» Launch MP3 Player News » Shows » Reviews » Interviews » Press Releases » Politics (soon) » NPR Write Up Interviews INTERVIEW: www.afropunk.com {{SON is an underground Socialist rapper I met by chance one day at work. He's hardcore in his beliefs, and he's got a lot to say. He also has a CD out...you can buy it at cdbaby.com/sonofnun, or check out his soundclick website; soundclick.com/sonofnun}}   C: What up SON?? S: whasup man! finished my 3rd year teaching & just got some good news. fightback, one of the songs on my CD was selected from over 500 submissions to appear on the new Peace Not War CD compilation with artists like Jurrasic 5, Lyrics Born, possibly Lauren Hill, Jello Biafra, System of a Down etc.. so thats whasup! (heheh) still trying to find a label though. more info at www.peace-not-war.org , check the information sheet on the 'music & art wanted' page. C: Ok, let's cut right to the chase...How long have you been rapping? S: i've been at this since 97, a friend of mine who was in a band noticed that i wrote and was like 'you should write somethin and jam with my band' and i haven't put the mic down since. C: Do you go to freestyle battles? S: used to, haven't in a while though. part of me loves it and part of me is like it's just mental masturbation. C: Where are you from, originally? S: silver spring, maryland. i live in bmore (baltimore) now, home of such wonderful dramas as homicide, the wire, the corner, and smacktown...just playing, smacktown doesn't exist. C: What's the scene like out there? S: it's pretty good, we get a lot of big name underground acts that come through and do shows on the regular. -plenty of def jukies, buck 65, odd jobs, prefuse 73, beans from antipop, etc. props to the cats at monozine for putting that together at the ottobar! also, there's alot of hardworking local cats that have been in the scene for a looooong time that are starting to get their shine. -Labtekwon, Tislam the Great etc. C: At what age did you get into Socialism? S: 18 C: Who "popped your cherry" so to speak? Activists? S: before i got into socialism i was active in my college's black student union, i was the director of cultural activities for a while then i started a new committee with some friends that we called the central intelligence committee. the aim was political education for the membership since much of the leadership was focused on gogo's and parties. i became active around the mumia campaign, i think the first demonstration i went to was for him. learning about his case openned my eyes to the fact that there're alot  of mumias out there, and his writing put me on to alot of issues i didn't know about.   after i graduated i needed to take some classes to meet some requirements so i went to another school and i was looking to get plugged in. the b.s.u. at the new school looked alot like the old one so i tried to organize something for the national day of action for mumia and that's when i ran into the campaign to end the death penalty, they were having a 'live from deathrow.' and that shit blew my mind! they were also very well organized so i linked up with them then from there came into the i.s.o. - international socialist organization. C: Do you do any direct action, protests or other "Gruntwork For The Revolution"(tm)? S: hells yeah, aint nothing else gonna make change happen. i use direct action as a tactic though, organizing, recruiting, paper sales, rallies, protests, movie showings, wheat pasting, etc. whatever it takes. C: Given the history of communist countries, what makes you think America would do better under communism? S: communist countries? where? when? communism has only truly existed for a brief period which was during the russian revolution of 1917. that was the only time that workers had control. and what happened after that? 14 countries (europe and the u.s.) sponsored a counter revolution that destroyed most of what little working class russia had as well as much of the leadership. also you can't have communism or socialism in one country, therefore the revolution was dependant on germany and other countries to follow suit but it never happened. shit, the idea that you can have communism in one state comes from that psychopath stalin. before he came to power he was described as someone who could mouth the tennets of communism but didn't truly understand it beyond a superficial level.   no country calling itself communist had workers in control of the state. these were state capitalist nations. there's some good lit on this by Tony Cliff.   that being said i think that workers in america and abroad could do an infinitely better job than these ruling class assholes are doing now. looking back at the russian revolution we can see the types of changes that workers made when they had power - free abortion on demand, no descrimination based on race or sexual orientation, free community child care to free women from the home, etc.   if workers knew enough to do this back in 1917 while none these reforms truly exist today, i'd have to say that is what makes me think the u.s. could do better under communism. C: Do you think these fat racist slobs can cooperate enough to make communism work? S: struggle is the best teacher man. right now i'm reading the black jacobins: toussaint l'ouverture and the san domingo revolution by c.l.r. james and he details the shifts in consciousness that the french revolution had on the french masses and the subsequent impact on life in san domingo and vice versa plus whatever other permutations you could think of regarding other imperial powers at the time. but what you see is a people at one point apathetic and beholden to the ruling class ideas and ideology at the time and then at another point you see those same people turning the system on it's head and, with regard to racism, calling for and getting the abolition of slavery and equality etc.   so yeah, i think history has plenty of examples where struggle brings about shifts in ideas allowing for progress to be made on a large scale. currently i see people's ideas shifting on strike lines, alot of homophobia, sexism, and racism gets shattered when workers unite. C: Personally I think the people don't do anything to make our democracy work, and they probably would expect a communist government to "run itself" while they concentrate on rackin up electronics and SUVs. What do you say? S: yeah, right now the people pretty much do and believe what their told. the only democracy that exists in this country is the democracy of the rich, which runs itself like a well oiled machine. so much of why people behave the way they do has to do with what they're taught and what values society has instilled in them both spoken and unspoken.   howard zinn in a people's history of the united states provides a background on the education system in this country and what you find is that it has been designed to provide businesses with obedient workers that have enough skills to follow directions. and as far as the original purpose of introducing u.s. history and government related courses in the highschool curriculum we find that it was done to foster patriotism not educate people with an honest perspective or understanding of what it takes to make change.   i mean when they're done with you why would you want to write a letter to your congressman or wait four years to pull a ballot? you've been taught to think that progress will happen in its own sweet time cause those guys know what they're doing, when nothing could be farther from the truth. C: Would it still be possible for special interests to put a "puppet regime" in office? S: perhaps the living wage lobby, or the free healthcare lobby. C: In your opinion, what's wrong with Anarchy? S: it leaves the door open to people who are highly organized to take control - the spanish civil war is one example of that. how would most anarchists look at anarchosyndaclism? how would they look at the highly organized resistance of the maroons in the carribean or the structured and organized slave rebellions in the u.s. and abroad? the people we are fighting to overthrow are highly educated with regard to what they do and the ideas they propagate - so should we be. they are highly organized to execute plans and policies - so should we be.   i don't think all power and organization is bad. we need to be organized so that we can harness our power to wrest control from the powers that be. C: What's wrong with Democracy? S: the idea is great, the problem is that right now it's a sham C: Did you see the movie Farenheit 9/11? If so what did you think? S: i did see it and i learned alot from it. i felt that it let the democrats off to easy and didn't provide enough emphasis on the fact that these problems are systemic not partisan. C: What do you think about the Green Party as an alternative to the two "main" political parties? C: i like alot of their platform and my organization helped campaign for Nader in 2000 when he and the greens represented a real break to the left from the Democrats. right now they, cobb, and nader are all staggering from the 'anybody but bush' beat down that the liberal left and kerry are dishing out. i wish camejo was running for president. C: What advice would you give to a kid looking to make a difference and get active? S: GET ACTIVE AND STAY ACTIVE! take your ass to a protest around an issue you care strongly about, talk to people, listen to the speakers, grab a bunch of literature, do your homework, think for yourself, look for possible connections to other issues, look at the big picture, try and find away to solve injustice at its roots, join an organization and/or organize with people to make it happen. going to protests is great but they don't happen on their own and they need help getting as many people there as possible.   its kinda like going to a party. people are glad to see that you made it but they'd be happier if you'd either helped to make it happen or at least brought some beer. C: Besides you (heh) who's your favorite MC and why? S: if you asked me last year i would have said cannibal ox, i know it's a group but they sound best as a unit. either them or mr. lif. right now though, i really don't have one. i'm kinda fickle, overall i'd say rakim but i don't listen to him on the regular. i just heard the track - homesickness by despot on defjux presents III and he's sick with everything from flow, to content, to imagery. he's not overtly political but politics is at the root of the picture he paints with that song. C: Do you still listen to bootyrap..i mean mainstream hiphop? S: once in a while i'll listen to it or watch a couple videos to stay in the loop. if i'm at a club i'll dance to it. i'm probably gonna cop the kanye west joint what i've heard so far is like a breath of fresh air compared to the cookie cutter crap thats been put out for a while now. C: Is there hope for hip hop, or is it all down hill from here?  S: as long as there's an underground there'll always be hope. is their hope for commercial hip hop? only if that white 85% of the hip hop cd purchasing market demands something more relevant. C: Ok well good luck w/ your new cd and don't give up da fight! S:  thanks man you too!