Rap Sa Tondo: Aerial pics at B-Side

Kanlungan Sa Erma takes off and lands like a cat

Written and photographed

By Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

from Left Renata Kuenzel, French Cultural Counsellor Christian Merer, Goethe Intitut DIr. Richard Kuenzel and Af M head Stephane Doutreland

French & German Rappers MC Narco, DJ Access, The P.A.T and street dancer Fly were here in Manila for almost a week sharing their rhymes with genuine Tondo rappers OG Sacred (Shilbert Manuel) of Tribu, Monsignor, Raynoa, In3mitido. The three day event from May 27 to 29, 2010 became a showcase of Filipino hip hop talents like top beat box artist Picoy and a host of dance groups. The search for new talents in rap came in the form of a contest.

Kanlungan sa Erma short for Ermita dancer floats on air

Shielbert Manuel of Tribu is rapper OG Sacred

It all began when director Jim Libiran made his feature film ‘Tribu’ and cast gang members in Tondo to make the movie. The film won Best Picture in Cinemalaya and went on to win the Youth Jury Prize (Pari de L’Avenir) in the 2008 Paris Cinema International Film festival. Although the story was about the gangs, the culture of rap and hip hop was apparent throughout the film. ‘Tribu’ caught the attention of Goethe Institute Director Richard Kuentzel, French Cultural counsellor Christian Merer and AFM Director Stéphane Doutreland. They approached director Jim Libiran about the idea of bringing in French and German hip hop artists to collaborate with Tribu’s rappers.

Hip hop although originally an African American origin, is now the language that transcended cultural and even language barriers. The result was a fruitful exchange between the hip hop artists over a period of a week. At the B-Side in Makati, several groups of dance crews from around the metro showed their skills. “Kanlungan sa Erma” dance crew was the most spectacular. They were more like acrobats than dancers. Donning yellow shirts, they were somersaulting through the air. They could leap four feet high and land like cats.