With Donald Trump promising to “build a wall” on the Mexican border, rapper Andrew “Fig” Figueroa assembled a circle of OC Chicano emcees in response. The Republican presidential candidate has been throwing shade at Mexicans, be they immigrants, protesters or even a judge, for more than a year now. Far from rhymes appealing to Trump-like wealth and power, the Chicano hip-hop cypher surrounds the wannabe Bigot-in-Chief inviting him to catch a lyrical fade!
Fig's Mixed-Race Mixtape hip-hop theater project, which returned to his native Irvine earlier this year, presents the nine-minute rap attack dubbed “Donald Trump's Nightmare.” Joining in on the cypher are rappers from Anaheim's Weapons of Mass Creation and SanTana's own IllNes Infection from Salvajes. Fig met all the other OC players when attending the second annual Womyn in Hip-Hop Gathering last year at El Centro Cultural de Mexico in downtown SanTana and is now currently working on Close to Home, an EP in collaboration with Weapons of Mass Creation.
The cultural center played host with the paintings of El Sereno artist Jose Ramirez and “power to the people” protest signs serving as backdrop to the all powerful microphone. “As millennial artists, children of Mexican immigrants, and dope emcees, we want our voices to be heard,” Fig says of the cypher. “We can only imagine this is Donald Trump's ultimate nightmare.”
Most of the rappers in the cypher don't waste a breath mentioning the Donald by name, choosing instead to floss their flows in impressive displays. “We're not hear to educate people on why not to vote for Trump,” Fig says. “It's less about Trump and more about who he's pulling out of the word works.”
Weapons of Mass Creation DJ and producer Dr. Zuess lays down a fresh beat to keep the head nodding throughout the cypher. Fig presides as the master of ceremonies before turning the mic over. “I'm a savage, coming straight out of Aztlan!” IllNes kicks off with, setting the tone. “Everybody came with an original type of delivery,” IllNes tells the Weekly. “It seemed like an extra motivation to who we directed this cypher towards. We're showing our power and strength.” Weapons of Mass Creation's Moe Budda, Solitude, Joules and Naps all take their turns on the mic, speaking to issues affecting Latino communities.
Fig returns to drive the anti-Trump cypher home with a two-minute lyrical barrage. “The whole crew like “Fuck Donald Trump” on replay,” he ends with. “And now you know what the children of immigrant really up to and every single thing that we say!”
Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!