Immortal Technique

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Felipe Coronel (born February 19 1978), better known as Immortal Technique, is a hip hop MC and political activist. He is of Afro-Peruvian descent and was raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on socio-political issues. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely a mixture of commentary on issues such as poverty, religion, and racism. He also focuses on the harsh resulting realities of criminality in the housing projects of New York City's slums.

Although he has been offered a deal with at least one major record label,^[1][2] he has never signed to any. Immortal Technique has voiced a desire to keep control over his production, and has made statements in his music that he is very aware that it is record companies, not the artists themselves, who profit the most from mass production and marketing of music.

He releases his music through, and is also the president of, Viper Records.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Revolutionary volumes 1 and 2

In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album CD, Revolutionary Vol. 1, without the help of a record label or distribution. He self-financed, manufactured, and sold copies of the record on the streets. In November 2002, he was listed by The Source as the month's featured "Unsigned Hype", which highlights artists that are not signed to a record label. The following year, in September 2003, he received the coveted "Hip Hop Quotable" in The Source for a song entitled "Industrial Revolution" from his second album. Consequently, since he did not have a record deal or distribution at the time, Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned. He finally released his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2 in 2003 under Viper Records/Nature Sounds distribution on CD and double LP. The album sold around 65,000 units according to SoundScan figures, but estimates reach as far as 80,000 considering his large underground street distribution wing that made him famous in the NYC area.^{[citation needed]} In 2004, Viper Records and, in 2005, Babygrande Records have re-released Immortal Technique's debut, Revolutionary Vol. 1, to make it available to a wider audience.

[edit] "Bin Laden" and "Impeach the President"

Earlier the same year, Immortal Technique appeared (as himself) in the independent movie This Revolution, which is set during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, and chronicles the protests surrounding the convention in a pseudo-documentary style. The movie also featured Viper Records affiliates Akir and producer/engineer Toure "Southpaw" Harris in smaller speaking roles.

Since then Immortal Technique has been promoted to president and A&R of Viper Records and has signed a distribution deal with Babygrande Records for his next album. He has also made Southpaw the head A&R of Viper Records and executive produced Akir's Legacy album.

Early 2006, the song "Impeach the President", featuring dead prez, Saigon, and Immortal Technique, emerged on the DJ Green Lantern mixtape Alive on Arrival. The song is a cover version of the 1973 single by The Honeydrippers, using the original chorus, but it has new verses in which the rappers express their wish that president George W. Bush be impeached.

[edit] Upcoming projects and events

Immortal Technique was currently working on several new projects, a mixtape with DJ Green Lantern, the long delayed (since 2005) third album The Middle Passage, a documentary DVD entitled Urban Warfare, and finally a fourth album, the third and last volume in the "Revolutionary series".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Activism

He is a co-founder of the Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME), which provides healthcare for the underground artists that it works with.^[3]

[edit] Social and political views

Immortal Technique provides listeners of his music with his views on politics, sociology, and religion. Many of his views align closely with socialism, as can be seen in multiple songs, including "The Poverty of Philosophy" from Revolutionary Vol. 1, a possible reference to the book of the same name by Karl Marx. He tackles many modern political and social issues in his songs, addressing events such as the killing of the prominent Black Panthers member Fred Hampton by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11, the shooting of Amadou Diallo by New York City Police, the occupation of Palestine by Israel, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed killing of revolutionary leader Che Guevara – to name but a few. He has described himself as a "socialist guerrilla", but he refuses any party affiliation. Immortal Technique's music is inspired by historical and often political figures such as Malcolm X, Che Guevara, César Chávez, Augusto César Sandino, Marcus Garvey, and Túpac Amaru II.^[4]

Often questioning the policies of the U.S. government, Immortal Technique points out social inequalities, and promotes a high level of social activism and revolution. Major themes include U.S. nationalism and jingoism, the right-wing bias and censorship of the media, the death of senator Paul Wellstone, the CIA's mind control project MKULTRA, and the use of depleted uranium by United States troops. Recently he also has worked with youth offenders in juvenile detention centers and has been linked to several gangs in the Mid-Atlantic and the West Coast, where he delivers messages about the history of foreign intervention in their nations and personal responsibility.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Historical analysis

Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since July 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since September 2007 | Cleanup from November 2007 | Wikipedia articles needing clarification | 1978 births | American rappers | Conspiracy theorists | Freestyle rappers | Living people | New York City musicians | People from Manhattan | Peruvian musicians | Peruvian-Americans | American socialists | Underground culture | Underground rappers