We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
An occasional feature in which esteemed D.C. rapper Head-Roc shares what’s on his mind.
They are about to strip Chocolate City of its “shadow” vote on the House floor. That is hilarious. Wait a minute. So, you’re telling me that the U.S. House of Representatives is going to eliminate the vote that already doesn’t count, representing the “say so” from citizens of Washington, D.C.?
Washington, D.C. is Chocolate City—-a place where the majority of residents are of African descent in a nation where Africans were enslaved and put to work in economic operations called plantations. On plantations enslaved Africans did not have the right to vote and decide the daily operations of the day or business. On plantations, at the whim of the white masters, the rules of engagement could change in the blink of an eye. Hey, I wonder if the white masters who ran the plantation voted amongst them on what do, when “what was did” was done, back in those days? Yeah, that’s kind of what the new Repugnantkin-controlled House of Representatives is about to do with regard to even casting the Chocolate City’s vote representing our viewpoint on the challenges facing America and the decisions it needs to make. Hey, you do remember “what was did” don’t you?
In comes Rasi Caprice, a former U.S. Marines corpsman, and the “1st Rap President” from out of Washington, D.C. Rasi is an elite D.C. hip-hop veteran who knows what time it is in this still Chocolate City. His song “Free DC” is immediately what comes to mind when I think of the perfect D.C. hip-hop response to the threat of rolling back progress toward achieving D.C. statehood in this egregious and vindictive political move by conservatives to silence the voice of D.C. residents.
In “Free DC”, Rasi Caprice gives what I consider to be the proper and culturally popular reasons for why D.C. needs to become admitted into the union as a state. You can hear it on Rasi’s MySpace page. I also found this video piece on YouTube of Rasi rocking his “Free D.C.” anthem a cappella downtown at Freedom Plaza in front of the Wilson building at a D.C. statehood rally. I love this video of the brother outside in the Belly of the Beast battling the system with his art. It’s easy to get up on a fully powered and tricked-out sound stage with a packed house full of drunk partygoers and rock, but rocking outside in broad daylight in a huge open public space letting “Massa” know you ain’t happy with the way he is treating you is a different challenge. It’s a challenge that most won’t, and in these days of extreme cultural phobia, most don’t undertake. Rasi Caprice is not a novice in this situation—-for years now he has been an active and involved member of the D.C.’s statehood movement. That’s one aspect of Rasi Caprice…
On Rasi’s Reverb Nation page I found some sneak peeks at what looks to be the next round of releases from D.C.’s rap chief executive. These joints are definitely set to make noise in the streets, and a few deserve rotation consideration on D.C. DJ’s local playlists. Particularly that “Loud Pack” cut is resin-ating with me a little something hard, and I’m bobbing my head to it as I finish this column. It’s skunky, I mean funky! Go listen and enjoy D.C. hip-Hop, family!