soooo another latino writer is mad.
same argument.
same magazine.
“there are no latinos in empire!”
“wtf is going on now?” you ask.
well this time,
writer jesus trivino of latina magazine,
gives his two cents in his full write up...
Empire isn’t as accurate as they want you to believe it is. Let me explain…
I’m a hip-hop baby. I was born and raised in 1980s (pre-gentrified) Brooklyn, NY. I’m Latino. I fell in love with the art form as a pre-teen in the ‘90s by doing graffiti and listening to the jazz-inspired sounds of A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr and the hardcore funk of Cypress Hill and The Beatnuts. And by the grace of the rap gods, I was fortunate enough to begin my journalism career as a hip-hop writer/editor. From ages 20 to 27 I interviewed countless MCs (Jay Z, Nas, Fat Joe, 50 Cent), producers (9th Wonder, Lil Jon) and music executives for SOHH.com, AllHipHop.com, Vibe, The Source and many more.
With all this experience, I can tell you Empire doesn’t get it all right. I agree with most of the commentary from my fellow hip-hop head/colleague Celia San Miguel. Where are the Latinos in Empire? The hip-hop business, at least during my time, was one of the most diverse, multi-ethnic industries. As an editor at Harris Publications (Scratch, XXL, King, etc.) I shared the masthead with African Americans, Italian Americans, Latinas, Jewish Americans, and more. For example, in one interview request (where an editor asks to interview a celebrity) I could interact with an Asian American publicist, a white manager and an African American artist. A visit to the hallowed grounds of Def Jam Records, I would be greeted by a United Nations of faces working feverishly on breaking an artist or record. Today, the Latino flag is held by editorial rap experts like Ecuadorian, Greek and African American Elliott Wilson (Rap Radar) along with Puerto Rocks Kim Osorio (former EIC of The Source) and Jayson Rodriguez (Revolt TV) and Rob Markman (MTV). Not to mention the Latino scribe who inspired me to pick up the pen: Carlito Rodriguez (former EIC of The Source and current writer on HBO’s The Leftovers).
So when I read the comments on Celia’s slideshow: “Why aren’t you taking issue with Fresh Off The Boat, a show that is set in Florida, where there is a large Latino population, for not showing Latinos. Why just go at Empire?” My response is because Fresh Off The Boat (BTW a stellar comedy) is about one Asian American man’s (played by Eddie Huang) real-life experience with hip-hop. Empire is, yes, about one fictitious record label, but on a larger scale it’s about the hip-hop industry — which as I stated earlier is multi-culti, and has been since its inception.
It was created by black and Latino kids in the Bronx as a vehicle to give voice to the voiceless — us. I have endless discussions with one of my best friends, who is a proud Haitian Canadian and also runs the hip-hop section of iTunes about rap, black and Latin music and more. We both agree we’re still underrepresented in a lot of avenues and would love to see more black and brown collaborations.
So when a pop culture phenomenon like Empire comes along, we had high aspirations for equal representation. Alas, it’s only the first season and I’m sure its run won’t be “short like Leprechauns.” Plus, Empire’s showrunner is Ilene Chaiken, a 57-year-old white woman, who I don’t expect to be extremely well versed in the hip-hop world despite her credits. I owe a lot to hip-hop: It made me a creative writer/thinker, it nurtured one of my best friendships, and thanks to DJ Enuff and Angie Martinez (two Puerto Rocks), I met my wife. It’s not about “riding the coattails” of anyone, it’s about being true to reality. And the reality is I was a writer named Jesus interviewing your favorite rappers.
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…and again,
what does THIS…
have to do with a BLACK family and their drama within it?
i’m still waiting on the answer.
someone?
anyone?
on lighter news,
lets look at the ratings for empire each week:
Episode 1: 3.8 (9.9 million)
Episode 2: 4.0 (10.3 million)
Episode 3: 4.4 (11.1 million)
Episode 4: 4.3 (11.3 million)
Episode 5: 4.6 (11.5 million)
Episode 6: 4.8 (12.0 million)
Episode 7: 5.2 (13.0 million)
Episode 8: 5.4 (13.9 million)
Episode 9: 5.8 (14.3 million)
Episode 10: 5.8 (14.9 million)
Episode 11: 6.1 (16.7 million) (first hour)
Episode 12: 6.9 (17.6 million) (second hour)
lowkey: is this going to be a weekly argument?
gadzooks!
someone call jlo and have her make an appearance.
well shit don’t do that!
people will be mad cause she doesn’t speak good spanish.
smh.
article taken: latina magazine
As Wendy Williams said, there are not any black people on Telenovela, so…
Ok they doing too much now. First of all as someone said how does the writer know there are no Latinos on the show. All this is a bunch of ignorance. I am Latino of brown complexion and if I don’t tell people I’m latin or speak spanish they wouldn’t know. Why don’t they talk about the prejudice and racism within the Latin community? Some Latinos are so ignorant and
prejudice to the point of trying to deny that we have strong African background.Talking this and that… How come there are no afro Latinos on the telmundo and univision channel? Case of the pot calling the kettle black. Smh.
Two things: 1. i agree with Jay. 2. How do the protesting Latinos know that there are no Latinos on “Empire”? After all, there are many black Latinos who may have roles on “Empire” or do they only count to “them” as Latino if they are white?
I don’t think the two Latin@ journalists understand what the hell Empire is about even though I’m pretty sure Luscious made it clear about Empire being a BLACK owned company. Nowhere does it say Latino. And I am pretty damn sure Empire is catering towards black people, others are welcome to watch, but this is a BLACK SHOW
I agree with everything Jay said.
Latinos had nothing to with the creation of rap/hip-hop, just like whites had nothing to do with the creation of Rock N Roll. Everyone is all for being black when it’s copying our way of dancing, singing, dressing, etc…
“Everybody wants to be a nigga but nobody wants to be a nigga.”- Paul Mooney
I hope black people realize exactly what is and has been going on. Its not just white people we have to deal with. Our culture is rich and everyone wants to lay claim to it in some kind of way. They wont stop, they love it and hate us at the same time. Why is it that everything dealing with black people have to be multi cultural? Why is it that when we do something everybody eats but we are rarely invited to their tables. Hip Hop is black culture period! Thats why everyone else who attempts to do it only ends up mimicking our style, even dem Latinos.
^word!
like this is all getting pretty ridiculous now.
What you said!
Let’s get a list of “Latino” hip-hop artists at the inception of hip-hop, Let’s get a list of Latino music that was sampled.
Everybody wants to get to heaven, but nobody wants to die! These culture vultures need to find another carcass. Boo fucking hoo. Our culture and it’s expression is the ONLY uniquely “American” culture. Our music is birthed from the pain and horror of chattel slavery. Field chants became gospel, which became the blues that pushed out jazz, country, bluegrass, rock ‘n roll and R&B. Then came hip-hop. FUCK.THEM.ALL, and the bitches that pushed them out.
Next thing you know, mofos will be saying they invented basketball… Mariachi muthafuckas. That’s what’s yours!