Hip Hop Pops: MC Red Cloud

Hip Hop Pops is a series of profiles highlighting fellas who’ve carved out careers in hip hop while raising a family.

See our first installment with Humble Beast Recording Artist, Propaganda here.

It used to be the case that parents and hip hop just didn’t mix; the regal Fresh Prince of Philly taught us as much.

Even today, some people wrongly assume the spirit of hip hop and the spirit of fatherhood are antithetical.  Hip Hop Pops prove that assumption wick, wick, wack!

Today, Big Brown Dad sits down with Red Cloud, a west coast rhyme maven with Native American and Mexican heritage.   Red Cloud has toured North America with his partner in rhyme, Crystle Lightning, as Lightning Cloud.  Lightning Cloud recently won Power 106 “Who’s Next? Battle for the Best,” beating out over 1,000 submissions from across the country.

Check their video profile here. 

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Even more, Red Cloud is the current Guinness Book of World Record holder for the longest freestyle: 18 hours w/o stopping!

Read about his incredible accomplishment here and peep his training footage.

 

BBD: Tell us about your son.  Did you think about naming him after you?

I have a 5 year old boy (6 next month). His name’s Isaiah Hawthorne and he’s the love of my life! The kid is a genius. Extremely into monster trucks, dinosaurs, Plants Vs Zombies and football! I didn’t want to give him my government name – Henry belongs in the 1920s! But his middle is my hometown, so booya!

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kisses > disses

What’s his favorite food?
My son loves grilled cheese, pizza and plain old bean and cheese burritos from Taco Bell, kinda like a lil baby stoner.
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Eat Street > Beat Street

 How is your son most like you?
He’s very particular and can be a little obsessive compulsive and anxious when he doesn’t have control.  But he’s most like me when we are drawing – loves drawing and that’s one of my things.
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What does he think about his Dad being a rapper?
He’s been to 3 of my shows and he loves it!! He’ll go up there on stage with me and Crystle and hand out CDs to the crowd for us! He’ll jump around and dance- he really likes it when he can go to his dad’s rap concerts!
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microphone friends > microphone fiends

Who fathered your rhyme style? 
Shock G of Digital Underground and Brother J of XClan. I have two Dads… Is that a lil gay?
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I’m Your Father, Red!

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Man, I named your Red, BLACK AND GREEN Cloud! What happened?

Favorite TV Dad? 
Homer Simpson bro! Hands down!! Best TV dad ever!
Big Daddy Kane or Father MC?
Big Daddy Kane !!! Better MC, better discography  and better performer! Plus me and Crystle Lightning love doing “Very Special” when we go to karaoke!
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Be sure to  follow Red Cloud & Crystle Lightning (Lightning Cloud) on Facebook.

Hip Hop Pops: Propaganda

Hip Hop Pops is a series of interviews profiling dads who’ve carved out careers in Hip Hop while raising a family.

Ed OG, in nineteenth hundred and ninety-first year of our Lord, said it best:

Some people wrongly assume the spirt and posture of hip hop is antithetical to the spirt and posture of fatherhood.  This series will prove that assumption wick, wick, wack.

First on the mic is  Humble Beast recording artist and San Gabriel Valley’s very own, Propaganda. He’s kicked rhymes from Cameroon to Cameron Park, and has helped pack out venues all across the country. His firebrand delivery and lyrical dexterity has proven him to be one of the dopest spitting out of the west coast.

Today, we’re chopping it up about our favorite hood, father hood.

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Tell us about your daughter.

Luna’s 9, high energy and loves to laugh.  And she’s never, I repeat, NEVER at a loss of words. She’s passionate, affectionate and admires her mom.  She’s a music lover. If I were to predict, she will live out of a suitcase touring the world.

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What makes your relationship special?
We share a love for the arts. I’m her ‘step-dad’ but we don’t use that type of language in our home. We say ‘birth dad’ and ‘home dad.’ But there was a time when she called me her real dad and her birth dad step dad because it just made more sense to her like that.
What’s your favorite thing to do together?
We love to make-up songs.
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What has she taught you?
She taught me to slow down. I have a way of not letting people finish their thought because “I know” what they are trying to say. She taught me that people need to know they are being heard.
What does she think about your hip hop career?
She doesn’t really know anything different.   But when I showed up on Pandora, it hit her that her Daddy was for real a professional artist.  She definitely enjoys the benefits and unique opportunities she gets. But my traveling is a little tuff for her.
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Is there a song or verse on a song where you mention her?

Who would you say “fathered” your rap style?
Foundation Funkollective, Project Blowed and Native Tongues.

Who is your favorite TV dad?

This one is tough…maybe Hank Hill from King of the Hill. I think he’s the most dynamic in the sense that he learns and also stands his ground. He’s just doing his best to lead his family while maintaining his identity. Plus he’s funny.
Big Daddy Kane or Ol Dirty Bastard?
Kane for bars and moxie and ODB for confidence.
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ODB purportedly has a fatherless style.

Download Propaganda’s entire catalog FOR FREE and stay connected with him via Instagram @prophiphop.

 

BigBrownDad

Play Date: Kelby Park, Covina

 

Kelby Park

Kelby Park 815 N Barranca Covina, Ca

Kelby Park @ Joclyn Center

Covina has parks aplenty, each distinctive.

See my reviews of Hollenbeck, Heritage and The Secret Park

I’ve had my eye on Kelby Park for sometime.  It offers a vast expanse of green space, perfect for picnics, soccer, football, racing, freeze-tag, three-flies-up, volleyball and indelible grass stains.

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The distance from parking lot to playground is 91 furloughs.

Kelby’s playground, though, can be a source of worry for parents with kids under 5 years old.

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And the Devil said, “This play area has been designed for children 5-12 years of age.”

According to the signage, the playground is rated for kids up to 12 years old.  First, If your 12 year old is still having fun with swings and slides, consider yourself very lucky…or very unlucky, I can’t call it.

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On my view, parks in Covina would be better utilized if they included kids ages 3 and up in their design plans and let the 10-12 year olds commence with drug use and snap chat.  Really tho.

Of course, since Jocko can’t read, and because I have unreasonable expectations of my kid(s), I allowed him to rush the playground unencumbered by the shackles of fear…and reason.

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“Dad, do you have the Kaiser card on you?”

Now, as far as I can tell, Kelby Park has the best slides in Covina.  Take a look at Big Red and Lil’ Red Rivers.  Jocko rode both of them till the paint started to rub off on his clothes.

Big Red: high velocity, difficult dismount.

Big Red: high velocity, difficult dismount.

Lil Red Rivers: slippery but scalable.

Lil Red Rivers: slippery but scalable.

But their swing set is wack.  It lacks child seats for heaven’s sake!

Swingle and ready to Mingle.

Swingle and ready to Mingle.

But what disturbs me most about the park is the lackluster signage–as in, it can’t be read from the street because it lacks an adequate amount of luster.  This must change…now!

mas luster, por favor.

mas luster, por favor.

Please, if you love your children, send your donations to the Mas Luster Foundation and help us fight the blight.

Big Brown Dad

 

How To Hack Your Snacks

At Big Brown Dad, we eat like our lives depend on it.

Did you know there’s a right and wrong way to re-heat your pizza?

Looking to turn your lukewarm soda into sweet, icy cold relief…in seconds?

Tired of dropping popcorn all over the place?!

Then you’ll want to watch the following clip, featuring the lil cuzzo and shot in Big Brown Dad’s test kitchen.