EMERGENCE

Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition host Christina Shockley is asking artists, politicians, business owners, teachers, and people from all walks of life to give their three ideas for things each of us can do to revive our state.

When interviewed for the "three things" series, Invincible took the interview as an opportunity to discuss a three-step process for crafting community-led solutions to Michigan's problems.

Listen to the interview here.

Excerpt:

"When I moved to the States, I didn't speak English and hip hop was all around me and I would listen to it and start looking up the words and the lyrics and stuff," says Invincible, who was born in Illinois, but moved to Israel when she was still a baby. Eventually, she started creating her own lyrics and got more serious about her craft at around the age of 15, freestyling and performing at open mics and in clubs. But while she's recognized today as one of the most talented MC's in the U.S., labels aren't what matter most to Invincible. She'd rather focus her energy on making good music and fostering change.

"Musically it's about skills first . . . . It's about innovating the art form, it's about making sure my flow is tight, making sure the beat is banging and everything. That comes first. And then I always say I slip the medicine in," she says, explaining her content is all influenced by things she's experienced or witnessed, or issues she's hoping to shed light on.

Read the full North Shore News article.

Excerpt:

If you've been watching the fall of the American auto industry, you might have the impression that Detroit's become the saddest place in the United States. Rapper Ilana Weaver (aka Invincible) admits there's a lot of desperation in her city, but she insists there's hope aplenty, too, pointing to Detroit's official motto (“Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus,” which translates as “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes”) as proof of its resilience in past calamities—from the 1805 fire that destroyed it to the five-day riot in 1967 that rocked its core.

“There's a lot of media coverage of Detroit that only shows the disinvestment, the abandonment, and the postindustrial aspects,” says the MC and community organizer, reached at her home. “What my work and my music focuses on is the way people here find innovative ways of dealing with those issues. There's community movements, a lot of self-reliance—whether it's people who take abandoned buildings and fix them up for housing, or people that turn abandoned lots into vegetable gardens. There's a lot of incredible work being done that doesn't get shown enough.”

Read the full article.

Cultural critic Tolu Olorunda has written a commentary for AllHipHop.com on Invincible's "Ropes" and mtvU's rejection of the video.

Excerpt:

Another sobering reminder of corporate America’s abusive relationship with Hip-Hop was highlighted when Detroit MC Invincible’s latest video single, “Ropes,” was accepted then rejected by MTV’s standards department. Why?

Any true Hip-Hop fan is aware of Invincible’s pedigree. She’s no lightweight. Very few Hip-Hop artists can manifest the ingenious degrees of wordplay and linguistic dexterity she so effortlessly wields. No doubt. Her debut classic, ShapeShifters, released last year, put to bed all cynics. In fact, none other than NY’s own Hip-Hop Queen, Jean Grae, described her in these elegant terms: “Invincible is a problem, always has been. Wonderfully humble, a humanitarian, an amazing and caring person just in general. All that and she’ll rip your mic to shreds and then set it on fire. … She’s a true lyricist.”

Apparently, MTV thinks Jean Grae is wrong. Or maybe MTV simply sees Invincible—and her message—in accurate light—“a problem.”

"Ropes" is a song featured on ShapeShifters, but just now getting the light of day it long deserved. In true Invincible fashion, it confronts the crisis of mental health and its effects on the younger generation—head-on. No holds are barred. In March 2009, mtvU, the “College Music, Activism, Shows and Activities On Campus” channel, accepted Ropes to be shown on its network. Soon after, however, Invincible was contacted, notified that it was rejected because, “Unfortunately the Standards Department decided on passing on the video, citing how its suicidal undertones would be problematic on the channel it was accepted for.”

Invincible responded to the ice-melting logic of MTV in her special way.

Now, in my eyes, what I see [as] problematic, is that nobody wants to talk about this issue of mental health in our community. I mean, I’ve been affected by it, my family [has been affected by it], even some of my favorite Hip-Hop artists [as well]. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people our age in this country.

So, everybody knows somebody that’s been affected by it, even if it’s secondhand. Now, on that note, everybody knows it exists, but nobody wants to touch it with a ten-foot pole. So, I wrote this song to open up the conversation; I made this video to open up this dialogue…. How are we ever going to solve this issue, if no one wants to talk about it?

Her minute-long homily would serve as the intro for "Ropes."

If MTV’s “activism” channel refused to accept a single by an activist who is actively campaigning against the tragic consequences of mental health neglect in the college-age community, how much less interested are other mainstream networks like MTV2, VH1, and BET likely to be?

It’s hard to imagine that MTV has ever rejected a video for its “violent undertones,” or its “misogynistic undertones,” or its “materialistic undertones,” or its “homophobic undertones.” In truth, one need not imagine, for it’s never happened.

More appalling, of course, is that if “Ropes” was written and performed by a commercial artist, say a 50 cent, Lil’ Wayne, Jay-Z, Drake, Young Jeezy or T..I., MTV’s response, and consequently the public’s, would have been quite different. I can already see the Grammy nods, the media blitzkrieg, the speaking events, lined-up to celebrate Hip-Hop’s interest in an issue so afflictive of the younger demographic. After all, suicide is ranked the third leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old.

Better yet, this incident is further proof of a seismic shift in Hip-Hop consciousness within the last decade. It bespeaks of a generation engineered to respond more favorably to sneaker commercials than notions of agency, media literacy, and critical citizenship. MTV’s response is a microcosm of the terrible disaster media consolidation has wrought on Hip-Hop.

In Ropes Feat. Tiombe Lockhart, Invincible makes it personal, recounting an incident that almost ended her life:

“At seven, tied a plastic bag over my head/ Like, ‘What’s the point but getting older and dead?’/ So innocent, searching for missing links/ Surrounded by the carcasses of instruments/ Of dreams departed hardened by the sentiments/ Out of tune and sharpened by the artists/.”

I’m wondering if those were the lines that screamed “suicidal undertones” at the clearance agents. Or perhaps it was these:

“I heard the barrels cry, wishing they could spare ya lives/ Was feeling paralyzed, but no I wasn’t scared to die/ Feared not livin’ to the fullest, so i pulled it/ All or nothing/ Now somebody wanna call my bluff when/ I tried to flinch/ Told them that the suicide attempt was cause I’d rather die/ Than live and ride the bench/.”

Of course, they never cared to listen on. If they did, they might have found out that, unlike some other artists, Invincible is never one to state the problems without providing viable solutions:

“To all the unfazed and numb, hope that you hear/ What I’ve spoken is clear/ So you stop repressing, choking the tears/ We all walk the line between insanity and sanity/ And hope and despair/ Hope and despair/.”

I believe it would do MTV—not just mtvU—good to reconsider Invincible’s offer. The least they can do is explain, in more coherent terms, why they oppose exploring this crisis of mental health. I’m sure their P.R. department can do a better job.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT ALLHIPHOP.COM