I think there's even an old school rap song that has lyrics "I'm
dressed in Black and I'm about to attack!". Does it refer to the
Sicilian?

RL


http://stockerblog.blogspot.com/2007...d-hip-hop.html

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Connection between Chess and Hip-Hop

All the songs on the "Grandmasters" music album have chess related
themes. It was created by Rapper GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. There is
even a Hip-Hop Chess Federation to encourage young people in the San
Francisco Bay Area to take up chess.

Worlds of chess, hip-hop converge
Hip-Hop Chess Federation to host tournament next month
By Barbara Grady, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 09/25/2007 10:45:39 AM PDT

Adisa Banjoko (left) and Leo Libiran are organizing a hip-hop chess...
(Mike Lucia - MediaNews)

Rapper GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan devoted an entire album "Grandmasters"
to chess themes and chess International Grandmaster Maurice Ashley is
a hip-hop fan, so there's gotta be some connection.

That connection between hip-hop music and the game of chess is what
local hip-hop author, father and youth mentor Adisa Banjoko of Fremont
is counting on to influence hundreds of Oakland and San Francisco
youth.

His Hip-Hop Chess Federation has organized a chess tournament for Oct.
13 when famous rappers such as RZA, GZA and DJ

Q-Bert and chess champions such as Josh Waitzkin will square off
across 64-square boards. So too will teams of teenagers from Oakland
and San Francisco who stand to win scholarship money.

"We use chess and the lines of hip-hop to invite children to express
their intelligence," Banjoko said in a recent interview, waxing about
the philosophy behind the federation.

"How do young people choose what they want to be? How do they find
their own sense of dignity? What I am trying to do is use the soft
power of the rappers and blend it with the good sense and traditions
that come out of chess - patience, working out a way to get around
obstacles, mutual respect for someone who, you know, is trying to
defeat you," Banjoko said. The Chess Kings Invitational Tournament, to
be held at the San Francisco Design Center starting at 1 p.m., is the
federation's third chess contest for children but is arguably the one
with the biggest names behind it.
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Rakaa of Dilated Peoples will be the MC and hip-hop artists Paris, T-
K.A.S.H. and Big Rich will also be playing chess. Eight-time National
Chess Champion Waitzkin, subject of the movie "Searching for Bobby
Fischer," will speak and hand out his book, "The Art of Learning." The
Commonwealth Club will broadcast the speeches.

Wearing a T-shirt with the letters HHCF (Hip-Hop Chess Federation)
across the front, Banjoko alternated between listening to his 6-year-
old daughter whisper in his ear, responding to the jokes of fellow
HHCF supporters and answering a reporter's questions on a recent
afternoon in Emeryville while sitting around a chess table. Four hip-
hop artist friends took turns at the game. His son was playing chess
against his mother at a nearby table.

"Nobody ever tried to help me to be the best at what I can do. I've
done lectures at Harvard, Brown, Dickinson, on Islamic history, hip-
hop culture, race and religious issues. I've done lectures at
universities that I can't get into. That's enraging," said Banjoko,
whose writing about hip-hop is captured in his Lyrical Swords Web
site, http://www.lyricalswords.com. "I need to make sure that other
kids like me - kids that are a little hard to get them to sit down but
have skills - understand all the options they have. And nothing helps
you see all your options like chess."

Banjoko and HHCF co-founder Leo Libiran regard it as their mission to
expose children who find meaning in hip-hop to chess. They founded the
Hip-Hop Chess Federation last winter with this mission in mind.

"If they see rappers playing chess, that will have a huge impact on
their psychology. See, you can extend values of self-worth and values
of having a plan for your life," Banjoko said.

Libiran is an artist who does the cover art for much of Banjoko's
writing.

"To me this is the next logical evolution of hip-hop," Libiran said.
He said today's culture focuses on the negative lyrics of some rap and
gives scant attention to the positive, such as songs by Talib Kweli,
Wu-Tang and DJ Q-Bert. "It can help kids learn about life
strategies."

Teenagers from Oakland's Unity High School and the Youth Uprising
community center will play for scholarship money, as will teams from
San Francisco's O'Connell High School and YouthSpeaks poetry
workshop.

Ubisoft, the video game company whose top seller includes the
Chessmaster series, is underwriting the event.

"The thing that appeals to us is the Hip-Hop Chess Federation is
working in the same kind of direction as us to ensure that chess is
accessible but also making it cool," said Sam Saliba, Ubisoft group
brand manager.

In case the metaphors about goal planning get lost, the afternoon will
include a panel discussing "Life Strategies," led by Waitzkin, RZA,
and others.

Each kid in attendance will get a copy of Waitzkin's "Art of
Learning."

Tickets, which are $7 for youths, are available at http://www.hiphopchessfederation.org
with some tickets free for qualifying youths. All proceeds go to
scholarships for the winners of the teenage tournament.