On Friday, underground hip hop artist and political activist Immortal Technique came to campus for an afternoon discussion and evening performance at Psi Upsilon.
Immortal Technique, who calls himself ‘Technique’ or ‘Tech’ for short, walked into the Center for African American Studies lounge accompanied by a group of several male friends and MCs.
An audience of about 100 was, crowded in chairs, sitting on the floors, standing, or pressed up against walls in adjacent rooms trying to catch a glimpse of the main attraction. African American Studies Department Chair Renee Romano, who introduced the speaker, said that she had never seen so many people in the space.
He introduced himself briefly and then launched into a question and answer session with the students in attendance. Technique kept the audience engaged by fielding a vast range questions about his views on justice and revolution, racism, sexism, the Pope, terrorism, and his personal use and the general appropriation of racial expletives and epithets.
Prominent among the questions discussed were those touching on Technique’s prison term and his views on the corrections system.
“That prison sucks,” Technique said of what he learned during his time as a prisoner.
He went on to discuss his personal experience with incarceration. He said that the prison system is a modern-day slavery system.
“Prison isn’t a rite of passage,” Technique said. “It prevents you from voting…Where’s the rehabilitation factor?”
Born Felipe Coronel in 1978, Immortal Technique relocated to Harlem from his native Peru after a civil war outbreak in the 1980s. According to his official website, he served time for several run-ins with the law in the 1990s.
Technique claims it was in prison that he began to document his experiences. There, he stated, he discovered his talent for socially and politically active hip hop.
Throughout his discussion, Technique varied between confident elaboration of his ideas and pointed bouts of humor.
“I’m sorry but some European white man didn’t invent the idea of sharing,” Technique said of Karl Marx.
Technique had more incisive humor for the United States.
“[America is] a beautiful lady under all that fucked-up makeup,” he said. “You can call me Captain Save-A-Ho.”
Technique raised historical evidence of instances of racial oppression, such as the fact that African Americans were held captive at the Bronx Zoo, or that African Americans, Hispanics, and Filipinos were displayed in the World’s Fair.
“It’s a tall order for people to talk about black and brown unity when there’s not even black and black unity,” Technique said. “Some of the people discriminating against each other are black.”
Technique emphasized the importance of consistency in ideology and behavior, citing this as his reason for not yet having signed with a major music label.
“[Music corporations] need to be revolutionary in the way they think about business,” he said. “The music industry is changing… Music’s supposed to be free, anyway.”
Students who witnessed Immortal Technique’s discussion were even more eager to see the MC perform that evening.
Max Horwich ’08, a member of the Institute for the Collection of Better Music (ICBM) that organized and sponsored the show, was impressed with the information Technique provided to support his views.
“Tech was absurdly knowledgeable,” Horwich said. “The specificity and obscurity of the historical examples he used to back up his views were nothing short of staggering.”
The doors at Psi Upsilon Fraternity opened at 8:30 pm, and by the time Immortal Technique went onstage at around 10, the room was filled to capacity. The performer appeared due to the efforts of Nate Ratner ’09 and Chris Sarma ’09, who together founded a student group called “The Fourth Branch” to get funding and administrative support for the show. Laura Vollmer ’08, who helped plan and organize the show, stated that the 260 $10 tickets available were sold out in about 40 minutes.
Connecticut Democrat Senatorial hopeful Ned Lamont was originally scheduled to appear with Immortal Technique, but Lamont cancelled. Instead, members of Technique’s crew opened for him, to obvious audience satisfaction.
Immortal Technique’s set lasted a bit over an hour. He played tracks from his 2001 and 2003 CDs, Revolutionary Vol. 1 and Revolutionary Vol. 2, with most students in attendance energetically participating, clustered together near the stage.
Technique joked with the audience about usual college antics and also spoke more seriously about the current political climate in America. He closed with a new song on his highly anticipated third album, The Middle Passage. He bid the audience a good night of partying and fun, but reiterated his earlier message that education and awareness are important for all, no matter where or how inebriated.
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