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by Sabrina Chapadjiev
Bullets
reign 'cross the terrain and they bang bang, Mista Milk sang
the same song as Martin Luther King now I know the answer why the
caged bird sings
It's unbelievable the way they think we're in the same boat, if
you really think that one person makes the rest sink
but one word makes the rest think
from
the song, "The Revelation" by
JenRO
JENRO is
a one-woman revolution. Filipino, Hispanic, gay, and female...don't
try to pin her down to any one category. She's been rapping against
stereotypes since she was eleven, performing in venues from San
Quentin prison to LGBT Pride Festivals. Recently signed to La Movida
Records, JenRO's debut CD "The Revelation" proves that this 21-year-old
powerhouse has been writing, free styling, and creating her own
identity for ten years. She's got a plan for herself and for the
way things should be, and lucky you, all you have to do is listen.
When was your first interest
in music?
Ever since I can remember,
I was singing songs or just rapping songs from the radio. I used
to write small songs when
I was younger. They were just short...like maybe three lines
or something. But in sixth grade I joined the jazz band and I played
in it until I graduated high school. I played the drums.
And your father was
into music, too, right?
Yeah, he's a disco deejay.
Did you listen to a lot of
that when you were growing up?
Yeah, I listened to a lot
of disco, funk, old school, a lot of Latin
music, 'cuz my mom liked to play salsa from the radio and stuff
like that.
Do you remember the first
song that hit you?
I used to like Snoop Dog
a lot when I was young. Like in 5th grade I used to do his song
'Gin and Juice.' I mean, I listened to music
from my older brother and sister too and my parents too, but
5th grade
was when I was able to say, "This is what I want to listen
to" and I was able to buy my own tapes.
When did you decide you
wanted to be an emcee?
Maybe I didn't really decide
it. I used to come home when I was in middle school, tape my raps
on a tape
recorder. It wasn't gonna really 'take me somewhere.' It was
just something I liked to do.
When did you start
competing in the cipher circles?(*where two rappers
would battle against each other by freestyling.)
That was in
high
school mostly. I didn't really know too many people that would
rap with
me in middle school, but in high school it was kinda cool.
I was that girl who was trying to rap. I was always looked at
like, "Oh, what are you trying to do?" I
was really scared at first because I didn't know what they were
going to think. I kinda sucked back then, but I still just wanted
to test my skills and get used to how people would react when I
said what I wanted to say.
How did they react? Were
the guys cool about it?
Some of them were cool,
some of them were like, "Oh, why are you trying to rap? You're a girl." I'd say a majority of them were kinda shocked.
Were there any girls doing
what you were doing, or was it just you?
No, I was pretty much
the only girl. There was somebody else that tried once, but she
wasn't as serious as I was. I'd really think about what I wanted
to say.
Were you freestyling at
that point or would you always prepare your stuff beforehand?
Mostly
freestyle. That's when I started building
my freestyling skills.
How do you train yourself
as a freestyle artist?
I like to practice on my
own, in my room or in
an isolated area, and just talk shit to myself. Like, 'What would
I say to
myself if I was somebody else trying to clown on me?' And
then I just try to clown on myself. Because I wanted to do battle,
so just thinking, 'What would somebody say to me if they were
talking
shit? They're going to call me a dyke, they're going to call
me
a bitch, they're going to say to suck their dick.' They're
going to talk all this shit. I just try to think it through in
my head
while building up my inner fucking anger and just letting
it
rip. All alone.
Did reacting against what
you knew the guys would say make you more outspoken about who you
were?
It did kinda influence what
I wrote about, because I would wrote everyday. And, if when I
was walking
home, some motherfucker started to talk shit to me, I would write
about
it in my journal. So, that experience is going to be included
in my raps no matter what, because it's part of what I feel.
So you kept a journal?
Oh, yeah. From the time
I was 7 or 8. I have at least, 13 journals. From that time until
now. Non-stop.
How
does
freestyling
help versus actually writing thoughts down?
To me, it's two separate
things. I like to do both so if somebody puts me on the spot, I'll
be ready.
I'm talking more like, battle.
And I like freestyling even as a way to prepare for my written
stuff.
Something might come out in a freestyle that might be
a fucking dope ass punch line in a written rap.
When did you start
recognizing role models that weren't guys?
Probably Da Brat or Queen
Latifah, you know, "U-N-I-T-Y." That came out when I was in fifth
grade or something, and I just thought it was tight. She was like, "Who
you calling a bitch?!" Especially during that time, during the
whole boy-hates-girl type of thing, it was great to hear. So back
then I was already pumped. I was with her, saying, "Who you calling
a bitch?!"
You said you were writing
your raps during English class and then you'd work on them. What
was formal school like for you?
A lot of the history subjects
where boring to me. I didn't want to learn about George Washington.
All
I wanted to do was write my raps, no matter what class I was
in. Even in band class, I'd be on the drum set with my journal
on top
of the snare drum while the teacher's explaining something.
Now, during this time you
were also going to poetry slams. Was there something that you learned
from the poetry slam scene that you were able
to bring back into the hip-hop scene?
Yeah, partly. You get
judged, which made me more aware of what I wrote about, and not
just
the content, but how the audience would take my words in. It
made me
think, 'How can I make it more understandable for a large
audience?'
When did you start rapping
about social issues?
I grew up in a really diverse
neighborhood, and loved it. That's part of what made me who I am
today.
Growing up in such a diverse place really made me culturally aware
of myself, who I am, and where I came from. So, I was already
writing
about
poor people and people on the street before I even started
writing
about being gay. Once I realized I was gay, it pumped me
up even more.
Hip-hop is known for being
really misogynistic and really anti-gay. You've talked in other
interviews about how you can still appreciate
a song you
don't agree with because of its craft. Were you always
able to distinguish craft from content?
When I was younger, I listened
to it regardless. Now I feel I have more of an option of
the music that I listen to and like. A song can still be good
as
far
as structure
and beat, but if you're singing along with it, you gotta
kinda
agree with what they're saying to say the lyrics. So if
somebody's talking shit in their song, I'm not gonna bump it in
my ride.
I might be like, "Hey, that sounds cool," although I might
not agree with what they're saying.
Is there one rapper that
you really think is the tightest in terms of craft?
I like a lot
of Eminem's word play. I like his beats and the way he can structure
his songs and his delivery, even though I don't agree with everything
he's saying. It's more like he's a good emcee.
How do you start writing
a rap?
Well, I like to be alone
when I write, because then I can focus on what I want to say and
not
worried
about if anyone's looking at me or something . I like to have
a beat playing as I'm rhyming so I know how to structure my raps.
It doesn't really matter where I am. I've written in parks,
and on the BART train, which is like the metro. A lot of my album
was
written when I was in New York, because I was away from a lot
of my friends and I didn't have them distracting me.
Do you always create
your own beats?
I like to make beats, but
it's not something I'm really focused on. I don't make any of my
beats
on the album: I work with some different producers. I wish
I did. But, if I focused on beats I probably wouldn't be as good
rapping.
The language of
hip-hop is pretty loaded, tinted with racism, sexism, and homophobia.
What
is it like using that language
and
using it
to express who you are?
I don't use homophobic
words in my raps, and if I do, I may just be referring to somebody
else
using them. In a way, that will make people thank about
the
definition of 'dyke' or 'fag.' For example, "Dey call me
JenRO known as the lesbian dyke! Known for takin the ladies
and
rockin da mic!" I'm claiming the words. If I use the word
'bitch' it won't be directed toward just any woman. I might
say 'those bitches on the corner trying to stop my flows...'
but it would only be if they were really trying to stop my
game. Any girl that tries to stop my path might be a bitch
to me.
Were there any other musicians
outside of hip hop that influenced your writing?
Definitely. I
grew up listening to Bob Marley. He has a lot of messages that
are really revolutionary, lyrics that really made me who I am
today.
I've got a question about recording equipment for you. I play a lot of music
myself, and I know I'm daunted as shit when it comes to Guitar
Center.
Oh, fuck yeah!
What was that like for you?
You have to work with all these different machines and shit like
that. Can you talk a little bit about equipment?
I bought my first beat machine
when I was 16. I saved all my money up. It was pretty easy for
me to use. A lot of people would
wonder,
'How did you get that drum track down?' Well, I used to play
the drums, plus I used to help my dad deejay when I was young.
I use
to help him load the equipment and help him pick out songs
for the younger people, so I became familiar with electronics
and plugs and different patches. I was only like 12 or 13 when
I
started
helping him out, so my whole life I was surrounded by shit
like that.
I know the label
you're on, La Movida, is a Spanish label. Have
you done any songs in Spanish yet?
Yeah, I've done some songs
in Spanish. My
first album is going to be in English, since that's what
I was originally doing. But there is the thought, 'Why not do
an all
Spanish album and hit the Spanish market, too?' so that
might
happen.
You've performed in San
Quentin, the Philippines, Mexico, GLBT venues. What are the differences
and the similarities between the crowds?
Oh, yeah, the crowds are
different. I'm going from an all male audience
that's in prison for attempted murder to a whole auditorium
full of gay men and women that grew up in good neighborhoods.
So, the audiences are very different in their views, but that's
what
I
feel like Iím there for: to spread the same word in different
communities. That I'm still the same person you are.
The similarities? You know, music brings people together,
whether you're gay or black or white or Puerto Rican.
Music is universal. The person opposite of you, who may
be racist and homophobic or sexist, may like the same
song just as much as you if not more. My goal is for
the audience to like the music whether they know I'm
gay or not. To reach everybody and let them know who
I am. So they can say, "Dang! How can she be such a
tight rapper and be gay at the same time?!"
You're gay, Hispanic,
Filipino, and a woman, and a huge part of the music business
is packaging
yourself. What is that like, all of the sudden having to try to
make yourself sellable?
Sometimes I think it's really
hard. "She's a Latin rapper, but wait a minute, she's a Filipino rapper, wait a minute, she's a gay rapper, wait a minute, she's a girl rapper." Are all of these things gonna hold me down or they gonna help me?
Where do you want to go?
I want to
be at the top. Music is a way of communication and I want to
be able to communicate to everybody. I want to be like Martin Luther
King Jr., but my speeches are gonna be on the radio. I want it
to be
at the top, because I'm not afraid to tell people who I am and
I'm not afraid to let everybody know where I'm coming from, so
I want to be mainstream, I want to be on radio, I want to be
in music videos, I want to be heard, basically. Whether it's
underground or elsewhere, but my goals are to really go as far
as I can, because I think it's really important in representation
for women, for people of color, for gay people, for young people,
you know, represented in every type of community.
You also said you do a lot
of street outreach?
Yeah, I was doing outreach
when I was 15. I was working in the worst neighborhoods in San
Francisco, in crack
houses or in hotels. I was helping out even at that age. I haven't
changed. I do outreach to youth right now. I teach a music class
and it's sort of my way of saving their lives. But with large
audiences, this is my way of reaching: through music.
What was being in the studio
like for you?
For me,
when I'm recording, it's like, "Okay, Jen. This is what people are going to hear." It's really deep for me to be recording and to be deciding at the same time. It's what I love to do, so it turns into work after a while, but what other job would I rather be working right now than this?
Is this the only job you
have right now?
No, I teach middle school
kids. I teach a music class, and that's something that I like to
do, too. I do that part-time, and all my other time goes to my
music.
Some people identify themselves
as queer writers or feminist writers, is there any way that you
identify or label yourself?
I have so many labels
on me. People can choose to push me towards each different
area, but it's like, I'm everything. I'm a rap artist regardless
of
my color, gender, or my race. I'm a rapper. I don't want to
limit myself to one thing because every little thing makes me who
I am.
Are there any other shout
outs that you'd like to give to people that have inspired you?
Definitely
Rosa Parks. She refused to get up and I'm going to refuse
censorship. I refuse to censor everything that people might try
to bring
down. Gandhi: because he used non-violence to spread his word
of peace.
That's like music. It's not violent. I don't have to hold
up a gun and say, "Accept us because we're gay" or "Accept us because we're women. Accept us because we're poor. Accept us because we're people of color." Instead it's just like, "Listen."
What would you ask for from
future women rap artists?
I would just say, be yourself.
Be who you are, and as long as you speak from the heart, I can't
disagree
with you. If you're homophobic and you're speaking from the heart...well,
I may not like your music, but...be
real, don't be fake. Don't try to copy anybody
else. And just don't give up.
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