Greetings...

Hey, hi. I joined this per my pseudo boyfriend, Williams, suggestion. I'll start with a music/spoken word piece and then get comfortable on here and really bring the goodness.
Vanessa Hidary is great. Read this interview and get a small taste as to why.
Conscious' Q & A With The 'Hebrew Mamita', Vanessa Hidary

Conscious: So miss Vanessa Hidary, what's going on with you this year? Introduce yourself to our readers. Let'em know who the 'Hebrew Mamita' is.

Vanessa Hidary: Hey Conscious. Or is it still Stream of Conscious? :) Or did you abbreviate as the years have rolled on? Lets see how can I describe the Hebrew Mamita. The sexy, Oy veying-matzoh eating, chutzpah having, non-cheaping, non conspiracizing, hip hop listening, torah scroll reading, all people loving, pride filled Jewish Girl! Ha, that’s my poetic tag line. These days I call myself a "solo performer". It seems more inclusive than Actress or Spoken Word Artist.

C: How long have you been performing professionally and what prompted you to put together your own one-woman show?

VH: Wow. Ok, I’m going to really show my age now. I've been performing for about 17 years. I would say professionally for the last 7.I started out as an actress, and started writing my own monologues to audition with, because it was hard to find pieces I could relate to.

C: What have been your greatest influences in pursuit of bringing this art as you fabricate it into a living breathing experience?

VH: Growing up in NYC, Hip-Hop, My theatre training and The Spoken Word Scene. Most of my work focuses on identity and relationships. The identity obsession comes from my experiences growing up as a Jewish Girl on the Upper West Side, and being part of the Hip-Hop Scene in what was called "The Golden Age of Hip Hop". Back in the 70's the Upper West Side was a transitional, ethnically diverse neighborhood to live and raise your family. My friends growing up were Jewish, Puerto Rican, Black and Dominican. We all listened to The Sugar Hill Gang and had Roller Disco birthday parties. I celebrated Christmas with my best friend Leticia Mangual and went to Hebrew school three times a week. This was a time, that while we were aware of race and religious differences, it was not as complicated of an issue. When I went to High school (LaGuardia!) I became more immersed into Hip-Hop and listened to KRS One, LL Cool J and Dana Dane. I was going out to a lot of underground clubs down on the Lower East Side like The Milky Way, and Soul Kitchen. That was when $5 was the door price and we didn't have cell phones yet! Less complicated for sure. I'd say during this time, hip-hop was definitely not as mainstream and secular as it is today. At first I flowed easily in the scene, always being somewhat of a chameleon among different groups. But in 1988 when Hip-Hop began to change things became more complicated in my world. Public Enemy, XCLAN, and Spike Lee movies were on the front lines, and among my peers my identity as White and Jewish, was suddenly highlighted. Hip Hop infused a political, and social consciousness into it’s party jams. My friends that I'd been doing everything with for years were listening to Black Power tracks that left me without a fist to raise in the air. They Joined Black and Latino Student Unions that I was not a member of, and yup, Jungle Fever, the new term for White Girls dating Black guys was the term on the street. Damn, things were getting very complicated. lol! Being the "White Girl that’s down" was not a term to ride on anymore. I had to go on a long difficult but amazing journey to find a way to celebrate my friends newfound pride in their identity, while delving into my own identity as well. I truly believe that these years formed who I am today as a woman and an artist, and I feel like it’s true mission to explore this subject in my work.

When I went to graduate school and got my MFA in acting I found a void of these stories in the plays I was reading and performing. So I wrote my own stories, with the inspiration of other playwrights and upcoming solo performers such as John Leguizamo, Eric Bogosian, Claudia Shear, and Lisa Kron. They were all writing and performing stories that broke out of the conventional box. Performers that broke the idea of traditional casting in the acting world and created opportunities for themselves in a business that is so very competitive and reliant on others to give you opportunities.

But there was one more piece of the puzzle missing. One day I was at the Brooklyn Museum of Art to see a Hip-Hop exhibit, and they had a performance in which spoken word artists, the first round of what was dubbed "Def Poetry Jam Poets" did their pieces. Suddenly I knew that I needed to combine this poetic energy with my theatre background and that would be my niche. Well I’m making it sound very simple, but I was intrigued and felt this scene allowed for strong opinions, humor and poignancy, and I embarked on another long journey. I began performing pieces at places such at the Nuyorican Poets Café and I wrote a solo show called “Culture Bandit” that explores race issues and talks about my1988 journey. At first I was worried my voice and stories would not be accepted. Would anyone be interested in hearing this Jewish Girl's journey? Would race issues be too much of an explosive topic for me to tackle? I found that yes, Identity is a hot button, that it can sometimes cause debate, but that there are so many people of all ethnicities that can relate to my stories, and that I am not alone in many of my struggles and discoveries growing up.

I also write a lot about relationships and “Jilted Love”. Somewhat In the vein of MC battles, I like to write about "love gone awry" in a humorous yet sharp-tongued fashion. I like to get the women amped up and get the guys saying “Damn Ma”. Everyone has had heartbreak of some sort and likes to feel they are not alone in this. I’ve actually started a Jilted Lovers t-shirt line with the first item being a “HISS LOSS” tank top. If anyone needs one, Holla at me! :)

And lastly I’m currently working on my first novel. It will include all these journeys above and many more New York City Hebrew Mamita adventures!
So I guess you can say I started out with the intention of being the next Meryl Streep but instead became The Hebrew Mamita. I think it was a better choice for me.

C: What's currently in your 8 track, record player, walkman, discman, mp3 player musical listening device these days?

VH: 8 track. ha ha. Ok this is my favorite question because I think my little ipod nano playlist is a reflection of me! Here are my favorite tracks right now:

1- I got it made- Special Ed
2- No One Remix - Alicia Keys w/ Cassidy
3- The Bride is over- BDP
4- Space Oddity- David Bowie
5- Raw- Big Daddy Kane
6- Is This The End- New Edition
7- Lets Chill- Aaron Hall (how I love this song!)
8- As We Lay- Shirley Murdock (not real old skool if you don't know this song!)
9- Love Me In A Special Way- DeBarge

So. As you all can see. I'm pretty much stuck in an old skool groove. It just makes me feel good to hear music from my past. It also inspires my work.

C: How do you find new music?

VH: Well, since I’m in a time warp I just convert all my old cds from high school! haha. Oh and I cant lie, I listen to Hot 97 and 105.1, to hear all the new hip hop and R & B. I like a lot of the popular hits, even if they don’t have the same connection to me. Oh, and of course good ole VH1 and MTV. I'm SHAMEFULLY addicted to very bad reality T.V. I'm trying to change this in 2008!

C: Can you cook? Do you cook? If so what is your favorite dish to prepare?

VH: Well, lets say I CAN cook, but don't cook very often. I'm living a little more of the single, gigging on the road life right now. BUT funny you ask, because tonight, I made a baked sweet potato, steamed spinach, and stir-fried tofu. I know that makes me sound pretty bohemian and "poet like", but that was just tonight, not always. I also make really good chocolate chip cookies.

C: Do you plan on voting in the 2008 election? What do you think about the process and the whole youtubing of candidates and the 'idea' of this voter friendly experience.

VH: Yes, I plan to vote. I feel excited and hopeful about the upcoming election. I got goose bumps on my arms hearing Barack Obama's victory speech at the Iowa Caucus. I'm also excited to have a woman in the race. I think this election has more young people involved than ever before, and the involvement of you tube and facebook are helping that along. The last eight years have been beyond depressing in our government. I think people have had enough. At least I hope they have!

C: Is Hiphop dead?

VH: No. It’s just different. It's so much more mainstream now than it was in the 80's. But there are still people out there trying to do something different. I won’t list them all but Kanye, Common, and Talib Kweli are some off the top of my head. I can’t say it will ever feel the same as my youth, but I prefer to not get too somber about the subject. It’s still funny to me that so many commercials use hip-hop as their jingles. We’ve come such a long way. Oh and my little cousin is having a Bar-Mitzvah this spring with a “hip hop theme.” Don’t worry, I’ll be the hip hop police making sure its cool and that Old Skool (or what now seems to be called “throwbacks”) is represented, and maybe give them a little lecture on the roots of it all. All this and while promising not to be a buzz kill.

Thank you for including me on FreeHipHopnow.com. I really appreciate it. I clearly remember you coming to see my solo show a few years back, and being a great support.

People can find me at: www.hebrewmamita.com www.myspace.com/vanessahidary

Peace!