indeed, is arbitrary; we’ve been making guesses based off of obser- @BoulWithTheJawn

You know the lies that people tell themselves, just to be peaceful?

when you prey on edit // approach me.

I can’t help myself from feeling special. you tell me you think I am in beautiful in romantic [insert european language you learned to feel more cultured here]. when you call me exotic, I want to tell you I am not unexplored frontier for your pleasure or intoxicating borderline to cross. it is so easy for you to make me commodity. you call me exotic to make my yellow skin something easier to slip into. my skin stamped foreign but thank god, at least I am exotic.

I am a stranger in your homeland. yellow peril pours from between my thighs but this fear excites you.

I’m different enough to excite you but thank god I am still white edit // safe edit // accommodating enough for you.

I am your favorite ethnic dish you order to impress your friends.

I am Oriental piece of art hanging in the MoMA I am hentai porn scene and easy fuck.

I am The Other.

I am Miss Saigon, Memoirs of a Geisha.

I am waving red Communist Flag.

I am Enemy.

I am military occupation in the Pacific Rim. edit // I am exotic,

just for you. me love you long time. but you never ask about my mother or the wars my ancestors fought you just want to fuck someone who looks like me, someone who makes you feel all man. soldier still I just want to be good enough for you like clockwork, we move into your bedroom they tell us we should feel grateful white boys even looked in your direction. my desires like land being ravaged edit // conquered edit // rectified after we are done, you spoon me from behind and I push you off me I am consumed by guilt crawling up my body swallowing me scattered piece by piece this is not a story of metamorphosis, air slick with the smell of napalm in the morning heavy with weight of ghosts between us this is not a story of excavation or loves found again. the morning after I try to wash unwanted lush edit // self loathing edit// you off me in the shower. it does not work.

I stand under the water jets for far too long, hearing gunshots and screams in my pe-

o p e n

riphery. but you never ask about my mother or the wars my ancestors fought you just want to fuck someone who looks like me, someone who makes you feel all man. soldier still I just want to be good enough for you like clockwork, we move into your bedroom they tell us we should feel grateful white boys even looked in your direction. my desires like land being ravaged edit // conquered edit // rectified after we are done, you spoon me from behind and I push you off me I am consumed by guilt crawling up my body swallowing me scattered piece by piece this is not a story of metamorphosis, air slick with the smell of napalm in the morning heavy with weight of ghosts between us this is not a story of excavation or loves found again. the morning after I try to wash unwanted lush edit // self loathing edit// you off me in the shower. it does not work.

I stand under the water jets for far too long, hearing gunshots and screams in my periphery.

l e t t e r

to white hipster boys kaitlin

pang

@kaitlinyin

only here FOR the culture Music’s so important for culture, especially when we look at African-American culture. An interview for Voice Magazine in New Brunswick suggested that it’s the one thing that Blacks have the upper hand on. In a state of turmoil, crime, and a lack of inspiration because there aren’t examples, we’re looking to music to fuel our creativity and security as a society.

“

If we don’t even care about what people are saying in the first place, why the fuck do we care if they’re writing that shit?

On the come up from Vineland, NJ, I interviewed DJ Flygerian on the groundwork of his DJing, his future as both a human being and a DJ, self-identity: something that we rarely discuss in society, and Future, the ground-breaking artist taking over the music industry.

Born Jola Babalola, he was born in Philadelphia, PA before moving to Pennsauken, NJ, Camden’s neighbor.

Throughout his childhood, he grew up moving around, learning the importance of adapting quickly, which came through music. The switch from Pennsauken to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania proved to be something beneficial to his person because “I was one of the only black kids. I started skateboarding. My music tastes started varying to post-hardcore music. I used to listen to A Day to Remember.” The move back into New Jersey – Vineland, to be specific – was the place where DJ Flygerian was born, an identity that would soon blow up.

At a robust number of Twitter followers, only in his second year as a DJ, it became very clear that we had to track his roots in music. Throughout his life, he’s always been the music resource.

He’s the man to go to whenever there’s a music question, before the AUX cord trend caught on. After a friend suggested that he tried spinning records, he thought that he would try it out. As a self-taught DJ, he found it important to do his research, going to local shows until an old-head DJ, Aaron started to put him on as the opener. His local fame started in high school when partying was solely based on what songs you had on your phone. After Flygerian started, “people would tell me that if I wasn’t there, then they weren’t going. I knew it was for me.”

So, what’s the DJ listening to right now?

Who does the DJ like to listen to? Only one answer: Nayvadius Cash AKA Future. He’s been hot, ever since he was featured on YC’s Racks in 2011, but when he released his last three mixtapes

56 Nights, Monster, and Beast Mode, his credibility as a serious rapper took flight. Everyone wants a Future verse now, because of his grittiness on the beat. Babalola talked about the rawness of auto-tune attributing that to his favorite artist, Kanye West. “Kanye really put the melody in there, like the singing, rapping, electronic, all on one track.

People weren’t really doing that. Drake?

He wasn’t really doing that. Prior to 808s and Heartbreaks, crying over the beat and rapping?” That style of hiphop and R&B brought up a new era of music including Bryson Tiller and PartyNextDoor, also some of Babalola’s favorite artists right now.

Of course, we had to discuss What a Time to Be Alive to which he said that “it was hot, but I think it’s going to blow over” even with the Drake co-sign, a powerful entity that we’re becoming more aware of by that day. In terms of his fan base, Drake is the male version of Beyoncé. His influence has a magnitude that has yet to be replicated, which was evident during his feud over lyricism and ghostwriting with Meek Mill, an artist for whom Flygerian has a lot of respect since being a native to the Philadelphia metro-area, even though his move to attack Drake wasn’t necessarily the best move. “It was an impulsive decision. He didn’t think that nigga was ready. You have to understand people don’t give a fuck that Drake’s not writing his lyrics.” A note on content began to spiral into our generational place with music. “In terms of content, it’s getting worse with our generation.

If we don’t even care about what people are saying in the first place, why the fuck do we care if they’re writing that shit?”

What do we care about? According to Flygerian, we care about the beats, we care about whether or not we can “dab” to it, an Atlanta-based dance popularized by Migos, the rapping group.

I got interested in what a good party in his opinion was. “Honestly, if the ladies aren’t having fun, then you’re fucking up. The ladies are my number one priority, honestly.” What he meant was that ladies are the driving force of culture: Getting back on topic about the DJ black culture, party culture, shopping and his future, he talks about how his culture, and so much more. He looks at free time, whenever he can get some, every party, critically, so when he sees is spent listening to music. In order to ladies sitting down and playing with push the envelope, he can’t go to same their hair, there are so many questions. kind of events. As his job, he has to He’s bewildered by the care. “The DJ understand how to push himself. Of makes the party, hands down.” At this course, on an academic level, Babalola point, he doesn’t care for alcohol and talks about getting a degree in Informa- its ubiquity to be the reason why you’re tion Technology to do cyber security on having fun. the off chance that DJing doesn’t work for him. One of the few reasons that he “I want music to be your euphoria.” alluded to DJing not working out was because the market is oversaturated; there are too many DJs in the space that aren’t respecting the culture. “They like to call themselves DJs just to say it, and all they do is play the hottest songs out, but aren’t looking to do good for someone else.” Crowd control’s important when evaluating a good DJ.

What’s next for the DJ? Producing? How far can he go with this? He assured me that there was a possibility that he was going to try out producing because he wants to play a larger role in what everyone’s listening to, but for right now, he’s trying to master the turntable, one spin at a time.

“Future’s always co-signing his producer, because producers are the new rock stars.”

“

behind it. He called himself a “dope individual” because it encompasses everything.

“I’m a really simple person.

I’m not going to tell you that I’m all extra and deep.” When he’s not listening to music, he’s having conversations with his boys talking about anything from religion and school to girls and the future. Growing up with three older siblings, a father, and a mother established in the medical arena, he Afterwards, I asked him about felt pressure to pick something self-identity and who Jola Ba- that would make his parents balola is. We were so inter- happy, but found himself unested in the profession and the derstanding that happiness is accolade attached to it that so much rewarding than exterwe were numb to the person nal validation. He’s trying to

find his niche: what makes him tick? What makes him work?

He’s trying to find that key element where everyone can identify it as “Oh shit, that’s Flygerian” because at the end of the day, “you could be the most talented motherfucker in the world, and if someone doesn’t notice that about you, or if you don’t take an opportunity that you see, then you might miss your chance.” @DJFlygerian

I want music to be your euphoria.

The Raritan Gallery was budding at the time of our interview in March 2015, coming off of their two-year interview, but there were questions afloat that prompted this analysis of this company. I talked to Shawn Harris, one of the co-founders of the Raritan Gallery about their journey: from infancy to March. Their progression had been amazing, and they continue to push boundaries.

By the time, this interview is released and finished, they will have celebrated their third anniversary, as they started on February 13, 2013.

The Raritan Gallery self-describes as a “contemporary visual arts and culture journal� aiming to bring young, independent and new talent of variety to the forefront of the conversation. They look towards new media to reinvent their brand as a collective. TRG, as they often abbreviate, is both a media portal and promotional platform that provides services like product photography, visual promotion, product placements, look-book curation, and marketing consultation.

TRG: THE HYBRID TRG: THE HYBRID

TH: Could you just tell me how it all started?

SH: The inception of the idea of The Raritan Gallery started when Damani (the founder and creative director) came to me to consult with me to channel his inner fashion interviews. He was a person who was always interested in the culture, but didn’t know what direction he wanted to go in. So I told him, “You know you should make a fashion blog to express yourself. If you need help, I’ll help you.” It started as a small idea and then we took it to the whole next level. Out of two years, we’ve accomplished so much. The aesthetic of the Raritan Gallery is so different because it’s unorthodox. We don’t follow the norms of a regular blog, and now we’re a visual company. Now we offer more than just the stereotypical editorials.

While The Raritan gallery started out as a fashion blog, they created TRGmedia, which acted a visual company. They feature editorials on their website, but place heavy emphasis on the promoting aesthetics. TRGmedia represents the business of The Raritan Gallery, in which you can request to hire one of their freelancers for work. In conjunction with the employment of freelancers, they also have musical artists signed under them in order to fully invest in the art and culture experience.

There are eight people on their team now: Damani, Shawn, Austin, Jamiel, Maggie, Harrison, John, and Dennis.

TH: Where are you guys now?

SH: Now, we’re at a point where we’re doing different side project, so Damani and John Fay have their own comic book interview series. At first, I wanted to be the main stylist and coordinate styles, but now I’m doing visuals with Austin, our videographer. I’m also designing; Damani designs, and we’re looking for a lot of different artists to collaborate with on new projects. Like I said, we’re not really a brand but we want to offer tangible products back to our supporters. So we recently got our beanies. They come in burgundy, black, and navy. Now those are selling. Actually, we want to have a web store where we can just give back TRG products. We want to show the talent of other aspiring artists, so that’s why we do have collaborations of other artists. That’s where the product comes into play, and that’s what I like to focus on.

“

The Aesthetic of The Raritan Gallery is so unorthodox.

Actually, we want to have a web store where we can just give back TRG products. We want to show the talent of other aspiring artists, so that’s why we do have collaborations of other artists. That’s where the product comes into play, and that’s what I like to focus on.

tually doing. When we make products, we don’t release it unless it’s of the highest quality that we can produce.

Once we release the highest quality, people appreciate it more. It’s not like we’re making shitty shirts with regular steam-pressed lettering. We’re actually giving back.”

The future of the Raritan Gallery looks bright because they do not confine themselves to one specific business; they do not want to only advertise their editorials because of their fear to be confounded to the label of being “just a blog.”

With any budding creation, we asked him how TRG got their following.

“There are a lot of people who never stay on course to what they want to be. They’ll be a blog, and then next thing you know, they’ll be a clothing line. That’s not our focus so if you stay true to doing visuals, and occasionally you do products. That’s cool because you know support isn’t always visual, everyone wants to read, sometimes people want tangible support. They want something back. They want to see what we’re ac-

As a brand that got its footing on the steps of academia in New Brunswick, they value their grassroots following, especially because it is not targeted to one demographic; college students aren’t the ones who enjoy The Raritan Gallery’s aesthetic.

“It’s like planting a seed and watching it grow. Before I was doing TRG, I was known on campus for fashion.

When people see you doing things that are nice, and they “We want to get more interactive with the site. We kind like it, it’s not something that’s a one-time thing with a of have more brainstorming ideas. We don’t want to let little bit of effort. I put my heart and soul into TRG and other blogs into our ideas, but there’s a way to give back when people see that, no matter if they don’t understand virtually where it causes the reader to be even more in- the whole aesthetic of TRG, they like the adversity and teractive on the site. It’s kind of like them telling us what the commitment of it. They’ll want to know more about they like.” it and support it. We’ve had people hit me up on social media saying, “Yo, I like what you’re doing, where can I Harris noted that he wouldn’t have considered TRG get a shirt online?” You know? Support is going to come a brand yet because he feels like brands never stay on with hard work, no matter what, but you have to market course. yourself properly. “

@TheRaritanGallery

FEMINISM: THE BLACK MARKET PRIYA

ANGARA

TO FIFTH AVENUE The word “Feminism” is controversial, politicized and often misinterpreted. Since the sixties, the feminist movement has advocated for gender equality, but it has always been considered taboo so it was pushed to the side. To call a woman a feminist was to call her radical, crazy, or a “man-hater.” As feminism slowly branches out of this negative connotation, conversations are taking place in open forums and safe spaces.

Black feminism, occasionally referenced as womanism, represents all women of color that are underrepresented and misrepresented. They represent issues such as the percentage of ethnic names that are hired, welfare programs, racial profiling, police brutality, and gang violence because those issues affect minority women too. These issues aren’t selling points because they do not apply to the voices with privilege.

The push for gender equality has gained momentum through social media. Emma Watson’s powerful UN speech, Beyoncé’s sample of political activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explaining the definition of a feminist in her song Flawless, and Malala Yousafzai’s story of fighting the Taliban for her education, which received worldwide attention, all played a role in making feminism more acceptable and more marketable.

The theory of intersectionality is vital to progressive conversations; it describes the ways that issues such as racism and sexism are interconnected and cannot be separated in discussions. Without using white privilege, we cannot progress with equality. Without understanding that there is a deeper fight that just equality for most women, we cannot progress with feminism. White men and women use their inevitable privilege to spotlight their obstacles, while minority women are marginalized everyday. Sometimes, it’s acceptable to sacrifice your platform for the greater good.

Actually, white feminism has become more marketable.

When feminism became a concept, it was rooted in racism.

During its origins, white women failed to include women of color by dismissing slavery, segregation, and discrimination, but using black women for representation. Over time, feminism has divided into “white feminism” and “black feminism”, which is exemplified when straight, white women place more value on their experiences over women of color, the LGBTQ community, and anyone who exists outside the bounds of this traditional identity.

White feminism is about equality. Black feminism is about justice.

Full equality equals sacrifices.

I am grateful feminism has become more mainstream, gained legitimacy, infiltrated popular news outlets, took over our news feeds, added a filter in our classrooms and conversations. We cannot talk about gender without discussing race; Taylor Swift’s viewpoint is not the same as Laverne Cox’s. I cannot wait for the day when society’s looking at an inclusive movement, one that pushes boundaries and incorporates the viewpoints of all women.

@PRIYANGARA

“Let’s face it. Everybody kind of sucks, you know? We’ve all got sucky parts and we all have really good parts of ourselves.” It was morbid, but it was so accurate – something that Nicolette Molina had going for her; the way she talked provided an elusive, dark, and mysterious air to it, but her words have never rang so true.

AMERICANA INTROSPECTIONS OF Millennialism

As the photographer and visual identity of DWNTWN’s Tunnel Vision: The Mixtape issue, she understands the aesthetic and mission behind the zine: a curation of the human experience. Molina’s cultural history provides context into the American melting pot fusing together Cuban and Spaniard roots with an Americanized upbringing. When we sat down, I offered her a host of topics to discuss, as we usually discuss the trivial moments of our days, and here’s what came out of our hour-long conversation on life and its various chapters.

1994. 250. 2016. Important numbers to Molina, but it came down to one word: millennial. This generation, born between 1980 and 2000, is attached to their digital experience, as we’ve cultivated a new identity through various mediums.

We’ve allowed the digital world to grow with open arms, but with that comes our negatives; we’ve got an abundance of access, which “has made us so lazy in everything that’s hard about being human.” Our inherent laziness, thanks to the superfluous technology, has posed an illusion of connection. “We just post statuses instead of telling friends how we feel. We text about it. Texting’s not actually communicating” as Molina put it.

The quote “I’m a product of my environment” meant so much to her. She’d rather text because she’s an introvert, and seeing people’s faces is an interaction that sometimes requires work, but that personality trait, she blames on technology.

Google’s a dominating force because it’s become the gatekeeper to accessible information. When we look at social media and Internet, Molina thinks that there is no issue of privacy, but more so with the Google effect. No one wants to interact with people, anymore. “Did you see the picture when the Pope came and everyone had their phones out and there was this old lady and she was looking over the railing, so happy and glowing?

Everyone else was looking at the Pope through their phones and taking pictures.” We’re so quick to try and capture the moment that we’re losing it, and our generation is guilty of that.

Our generation is also guilty of talking about love, but not understanding it, and that’s where we were headed. As

Drake so effortlessly put it, “we’re in a generation of not being in love, and not being together, but we sure make it feel like we’re together because we’re scared to see each other to somebody else.” It was so dead in the curated museum space that is her bedroom to which she told me that she’s a collector’s hoard because “stuff makes me feel comfortable” when I asked her so forwardly “What is love?” Pauses, gazes around the room, and a slight chuckle filled the air before she started to discuss the different forms of love: bizarre, irrational, and unreasonable. “Love erodes in a way that always makes it weird.”

“In the early stages of love, it’s an unconditional interest in someone from their day is going or what weird things they are thinking about, and genuinely being interested in someone.” In a way, she was referencing a platonic relationship, which became clear when she said, “I don’t think it has to be sexual. I think sex might have something to do with that whole eroding situation.” There’s something to be said about the way that sexual relations begins to play a role in jealousy, possession, anger, and ego trips that don’t happen as often in friendships. It says a lot about society that the very thing that we crave is the same thing that can destroy us; sex is a powerful thing, but when talking to Molina, it was obvious that it isn’t the only thing.

“I think the best love that I’ve ever felt for someone was a friend. Think about it: someone is hanging out with you all the time, dealing with your weirdness and your shittiness because let’s face it: everyone kind of sucks, you know? We all have sucky parts of ourselves and we all have awesome parts of ourselves, but that person is hanging out with you and there’s something about you that sucks. They’re still hanging out with you, and they’re not even fucking you. Like what? They really want to hang out with you? That’s love. That’s intimate.

You’re choosing to be around someone, and you’re not getting anything out of it.”

We, Molina and I, both were quiet after that. How do you get to that level with someone? How often do we get to that level with someone? While pondering on that thought, I looked around her room. It was a collection of small narratives dispersed throughout the apartment bedroom; the accumulation of items varying from pictures to dim lights dangling from the wall to elephants to posters of past Global Citizen Festival lineups and Yeezus tour merchandise to dream catchers introduced thoughts on the need for things in our lives.

There should be a heavy emphasis that minimalism – while a design style – is a lifestyle, uncommon to most; living with the bare minimum. In terms of the design style, Nicolette known to her friends as Neeks loves the style because “it’s hard to do, but it looks so easy.” When we began to discuss it on a philosophical basis, she noted that she thinks that not living that way has caused so many problems with our generation like anxiety, depression, and unwarranted anger. At this point, we’re romanticizing our painful emotions because “we don’t need a lot, but here we are drowning ourselves out with stuff and looking at everyone else’s stuff, and comparing ourselves to them.” Afterwards, she started rattling off a list of quotes like “comparison is the thief of joy” and “the only reason why you should look in your neighbor’s bowl is to make sure that they have enough.” She talked briefly about why she loves quotes, afterwards. “I love quotes because someone somewhere has said what you wanted to say but better.”

sponded that minimal goes against everything that she believes love is, but that doesn’t imply that one should ever give their all to a partner. It became apparent to me that she was about to open up about self-worth that we, humans, give away our meaning to people in an unhealthy fashion. “Who knows what you’re giving them, but when they leave, you feel so empty.” As millennials, we talk about losing ourselves in relationships, but -- in the same breath -- talk about how we haven’t found ourselves and that we don’t know who we are. It’s a daunting experience to have someone metaphorically strip you of your purpose, even if it is an illusion.

Even as a kid, we allowed others to de-validate us when they wouldn’t want to be our friends anymore, which would suck, but then when you get to the point in your life that you know what you want in life and how to make yourself happy, who cares?

Molina discussed that she began to think like that, and even though she gets insecure sometimes, she understands that “if someone’s walking away beIn trying to synthesize fragments of our conversa- cause they don’t like something about you, it’s not tion, I opened up a dialogue about love being min- your fault. You can’t change who you are. Someimal and the possibility of that, to which she re- body out there is going to love you.”

“

i am a student, first. a woman, second.

She began to smile, at this point of the interview.

Her wall had been broken; I started to learn about her identity, a space in human beings that we naturally take up without teaching ourselves or telling ourselves. To question her existentialism, I told her to identify herself.

“I am a student, first. A woman, second.”

Without a pause in the conversation, she allowed her profession to carry the highest amount of weight because of the time and passion she’s spent on it. Her love for being a student runs deep because “it means that you don’t know everything.

How comforting. You can always learn more. It leaves space to be wrong. You know how religion gives people a sense of security? I feel like being a student really gives me that sense of security.” I brought up the question about where her ethnicity came into play surrounding her identity, and she said that it didn’t because she was never raised in a cultural household. “We were so neutral in respect to cultural identity in my household that it’s not part of who I am” as Neeks exclaimed, “I almost don’t know what it means to be Latina because I’m so Americanized. We eat Spanish food at home, but barely. There wasn’t any Spanish music playing.

My family wasn’t really strict like most families are.”

Her cultural upbringing taught her important les-

sons about existing in a space comfortable enough to be wrong. In a way, Molina speaks about a selftaught childhood being taught morals without the fear of getting into trouble, which was one explanation to her rationale behind identifying as a student so heavily. As she began to talk about her narrative, I explained a theory to her: everyone’s narrative should be told once because the people who pick it up will enjoy it.

You write a book on your life, but only people who are kind of interested will look at the cover art.

Then, there are people who might be interested in the title and the cover art, but that’s about as far as we get. Some people might look at the entire book, but not read it, and there are other people who pick up the book, read it, understand it, and identify with the book. To her point, she stated that this is love. “Sometimes you think someone’s read the whole thing, but they haven’t looked past the cover.

That’s probably when you break up with them or stop being their friend.”

We left it that, but we could’ve gone so much further. She doesn’t think like most people in her world, and I wouldn’t want her to do so. She embodies the new Americana and she’s important for the culture. @nclttc

black rain justin hockaday My Black Hatred, Eight floors up contemplating.

The blacktop, Littered streets, Sidewalk cracks splitting white picket fences.

Posing questions, Searching for knowledge.

The pent-up tension pulsing through penmanship.

Drifting amidst complex phonetics, Sweating this rhetoric.

Calling me Carlton cause I’m poetic and articulate?

Keep the degrees of black privilege separate?

What is it?

Light-skinneded, Dark-skinneded, In the face of the judge…

Nigga.

They’ll drip blood on the pavement.

Hear the pain in these statements.

Cause lately…

I feel like This caterpillar in cocoon, Butterfly in bloom Late nights tripping, I remember you was conflicted— Lately.

Dilapidated thoughts, Cold running water in the faucet.

Frozen veins but the skin itch.

Leaking light in the lens hard to deal with, Pen scratching by, While thinly veiled desires drip acidic.

My dreams wept.

Her dense glance too much to cope with, Floating low, She come back too close Running home just wanting to be accepted.

The exception, The only one at the bottom of the bottle.

Loaded gun on the table, Moves beneath the navel, Just youth searching for something to relate to.

Lately.

The black rain falls heavy, Like beads of temptation, The body language speaks volumes.

Under covers fertile lovers made war, I seen fire, But when it rains it pours.

Lately.

Her silent gaze left me waiting, Escaping myself, Cause lately.

I lost me.

@j_hock21

Sometimes, a little offbeat, sometimes, a little quirky, but that’s the bottom line.

Creatives don’t think like you because if we did, we wouldn’t be creative. Are you?

That’s exactly how I approached Nigel Golding, the 22-year-old Rutgers student splitting his time between taking over the streets of fraternity row, the courtrooms for his Criminal Justice education, and the world of Photoshop, InDesign, and illustrator from the comfort of his own bedroom. He doesn’t think the same like you do, and that’s why DWNTWN loves him.

Talking to him shines a light on his personal narrative through his artistic lens.

How did he get to where he is, both as a person and an artist? One could argue that one inspires the other.

We D o n’t T h i n k Li ke Yo u

How did you get into art & how/when did you start to design? I became involved with visual arts during elementary school. One of my teachers made the class do a lot of art projects; they used it to teach complicated things you might not understand with words. That made me realize how art is such a powerful language. Whenever we did these projects, I used to be the kid who drew my shapes perfectly and colored in my lines. The other students would always come to me for help, so I realized I had a knack for detail, colors, lines, and shapes...the basis of creating art.

Would you ever consider working on designing for a socially-conscious purpose? I try to create art that has a deeper socially-conscious context behind it. It all depends on my medium or platform. I’ve designed a lot of flyers for protest at Rutgers for free, but I’ve also created a few art works that highlight the Black struggle in Contemporary America.

What do you do to keep yourself focused and humble?

I do my best to remember why I’m here. I look at my ultimate goals in life and create plans of how I would like to ultimately achieve those things. If one wants to make How much did you know about design/art/creativity be- an impact on the world, one cannot wait to do so. You fore you started? I had many art instructors in my life must do it now. You must build yourself now. I’ve always that encouraged artistic growth. I constantly perfect my had an understanding that everything I have in life and craft by learning how to utilize my tools better to achieve the opportunities I received is a blessing. I also try to unwhat I want. In high school, I began to realize where art derstand that everything I have in life can also be taken can actually take me, mostly because of my art teacher. away. Nothing should be taken for granted.

She inspired me to pursue it. That’s how I became part of the Rutgers community because I came in through the What do you like to do for fun? Visit galleries and muMason Gross School of The Arts. seums is a hobby of mine. Seeing different art trends definitely provides inspiration for my work because it Are you selective when you choose for whom to design makes me want to try new things. (your clients)? No I have design for anyone whoever requests my service.

Would you call yourself a “creative” or “designer”?

Designer, however to label is to judge. No one should be judging me, so no one should be labeling me.

What is creativity to you?

Creativity is the basis of all creation, it’s very necessary with anything because humans would not be able to advance without it. How would we know to streamline processes or express our inner selves? Creativity helps us explore our minds and other. I like to inspire myself on the theme of my canvas before I create. I think artistic collaboration is so powerful, and I think that it’s important to spread our art every way we can. Social media is one of the greatest tools for that because it allows others to see your works of art.

How do you find inspiration?

I inspire myself by researching the backgrounds, themes, stories of what I want to create. Knowing the background helps formulate my ideas and opinions just like writing an essay on a book. How can you write about it if you’ve never read it? I also draw inspiration from my major influences which are my family and my favorite artists, JAY Z, Ye, Fabolous, Cole, Nas, and Biggie…in that order because that’s how they influenced me. When I look at my favorite artists not crowding the musical space, I look up to Lorna Simpson, Basquiat, Steve McQueen, Kara Walker, Maya Angelou, Spike Lee, and Will Smith. I have inspirations from Matisse, and some inspirations from the Newark area that I’m cool with. They’re not just visual artists, they could be poetry. One of my older sisters, she’s a poet, herself. Art runs deep in my family. She’s one of my inspirations.

Where we’re from we don’t have a lot of positive mentors. If I don’t see that, I’m gonna be that.

What does your future look like?

I want to continue this as a hobby for life because I truly enjoy the arts, but I do not see me doing this as a career. I see myself as an entertainment lawyer, earning my JD in five years. In ten years, I see myself living the “American Dream”… whatever that is.

“I AM” Different. I feel like I try to be outside the box. I try to be an example. I don’t try to follow the trends. I don’t try to follow the trends and let people know that it’s okay to express yourself. That’s a rarity in this time and our culture. I feel like everybody’s trying to follow the trends, especially when I came to Jersey. When I came here my freshman year in high school, I felt like everybody dresses the same and afraid to be outside the box. Everybody talks the same, and when I’m back in Brooklyn, you can see different people and it’s normal. It’s okay to express yourself and I feel like that’s looked down upon here in Jersey. I could see that more in Black culture. Us, as young black millennials, we’re afraid to step out the box.

How do you find yourself being an example? I go against what society views against what a black male to be. We are still not on top of the ladder, and I’m trying to go against the stereotypes. We’re uneducated, we can’t succeed, and we’re deadbeat fathers. I’m not saying that I’m perfect because nobody’s perfect, but I recently understood, as a black man, we don’t have a lot of examples of people to look up to. I was one. Where we’re from we don’t have a lot of positive mentors. If I don’t see that, I’m gonna be that.

process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents. I’m on the fence about it because it dilutes the meanings and messages of that culture, but it is revitalizes our hoods, making them better to live in. In some areas, you still get that sense of culture in the area.

Who are you listening? I still bang Fab. He’s my favorite artist. He does it for the streets and he says true.

In terms of his loyalty to the street, his voice doesn’t change and he makes good music. I feel like although he’s just a mixtape guy, how can you not respect someone who’s making this kind of music for free, consistently? I don’t feel like there’s anything that he’s made that was whack, so he’s my top. I don’t even include Nas, JAY Z, Tupac, and Biggie because they are in the legends’ category. You can’t touch that. Second would be Kanye, J. Cole, and Kendrick. I like conscious rap.

Then Drake, then Meek, then down the line, Future.

Yeah, I’m a part of the Future Hive. Everybody’s hopping on the wave. Once I heard Murder Mookin’ hop on a song with him, that’s crazy. New York’s even getting on his wave. Drake’s got him.

Growing up in Brooklyn, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on cultural appropriation, gender roles, and gentrification. Cultural appropriation is happening more than ever now in black culture; hip-hop is now the biggest weapon against us because it has lost its meaning. Other cultures have adopted it but they don’t understand its power and impact because they’ve never experienced its truth. With that said, hip-hop is still the biggest influence and reflection of Black America; it can be used to uplift and degrade Black America. Other cultures haven’t grasped that concept yet. I don’t think I’ll ever be in favor of gender roles because I come from a single-parent household where my mother was doing every role. How can I say a female or male cannot do something or act a certain way because that’s not “tra- @OurDivineRight ditionally” what they do? As for gentrification, it’s the

CONSCIOUS RAP IN THE DAYS OF THE DEAD Music has become lifeless; rap has become easy, R&B has been even more sexualized, and no one cares about music sales. That’s what makes music such an interesting topic. Songs are cathartic, raps are relatable, and music is universal, but we don’t treat it as such. Music fulfills these criteria, especially with the Black community. Music is what keeps us alive, especially during a time of crisis where police are abusing and misusing their powers to harm lives. By June 1, 2015, the police had already shot 135 African-Americans. 32% of them were unarmed. When will this terror end? When will this massacre cease? When will we be allowed to live unapologetically Black?

We talked to a member of The Voiceless Project, Muhammad Bali, on their music, their influences, and the state of Black America, as we know it.

MUHAMMAD BALI

“I think we’re in need of self-love, but don’t feel deserving of it.”

TH: Muhammad, you have this project called the Voiceless Project. Can you explain what it is for me?

MB: The Voiceless Project… We’re a collective who is seeking to be independent from the trivial nature of the world, like capitalism, democracy, reliance on certain entities that are available for people on a daily basis.

For example, The Voiceless Project doesn’t believe people should pay to drink clean water. We’re growing all the time. It started with my partner and myself Mad Black as a production duo. Over the summer, we started making beats together. We thought about selling them to local rappers and local artists, but the things that were happening to us and the world in terms of race relations taught us about the true nature of people and the true state of the planet. With that being said, we felt stupid making our beats and selling them to someone who was going to rap about a party or something that you could buy a million other beats for or write about. We decided to keep our beats for ourselves and just write our own music about the world. We’ve recently added a new member, Strange Fruit.

TH: Why do you call yourselves the Voiceless Project?

MB: The Voiceless Project represents the people who are not heard. If they were heard, the world would be a better place. We have these things called “Men with the Microphones.” I say men over women because… you know, patriarchy. Men have more of a say than women in the world, unfortunately, and they have these microphones that are built by wealth and fame.

These microphones that these men have allow them to say whatever they want, and whoever is listening to that microphone takes what they say and eats it up. Donald Trump has a semi-billion dollar microphone and his fans and supporters eat whatever he says. JAY Z has a microphone. The Voiceless Project is speaking for everyone without a microphone.

thinking, “What is this trash?” We put out an incomplete version of a song that we originally wanted to put on our album, and I don’t know. We got a lot of mixed reviews. We didn’t hear anything bad. People said that they like the concept, they like the sound, they like the original beat. It’s sort of the quality of the sound.

TH: What have you learned from this process so far?

MB: I learned that I need to be better with the computer. We have a small fan base that’s eager to hear more. You have to learn how to take criticism, because one of the hardest things is for you to do is go into your lab and work hard on your art and make something that you think is amazing, and show it someone whose opinion you care about, and them tell you it’s not good. You have to take that. You can take it as “It’s my art, and I don’t care what you think” or you can TH: You guys put out your first single, “The Good, take what people say as consideration and go back to The Bad.” Or what was that? the drawing board and throw away something that you MB: We put out an experimental track because we like personally loved. That’s always the hardest part. I’ve it, but we don’t know how everyone else feels about it, done both. Mad Black is the only other person who and we didn’t want to put all of our effort into it with- hears my beats. There are a lot of rap duos, but I don’t out having an idea of how we were doing. I wanted to know many production duos. know if we were on the right track or if everyone was

TH: How important is race in your everyday life and your artistic life?

MB: It’s really weird for me because on one hand, I feel like race is one of the most detrimental aspects of society. If I was an alien looking down, I would notice their color first, and they don’t like each other because of it. I wish we didn’t have to deal with it. I couldn’t be more proud of who I am and I wouldn’t want to be without it. I couldn’t imagine being any other race. It’s almost pride of what we’ve been through.

It sounds crazy, but our resilience, our strength, and our demeanor brings us together at the end of the day. I don’t think we’re fighting for what we’re fighting for for the wrong reasons. We are right for wanting liberation and wanting freedom. Black people, on average, are more superior to other races, but at the end of the day, I’m just happy being a black man.

I think black people are amazing. We’re beautiful.

Black people make the world go around, like we’re the center. We’re everything.

is right now?

MB: Black America is distraught. I think we’re all angry. I think we’re in need of self-love, but don’t feel deserving of it. I think we’re in need of help. I’m not saying help from outside sources. When you think about everything we’re up against, first and foremost, we’re up against 300, 400-year disability of slavery and Jim Crow and racism that has always held us back as a people. On top of that, we’re up against everything that’s happening in the current day money-wise.

Yo, black families can’t eat. I don’t want to say that Black families can’t eat, but the impoverished rate of Black families is significantly higher than a lot of other races. Black people are affected for a certain reason. There’s a reason that everybody knows about it, but there’s also a reason that it has not been accounted for yet. I think that’s one of my biggest issues with America, and that’s why I want to vocalize my opinion so badly.

TH: What do you think the state of Black America @alsvbir

we own the night

why are we most afraid of darkness, when we are most vulnerable in the light. we are at our weakest points, our mind, body and soul are open to the world on full display. we leave ourselves to be altered physically and mentally. at least in darkness we can hide, we can take shield and heal our scars created by the intensity of the light. in the dark, we have utmost control, we own the night.

quintessa davis @__schoolgirlQ

T h e K i n g d o m t o t h e H UB

Part of DWNTWN’s second issue: American focuses on identity. The magazine looks at minorities asking them “Who are you without your extensions” and why are you that way? We talked to Nika Eang, 21, who talked about culture from her homeland of Cambodia, American culture, and the appropriation of Black culture in February 2015, when the uproar of exemplars of cultural appropriation had surfaced. This interview was conducted with the Editor-in-Chief, alongside the Visual Editor, Nicolette Molina.

TH: Where are you from?

NE: Originally, I’m from Camden/Pennsauken, NJ but I moved to Franklinville, New Jersey, which is very rural and suburban, I guess during my sixth grade year. I am from Cambodia. Well, my parents are from Cambodia, but I was born here. I consider myself a Cambodian American.

NM: Being the first person I know from Cambodia, are there things that exist in the culture there that would be considered, like for me if I went there, like a culture shock?

NE: Unlike Korea or Japan, Cambodia is actually a third world country. So that for one would be a shock. It’s really poor. You know things are getting better, but when I went there when I was nine, it was just dirt everywhere. I’m first generation. My dad came in 1980 something, and my mom not until the nineties. Most people don’t know that it’s a third world country, so that for one was a culture shock for myself. My parents are always like “We’re gonna send you back to Cambodia and see how children live since you’re so ungrateful.” What else? The food is very different. We don’t eat General Tso’s chicken over there. It’s very different. I guess if you’ve had Thai food and it’s kind of like Thai-Indian food.

Our food is like that like curries and stuff. What else? For New Years and celebrations like weddings, our celebrations are really big and grand.

Even though families are poor, they will splurge; they will spend a lot of their money on the weddings and stuff and the bride and groom will be adorned with gold from head to toe. It’s very – it looks like royalty. It’s weird because they’re so

poor but you spend all of that money for a celebration like a wedding.

TH: Would you say that being so close to Camden had some effect on you?

NE: Yes, yes, most definitely. Like, I don’t know.

Growing up, I didn’t really have many Asian friends. Most of them were Spanish, like my first best friend was Puerto Rican. Yeah, and I never really had a lot of Asian friends, and if they were Asian, they were a little different than you would expect. They weren’t very (stereo) typical. Um, they weren’t fobby. The word “fobby”, I guess, if no one knows what that means, it means “Fresh Off the Boat” like they’re not very Asian-like.

I’ve always been open to having a diverse group of friends. Like I have an Italian best friend, I had a Puerto Rican best friend, like my best friend, right now, she’s Haitian. You know, I’m very open to a lot of different cultures, and I love learning about them because it’s interesting. I don’t want to close myself off to other cultures, just because I’m Cambodian. I feel like I’m more of a social butterfly. I don’t feel like I fit into one group. Yeah, most of my best friends are black, but I also identify with my other friends who are Brazilian or Portuguese, so I don’t close myself off. I did come into college, saying, “Oh, I’m not going to make any Asian friends” because if you look at Busch campus (at Rutgers University), they’re all international students. Cambodia’s a little farther down South, like Southeast Asia and I just feel… even though we’re both Asian, we’re not that similar. It’s very different.

They are trying to mimic their features, and yet these black women are being bashed for having them.

TH: Do you think it’s something that we should teach? Maybe not teach, but when you have kids, is it something that you’re going to enforce this racial and ethnic and cultural tolerance of all.

NE: Oh, definitely. I try to instill those in my younger siblings. Honestly, I guess I don’t have to teach them that because they kind of do what I do. I feel like it’s important not to close yourself off to know different types of people.

I just feel like it’s unnecessary to close yourself off. You can learn so much from other people, and they can teach a lot of things.

TH: I agree with that to a certain extent. I do feel like we should live in this cultural fluid society where everyone is okay to mix and all except with the issue of cultural appropriation.

So like Iggy Azaleas in the world. I don’t know if you have an opinion on her, but – you know what, what is your opinion on her?

NE: I personally don’t like her. She’s getting all of this fame off of black culture without learning about it or giving credit to it. I disagree with her in general, because I just don’t like what she stands for. I don’t know what she stands for because she doesn’t stand for anything.

She’s just “Oh, I’m gonna be a rapper and try to look like a black woman and I’m get money off of that.” You know, she doesn’t take the time to learn what rap is about, or its history, or the culture in general. I feel like she doesn’t take the time to do that. You know, some of her songs have been kind of racist. : Yeah, I don’t know if you know this but a lot of Australians are racist towards Indians. In one of the songs, she was making fun of Indians. I just didn’t like that, I don’t agree with her. When I say that people should be more open towards different cultures and different people, I don’t mean ‘try to act black’ or ‘try to act this’, just be knowledgeable. That’s all I meant.

TH: Why does everyone want to be black until the issues? Actually, I don’t want to just say black, but the examples we keep using involve black people, but people want to portray these ethnicities until a problem arises within that culture. What’s that about?

NE: I don’t know. I feel like it’s all fun and games until it gets serious. With the Zendaya issue, what she was doing was showing the beauty in dreads, but people have said that dreads are dirty, you know black people, and it’s not a cute thing. She was showing a different side of it in an elegant way, you know. I guess, with that comment, it was trying to tear that down. It was taking out the positives in that beauty and bashing it down and putting it back in its place. : I don’t know where that came from. Did you see what she looked like in 2007? With the whole lip thing, that scared me too. You see how beautiful black women can be, but they don’t want to be black because there are so many negative things associated with being a black woman, and I see that everyday with my friends. They talk about this all the time, and I understand how they feel about the issues, like it’s not fair. They are trying to mimic their features, and yet these black women are being bashed for having them. I personally wouldn’t know, but my friends and I, we have conversations about this all the time, and it is upsetting to them. It’s not fair. They’re being deemed as the “ugly ones” whereas the white counterparts can have the same exact features and say “Oh, that’s beautiful”. I kind of feel like it shows that racism still exist. We want to see it someone who’s white, but when it’s shown on someone who’s black, it’s like “Oh…” I have an Indian friend, another example, like the music festivals like Coachella, like Vanessa Hudgens and Kendall and all of those girls were wearing Bindis.

NM: Is that disrespectful or is that celebrating the culture?

NE: I know what you mean, but you can celebrate it, but you have to be knowledgeable at the same time. Because I’ve seen pictures of Angelina Jolie wearing headscarves but she was in the country learning about the culture. I feel like it was more okay, whereas these famous girls going to Coachella wearing all of that stuff, they just think it’s cute. And, you know, they are really pretty with the cultural outfits and accessories but you should know about it before you adorn them. @NikaPleasee

It’s 2015 and we’re finally witnessing the biggest experiment our world has ever seen and we, the millennials, are forced to analyze the very position that we’ve been placed in.

instantaneous glimpse into other people’s lives who we otherwise wouldn’t care for! You the realest.) This app is bringing the words “No picture, no proof” into full effect.

The Internet.

“The more we use social media and the younger we start to use it, we’re getting more and more into this attentionseeking mindset, so it’s like that in that mindset, you think about what you can do for your own personal fun, but you still have that urge to show people that you’re having fun and showing off a little bit” says Saskia Jabalon, a Rutgers University sophomore.

Who knew what the Internet would become? Who knew how big social media would become? It’s the post-human extension that we love to talk about, and yet, there are so many issues with our immediate world because of it.

The greatest post-human extension created, the smartphone, has become the platform for ignorance, laziness, and relational disconnect. It makes you think “how much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by losing ourselves in our Blackberries, our iPhones, by not paying attention to the human being across from us who is talking with us, by being so lazy that we’re not willing to process deeply” from Joshua Foer’s TEDTalk, Feats of memory anyone can do.

Our faces have begun to morph into the ten digits we hold so precious. All we have are our fingers…they’re doing the talking now. Are you ready for that? How do you feel about it? We’re striving this sense of validation from people who we’ve never seen before via this ratio. Your credibility’s somehow shot if you’d rather follow more people than you are followed, as if Twitter dictates the way we guide our own lives. The leaders of social media have figured out the allure of having few people to follow and an outrageous number of followers. People are starting to figure out how to tweet to get attention… and we’re realizing that Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat are consuming the millennials’ life.

Here, we have the Internet fucking up the way we even experience and capture memories. Never again will we go to a concert, a movie, a Broadway show, the park, through life without having other people outside our social groups knowing exactly what we’re doing (Holla back to Snapchat for the

We’re being conditioned to walk, talk, and act like we’re heartless as if we aren’t born as selfless human beings dependent on attention and affection in order to fulfill this falsified sense of “cool.” What even is cool? Who even is cool? Why are we so fixated on the notion of this indefinable concept?

The ubiquity of the Internet and our inability to turn it off raises questions of self-care. Take time to delete all of your social applications from your phone for a week…a month… read a book and focus on understanding things not easily defined in 140 characters. Recently, self-care on social media’s become a large topic in light of the recent attacks that highlight issues with police brutality.

Social media has doubled as an ego booster. Every time someone gets followed, they know that someone wants to hear what they have to say or someone likes the way you look in your pictures. This sense of validation that externally perpetuates the many identity issues of our generation originated from the World Wide Web. Mind you, that feeling of acceptance comes at the backend of the “selfies” movement, spending 20 to 25 minutes at a time making sure you have the picture that’s “just right.”

Social media has stripped away the context out of our daily lives and now we’re forced to create something of it.

NO HASHTAGS, RETWEETS, 140 CHARACTERS & GHOSTS

We’re going through the motions of life, but how often do we stop and realize what we’re doing? How often do we sit down and reflect on who we are, what we do, what we see, and how we do it? Our approach to Ijeoma Unachukwu’s interview initially focused on the creation of Chieftess Enterprises, her start-up business, but it soon became a conversation about philosophy, travel, and legacy. Wherever we end up going, we end up leaving a piece of ourselves at that spot. How conscious have you been about telling the world of the legacy you plan to leave behind?’

“I am alive. I’m living, and I’m alive. I’m not just breathing, but I’m thriving. I could be dead, but I’m not.”

As a student on the pre-med track, Unachukwu finds herself so often stressed, going through rote motions and not remembering why she does what she does, but now she’s reinvigorated a passion that started academically, but travels through the several spaces that she occupies: socially, professionally, and creatively. She continues to look at her parents as inspirations who have built a strong foundation of religion, family, and education for her and her siblings.

How Legacy was IJ Inspired

Who we are in the beginning is not who we are in the end.

Throughout our conversation with her, she took pauses to psychoanalyze herself, understanding her reasons behind creating Afrikana, the clothing line under Chieftess Enterprises.

Legacy was a topic that was continually referenced, which was inspired by looking at her cousins in Nigeria who have all started their own businesses. She talked about her family and you could tell how proud of them she was, and how she hopes the reciprocal is true.

“My one cousin, who I call Auntie because she’s so much older than me, has a business in making cakes and artistry.

Another one of my cousins is starting a clothing business in Nigeria.”

She credits a lot of her recent change to her Study Abroad trip to Australia for four months, in which she “had to deal with herself.”

“A lot of things come from not letting go of things in your past, but when you’re thrown into a new environment, nobody knows your past. I’m not saying that you have to hide your past because I was very open with my

friends. There’s no reason to hide from new people. They aren’t going to judge you. If they do, they’re going to leave in three months anyway. I see how things can be in my future, and the world does not begin or end in the four years that we’re in school. Life begins again when you leave. Are you the same person that you were Freshman Year? It’s this whole life cycle; who we are in the beginning is not who we are in end, and in-between, we came through a bunch of spiritual and emotional deaths in which we realized that we can not live the way that we have been living, and we change, and we adapt, and we grow, but we won’t fully grow until we leave and there’s no one around to judge us for growing. Going to Australia, you can really change.”

You learn to be okay by yourself. With me, if you ask people, I’m an outgoing and ostentatious person. When I’m by myself, I’m really okay. I think I’m one of those introverted extroverts, like those paranoid social people. They are super social, but on the inside, they are overthinking every interaction they make. When they are by themselves, they really just want to be left alone and not bothered to leave. When they’re out, they are out. I think my essence, even though some people may not see it, is that I’m striving for peace. I’m not looking for extremist hippie peace, but mental peace from anxiety that I sometimes get in my head, spiritual peace. I have all of these bible verses on my wall because that’s all I want. Deep down inside, I’m just tired.”

“I’ve had to deal with that a lot lately.

I’m studying for MCATs and I really need to be on my own and by myself.

In Australia, I had a lot of friends; I was alone because they were going on these trips and I don’t got money like that. I was in my room, studying for Anatomy because I was taking some hard classes, so you spend some time by yourself.

We thought that it was important to discuss Afrikana, but as we traveled further into her life, we realized that it was more important to understand how Unachukwu works, operates, and navigates through this hectic path we call life. @IJ_Inspired

If sticks and stones break our bones, then why do words still hurt us?

Words are powerful, words are important, and words are everything, especially from the poet who’s spitting rhymes and stories at any and every event he can.

DWNTWN sat down with Tevin Reese to talk about the art of storytelling, poetry, and love.

Writing, while natural, became an therapeutic outlet for him throughout the years after dealing with anger issues, family issues and understanding the need to turn the casual expletives in his journal into something constructive that could produce palpable feeling. That got him into poetry alongside some YouTube videos of one of his inspirations, Miles Hodges, who is “a beast when he performs because of the way he emphasizes certain styles.” While writing’s been naturally cathartic, performing his work is something new to him, especially in the last year, which he enjoys because it produces an adrenaline rush for him. “It’s not even necessarily that attention, but a lot of time people can relate to what you’re going through and what you’re writing about. You don’t really think that when you’re in your

room all in your feelings listening to curse, I’ll just close my door, go in Drake, you don’t think people can my room, and just write.” Art comes relate to what you’re going through.” from feeling, and it’s clear that Reese relies on those emotions to fuel his After bringing out Drake, I brought art because without those emotions, out other musicians to whom that art isn’t raw enough. he listens to which he responded Bryson Tiller and PARTYNEXT- Unpacking his truth about storytellDOOR, but Boyz II Men was one ing, he revealed that it saved his life. of his top, quoting “Water Runs During his senior year of college, Dry” as one of his favorite songs. All he experienced loss in several ways: of those artists tell a story and when his mother passed on Valentine’s opening up the space for him to talk Day right after breaking up with a about how he writes and tells his sto- girlfriend due to infidelity all durries, he explains very clearly, “It’s ing school trying to handle the presusually coming from sadness. When sure of graduating and working, and I’m happy, I can’t write. I can’t draw without relying on people because “I on that particular emotion. When wasn’t a people person then because I’m there, I want to be out doing I didn’t like people in my business”, things. I want people to experience he owes his life to the pen and pame as a happy person, but when per because he doesn’t think that he I’m in my feelings, or mad or upset, would be here without them.

I won’t argue. I won’t yell, I won’t

“

As a man, I’m often expected to be people’s shelter in a sense.

In his opinion, when we’re looking to tell stories as a generation, it’s more important that whatever stories are out there are being heard and listened to rather than telling any and every kind of story. “Some people just want to create because they see it and they enjoy it. What’s more important are the people who need to tell stories, not want to. Some people need to tell stories. They need to be heard.” He references how art and impactful storytelling is become a trend, even if it means that few people are listening. He began telling stories about being a man, and how important is for him to hold that identity. “As a man, I’m often expected to be people’s shelter in a sense.” Sheltering people with love was an example.

figure out right now. However, that definition differs when talking about a significant other. “Real love is constant butterflies” where there is nothing in the world that could replace that feeling, even when you get mad at your loved one. After playing a word association game with him, we came to the conclusion that love was painful because it always starts out beautiful, but it leads to pain in some way, shape, or form. Love doesn’t come around when it’s convenient because that was never love to begin with. The pain of love outweighs the beauty, and it lasts longer.

ward and never returning to the past.

“A lot of times, you’ve been doing things wrong and you keep trying to dig in the past and try and apologize to people for what you’ve done in the past, but you don’t want to bring them back to that moment. It’s kind of selfish, just because you feel like you need to. Understanding that, from here on out, the people you are currently around and the people you will be around, you can fix that, but let the past be in the past.”

When I asked him, if he had any advice to give to writers, it would be “There’s always going to be that one to start writing and then start feeling. person in your life that will start a fire Not everyone will love your art, but that can’t be put out, and if you meet “there are 7 billion people on this that one person, and they leave, that Earth. Someone’s going to fuck with fire will be there. That shit’s still go- it.”

What is love? It’s acceptance of other ing to burn.” When Reese thinks people, which comes from self-love, about love, he understands so much @ReeseOnBlast a place Tevin finds himself trying to more about life, like pushing for-

Some people need to tell stories..

From an earlier interview, we learned from Seyram Avakame that “if everyone wants to be different, then no one wants to be different.” How often are we compromising our authentic self for This time is an escape from the perils acceptance? That becomes apparent of secondary education and the social in the physical space, too. Black girls traps that came with it. There isn’t a have to straighten their hair for accepstandard of popularity, but your social tance into professional settings, even ranking on campus is tied directly to though they are praised for the natural this idea of “cool.” curls that bounce from their scalps by the media and its mass consumers.

What is cool? How did we get to define it?

Acceptance is the epicenter of every social circle, social cue, and social setSomewhere along the line, we’ve de- ting, and this word… this “cool” is the veloped this idea that you have to be staple personality trait of acceptance. cool to be “in”. That cool is attribut- We’re bringing cool to the classroom, ed to the capability and the power to we’re bringing cool to the club, and navigate social scenes with ease, while we’re bringing cool to the parties. maintaining this level of authenticity. Sometimes, cool replaces looks… I The foundation of navigating social guess that’s a plus, right? spaces involves suppressing individualism in a way that appeals to others.

Nowadays, it’s cool to drink, it’s cool to get drunk, but it’s not cool to be soThe issue with trying to stay cool is that ber and stay home. It’s not cool to be “if you only play for the applause, then “the grandma” of the group. Let me you place your happiness in the hands rock. It’s cool to have dance battles of the audience.” We’re trying to be where we’re doing the Quan, or dabcool for everyone else. bing (Wait, that really is fun, though!)

Lastly, we became numb to meanness

College. These four years are a time for self- discovery complete with boozefilled adventures that even your mother couldn’t save you from.

ANONYMOUS

At times like this, I refer to Chance the Rapper and his helpful friends to close me out: “I don’t wanna be cool, I just wanna be me.”

I’m disbanding the word “cool” from my vocabulary because the ambiguity of the word causes social pressure to try and fit in when in actuality, no one fits in. There isn’t any fitting in, anymore. You won’t destroy me because I’m not dabbing at parties, and I’m not getting drunk anymore. You’re going to like me because I exude a level of excellence that will never be replicated in another person.

I’m setting a new rule for myself.

and that got cute. It became cool to be rude (thanks to eighth grade references to Mean Girls for that one) because you’re being “honest” and “blunt.”

WHO IS TRYING TO BE COOL?

editor-in-chief TRAVIS HENRY

visual editor PRIYA ANGARA NICOLETTE MOLINA

new brunswick photographer MAIA SEALS

contributors PRIYA ANGARA QUINTESSA DAVIS JUSTIN HOCKADAY KAITLIN PANG

F OR M O R E I N T E RV I E WS

D W N T W N E X P. c o m

SEE MORE PHOTOS