Dead Indians—Indian Affairs

Album Review by Ishmael A. Elias (originally published on reznetnews.org, 2007)

Albums with vulgar lyrics generally have an explicit content label on the CD case. Dead Indians, a hip-hop group from Winnipeg, Manitoba, chose instead to put the warning at the beginning of its latest release, “Indian Affairs.”

“This program contains scenes with nudity, sexuality, nudity, violence and coarse language,” a female announcer says. “Viewer discretion is advised.”

Immediately afterward, “Jonesin (Your Beer is My Beer)” rolls in with a slightly sped-up sample from Billy Paul’s 1972 hit, “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Near the end of the sample, rapid-fire vocals and an up-tempo beat, replete with high hats and cracking rim shots, combine for a head-nod-inducing sound.

The rest of the album follows a similar formula: obscene, but witty wordplay over catchy soul/pop sample and banging beat. The best examples of this recipe can be found on “West End Girls,” which takes a piece of the Pet Shop Boys’ hit song and “The Apprentice,” which uses a spliced sample from the Donald Trump reality TV show of the same name.

The lyrical content of the album ranges from lewd to socially aware. Lewd because of the constant mention of booze and broads—aware because through all of the wise cracks and hedonism, group members reveal concern for Native hardships in a system that doesn’t always work.

“See, we’re dealing and thieving ‘cause the stakes are not even/ So, we’re out here making money like there’s nothing to believe in,” a Dead Indians crew member raps over an interpolation of Randy Crawford’s “Street Life.” He continues a few lines later with: “Thinking how they gonna’ save the language and the elders’ knowledge/ when there’s more fluent speakers in jail than there is in college/ but who am I to say? I don’t live the teachings of the old ones/ I’m just out here for a good time with a couple of the cold ones.”

And that’s part of the charm of Dead Indians. They are similar to Drunken Fist Kung-Fu practitioners in that while they appear to be in a constant alcoholic stupor, high levels of control and self awareness are maintained.

For hip-hop fans who can stomach the raw lyrical content, “Indian Affairs” delivers the goods. Sensitive listeners might want to wait for an all-ages show to hit their area.

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Ishmael A. Elias is a writer and teacher based in Oakland, Calif. He is completing his debut novel, the first chapter of which is due to appear in the upcoming "Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma: An Anthology" by the Cherokee Arts & Humanities Council.

Los Nativos—Red Star Fist

Album Review by Ishmael A. Elias (originally published on reznetnews.org, 2007)

Overall, hip hop albums these days have no focus. Sure, there may be an outward appearance of a theme, but the result is usually a collection of unrelated songs. Minnesota-based Los Nativos buck that trend with their sophomore effort “Red Star Fist.”

Unlike artists who keep thoughts about the government to themselves at the risk of having their albums crushed under a bulldozer and their name dragged through the mud, group members Xilam Balam and Felipe Cuauhtli speak boldly about corruption in the Americas – past and present.

“Black Flag Red Star” starts the EP off fully focused with the spirited line, “Zapata Vive! La lucha sigue!”

For those that don’t understand Spanish or don’t know who Emiliano Zapata was, the chorus comes to save the day in all its counterculture glory, “Revolucion! Bolt on the armor/ Time to get it on/ Invade the border/ Black flag, red star/ my son and my daughter/ Indigenous warrior, never be a soldier.”

The first verse takes the listener deeper into the rabbit hole, giving more insight into the meaning of the chorus.

“America saw the brown picture on the canvas/ commercials for the army/ playing them in Spanish/ I walk around the city like the war’s right here/ Military wants the Indian to cut his hair.”

Similar to the group’s first album, clever use of Aztec and Mayan imagery over banging beats brings Native issues and Indigenous pride to life. “Science Mayan” and the “Like the Indigenous” remix are representative of the album’s thought-provoking lyrics with lines such as: “English or Spanish, I’m really not caring which/ when it comes down to it, they’re both invader languages” and “Why you always question the shit that I’m on?/ The only thing you need to know – it bleeds the heart of Aztlan.”

While all the tracks aren’t politically charged (one for all the low-riders in the house), the cohesiveness of the album’s theme remains.

EPs – known for being mini-albums around 15 to 30 minutes long – don’t have the luxury of filler tracks. So, it’s good that “Red Star Fist” is one that can be played all the way through.

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Ishmael A. Elias is a writer and teacher based in Oakland, Calif. He is completing his debut novel, the first chapter of which is due to appear in the upcoming "Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma: An Anthology" by the Cherokee Arts & Humanities Council.

Straight Outta East Oakland

Book Review by Ishmael A. Elias (originally published in The Campanil, 2009)

Some students have turned to such illegal methods as prostitution or theft to raise quick cash for college tuition, but for Firstborn Walker—the academically talented protagonist of “Straight Outta East Oakland”—selling drugs is the chosen path.

In order to receive an 80 percent scholarship offered by a mysterious alumni organization to attend the prestigious Alston University—a fictitious college seemingly based on UC Berkeley—Firstborn must provide the remaining 20 percent by the end of the summer. Unemployed and facing the possibility of homelessness, he turns to a street-hardened, drug-dealing friend named Drama for help.

Author Harry Louis Williams II, a minister at Allen Temple Baptist Church on International Boulevard in Oakland, uses this setup to shed light on the disparities between the Bay Area’s privileged and impoverished, as well as to expose the deadly cycle of street life. Peppered with vivid character descriptions and mentions of several East Oakland locations (such as Jack London Square, Fruitvale BART, and sections of International Boulevard), the novel succeeds in being both an interesting cautionary tale and a call for greater community involvement in the lives of troubled youth.

That being said, the overall telling of the tale keeps the work from being a page-turner. Lines such as “I would have roller-skated through hell in a gasoline T-shirt for a third kiss” seem out of place and phrases such as “in the hood” and “homeboy” are overused. Also, instances of mischaracterization and uneven narration stretch artistic license and dampen the story’s momentum. For example, while Firstborn is a bookworm and nice guy by design, he appears too naïve at times given his familiarity with East Oakland and experience gained as a dope dealer. Another example is found in a scene where Firstborn’s drug-addicted friend, Lonnie, is found searching the ground intently for a dropped crack rock one moment and delivering a mouthful of academic speech the next. Given the narrator’s description of how crack transforms people into soulless fiends, it’s unlikely Lonnie would have the presence of mind to utter impromptu phrases such as, “Isn’t that the radical right-wing Berkeley think tank that’s always in the news for trying to torpedo affirmative-action programs?”

In the end, “Straight Outta East Oakland” deserves accolades for being a resource for those who believe the drug game is the only viable way to escape poverty (or raise tuition money), but as a literary work, its message overshadows the storytelling to ill effect.

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Ishmael A. Elias is a writer and teacher based in Oakland, Calif. He is completing his debut novel, the first chapter of which is due to appear in the upcoming "Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma: An Anthology" by the Cherokee Arts & Humanities Council.

Resident Evil 5 or Chris and Sheva are the Mal and Zoe of video gaming

Game Review by Ishmael A. Elias

In 1996, Capcom and Shinji Mikami brought “survival horror” to the gaming world with the advent of Resident Evil, which captivated players with its 3D gore and violence, creepy atmosphere, bizarre puzzles, and B-movie dialogue. The series stayed true to its roots until 2005, when Resident Evil 4 broke from convention, discarding static camera angles for an over-the-shoulder perspective, and lifting combat above ammo conservation. Following up on Resident Evil 4’s formula, Resident Evil 5 ups the excitement and the number of heroes.

Resident Evil 5 begins in a dank warehouse with a mysterious masked woman standing over a man on his hands and knees as he begins to convulse. He reaches up in agony, grabbing her arm for assistance, but the woman snatches it away and leaves him to be overcome by whatever has infected him. Cut to a scene of former S.T.A.R.S. alpha team member, Chris Redfield, now apart of an anti-bioterrorism organization known as the B.S.A.A., driving in a jeep through African brush. His latest mission brings him to the fictional West African village of Kijuju where he and his new partner, African native Sheva Alomar, attempt to uncover the Uroboros threat and confirm the whereabouts of Chris’ former partner, Jill Valentine.

Like other Resident Evil games, the mystery unfolds through cutscenes and found text (discarded or abandoned sheets of paper, diary entries, etc.), and while the plot is straightforward enough, some character motivations feel thin. Consider badguy Wesker’s hatred for goodguy Chris. During the course of the game, he could have easily killed Chris, but does not due to the artistic license syndrome that makes fictional villains reveal their schemes and give heroes multiple chances to escape. While this method serves to move the story forward, it prevents players from being as invested as they could be.

Graphics and Presentation

Resident Evil 5 is a beautiful game. The high-definition backgrounds and character models are detailed, well-designed, and well-animated. Cutscenes are cinematic and interactive. Weapon, melee and various other sound effects compliment the visuals well, and the music works to instill tension or invigorate players during a battle. The voice acting is quality, with only a few moments of inconsistent delivery.

Gameplay

A heavy theme of Resident Evil 5 is partnership. Instead of walking through dusty mansions alone, players take on zombie hordes with a computer- or human-controlled partner via online or split-screen mode. This may be a positive or negative depending on one’s style of play. For instance, having a buddy alongside can double the amount of zombie carnage and abate sudden death, but the sense of abandonment and dread felt in past titles may be diminished as a result. On the other hand, there is a thrill in rushing to a partner’s aid before they receive a deathblow, or in surviving long enough to be saved from one’s own demise. The computer-controlled character (initially Sheva—Chris becomes available after completing the main campaign) handles its own for the most part, but will sometimes block the player’s view of enemies, rush into a crowd of deadly foes, fail to attack, or add items to the player’s inventory at inconvenient times.

With the addition of co-operative play comes a new inventory management system. The option to leisurely handle supplies and ammunition on a separate pause screen is gone, making players decide in real-time what items to trade, equip, combine or discard (which can make for tense situations when a chainsaw boss is seconds away). While clunky at times, the system works overall to keep the action moving and to promote cooperation. Another addition is the ability to change weapons or use supplies on the fly by mapping them to the four cardinal directions on the d-pad. Teamwork is not only necessary for survival, but also to navigate through and over various obstacles, and to acquire new weapons. Chris and Sheva part ways at several points in the game, but these moments never last long.

Resident Evil 5 maintains the series requirement to stand and shoot (as opposed to running and gunning) which makes the act of shooting much more deliberate. Players are given additional movement options, however, with the ability to move sideways and execute various melee attacks via context-sensitive situations.

Replayability

Collectibles and unlockables come in the forms of new costumes and character models, while extra modes include: Mercenaries, the familiar time-based survival game; Versus, which allows players to battle one another with any playable Mercenaries character; and “new game+,” which carries over from previous games all weapons, supplies, monies and extra costumes.

Sidebar

Before the game’s release, claims of racism sparked internet debates due to the depiction of African village people as inhuman savages. Because the latest “zombies” in the Resident Evil universe are not technically zombies—especially the decaying humanoid kind, stumbling around to snack on human flesh—the casual onlooker would not know the buff Anglo-American soldier shooting up the African village is not there to conquer it or the people who inhabit it, but rather, to survive the effects of a biohazard infection. So, while the game is not racist, it is stereotypical with its reliance on antiquated and unnecessary “Dark Continent,” “Black Hawk Down” imagery to trigger emotions. How many times must the story be told of the Anglo-American hero who triumphs with help from a local over “uncivilized” villagers or tribesmen? Placing an African theme over the recent Resident Evil model—shooting infected locals that look human, collecting gold and treasures from said locals, their tombs and their land in order to upgrade weapons to kill more effectively—begs for associations with colonization, genocide, and colorism to be drawn.

Sheva’s appearance is also an issue. On one hand, she is not as dark as her African comrades and her features allude to a multicultural heritage. But on the other hand, not all native Africans share similar features. After all, Africa is a large, diverse continent, making it possible for Sheva to appear multiethnic, but still be a native African. Who has the right to say what makes a person more African than another based solely on appearance? That said, colorism could be at play as there is a widely-held misconception that having dark skin and curly hair is not as beautiful or valuable as having fair skin and straight hair.

It should be noted, however, that Capcom included heroes and villains of various skin tones. Some see this as a sign of caving in to pressure from racist claims, while others think the inclusion to be a more accurate depiction of modern-day African populations. After all, if there are non-Anglo villains, is it unreasonable to have non-Anglo heroes?

Final Comments

Resident Evil 5 is an enjoyable, well-crafted co-op experience. While stereotypical imagery is problematic at times, it steers clear of being malicious or hateful. Free of the blind angles and jump-scare tactics that helped to provide a sense of vulnerability in past titles, there is still a natural tension that runs through each level that draws players in for subsequent rounds.


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Ishmael A. Elias is a writer and teacher based in Oakland, Calif. He is completing his debut novel, the first chapter of which is due to appear in the upcoming "Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma: An Anthology" by the Cherokee Arts & Humanities Council.