Ever since I was ten years old I wanted to visit South Africa.  I was involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the US and always thought about my brothers and sisters with disabilities who lived under apartheid and even wrote a paper in high school but back then and even now there is very little information here in the US about South Africans with disabilities.   Now I’m an adult in my forties and still haven’t made that trip to South Africa, however nowadays because of the internet, my journalism and the creation of Krip-Hop Nation, I’m getting closer to finally making that trip to South Africa.   My interest now is connecting disabled artists/activists/poets/musicians who are African Americans to our brothers and sisters who share the same talents and identities in South Africa under Krip-Hop Nation and an organization in South Africa.  The bigger picture/plan is to have an event and networking session in South Africa between Krip-Hop Nation and South African organizations that share our mission. 

As a journalist, I kept in contact with some musicians/poets/activists in South Africa by interviewing them for my columns.  In 2009 I interviewed South African Disabled Musician's Association and in 2010 I interviewed South African Deejay Kabila, and recently I interviewed poet  Mak Manaka.   I was one of the first journalists with a disability in the USA to write about the now famous  African musicians with disabilities like Oscar winner Prudence Mabhena (see video above) and award winning Staff Benda Bilili of the Congo.  Mabhena is even writing for my Krip-Hop book. Krip-Hop Nation’s internet radio started by Binki Woi of Germany has played the music of musicians with disabilities in South Africa.  We are excited about these connections and with our new partnership with G-Tazz Records and the Zululand Gospel Choir of South Africa (as seen in video below). 

Leroy Moore (left), friend of Amoeba and the Amoeblog, returns to do another guest Amoeblog. The New York born, Berkeley, CA based artist/activist/educator, who is the founder of Krip-Hop Nation (the global collective for hip-hop artists with disabilities), has been featured several times here on the Amoeblog over the past five years for his work in Krip-Hop and also with Sins Invalid that he co-founded. In July 2008 he wrote an Amoeblog On Being Black and Disabled. Two years ago during Black History Month 2011 he was featured twice both here and here. Then last August he did a guest Amoeblog spot when he penned the popular critique on the Sundance Channel's Push Girls television show.

This is the third and final part in the 2012 Year End Best of Hip-Hop Amoeblogs in which I do my personal top ten albums of the year, plus some other highlights of the past twelve months in hip-hop music and culture. This is all from one person's perspective and includes some losses of 2012 like Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys who had been battling cancer since 2009 and passed on at the young age of 47. MCA joined the ranks of such other hip-hoppers as Camu Tao who also died from cancer. Coincidentally, 2012 was the year that Bay Area graffiti fan Sonae Ponce produced the Graffiti Against Cancer event. Within a week of MCA's passing, BK rapper Tone Tank recorded a great tribute to the Beatie Boy (with cool accompanying logo - left) based on the Beasties' "Shake your Rump."

Overall in 2012, we gained much more than we lost with such things as a resurgence in the art of the skratch DJ. Best evidence of the Return of the DJ in 2012? The return of the DMC DJ battle to San Francisco and releases such turntablists as DJ Needlz and DJ Moschops (who also raps). Also in 2012 artists began to specialize more in their own respective niches. These included Oh No's guest heavy tribute album to Dolemite, Ohnomite (Traffic Entertainment). In 2012 some of the best labels making music included Mello Music and Stones Throw.

Profiling and police brutality are  topics very close to the hearts of those that contributed to the just released Police Brutality Profiling Mixtape - the new CD compilation of krip-hop artists that is now available at Amoeba Berkeley and will soon be in stock at Amoeba San Francisco. The new pro civil rights compilation is a joint production of 5th Battalion  Entertainment in Los Angeles and the Berkeley based Krip-Hop Nation that is headed by Leroy Moore who has been interviewed here on the Amoeblog in the past. 

Krip Hop Nation links hip-hop artists with disabilities around the globe and to date, under Moore's direction, has produced several previous compilations of krip-hop artists. But this one one is the first to thematically tackle the topic of the (mostly unspoken) often unhealthy treatment of people of color with disabilities at the hands of police. Moore says that discrimination by police, as well as violence, are all too common and hence the inspiration to put together this new collection. Album collaborator DJ Quad, who is a part of 5th Battalion in LA, is a person with a disability who frequently falls victim to profiling. A Latino who is confined to a wheelchair, DJ Quad (his name is inspired by quadriplegic) has had many unnecessary run-ins with the law that he explains on the new CD in both a spoken word track and a music track.