When We Were Queens: Goddesses Rising On WBAI's Hip-Hop Takeover

Happy Summer Solstice! It's that time again for WBAI's Hip-Hop Takeover, a 25 hour marathon of Hip-Hop themed programming with talk, music, news and all sorts of good stuff. The Goddesses Rising crew will be there again (I think this is our 5th time participating!) hosting an hour show, "When We Were Queens," to go along with this year's theme: Tribute to the Pioneers. We're on from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., so you'll hear yours truly, goddess Angelika, and our goddess sister TastyKeish from Rise Up Radio. Join us for a special mix from the divine DJ Chela, interviews with Hip-Hop feminism pioneer Joan Morgan, and Sherri-Sherr of the Mercedes Ladies (courtesy of Davey D). In the in-between time, we'll be reminiscing about our favorite "old school" lady emcees and taking your calls, so join us and give us a ring!

MEGA thanks to Ife Dancy for having us join the Hip-Hop Takeover again, we are always honored to be part of such a beautiful community. Listen live online or if you're in the NYC metro area, it's on the FM dial at 99.5 FM.

And don't forget the afterparty!

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Celebration and Joy from Jerusalem to NYC

(Rise Up Radio, Goddesses Rising, The B Side Show, Coolooloosh, and Homeboy Sandman-one big happy family)

If you listened in to last Friday's Rise Up Radio on WBAI 99.5 FM (as you should have!), I had the immense pleasure to co-host with TastyKeish and Shay of The B Side Show. In studio with us was Coolooloosh (it's phonetic--Coo-loo-loosh) a 6 member funky Hip-Hop ensemble from Jerusalem. Now that you can pronounce it, it means "celebration and joy." They hung out with us to talk about the importance of daily orgasms and Obama's speech to the NAACP, interspersed with songs from their new album, "Elements of Sound." Yuval and Ori talked about their relationship with legendary songwriter and Philly soul singer, Bunny Sigler; how they mesh together as a group and what's in store for their US tour.

On Thursday night, TastyKeish and I got to experience the celebration and joy of Coolooloosh live at Joe's Pub. They are officially groovy, each instrument makes its own distinct impact as they weave together melodies from bass, clarinets, guitars, saxophones, drums, and the human voice. Due to the limitations of my Blackberry, the video I took doesn't really capture their sound so I'll refrain from posting it, as to not do them injustice. But you can check them live at the Coolooloosh jam session on Wednesday, July 28 at Le Poisson Rouge from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. And jam you will.

A special treat was the guest appearance from Bunny Sigler who helped Coolooloosh produce this latest album and is featured on two songs, "Some Place," and "Yeah Yeah Yeah." After the album cuts, he graces the stage back by the band and covers the Bill Withers classic, "Ain't No Sunshine" and also gets a little frisky. Check the footage out below...disfrutala! (enjoy)



Thanks to Fiona Bloom for introducing us to the marvels of Coolooloosh, and shout to songstress Maya Azucena, and Andreas Hale from BET, who were in the cypher. Good times had by all, support these wonderful and talented gentlemen!

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Goddess Rising Up Radio

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. for Rise Up Radio on WBAI 99.5 FM (as you should every Friday!). I have the honor of co-hosting with Tasty Keish, Queen of Rise Up Radio, and Shay of The B Side (radio) Show who will report on President Obama's address at the NAACP Centennial on Thursday night. Also, live in studio, Coolooloosh, a Hip-Hop, Rap, Jazz, and Funk collective from Jerusalem, Israel. If you're not in NYC, you can still check us out streaming live on WBAI's website.

If you haven't heard the speech yet, check it out below so you can do your homework!

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Rising Up on Rise Up Radio

We have been some busy goddesses. We've been a little negligent of this baby, our blog, so here's some things to make up for lost time.

On Friday, June 13, the Goddess Rising Collective was featured on WBAI's Rise Up Radio discussing a wide variety of topics: politics, Obama, HIV/AIDS in South Africa, black female sexuality, speaking openly with young people about sex, Yoni control...and lots more considering the show was only 60 minutes. We also talked about the importance of fathers in their daughter's lives especially when it comes to preparing them for relationships with men, sex and self-esteem. (Thanks to our dads who kept it real all day!)

To check us out poppin' ish, visit: http://riseupradio.org/ and download the show. Put it on your iPod so our wisdom can surround you all day long! (wink)

Shout to fellow goddess, Lady Chudney, who joined us live quietly bringing us some New Orleans flava!

Major thanks to Tasty Keish, Digo, K-Swift, CoCo, Olivia and the rest of the Rise Up Radio folks who continue to show us love. Support Rise Up Radio, Friday nights 9 p.m., WBAI 99.5 FM; or www.wbai.org to listen online live or via the archives. You have no excuse not to.

Pics from the show to come!

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