thedrifter
07-06-06, 09:48 AM
Marines' rap tells struggle for survival
July 06,2006
by chris mazzolini
daily news staff
Sgt. Jason Delgado takes out bad guys with his sniper rifle. His alter-ego, Merc, slays people with his rhymes.
"I got my mind made up, I ain't dying tonight," Merc raps to a bouncing beat at New River Air Station's enlisted club. The audience is sparse but enthused. Some record the performance on camcorders; others dance at their chairs and shout out their praise for Merc's flow.
Sgt. DeShaunte Walker, aka "N.O. Vata," deploys his rapid-fire delivery to convey seemingly opposite desires: his yearnings for home while deployed in Iraq and the feelings of loneliness when left behind. He wears a faux-cammie costume with his stage name stitched on the chest. He struts about the dance floor under neon lights.
The two Marine rappers got a chance to spit their hearts out at the enlisted club during a concert event Thursday, an attempt by air station officials to revive interest in the club. Merc and N.O. Vata were just grateful to have the chance to perform and to share the stories and feelings they express through their music.
While hip-hop music often concerns the hard knocks of urban survival and the pleasures associated with an overabundance of jewelry, cash and women, many service members are using it as a creative outlet to explain life and death in a war zone.
The two Marines aren't alone. A nonprofit group called Operation AC Inc., released an album earlier this year called "Voices from the Front Lines," featuring Army rappers explaining their experiences in Iraq through song.
Delgado, a 25-year-old scout sniper from the Bronx who has served two tours in Iraq, said hip-hop has always been a part of his life, but he started getting serious about it when the Iraq war began in 2003.
"I got really emotional over there," he said. "Some people find religion, some people find who they are. Especially when you see some 18-year-old kid coming out of high school who doesn't know life and then he's gone. It's sad, but it kind of inspires you, too."
During his second deployment, he spent about $3,000 purchasing recording equipment for his return home. Now he works with local rappers and producers Chris "Many Stylez" Stevens and June "Big June" Felton, often writing songs late into the night.
Walker, a 28-year old Cherry Point Marine from Chicago, has been rapping and writing poetry since he was 5 or 6. It's a positive release for negative energy, he said.
While serving in Iraq - he returned in February - Walker said rap and poetry were an important outlet for him.
"I experienced a lot of things over there," he said.
Before going to Iraq, Walker had to fight another battle. A gunshot wound he said he received at a Jacksonville club in 2001 prevented him from deploying with his unit after 9/11. So he penned the track, "To My People Gone," an attempt at describing the loneliness of being left stateside while his unit deployed into harm's way.
"I didn't get a chance to deploy with them," he said. "It's about how I wished they were home."
Both rappers took to the stage with the appropriate bravado of any stage performer.
"After tonight, you'll be like I didn't even know Jacksonville had it like that," Merc says before launching into his first song. He sways to the beat, and his lyrics are often too fast to follow, but some snippets come through clearly:
"We lost a lot of good Marines we'll never forget."
July 06,2006
by chris mazzolini
daily news staff
Sgt. Jason Delgado takes out bad guys with his sniper rifle. His alter-ego, Merc, slays people with his rhymes.
"I got my mind made up, I ain't dying tonight," Merc raps to a bouncing beat at New River Air Station's enlisted club. The audience is sparse but enthused. Some record the performance on camcorders; others dance at their chairs and shout out their praise for Merc's flow.
Sgt. DeShaunte Walker, aka "N.O. Vata," deploys his rapid-fire delivery to convey seemingly opposite desires: his yearnings for home while deployed in Iraq and the feelings of loneliness when left behind. He wears a faux-cammie costume with his stage name stitched on the chest. He struts about the dance floor under neon lights.
The two Marine rappers got a chance to spit their hearts out at the enlisted club during a concert event Thursday, an attempt by air station officials to revive interest in the club. Merc and N.O. Vata were just grateful to have the chance to perform and to share the stories and feelings they express through their music.
While hip-hop music often concerns the hard knocks of urban survival and the pleasures associated with an overabundance of jewelry, cash and women, many service members are using it as a creative outlet to explain life and death in a war zone.
The two Marines aren't alone. A nonprofit group called Operation AC Inc., released an album earlier this year called "Voices from the Front Lines," featuring Army rappers explaining their experiences in Iraq through song.
Delgado, a 25-year-old scout sniper from the Bronx who has served two tours in Iraq, said hip-hop has always been a part of his life, but he started getting serious about it when the Iraq war began in 2003.
"I got really emotional over there," he said. "Some people find religion, some people find who they are. Especially when you see some 18-year-old kid coming out of high school who doesn't know life and then he's gone. It's sad, but it kind of inspires you, too."
During his second deployment, he spent about $3,000 purchasing recording equipment for his return home. Now he works with local rappers and producers Chris "Many Stylez" Stevens and June "Big June" Felton, often writing songs late into the night.
Walker, a 28-year old Cherry Point Marine from Chicago, has been rapping and writing poetry since he was 5 or 6. It's a positive release for negative energy, he said.
While serving in Iraq - he returned in February - Walker said rap and poetry were an important outlet for him.
"I experienced a lot of things over there," he said.
Before going to Iraq, Walker had to fight another battle. A gunshot wound he said he received at a Jacksonville club in 2001 prevented him from deploying with his unit after 9/11. So he penned the track, "To My People Gone," an attempt at describing the loneliness of being left stateside while his unit deployed into harm's way.
"I didn't get a chance to deploy with them," he said. "It's about how I wished they were home."
Both rappers took to the stage with the appropriate bravado of any stage performer.
"After tonight, you'll be like I didn't even know Jacksonville had it like that," Merc says before launching into his first song. He sways to the beat, and his lyrics are often too fast to follow, but some snippets come through clearly:
"We lost a lot of good Marines we'll never forget."