JOSE S. GUTIERREZ JR.: NEW ONLINE HIP-HOP COLUMN >>>

What a time to begin my new hip-hop column Live From I-5: The 25360. The hip-hop nation is in a state of confusion and amnesia.  The state government has just passed an anti-gang bill that casts an incriminating umbrella upon a multitude of people â€" some likely NOT gang members.  The imperial art of “The DJ” is in peril.  Eeeeeverybody thinks they can rap, but few have anything original to say.  The roots of the culture of hip-hop are being neglected and disrespected and the future is a guess at best.

This is what “it” is about: the truth to power, the voice of the people â€" YOUR VOICE â€" through me of course.  LFI5: The 25360 reflects the joint area codes of the South Puget Sound’s common history and heritage of hip-hop, Entertainment, Community and “The Scene.”  I will think and write in the spirit of “edutainment” (a combination of education and entertainment as coined by the great, Blastmaster KRS-ONE).  And as a student of the ways of the great Edward R. Murrow and Ice Cube, I will do my best to listen, respond and deliver the freshest of the fresh.

Check out my first column on the Weekly Volcano's Web site.