Tag Archives: Amanda Lopez

Amanda Lopez Tanya Melendez Adornment

Sol Collective’s Upcoming Adornment Exhibit Celebrates the Beauty and Strength of Women of Color • July 15 – Aug. 7, 2017

Sacramento native and photographer Amanda Lopez has teamed up with Los Angeles stylist and jewelry designer Tanya Melendez on a powerful new exhibit called Adornment. The exhibit pairs Lopez’s love of portraiture, Melendez’s eye for jewelry and design, and the duo’s shared love of cultural celebration and empowerment. Adornment received rave reviews from LA Weekly and Remezcla after its recent opening in Los Angeles, and now the beautiful series of portraits will make its way to Sacramento’s Sol Collective for an opening reception on July 15, 2017. “Women of color are underrepresented in all facets of life, business and art,” Lopez explains in a press release submitted to Submerge. “We felt that it was important to create a space that honors women of color and reminds them of their power, divinity and beauty.” Adornment will be on display at Sol Collective, located at 2574 21st St., from July 15–August 7. The opening reception on July 15 is free, open to the public and will take place from 6–10 p.m. Learn more at Facebook.com/solcollective or Solcollective.org.

**This write-up first appeared in print on page 12 of issue #243 (July 3 – 17, 2017)**

Going for the Jugular

Mahtie Bush – Child’s Play

Sacramento MC Mahtie Bush’s fourth studio album Child’s Play is a solid, slightly inconsistent collection that’s risky, poetic and, at times, mildly frustrating.

Bush is something of a Sacramento legend. And rightfully so. Renowned for his incredible work ethic and dedication to hip-hop culture, Bush has hustled his ass off, paving the way for a whole new generation of Northern California MCs. So, of course, from this seasoned MC, we expect many highlights and real gems (both of which this album provides), but on top of that we expect an anthem, a track that blows every other local song out of the water. In 2010, Bush gave us the boisterous “Backpackramento.” On Child’s Play, he gives us “Let Go,” an example of Bush at his finest, where a simple beat, hand claps and multi-layered punch lines are all that’s needed to create razor-sharp battle raps that go for the jugular with lines like, “Piss me off and get pissed on and flipped on and flipped off/Tell you and your GPS system to get lost, dog/I can’t lose/Shit on a Shih Tzu/Each line I write is trying to offend you.”

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Child's-Play

When Mahtie Bush is hyped up, he’s utterly unstoppable.

But Bush isn’t just a battle rapper. He’s also a conceptual thinker with the ability to construct songs that involve the listener on a more playful level, as he does on the track “On the House,” which allows him to stretch out, offering a quick, fun, lyrical glimpse into the distinctive Sacramento lifestyle over a quirky ‘70s-style beat. Almost midway through Child’s Play, the listener is treated to a wide array of styles from an MC who understands the diminished attention span of the average modern listener. But instead of dumbing down the verses, Bush simply varies the content, from battle raps to rugged flows to abstract works of art like “Blood Runs Cold,” where he slips into the mind of a poet, spitting cerebral bars like “Venom over chipped ice/This is what life tastes like/Snake bites from fake types/Serpents never play nice” that stab at the listener’s senses until they’re raw, as he singlehandedly embodies the unwieldy spirit of the entire Wu-Tang Clan in one track.

But Child’s Play isn’t without its flaws. The album lags in spots where Bush falls out of the pocket during some of his more expository moments, often letting his message overshadow sonic impact when he tries awkwardly to fit syllables into bars where they don’t belong (at his worst, Bush sounds like he might be having a stroke). For example, on “I Ain’t Believing That,” Bush’s rhymes are so oddly placed that they mangle the life out of the immaculately utilized Suzanne Vega and Fugees samples that the exquisite production has to offer.

Also, and this might be nitpicking, but when Bush tries too hard to get a point across, he dangerously flirts with sentimentality. For instance, a song about his son’s birth is fine, but, as is true with any writing, avoiding sappiness is the key to communication. So lyrics like “These Braxton Hicks is not what I had in mind/I just want you healthy/I know things will be fine/Eating healthy so your mom’s blood pressure is fine” just aren’t cutting it. The song also goes in and out of second person, so what could have been an interesting letter to his newborn son turns into a lesson on sentimentality and inconsistency.

Despite a couple middle-of-the-road and slightly forgettable rap tracks like “Here We Go Again” and “Pile of Bones,” the 11-track album offers way more positives than negatives. Bush manages to take risks, spill his guts and capture the plight of a gracefully aging MC who gently balances love of his city and the poetry that it inspires with his newfound role as a father and husband. Bush proves elegantly once again with Child’s Play that he’s a serious, versatile MC who is all grown up with tons more to say—and he’s not putting down the microphone any time soon.

The Evolution of Mahtie Bush

Sacramento’s hip-hop provocateur lives a family life in the burbs, but maintains his hunger

Although it was several years ago, it seems like just yesterday that rapper, producer, MC and B-boy Mahtie Bush founded the highly charged Sac Hates Hip-Hop movement—a knee-jerk reaction to Sacramento clubs and radio stations that had almost overnight turned their backs on rap music. And just as quickly, Bush showed up in every local paper, spewing his dissatisfied version of a “state of the city” address.

Well times sure do change. Don’t get me wrong, Bush is still just as hungry as he ever was, but these days his tactics are drastically different. No longer does the MC strive to be the city’s poster child for raising hell; he simply wants to flex his healthy work ethic and, of course, his music. Take Bush’s latest mixtape, Hate is Love Part II, for example. The body of work displays an MC who hasn’t let up. The beats bang with struggle, the lyrics resonate with purpose and it doesn’t hurt that the mixtape is hosted by the notorious DJ G.I. Joe (Immortal Technique), who leads the listener through a 13-track tape filled with hardcore bangers, crafted strictly for rap purists.

From troublemaker to workaholic, it’s been fascinating to track the progression of Mahtie Bush, whose only constant seems to be his unpredictability. In fact, the only thing we can be sure of is that Bush won’t go away.

When I caught up with him, Bush had just gotten home from work and was sprawled out with his wife in the luxury of their new, suburban Natomas home. Yup, it’s some American Dream type shit; some I wear a silk robe when I get home from work, so fuck you kind of stuff; an I buy organic kale now, fool, what now?! type scenario; an—ah, you get the point. Whatever Bush is now is a far cry from that poor-ass, frustrated, jumpy Mahtie Bush I came to know seven years ago. But he still has a lot to say, plus he’s got some sort of super important, hushed, top-secret project on the way.

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What are you doing right now?
Right now I’m looking at dogs with my wife online.

You guys are dog shopping?
Yeah, I want a pit—a bully. A small one.

Ha! That’s some seriously stereotypical rap shit.
I ain’t going to put no chain on it or nothing. I ain’t going to be no Michael Vick about it.

Settling down, getting married, looking for a dog…does that change the way you rhyme?
It doesn’t really change the way I rhyme. I feel more at ease now. I don’t know what everybody else’s definition of success is or what their definition of making it is, but for me, it was having a house, having a car, having a yard, having a wife… I don’t have to go to a one-bedroom apartment anymore and feel like I’m boxed in. I’m like, “Fool, I got a house!” I’m on some grown man shit now. I got a mortgage payment. I look at rap totally different now.

You’re not going to start wearing sweater vests and singing smooth love ballads now, are you?
No. I did “Is She Out There?” and that’s as far as it goes.

Tell me about your Hate is Love Part II mixtape.
The first one I just did because it was after the whole Sac Hates Hip-Hop thing. I was still networking with Chino XL at the time and so I asked him if he’d host it… This second one, I wanted to revisit it because I really like how DJ G.I. Joe scratches. He’s a dope ass DJ.
So I wanted to revisit it and wanted to do more personal stuff. I wanted to talk about my family life and the streets I grew up on.

Has anything changed since the Sac Hates Hip-Hop movement?
No. Shit is still the same. Name a radio station out here that’s playing any locals besides 98 Rock. I think it’s worse now because we took radio for granted by having The Future Flava show and 103.5, but now we don’t have none of them and it sucks. I don’t give a fuck. What’s worse is that I’m older…and I don’t care.

That whole Sac Hates movement was fun though, right?
It was fun to a point, man. Some of it was annoying. Some of it was cool. I wouldn’t change anything but maybe who I associated with at the time. I had people spray painting doors, like, “FUCK BUSH.”

That’s cool, though. I love that kind of stuff. Do you still get haters?
Every once and a while I’ll have somebody poppin’ off. I don’t even sweat it. At this point, a lot of people will say something… I don’t really care. I’ll take a picture of it and be like, “This is dope.” It cracks me up. It’s like, I know you’re probably struggling—you wish you were on a show you didn’t have to pay to play for, you probably wish you didn’t have to sell tickets, you wish you didn’t have to buy YouTube views…and I couldn’t really care less because I got my feet up watching Breaking Bad.

Rap is so shitty right now. I hate it. What the fuck is wrong with rap?
I think it’s so bad that when you have somebody mediocre, you just attach yourself to him, like, “Yeah, this dude is the shit.”

That’s what I’m saying. Exactly.
I don’t really listen to everybody. I do like Kendrick Lamar. I wish Jay Electronica would have came out. I don’t know what happened with him. I like Odd Future at times.

Yeah, when they have a good song it’s really good, but they have a million bad songs.
There’s this dude and I can’t think of his name right now—a fat white guy from Queens.

Action Bronson?
He’s so dope to me. Action Bronson just shitted on people, yo. Everybody’s giving hype to this other kid from New York, but I think Chuuwee is killing him. I think he actually bit Chuuwee to be honest.

Joey Bada$$?
Everybody loves Joey Bada$$. He’s alright. Chuuwee will smoke that fool. That’s it, though. I like Tech N9ne. I like Immortal Technique. I like grimy-ass hip-hop—the “fuck you” hip-hop. Chino XL is my favorite rapper, so it is what it is.

Do you ever worry about growing old in hip-hop?
I don’t care about that shit. I feel like my reason for getting into hip-hop wasn’t because I wanted to be young. This is a young man’s sport, I get it, but…you can be an artist until you’re however old you want to be. Do what you want to make yourself feel happy.

I mean, Krs-One is pushing…what, a 100 years old?
He’s still touring and selling out shows. And people are still scared of him. I dare you to battle Krs-One.

So what other projects do you have coming out?
I’ve got a project with my group Alumni finally about to drop, most likely in the summertime. Even before that I have an EP that I’m doing. The EP is, um, can I tell you off the record?

Mahtie Bush will perform with Century Got Bars on April 26, 2013 at All Stars Sports Bar in Woodland (102 Main St, Woodland, Calif.) and then again on April 27, 2013 at the Sactown Underground/Freestyle Session Nor Cal B-boy jam, which will take place at the Old Sugar Mill (35265 Willow Avenue, in Clarksburg, Calif.) The event gets underway at 3 p.m. and tickets are $10 pre-sale/$15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased through Freshandflyproductions.com. Download the Hate is Love Part II mixtape at Mahtiebush916.bandcamp.com or check with Thisizbush.com for more info.

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Up All Night

World Hood ready new EP and prep SxSW showcase

It feels as though it was only a matter of time before Sol Collective made an impact beyond its community activism and support for the local arts and music scene. Collective founders Estella Sanchez and Anand Parmar added recording artists to their resume last year with their debut as World Hood, a project that developed in the wee hours of the night in the gallery.

A nonprofit organization and art gallery located on 2574 21st Street, Sol Collective hosts beat battles and touring psych-rock bands and runs a world music series titled Global Hood, which brings artists that operate in the meshing of tropicalia bass, break-beat, electronica and Cumbia genres to Sacramento. There are B-boy workshops and practices in the back rooms and music production classes for high school students. It is a meeting hall for activist groups to discuss community empowerment and youth development. The gallery is a hub of creativity bound to rub off on its founders.

Nights at the collective rarely ended with a band’s last song for Sanchez and Parmar. After the venue cleared, the couple would hole up in the gallery’s recording studio and work off the excitement from watching the performers. “It was definitely convenient to record at Sol after a show,” Parmar said. “We already had things set up and could put in a few extra hours to get a song in. All of the acts we have brought to Sol, specifically through the Global Hood series, were inspiring in one way or another. They have been groups whose music we believe in and were committed to promote either because of their message or because of the cultural influence in their music.”

Anand Parmar was born in Africa and is of Indian descent, while his partner Sanchez is of Mexican descent. Anand said when he started to shape the World Hood sound, he always tried mixing different cultural elements into the production, but collaborating with Sanchez and incorporating her culture and language was a natural progression. “It’s a mix of what we heard on the radio growing up in Northern Cali in the ‘80s and a mix of what we’d hear at home, be it what our uncles or cousins were playing,” Sanchez said. “Even in the studio I go back and forth in elements I want to add that are familiar to us.”

A DJ and producer for roughly eight years, Parmar would play beats for his partner, mostly culled from blending Latin dub and tropicalia with West Coast bass and hip-hop. Sanchez would sing over his tracks alternating between Spanish and English, sprinkling in slang and spiritual incantation. Sanchez sang mostly for the release, not considering the possibility of the songs going further than the studio walls.

In April of last year, Parmar collected 12 of the recordings and uploaded them to Soundcloud, an online audio distribution platform, and then moved them to a similar site called Bandcamp. He designed an album cover and called their group World Hood, a name that speaks to their globalized sound and grassroots activism. By May the duo was being interviewed by the MTV’s Iggy blog and later appeared on NPR’s Alt.Latino station. The coverage swelled further with Hype Machine, Mad Decent Blog, Dutty Artz and National Geographic’s music blog (yes, they have one) taking notice. “It was a little bit of a surprise for us,” Sanchez said. “We had been working on music for a while. Anand wanted to just put it out there and let people hear it. We didn’t expect the coverage.”

The hype moved at a pace bigger than the band as the phone rang and the inbox received requests to tour and perform. It was an invitation the group had yet to consider. “We definitely got invited to play and tour before we even put our live set together,” Sanchez said between laughs. It’s almost a year since they posted the album and she is still in disbelief that she’s juggling a time-consuming nonprofit–a master’s thesis that became her life’s passion–a family, and a burgeoning band. “It’s not stress, but we’re trying to find a way to balance it and do it well,” she said. “I love what I do at Sol Collective and Anand is a big part of it as the music director there. We’ve been finding ways to complement it.”

Being true to their moniker, Parmar and Sanchez use the band as an opportunity to travel and promote Sol Collective. It began with their first show. The duo was invited to the Aborigine Music Festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The high tide in the local scene has sent artists like Sister Crayon and Death Grips to the festival circuit, but a debut performance at a festival is unheard of. “It went really well,” Sanchez said. “It’s a lot easier to perform when you’re in another country. I figured if it all goes bad, I’m on a plane tomorrow and that’s that.”

It did not go bad, though. Radio stations played their music prior to the festival, which meant the duo were welcomed to the festival with excitement and familiarity. World Hood performed as part of the Pow Wow party at the Pyramid Cabaret in Winnipeg. The group played alongside A Tribe Called Red, a collective of native Canadian DJs, which Sanchez and Parmar were fans of. “We got some feedback from them,” she said. “They really loved what we were doing in creating beats and native thinking and mixing up the languages. It encouraged us to keep on that path.”

Sanchez said she hopes to bring A Tribe Called Red to perform and participate in workshops at the center. Sol Collective also approached them to be a part of its #ArtCultureActivism SxSW showcase in March, but conflicting tour dates in Canada hindered their availability.

Sanchez and Parmar view the SxSW showcase as another opportunity to not only promote their collective and its community garden build project, but to showcase Sacramento artists and encourage musicians to tour here. The showcase features World Hood, along with local hip-hop act DLRN and producer/DJ Defeye, among several national acts. “When we travel and do things, it’s to bring folks back to Sol Collective,” Sanchez said. “We also have press passes this year, which they gave us… we’ll have the opportunity to go to workshops and events to approach artists we want to promote and bring back to Sacramento.”

In January, World Hood posted the song “Mundo Libre,” which translates to free world, to their Bandcamp page with the description “Single from the upcoming EP. Dropping soon.” The song is the title track to the EP. Sanchez said she and Parmar would work on finishing the EP that night. The goal is to release the five-song EP in late February/early March for free download prior to their SxSW showcase. A full-length will follow in the summer, most likely remaining DIY. “Nothing concrete at this point,” Sanchez said. “We’ve had some interest [from labels]. We had people ask us to send them our stuff. But we’re still trying to figure out what we’re trying to do and how much we’re putting into this project.”

“Mundo Libre” is on par with the group’s pre-existing material of Afro-Latin dub, with hints of Reggaeton in the arpeggiated vocals. Now that World Hood is aware they have an audience, it’s altered the process a bit. Sanchez said her partner Anand is a meticulous worker in the studio and that his work ethic rubbed off on her in the new sessions. “We paid more attention to the message,” Sanchez said. “Now that people are interested in listening to us, we’re more conscious and aware of what we’re putting out. With the first one I didn’t think anyone was going to hear it, so I didn’t care. The first one was freestyle, where this time I actually stopped and said, ‘wait let’s record that again,’ instead of just saying ‘oh that was fun, I’m going to sleep now.’”

World Hood will be releasing a new EP soon. In the meantime, check out “Mundo Libre” at http://worldhoodmusic.bandcamp.com/. For more information on Sol Collective, go to Solcollective.org.

The Main Event

Chase Moore Steps to the Mic for Cawzlos’s LMNH Records

For the true MC, proving oneself in a battle is paramount; not just to prove he is gifted, unlimited with rhymes universal, but as a chance to rep his crew and community. Only the choicest of battle rappers are able to put such weight on their shoulders. After an evening conversation with Chase Moore and his crewmate Cawzlos, it is apparent that someone is hungry for some weight.

Intimidating is not synonymous with Chase Moore’s physical presence. He stands comparative to the average California male, but it’s rash to discount his size in a battle. Mixing words, Chase Moore stands strong on his own, tossing punch lines like darts at his opponents. In March, Chase battled in Santa Cruz, practically eating a burnout local rapper named Dopey Delik alive with lines like, “So if you swear you got great diction/Beware of Chase spitting/You should be scared I’ll raid where you living/I know you got chips/Your parents paid your tuition.“ Stingers.

If you follow the battle circuit, the names will become hella familiar; but rarely is it possible to find music from the rappers, and even more difficult to find good music. For Chase, battling seems like an effortless exercise requiring minimal practice. Chase’s true grind comes from the pursuit of notoriety outside the spitkicker circuit. “[Battling] is really just to raise awareness for my album,” Chase said “I can definitely do both. Ninety-five percent of [battle rappers] make horrible music. You’ll hear rappers who are amazing in battles and you throw on the record and it’s”¦ [Chase shudders at the thought] I spend a lot more time in the studio than I do battling.”

Born into music, Chase’s father, Neil Moore, is an accomplished pianist who invented a playing-based piano teaching method called Simply Music. In 1994, Neil moved his family from Australia to the United States to start his business, which is now an international success. In speaking about his father, Chase used words like “visionary” and “entrepreneur,” appreciating his father’s hustle. “It didn’t happen over night,” he said. “Me, my brother and my sister shared the same room for years. It’s dope, though, that he had that much faith and belief.”

Growing up Down Under, he said exposure to hip-hop beyond commercial hits brought over from the United States was limited. Chase borrowed an old keyboard from his dad in eighth grade to make beats. He learned the drums in seventh grade and said every year he took the hobby to heart, eventually rhyming over his production. It’s no surprise a young Chase was influenced by Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers. Chase said hearing “Bring Da Ruckus” in sixth grade blew his mind. Now, Chase blasts a hype verse in a gruff voice that’s tough like an elephant tusk. “By the time I really got into hip-hop I had lost my accent,” he said.

Chase spent his young adult life rapping in numerous groups, self-releasing albums to mixed reception. His group Capital Conspiracy earned a Sammie nomination. Chase attributes his youth and limited business knowledge to these ephemeral albums, some of which were never released. In 2007 Chase and Cawzlos moved to Los Angeles with the intentions of getting a record deal.

Young and hungry, the two linked up with Mike Conception, a former Crip who worked with Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and MC Hammer. Conception also allegedly struck a deal with Russell Simmons to call off a hit on rap group 3rd Bass, who dissed Hammer on record, in exchange for a seat next to Michael Jackson at the 1990 American Music Awards. Chase’s song “Lonely Road” briefly addresses his stint in Los Angeles, “I was thrown for a loop/Basically, I was too broke for some food.“ “Working with a heavy hitter in the streets was a crazy experience, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Chase said. “For me, as an artist and producer, I just had to move back, regroup and start over.”

Chase is scheduled to release his debut, Moore to Chase, in July on LMNH (Look Mama No Hands) records, a label run by PCM (Paper Chase Music) crewmate Cawzlos. Two years in the making, Moore to Chase seemed doomed from Chase’s lack of focus and his struggles with procrastination. “Because I’m a battle rapper, I relied on a lot of punchlines and wordplay,” he said. “A lot of the material I did lacked content—just smoking weed references and I’m-better-than-you, generic content.”

Now 23 years old, Chase rung in 2009 with a renewed clarity, quitting weed and booze cold turkey. As we sat down to talk at Aura on J St., we casually ordered drinks; myself a Dos Equis and Chase a diet cola. “I started smoking and drinking around 12,” he said. “It got to a point where I was blacking out every weekend, smoking zips of weed. I just felt like I was getting sidetracked.” Chase admitted the vices never go away—a time might come when he returns to them. “I just wanted to get my head clear,” he said. “It was hard at first, but it’s for the better. I made a pact to myself that I will be sober this whole year.”

“I was always loaded in the studio,” he said. Hearing his music sober, Chase spent January re-recording old songs and writing personal songs delving into his struggles with establishing an identity and turning his back on addiction. On “Lonely Road” Chase declares, “In order for my clique to get ample wealth/There’s a lot of business I got to handle myself/And I’m not demanding help.”

Chase and Cawzlos are fervid in establishing their crew and label into Sacramento streets. Fed up with a lack of community support, Cawzlos caused a couple eating dinner next to our table to leave as he shouted “fuck you”s to local radio stations and bars that won’t support local music without payola. “We act as if we hate politics, but at the end of the day our front yard is the Capital,” he said. “We politic like crazy. We clique up. We campaign hard.”

As Chase and I talked, Cawzlos paced the block, talking on his phone and with fellow musicians who happened to pass by. Cawzlos expressed frustration with his contemporaries. He said the conversation was essentially two people “all about their own shit.” Cawzlos recalled when, only a few years ago, Sacramento hip-hop was thriving with artists getting features in Vibe magazine. He said cold shoulders from radio stations caused artists to turn cold shoulders on each other. “If people continually shun you, you’ll recreate a new method to getting your shit out there. And when you figure out your niche, you’re not telling the next guy. Why would you tell the next guy, because it took you 14 years to figure out how to even get to this point?”

It’s not all distaste for Sacramento. Cawzlos is featured on Chase’s album on a cut called “City of Trees,” in which the duo shows love. “We don’t deny that we’re from here, or that we love it here,” Cawzlos said. On “City of Trees” Chase acknowledges a hurt that lingers here as he raps, “When Robert Horry hit the shot we couldn’t stand the Lakers/Could you believe it?/Ai-yo Maloofs we need a new arena.”

The crew recognizes the next few months as a gamble with Chase as the guinea pig. “If you want to swim, you gotta jump in the water,” Chase said. “We’re coming in a big-ass boat ready to dive in the water.” Cawzlos added, “Yeah, I want to be rap star, but as a CEO I have to decide who is the most fit to play that role on our label right now. Even for me to say that, it hurts as an artist, but I’m realistic. Chase is our flagship artist and Moore to Chase is going to be the stepping stone for everyone to follow.”

Moore to Chase will be released in July as a dual package that includes Right on Time, a collection of extra songs that did not make the debut cut. “You have to give a lot more before you can be ready to receive,” Cawzlos said. Catch Chase in Oakland on June 6 battling in the Grind Time Battle of the Bay IV.

Chase Moore interview

Sacramento Native and Photographer, Amanda Lopez Has the World Beneath Her Feet

Captured in Real Time

I met Amanda Lopez on move-in day at San Francisco State dorms nearly nine years ago. We became immediate friends, and ever since I’ve been lucky to watch as she selflessly follows her dream and blossoms as a photographer.

Without question one of the most genuine, caring and humble individuals I know, Amanda radiates an energy that comforts anyone in her presence. These traits are not that of a typical artist, but behind the camera her natural gifts and talents meet. Through photography, her eye for human emotions and her ability to empathize manifest into captivating images. As any great photographer does, her pictures tell stories and stimulate the human senses, whether it be feeling a cold stare or warm smile, or visually portraying the sounds and vibes of a community. She has dedicated a decade of her life to art, and will continue to build upon and perfect her technique for the rest of her life. It’s not a hobby; it’s everything else.

Being that she is a native of Sacramento, a graduate of Sacramento High School, there are hundreds others in the area who feel about Amanda the same way I do. I know I speak for all those people when I say I’m blessed to be her friend, inspired by her work ethic, proud of her accomplishments and excited to see what awaits. And if you don’t know, now you know.
The following is an Instant Message conversation between Amanda and I in anticipation of her upcoming show Dec. 13 at Artifacts located at 907 K St. This particular exhibition will feature Amanda’s continuing self-portrait series, which documents all the places and situations she’s experienced in her checkered Vans. For a look into her portfolio you can check www.amandalopezphoto.com.

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Amanda Lopez, originally we had talked about fueling this interview with a glass of wine. For our readers out there, what kind of wine are you drinking tonight?
Two-buck Chuck in a red plastic cup. And you, my friend?

Sutter Home, a 2006 Merlot.
Fancy.

Two for $8 regularly; $5 a bottle.
High roller.

Always.
I’m on budget. Saving for a new camera, son.

Oh word? What are you looking at?
A film camera, a Pentax 67, it’s what all my favorite photographers use. Waiting for the price to drop a bit. I’m sure it will since digital is all the rage.

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Why do you keep it real and still ride for the film?
I like the process of shooting and not knowing what you’re going to get. Taking the film to the lab, getting proofs, plus the color saturation is better. Skin tones are truer to life. Digital blows out highlights to fast. Really, it’s just a preference. Digital has its advantages.

So you mentioned your favorite photographers used the 67, who are some of your favorite photographers?
Estevan Oriol is my all time favorite. He was the first photographer whose work I saw that floored me. He has this uncanny ability to capture both strength and sensitivity in people. I also love Annie Leibovitz. Her photo of Marc Anthony and Celia Cruz changed the way I looked at portraiture; the way the picture captured the moment.

You worked as Estevan’s assistant for minute. How did you get to that position? And what did you learn while you worked for him?
I saw his work in Fader when I was a sophomore in college, and the pictures were amazing. The story was about tattoo culture in Japan; actually it was more like tattoos, lowriders, girls and gangsters. It was so beautiful. I looked him up and sent him an e-mail, and to my shock, he responded. We stayed in touch over the years, and when I finally got the opportunity to go to Los Angeles I e-mailed again and he invited me to assist him. I was only supposed to stay in Los Angeles for a month, but ended up staying for about a year. I learned that you have to be on your grind 24/7 to succeed, and also that it’s not always about fancy set ups or fancy lighting”¦you don’t need them to take great pictures. You have to trust your instincts and not worry about what other people are doing. Also, you really have to love the craft and know that it’s not always about money.

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You talked about how he captured strengths and sensitivity. When I look at your pictures, I feel like you catch people very happy and very serious. Is there a learned way to do that, or do you think it’s instinctual?
I think it’s instinctual. I look for those things when I photograph people and that is definitely inspired by Estevan. I know what I am looking for before I shoot, so I look for those expressions in people. If I’m photographing a friend I already know what those expressions look like so I direct a bit to bring them out. You have that.

Don’t butter me up! This is serious! But speaking of buttering up, in my intro paragraph, I lay it on pretty thick. I tie your personality into your ability to capture those emotions? Do you see a connection, or am I “¦ trying to make a headline?
I think you’re right. Each photograph has a bit of me in it. I think in general I am pretty mild mannered, but I think I can also be “tough” when I need to be.

Alright, let’s take a second for you to brag a little bit. Who are some of the famous people you have photographed? And were there any funny stories from those?
Most famous…I photographed Terry Cruise for Mass Appeal. He’s on Everybody Hates Chris. I worked with the Federation; that was dope. David Banner was two hours late and made me miss an opportunity to photograph the Wu-Tang Clan… Or how about David Banner was a gentleman? He was super nice though.

My word count is running out. To end it, what can you tell folks about your upcoming show Dec. 13 at Artifacts on 907 K St.
I’ve been working on the Vans project for a minute now. It started in 2002 at a skate park in Davis and the project kind of snowballed from there. I’ll be showing 20 of my favorite pictures from the project, with shots taken in Los Angeles, Cuba, New York, Mexico, San Francisco”¦

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I really thought this interview would be lot crazier, sorry I took it so serious.
Should have been more gangster and drank Bailey’s.

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Artistically Driven, Carlos Lopez

Cawzlos Weighs In On His Art and Business

Carlos Lopez wasn’t born a musician. The allure of MCing isn’t what led him to a lifelong devotion to hip-hop. However, over the last 10 years that has been the road he has followed, and while at points throughout he has questioned his position, music has remained a vital element of his livelihood. It’s a part of everything he does, and when you hear him, it shows.

His innate creativity and desire to express it led him to graffiti, where he first earned his stripes. After feeling limited by the confines of graffiti, and under the influence of various other stimulants, Carlos began to explore the art of language, more specifically his lyrical capabilities. It was from there that Cawzlos emerged. A fixture on the scene for a good chunk of his life, Cawzlos has found a way to mesh his musical side with another passion of his: business. With a plate full of projects and opportunities on the table, and the energy and ambition to carry the load, Cawzlos is making sure that he will be heard one way or another.

To start off can you give a brief history of yourself up to the present?
When I was 14 I went to a school called Hiram Johnson, which was a GATE program school, and I was the opposite of that. I met Adam McIntyre there”¦ They call him Ef Double, and he was doing the graffiti thing. From 14 to 18 I was just doing straight graff, like really in the streets and staying present with the graffiti. That was when I started getting high, too, and venturing out in the mind a little more, and everyone was talking about freestyling. I didn’t give a fuck about music or rapping or any of that until I was like 18. I didn’t realize what I was doing, but people would be like, “Man, you need to rap and pursue that.”

One thing led to another, and graffiti kind of got played out to me, and I felt like what I put on the wall just represented what I put on the wall, like it didn’t represent me. Graffiti is a secretive world, but I’m a real loud person and very vocal; I wanted to be seen and heard, and that’s all I wanted. Around that time we started the Cawz, which was me and Adam, this dude Byron, and Jeremiah, and it took about four years to finish our first album, which is called Tracks. We were doing a lot of shows, and a lot of promotion type campaigns, and that is when graffiti and music really clicked for me, like, “OK, I can use my graffiti mentality of just getting out there and representing and mixing that with marketing and promotion.” was never like, “Carlos is a great rapper,” or, “Carlos is a great performer,” was like, “Carlos is a great promotion guy.” Adam was a great rapper, Byron was a great rapper, Jeremiah was a great producer, I just instilled the hustle into the circle. That was like ’97 or ’98.

Cawzlos

When did you recognize that you had the potential to do something
with the rapping?

We all moved to LA and got management out there, and even then I was still real insecure. I knew I could do it, but I would play the background. It wasn’t until we moved back to Sacramento that I really started stepping my game up. When the Cawz broke up though, that’s when I was like, “OK, I’m not gonna stop this now, I’m too deep. I’m feeling this too much, I gotta get better,” and that’s when everything started happening. That was like four years ago. I started buying gear, and recording tons of songs. I was naturally a poet, but rhythmically I wasn’t there. It wasn’t until a year ago that I got signed by a guy named Michael Concepcion in LA, and that was when everything started to get serious. I had to be elite, because I was around elite people. I ended up getting shelved, and that made me realize I was closer than I’d ever been, but I still wasn’t the guy. But in that year, I studied real hard, and got better, and now my bar game is vicious. I always knew I was meant for this, but I just didn’t know my position. I thought I was just the CEO, or the marketing director, but now because of my studies, I feel like I can do all of that and be that dude on stage.

It’s crazy because when I listen your music, you speak with so much passion, it just sounds like it does something for you much deeper than just spitting out words.
I’m a real spiritual and deep person, and I’m trying to bring a message to what I’m doing. If I didn’t find music, I would be strung out on drugs, hands down. It was never about the money. I come from the graff scene where it’s all about recognition and never about the money, and I still carry that in my music today. I’m 27 years old and people come up to me like, “You gotta get your money,” but I always say it will come. If the money comes, it comes. I know what I need to do, but I don’t do it for that. I don’t know why I think that way, I just do. I’m not in the record sales business. Cawzlos is not here to sell records; if I sell a record, that’s cool. I want to go platinum selling T-shirts or whatever.

To wrap things up can you talk about what you’re up to at the moment?
Right now I’m working on some new stuff with Jeremiah to take on the road. I’m doing some tour managing for these guys MC Rut, Middle Class Rut, and they produced two of the songs on there. MC Rut is like number three on KWOD right now, which is real good for independent group going heads up with mainstream acts. Warner Brothers is putting us up in LA; they’re playing El Rey. I’m also managing my cousin, M I Gezzus, who is real dope. I also started a record label with Ahman aka Wisdom, Josh aka 26Hrz and Mathie Bush called Trendsetters, and our saying is, “Being yourself is in.”

Is there a time when you think you will put the music aside and strictly be doing the business side of things?
Yeah I could see that. Right now being an artist comes first.