“Write your own story! If you don’t write it yourself, someone else will,” as said by Rosangelica Lopez. Lopez, also known as BRONXINIAN, is a musician, writer, co-founder of Live from Underground, and skater from the Bronx. One may ask why her name is BRONXINIAN? Well simply because “the word Bronxite sounds like parasite. Plus, it belongs to the older generation, and it’s just not me”!
BRONXINIAN was recently featured in the article, Brujas: Skate Witches,” by DAZED. The article featured the Latina skate crew, which features female skaters from all over NYC, telling the story of young women who “talk skating, sisterhood, and the movement against aggressive gentrification,” as said by writer of DAZED, Liz Pelly. BRONXINIAN started skating with them recently, and found true liberation at their women-empowered “Sucia” parties, a series of dance parties created to provide a safe space for women to dance and express themselves without getting harassed.
For years, BRONXINIAN has been writing short stories, poems, and even raps. At the age of 13, she began to write rhymes after hearing the 2007 single “This Is Why I’m Hot” by MIMS. “If he can do it, I can do it.” She recorded her first rap track over Nas’s “Street Dreams” which you can still find on Myspace Music under her first alter ego, Lil Biz.
After downloading the beat, she began writing the lyrics with pen at hand, and hasn’t stopped since.
While attending school at Dominican College, BRONXINIAN cultivated her writing skills with a spoken word collective Verbal Asylum, where she performed for grand audience. “At 17 my spirit guides taught me poetry. Joseph, Brandon Jengo pulled out the higher me. Verbal Asylum we hitting the streets. Phony MC’S hiding behind beats.” Programs, BRONXINIAN. Since then, she now attends City College and is finishing her English degree with a concentration in Creative Writing and minor in Women’s Studies.
In addition to rap, she is well versed in writing poetry. BRONXINIAN believes that you should always “be honest with yourself!” She maintains a blog, Memoirs of a Pianist, where she keeps a vary of memoirs, poems, and short stories dating back to 2010. At some point she felt as if writing poetry was “too easy,” so she decided to dabble a into the other realms within creative writing.
Amongst many other talented writers and poets, BRONXINIAN had the opportunity to perform for the inmates at Rikers Island. For 2 hours she was able to both perform with her fellow friends and the inmates who showed a huge variety of skill.
In addition to her tremendous amount of talent, BRONXINIAN is the co-founder of Live from Underground, a platform for new and upcoming artists who don’t have the support needed when promoting themselves out to the public. After traveling to South By South West Music Festival (SXSW) last Summer, BRONXINIAN and LFU’S co-founder Sunny Cheeba came back inspired and decided to give something back to their community.
The first Friday of each month, LFU holds an open mic event in The Bronx for artists everywhere who are willing to come out and showcase their talent. So far, they are 10 open mics and 5 showcases in and there’s no stopping them! The audience is “responsive”, “supporting”, and all the Bronx Underground crew wants to do is “keep the Hip-Hop culture alive!”
Plans for 2016 includes:
Continuing to put events for Live from Underground;
Putting on artists and getting the recognition they deserve;
Website featuring LFU’s resident artists and their content;
Working on music;
And preparing for what’s to come in these times.
When asked, BRONXINIAN will tell you that the one person that she could put on is David Quinones. Why? She believes that he’s the “illest poet”, and he plays no games, and there’s no bull shit! “He’s got that energy, and he speaks on behalf of our ancestors. You can feel it!”
BRONXINIAN believes it is important to tell one’s story. She does not have a problem writing her own. With all she is doing for her artistic community, while giving back to the Bronx, there’s no doubt she will touch someone’s heart who might have gone through similar struggles, or achievements. Being able to write your own story and choosing not to is a lost opportunity for someone to relate, and in turn, heal.
“People play a lot of games… Too many gimmicks out here. Be true to yourself. Don’t let an image consume you.”
You can find the DAZED article Bronxinian was featured in by clicking this link: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28591/1/brujas-skate-witches
Photo credibility goes to Sunny Vazquez (sunnyvazquez.com)
Ebony Anderson-Brown, Editor in Chief & Publisher