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Monday, October 21, 2013
Adisa Banjoko’s Hip Hop Chess Federation Releases Teaser Song for HHCF Street Games
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Adisa Banjoko’s Hip Hop Chess Federation has released a teaser song on the upcoming “HHCF Street Games” mixtape for the organization. The compilation will showcase a variety of hip-hop artists on a chess-themed CD designed to popularize chess and the themes of life strategies and non-violence. The organization started in 2007.
The title cut is “64 Square in the Cipher” by Sunspot Jonz, Zumbi and Rakaa Iriescience all of whom have participated in HHCF’s initiative of fusing hip-hop, chess and martial arts. This is a hard-hitting tune explaining deep themes of chess and how they relate to life itself. More coming… get ready!! (Update via chess site Chess Drum by Dr. Daaim Shabazz)
Hip-Hop Chess Fed Founder Adisa Bonkoko's Lecture on Chess and Art of Business
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here is a section of Adisa Banjoko, Founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation delivering a keynote address on Chess and the Art of Business to several hundered teenagers at San Jose City Hall. It was delivered at the San Jose Youth Commissions 6th Annual Citywide Youth Conference. The theme of the event was "Dream it, Live It".
Hip-Hop Chess Federation Announces 'Live The Game' Summer Camp in San Jose!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
HHCF Pushes To Improve Self Esteem & Academic Achievement With Summer Camps For Kids & Teens
San Jose, CA - The Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF), is happy to announce their Live The Game Summer Camp will start in San Jose June 17th at 3590 Cas Dr, San Jose, CA . The HHCF is the first nonprofit (501c3) to fuse music, chess and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and nonviolence. “This city has seen a huge spike in violence over the past two years and we are doing our best to deliver innovative solutions to the youth” stated HHCF Founder, Adisa Banjoko. To sign up go here now!
“Our Live The Game classes have been something I’ve been developing for a long time” says Banjoko. “The idea here is not to overwhelm kids with tons of new ideas or renegade philosophies. Rather, it is to help them use tools that are already present in their lives more effectively.” His themes on education innovation got HHCF an invitation to present this year at Harvard at University and the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, where Adisa and his team spoke to 1,000 kids in 48 hours (some them incarcerated).
Beyond chess for beginners and life strategies, there will be fitness events to keep kids stay mentally and physically balanced. Special guests from the chess, music and martial arts world will make appearances from time to time at the camps to speak directly to the youth in attendance.
June 14th Adisa Banjoko will be the keynote speaker at 6th Annual Citywide Youth Conference in San Jose at the City Hall Rotunda. His topic will be The Art of Chess and Entrepreneurship.
HHCF SUMMER CAMPS OFFER CLASSES IN: Chess for Beginners, Magazine Production Workshop, Recording Studio Production Program, Cheerleading Workshop, Dance (Hip-Hop and Pom cheer offered)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Watch a video merging chess and Jiu Jitsu, featuring Adisa Banjoko of the Hip Hop Chess Federation & DJ and director Mike Relm. Both Banjoko and Relm will participate in a panel discussion, "Live The Game" hosted by the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis on May 8th. The event will be held on the free day of the US Chess and US Women's Championships. LIVE THE GAME consists of a group of national experts who will discuss how chess and martial arts have been woven into the history of hip hop and how this powerful combination positively impacts our youth. Find more details and RSVP to Live The Game on the WCHOF website.
Hip-Hop Chess Federation's Adisa Banjoko to Present at Harvard University
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
On March 1, Hip-Hop Chess Foundation founder Adisa Banjoko will present at Boston, Massachusetts' Harvard University. The Bay area native will lead a 90-minute interactive workshop titled, “Living The Game: The Powerful Fusion of Hip-Hop & Chess.”
Banjoko said in a statement: "This presentation will explain in great detail the interwoven histories of Hip Hop, chess and martial arts. Further, it will show how the blending of art, logic and physical fitness guide young people to self-discovery, self-mastery and
nonviolence.”
Supporting the Ivy League event is Banjoko's friend and Wu-Tang Clan co-founder RZA, who provided the scholar with transportation to the event.
The chess and hip hop connection! Must-read interview
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We've found the hip-hop chess movement quite exciting. Here is another interview conducted by Anthony Wing Kosnerfor the Forbes magazine!
The QoC Interview: Adisa Banjoko, Founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation
This interview was conducted with Adisa Banjoko by email February 9-11, 2012. Adisa is the founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation which just celebrated its 5th anniversary of helping young people in the San Francisco Bay Area overcome difficulties through music, chess and martial arts. The HHCF hosts “celebrity chess benefits where underserved youth play chess for educational scholarships and engage cultural icons from various backgrounds.” Clearly not your average chess club.
Q: Most people are not aware of the connection between hip-hop and chess. What made you think to put the two together? A: The connection between hip-hop and chess is actually quite deep, but unknown. Most people don’t realize that rap music has celebrated the game of chess more than any other form of popular music. Rappers like T.I., Tupac, Public Enemy and members of the Wu-Tang Clan have played the game and championed the philosophies that come off the board. However, few of them are really seeking Grand Master status. The goal is more to stay mentally sharp, avoid threats, recover from loss, refine their focus etc. This is what The Hip-Hop Chess Federation teaches kids to do in real life.
In the early 1970′s, after Bobby Fischer conquered Boris Spassky and became a recluse, hip-hop emerged in its initial embryonic stage. Chess was quite mainstream in those days. In the late 1980′s we find rap groups like Public Enemy, X-Clan and EPMD mentioning chess. Most of the early references are speaking about chess in terms of social and political control. Political rap found itself isolated by the mid 1990′s, but after the release of Searching for Bobby Fischer and Fresh, chess lyrics began to resurface in rap. These lyrics were much more about survival on the streets—more personal—about emotional self-mastery, and never allowing yourself to be manipulated by others. There are countless examples from rappers like 50 Cent or Jay Z, but the Wu-Tang clan remained the most consistent in speaking on the benefits of chess. Nevertheless, no single rapper or rap group owns that lane. Hip-hop’s connection to chess is rap music’s dirty secret. These guys are incredibly smart.
Q: Haitian Voudoun and other syncretic religions of the African diaspora hid tribal deities behind a veneer of Christian saints and rituals. Do you think that the intelligence in hip-hop is purposely masked by layers of bravado and bad language? Are the chess references in hip-hop a clue pointing to the presence of that intelligence below the surface?
A: Indeed it is. Hip-hop is intelligence camouflaged in violence and chaotic melodies. For instance in a song by AZ with Rakim called “The Format” it says, “Relax through stress, do math and set mad connects/Cash the check, to get assets we blast techs [9 mm pistols]/Dealing with the mental aspects in chess.”
The complete song has a lot of undeniably sexist, materialistic and violent elements. I am not here to defend the indefensible lyrics of any artist, but deep intelligence is there. But it is not there to convince the mainstream of its intelligence. It is there to be a survival guide to those living on the streets
Also the other idea that we focus on in the HHCF is that many youth are violent by design. It’s not a conspiracy theory. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to how poverty was the root of a lot of violence. I see a lot of random crime to be the desperate attempts of misguided minds to win by force what they have not been able to achieve with their minds. The HHCF seeks to get them to trust in the power of their minds so that force is never needed wherever you walk. So much rap hits the streets where the kids walk that the mainstream never hears. That is another part of why the fusion of hip-hop and chess seems so alien. Some of it is what academics call “code switching.” So the language, the look, everything is meant to push “outsiders” away and share hidden messages to their intended like-minded demographic.
Q: Hip hop is a style of music that celebrates conflict—the rap battles, the emphasis on racial and economic tensions, even the aggressiveness towards women. Do you think is it uniquely suited to chess, more so then classical or other forms of popular music? A: Hip-hop for many is a battle, but I don’t believe that conflict, tension or sexism is unique to hip-hop. If you take hip-hop as an art form beyond rap (meaning DJ’ing, breakdancing and graffiti art) it is all about the battle for the supreme original style and approach.
Conflict in the octagon, on the chessboard and on the mic purge us of our illusions about who we are. It prevents us from lying to ourselves about our intent or true capabilities. This is why so many businessmen and women readThe Book of 5 Rings, The 48 Laws of Power or the Hagakure. We admire Sun Tzu and Clausewitz in retrospect, but the truth is, they were real killers. They murdered more people than any rapper. If your mind is purified through battle you can share the wisdom that converges in the words of 50 Cent, Napoelon Bonaparte and chess master/martial artist Josh Waitzkin.
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Adisa Banjoko’s Hip Hop Chess Federation has released a teaser song on the upcoming “HHCF Street Games” mixtape for the organization. The compilation will showcase a variety of hip-hop artists on a chess-themed CD designed to popularize chess and the themes of life strategies and non-violence. The organization started in 2007. 
