Turbulence Productions - Beyond, Beyond

Beyond, Beyond promotional poster


Turbulence Productions from the Philippines have released a music video for an inspirational spoken word poem written and directed by Dominic Nuesa called Beyond, Beyond. The poem is in both English and Tagalog and it gives an introspective perspective on what human hands can do. Most importantly, the poem reminds us that human hands have the ability to reach "beyond" for a better tomorrow.



Lyrics:

Beyond, Beyond
written by Dominic Nuesa for Turbulence Productions 2009

What these hands can do?

They write, they scratch, they push, they spray,
These hands, they grabbed the night and shook the day
We took the way that we considered sacred
With these hands we shared music, we used it to break bread

What these hands can do? We reach beyond, beyond, beyond

Nakadikit kami sa lupa, Subalit
Walang sing taas ng kamay na nagbabalak makamit ang langit

We reached for air, we clasp them in prayer,
We use it to point that there is life to be found there (you, you and you)
As soon as we drop them we pick up rhymes
And we pick up mics, and we pick up vinyl, we pick up people who've fallen downhill

What these hands can do?
umaangkas sa kasaysayan, kumukumpas ng walang humpay
Nagtatanim ng musika, namimitas ng tagumpay

A heart bursting handshake
Two palms under a pouring cascade
A palm covering what was once a blank face (No need to translate)
Erase the cosmetics, dip these hands in waters and finger paint across the face of deserts
The result is nothing less than epic (Itong lupang kay ganda!)
And these hinges in my fingers, connect like constellations
These struggles in my knuckles, wade through constant graces
And we embrace, every door that was opened for us
Every verse, every chorus, we embrace the smallest applauses
When behind it is a colossus of a heart, beating in the process
Such is our blessing, these hands can polish sawdust

What these hands can do? We reach beyond, beyond...

Kami'y naglalakbay gamit ang palad at kamay
sa dagat ng bawat pahina daliri ang tulay
umaangkas sa kasaysayan, kumukumpas ng walang humpay
Sumasakay sa panahon, sarili ang tulay

...beyond, beyond, beyond...

Kami'y naglalakbay gamit ang palad at kamay
sa dagat ng bawat pahina daliri ang tulay
umaangkas sa kasaysayan, kumukumpas ng walang humpay
Sumasakay sa panahon, sarili ang tulay


FIN

Beyond, Beyond is also available for MP3 download.

DOWNLOAD: Turbulence Productions - Beyond, Beyond

Barry Barfield - Half-Korean American Spoken Word

Barry Barfield from St. Louis, Missouri did this spoken word video about his half-Korean and half-American identity as a school project. The background music is vaka by the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Sigur Ros is one of my favorite bands!

Yellow Rage - Listen Asshole

Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh of Yellow Rage

Yellow Rage is a spoken word duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania comprised of Michelle Myers, who is half-white and half-Korean, and Catzie Vilayphonh, who is Lao. Yellow rage's material deals with the social and political issues of the Asia American community. Yellow Rage has released two spoken word albums: Black Hair, Brown Eyes, Yellow Rage, Volume 1 and Handle With Care, Volume 2.

Listen Asshole is poem that expresses their frustration of Asian female stereotypes within America. You can really feel the "yellow rage" expressed in this poem. The crowd sure seemed to like it especially when they screamed out: "What the fuck do you know about being Asian?!"

Alvin Lau - Asia-America, Where Have You Gone?

Alvin Lau - Asia-America, Where Have You Gone?

I am a bit late on this but.....Happy 2009!! Let's start this year off with wake-up call. What you are about to see is not hip-hop; it is called spoken word. Spoken word poetry is a form of rap that that is similar to rap in hip hop but one of the major differences is that spoken word does not feature any instrumental beats nor drum beats at all.

Alvin Lau is a spoken word poet from Chicago, Illinois. He is of Chinese ancestry and the son of immigrant parents. He has placed 7th place at the Individual World Poetry Slam and 6th place at the National Poetry Slam when he was 20 years old. He is also Amnesty International's "Poet of Conscience". He is very active in the poetry slam scene and also an activist for social justice.

Asia-America, Where Have You Gone? was sent to me by one of my readers. This is a recorded live performance in 2006, where Alvin Lau was competing in the National Poetry Slam. This poem is about Alvin searching for his own Asian culture which is lost in America's melting pot. Many of you Asian-Americans will relate to this poem. Go check it out!



You can find Alvin Lau's myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/alvinlau