Not4Prophet
Encyclopedia
Prophet (aka Not4Prophet, aka Prophet) is the emcee for the hip hop
group X-Vandals, and the former lead singer of the punk rock
Latin fusion band Ricanstruction
, as well as a graffiti
writer and radical
political activist. Though not as well known in mainstream and pop music circles, he is considered by many to be an underground icon and anti-corporate hero (both on and off stage) for his staunchly independent music and anti-system politics.
" birth name, Alano Indio Baez, was born 23 July in Ponce
, Puerto Rico
and raised, mostly, in Harlem
, New York
. He was given the name Not4Prophet when he was 10 years old by his older brother, who would take him along to watch for police while the older sibling wrote graffiti. His brothers graffiti crew began calling Alano "Not for Profit", since his brother was not paying him to do security. When he began writing graffiti himself, he tagged up "N4P", and sometimes "Profit", which eventually became Not4Prophet (and sometimes Prophet). His parents were early political influences on him, as they were Puerto Rican "Independentistas" (those who advocate Puerto Rican independence from the U.S.). He began reading and studying the works, lives and actions of such political activists as Malcolm X
, Pedro Albizu Campos
, The Black Panthers, and the Macheteros. In his early teens he was homeless after his father went to prison and his mother could no longer care for him economically, and later served in the U.S. military. Upon his release, (Not4)Prophet found himself back on the same streets that he had struggled in all his life.
, in the military, as well as the colonial status of his homeland, Puerto Rico. The band was well received, but due to a lack of commitment from some members, (Not4)Prophet soon began plans and actions to form an all-Latino or (preferably) all-Puerto Rican band that shared the same views and experiences as he did. He met up with two Puerto Rican brothers who played drums and bass guitar (Joseph and Arturo Rodriguez, both of Harlem, NY) and a guitarist (Eddie Alsina, also of Harlem, NY). The chemistry was instant and they named themselves "Ricanstruction" from "Puerto(Rican)" and "con(struction)" and/or "de(struction)".
group Public Enemy, as well as one of their producers, and they formed the radical Puerto Rican Hip Hop group that they called X-Vandals. In December of that same year they self-released their first full length CD, The War of Art, and began opening shows for Public Enemy. Not4Prophet has characterized X-Vandals as the current sonic assault wing of the Ricanstruction Network.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
group X-Vandals, and the former lead singer of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
Latin fusion band Ricanstruction
Ricanstruction
Ricanstruction is a New York City based Puerto Rican punk/hip hop/salsa/jazz/reggae fusion musical group and artist collective. The band consists of lead vocalist Not4Prophet , bassist Arturo "R2O" Rodriguez, drummer Joseph "SickFoot" Rodriguez from Harlem, and guitarist Eddie "Alsiva" Alsina...
, as well as a graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
writer and radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
political activist. Though not as well known in mainstream and pop music circles, he is considered by many to be an underground icon and anti-corporate hero (both on and off stage) for his staunchly independent music and anti-system politics.
Early life
(Not4)Prophet (N4P), formerly known by his "colonialColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
" birth name, Alano Indio Baez, was born 23 July in Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and raised, mostly, in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was given the name Not4Prophet when he was 10 years old by his older brother, who would take him along to watch for police while the older sibling wrote graffiti. His brothers graffiti crew began calling Alano "Not for Profit", since his brother was not paying him to do security. When he began writing graffiti himself, he tagged up "N4P", and sometimes "Profit", which eventually became Not4Prophet (and sometimes Prophet). His parents were early political influences on him, as they were Puerto Rican "Independentistas" (those who advocate Puerto Rican independence from the U.S.). He began reading and studying the works, lives and actions of such political activists as Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, Pedro Albizu Campos
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
, The Black Panthers, and the Macheteros. In his early teens he was homeless after his father went to prison and his mother could no longer care for him economically, and later served in the U.S. military. Upon his release, (Not4)Prophet found himself back on the same streets that he had struggled in all his life.
Noise Culture to Ricanstruction
In the mid 1990s, fresh from military service, (Not4)Prophet formed a band called Noise Culture as a means of voicing his discontent with the state of the world and as a way to discuss his experiences growing up on the streets of HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, in the military, as well as the colonial status of his homeland, Puerto Rico. The band was well received, but due to a lack of commitment from some members, (Not4)Prophet soon began plans and actions to form an all-Latino or (preferably) all-Puerto Rican band that shared the same views and experiences as he did. He met up with two Puerto Rican brothers who played drums and bass guitar (Joseph and Arturo Rodriguez, both of Harlem, NY) and a guitarist (Eddie Alsina, also of Harlem, NY). The chemistry was instant and they named themselves "Ricanstruction" from "Puerto(Rican)" and "con(struction)" and/or "de(struction)".
Ricanstruction Netwerk
By the beginning of the new century, the band known as Ricanstruction morphed into what Not4Prophet called an "arts and agitation collective", consisting of musicians, painters, film makers, writers and poets, within and outside New York City, who used their political art, abilities and street knowledge to confront the established order and engage in the "politics of struggle." Ricanstruction Netwerk organizes and supports causes ranging from Puerto Rican and Black liberation and the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners (as well as New African, Native American and Anarchists political prisoners), to squatters rights and the struggle against homelessness. Not4Prophet, who has called himself an anarcho-independentista, or someone who supports Puerto Rican liberation from an anarchist perspective, also works closely with the movement known as APOC, anti-authoritarian/autonomous People of Color.X-Vandals
In 2007, (Not4)Prophet met DJ Johnny Juice (Johnny Rosado), a fellow Puerto Rican from the Bronx, who was in-studio DJ for political Hip HopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
group Public Enemy, as well as one of their producers, and they formed the radical Puerto Rican Hip Hop group that they called X-Vandals. In December of that same year they self-released their first full length CD, The War of Art, and began opening shows for Public Enemy. Not4Prophet has characterized X-Vandals as the current sonic assault wing of the Ricanstruction Network.
Film
Lead singer (Not4)Prophet recently starred in his first acting role in the underground film, "Machetero".Trivia
- (Not4)Prophet (Alano Baez) is related to cuatroCuatro (instrument)The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
player and Salsa musicSalsa musicSalsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
legend Yomo ToroYomo ToroVictor Guillermo Toro is a guitarist and one of Puerto Rico's most famous cuatro players...
.
Albums
- Liberation Day (1998) - Ricanstruction
- Abu Jamal (1999) - Ricanstruction
- UnAmerican (2001) - Ricanstruction
- Anarcho Freequency (2003) - Renegades of Punk
- Love+Revolution (2004) - Ricanstruction
- The War of Art (2007) - X-Vandals