"There will always be artists who will refuse to become a cog in the machine, and will instead create sounds that topple the tower of babel, and write lyrical communiques to foment resistance, and musical manifestos to disrupt,  dismantle and destroy the machine"

Once upon a time, we believed that music could change the world and usher in the new revolution. But now, in these sad days of corporate control and crass commercialism, the only thing changing is the weather and the only revolution happenin’ is the latest fashion. For this reason, a no-compromise underground band like Ricanstruction is vitally important. With their anti-corporate message and radical new sound, they’re, perhaps single-handedly, dismantling the machine. I spoke with Ricanstruction’s lead singer, Not4Prophet, about the struggle to make music and a movement.

So is it tough being in the most dangerous band on the planet?

I thought somebody else had that title?

Well, I’m giving it back to you, ‘cause who ever’s got it doesn’t deserve it . You guys write angry songs to free Mumia, and Puerto Rico, you support squatting and pirate radio, you travel to El Salvador for the FMLN, and Vieques to kick the US Navy out of Puerto Rico, and you wrote a love song to Assata and an ode to Farrakahn. And you do it all with your own independent ,underground record label and no support whatsoever from "the man".

Well, growing up as a colonized people in the ghettos of babylon, you quickly learn that to say nothing is to go along with the program and the pogrom. And to do nothing is even worse. So it’s always been important to us to speak our mind and take a stand and let it be known where we stand. We are simply humble musicians, but, we know what Frantz Fanon meant when he said, "the poet ought to understand that nothing can replace the reasoned, irrevocable taking up of arms on the peoples side".

Your sound is different from anything else I’ve ever heard. It’s Hip hop, but it’s Punk, and reggae, and maybe even jazz. And it’s loud and strident too. What was your goal when you first started creating your music?

You see, we weren’t trying to make acceptable music, or music that Puerto Rican’s,  Black folk, Africans "should" be making. When we started the process of creation, we were trying to speak about our reality as musicians without stereotypical reference. Our reality was Public Enemy and KRS One, and ‘Trane and Miles, and Bad Brains, and Black Flag and Bessie Smith, too. And Fishbone and Jimi Hendrix, and the Jungle Brothers too. And our reality was also Malcolm and Che, and Albizu and Assata, and the Black Panthers and the Macheteros and the BLA. And our reality was also colonialism and slavery and downpression, and poverty and prison, and the ghetto and racism. So when we took this historical reality and made it into music, it came out angry, and distorted, and radical… and louder than a bomb.

I’ve heard your music called "Puerto Punk". Do you consider your music to be "Black" music?

What is Black music? Coltrane was a punk too. It’s all about being too Black and too strong.

In these corporate times where do you see Black music heading?

It’s not so much where Black music is heading, but where commercialized Black music is heading. Black music will always be dynamic, ever changing, ever growing, ever experimenting. It will go wherever it want to go and wherever we take it. Black music is hip hop and trip hop and be bop, and funk and Punk, and salsa and soul  and rock ‘n’ roll and reggae, and swing and tings and times. Black commercialized music, on the other hand, will sound like the last thing that went double platinum.

Does commercial success neccesarilly mean bad music?

No, of course not. Bob Marley was commercially successful. So was A Tribe Called Quest. But with the bottom line and the intensified corporate control of art, experimentation and progression is frowned upon in favor of what sells right out the box. One of the problems with who controls the music is that we are told by outsiders what is and isn’t Black music. And if we dare to stray, then we get no play.

But with the controls so tight is there anything the Black artist can do besides join ‘em? After all, very few record labels are owned by Black people.

Our emphasis has been placed on getting signed and getting paid, as opposed to creating new and radical art, and creating our own record labels to get that art to the people. There are alternative ways to get your art to the people. You have to use the Punk ethic of DIY (do it yourself).  Some of the tactics used in hip hop to promote the music, like street teams, for instance, are really effective. But the fact is, that even the so-called independent "hip hop labels" are owned by the other man instead of the brother man. The bottom line is that if your goal is empowerment and the creation of honest art, then you gotta put out your own music like Malcolm told us, "by any means necessary". You won’t sell as many records, and you probably won’t be able to buy that new car, but you won’t be anyone’s "slave" either.  On the other hand, if you’re goal is the bling bling, then be prepared to dance with the devil.

Has Ricanstruction been approached by the major labels?

How you gonna approach a Nigga who refuses to be a slave?

Ricanstruction is probably the most radically political band I’ve ever heard, and the band is also involved with many political causes. Do you see yourself as an activist first or a artists first?

Where active artists, I guess. As human beings we get involved and try to resist what will make it tough for us to continue to exist. As artists we talk about the experience of living in these times. But they’re intertwined. You can’t avoid the reality of your surroundings. We live in a time of downpression and injustice, and exploitation, and as people of color this has been our condition for over 500 years, so you either confront it or give in.

Any thoughts on the coming presidential elections?

They’re a farce. I think we’re all coming to overstand that the only hope we have is to destroy Babylon. No matter who’s in office, no matter how charismatic they may be, it really makes no difference because they’re all in the pockets of the corporations who really call the shots. Republican, democrat, different name, same master(s) plan.

But if we don’t participate in some capacity, don’t we lose any control we might have?

It’s hard to lose what you don’t have. We gain control by resisting, and struggling, and creating and building, and empowering, and demanding… and sometimes even destroying, you know. We have to empower ourselves. Control our own resources and control our own lives. Fight for what we need instead of just accepting the handouts they grudgingly give us. We need to protest and demonstrate, but we may also need to understand that if we’re left out in the cold, we may just have to burn down the mission to stay warm.

What we’ve seen in Los Angeles, Philly, Prague, all seem to be an indication that we’re beginning to understand that the corporations are controlling things. And then there’s the Ralph Nader campaign. Do you see us headed in the right direction?

I don’t know how much good the Ralph Nader campaign does us other than to perpetuate the myth that that crumbling shitstem may still work. We don’t need more politricksters to lead the way, no matter how good hearted, we need more freedom. As far as what’s been going on in the streets, I think we’re starting to realize that people can take back the power if we stop this shitstem cold. For years we’ve watched the corporate controlled superpowers suck the world dry, and now we are saying no more. Now we’re saying we don’t have to live in a world of exploitation and injustice. There’s no excuse for having billionaires and starving children.

Do you think today’s music reflects the current experience of Black people?

I’d say a lot of it does. There are still artists talking about the trials and tribulations of these Babylonian times. The Black man in America is still public enemy number one, regardless of how financially successful some athletes or entertainers may be, and I think this reality still sneaks through in spite of all the sensors and filters created to hide the truth. Some how the message still manages to come through them broken speakers. And we must also realize that even all the music being manufactured that ain’t sayin’ shit about shit because it’s so straight-jacketed by the corporations, is actually speaking volumes about our powerless at the hands of these all powerful corporations. Our reality is that we are controlled by these corporations and they effect every aspects of our lives. And if you read between the lines, this is the message that all that apolitical music out there is giving us. There will always be artists who will join the machine and talk about nothin’ or talk a whole lot of shit. But at the same time, there will always be artists who will refuse to become a cog in the machine, and will instead create sounds that topple the tower of babel, and write lyrical communiques to foment resistance, and musical manifestos to disrupt,  dismantle and destroy the machine. And if we’re really lucky, some poor mans prophet will  one day compose the soundtrack to the revolution that’s coming.