""Last year, Ilana Weaver (aka Invincible), threw a couple of key showcases in Austin that highlighted the crème de la crème of Detroit hip hop such as the "DXSW" event and The Revival: SXSW Women in Hip Hop showcase that ended up being, in the opinion of many, two of the best received shows in Austin, regardless of genre…"I was at the show that Invincible did in Austin last year, and I really enjoyed it," DeVries says. "I told her that I want to be a part of it next year, but because [Invincible] decided to be more of an artist this year, she's not organizing a Detroit show. She had so much on her plate last year. I was kind of intimidated to take on the role in her absence this year, but I realize it's important to the Michigan hip-hop acts to have a showcase to play, so I'm doing it."
Coney's and Cuervo happens Friday, March 11, at The Shelter (431 E. Congress, Detroit; 313-961-MELT) $10, $25 VIP. Danny Brown, Ro Spit, Invincible, Finale, Jon Connor, MarvWon, FowL, Quest MCody, Cold Men Young, J Young the General, Red Pill, PL, DRG, Young Scolla, Pato, and DJ Soko will all perform."
"It may have been hard to come by a strong female presence in the hip-hop game years ago, but these days it's the ladies that have been putting in some serious work. Invincible is one such female rapper that Detroit is blessed to call one of its own. Not only is her lyricism created out of sheer genius, but her work towards a social revolution far surpasses any expectations people had for her. Intelligent, kind and a trailblazer, from the creation of her own label, Emergence, to her activism, peer influence and solid catalog, Invincible is a role model for an entire city."
"It isn’t just scenes of Belle Isle and vivid shots throughout downtown Detroit but the way director El Iqaa captures the uplifting feel of the city during the summer months that makes this double music video stand out."
"Art Threat: I’ve had your track Shape Shifters on repeat for a while now. Can you elaborate a little bit on the concept?
Invincible: Shape Shifters was inspired by reading Octavia Butler’s The Parables series and Wild Seed. It was my first attempt at writing a hip-hop science fiction song. Hip-hop is based in sampling, and when writing the song I imagined creating a time capsule of music and movements from today — that could be sampled in the future, and uncovered in some post-apocalyptic rubble. I’m excited to see how the lessons of music and movements now can be sampled into brand new unimaginable evolutions of our current approaches to self and world transformation.
You spent up to five years working on your docu-music videos Locusts and People not Places. What’s simmering on the back burner these days?
My new concoction is a full-length album, multimedia installation, and curriculum project in the works with Detroit producer Waajeed. It is focused on complex science and social movements, learning from the ways they intersect and overlap. I hated science class growing up and now somehow all I think about is the ways science can be reclaimed by marginalized communities. A few years ago I was inspired by Grace Lee Boggs, the long time Detroit activist and philosopher to think about the ways our movements are being dictated by old science paradigms. People think change happens incrementally on a large scale, which is in a sense a Newtonian approach, rather than holistically on a small scale, which is the way complex science works. Waajeed and I recently released a single for the song Emergence along with Detroit Summer which is an appetizer for the full-length project."
The Austin Chronicle's Earache! blog gave a recap of last weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest, listing Invincible's performance as one of their personal highlights.
Excerpt:
"The Detroit rapper gave us a taste of her new project with Motor City beatmaker Waajeed, and there's no doubt she's what the rap world needs right now. Forward-thinking lyrics, insane rhymes, full composure."
She also started her own label, Emergence Music, and is heavily involved in community organizations like the youth program Detroit Summer. Weaver describes her involvement much like her approach to music: "We start with a message but work to make it accessible. In Toni Cade Bambara's words, 'Make the revolution irresistible.'"
A 7-inch single with producer Waajeed this summer gave a taste of what Weaver's been up to lately and what her next full-length might sound like.
"With this new project, I've been studying complex science's connection to social movements and reading tons of physics books to gain new perspectives, vocabulary, and metaphors," Weaver concludes. "I dabble in drums to help me develop new cadences and patterns. I sometimes record nonsensical rhythms with my voice over Waajeed's multilayered canvases, then go back later and fill in the words like a puzzle."
The rapper, who headlines Artists Against Apartheid XIV this Saturday, is becoming more visible through music, film and community involvement, notably her 2008 album Shapeshifters, on which she collaborated with producers like Black Milk and Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers.
“I was able to learn firsthand from my friends’ stories about their families and about what was happening in the Middle East, and un-learn some of the stories that I had been taught growing up, whether on the playground or by my family. Hip hop was one of the main ways that I was also able to learn stories that aren’t normally told in the media or in school.”
We’re just a few days away from Restoration Rocks, and I thought I’d give you all a chance to get to know some of the artists.
How has Detroit shaped you as both an MC and as an activist?
Detroit has an incredibly rich music legacy, side by side with one of the most revolutionary movement legacies in the world. I’m deeply inspired by both and the ways they intersect. Mad Mike of Underground Resistance broke down his philosophy on Detroit music to me and it made perfect sense. From blues to gospel to jazz to Motown to rock to techno and hip-hop, every genre here has one thing in common: be as off the beat as possible while still being in the pocket. That’s what allows us to innovate while still syncopate.
INVINCIBLE: I first met Kimani about 10 years ago. There was a mutual friend of ours named Yejide the Night Queen, and she was throwing a women in hip hop event every month, and he came out to one of her events.
Then about four years ago, my friend,Stacy Epps. came out and did Can A Sista Rock A Mic? and I came out and performed a song with her.
So I always knew about the festival and, then, this year they asked me to be a feature at it, and I’m just honored to be part of this legacy of DC supporting women in hip hop, and bringing out of town artists to connect with the local DMV movement.
"Fire Mic/Hammer" t-shirt
"I Don't Write Rhymes I Write Ransom Notes" t-shirt
"Black & Red Mic/Hammer" t-shirt
"Black & Green Mic/Hammer" t-shirt
INVINCIBLE - ShapeShifters CD digipak
INVINCIBLE - ShapeShifters 12"
DETROIT SUMMER LIVE ARTS MEDIA PROJECT - Rising Up From the Ashes CD
SLINGSHOT HIP HOP - DVD
THE NARCICYST - S/T CD
FINALE - A Pipe Dream And A Promise CD
