Nazo Bravo Raises Cultural Awareness Through Film and Hip Hop
LA native Nazo Bravo is preparing a new mixtape and documentary called “Armenian American”. In 2014, Nazo visited Armenia for the first time, stating “I went out there to solidify my brand in my homeland, and got to work with rappers who rap in Armenian and Russian. It’s amazing how global Hip Hop is now. I also got to see the neighborhood where my family comes from, and that just blew my mind. I feel like this documentary is something any first or second generation American can relate to, no matter where you come from”.
Nazo is known for his song and music video HyePower (“Hye” translates to “Armenian”), influenced by Kendrick Lamar’s HiiiPower after the two had a meeting where Kendrick shared some great advice for Nazo as an artist. In the same way Kendrick touches on important African American figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Nazo raps about Armenian figures like Hrant Dink, a journalist who was assassinated in Turkey in 2007 for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. Recently, international law attorney (and George Clooney’s wife) Amal Clooney made headlines in an Armenian Genocide hearing before the European Court of Human Rights, accusing Turkey of double standards on freedom of speech while using Hrant Dink’s murder as a prime example.
Nazo will premiere the documentary as an episodic web-series on February 11th via his YouTube channel, and will release a song from each week’s episode via his Soundcloud. The series will conclude with a remake of HyePower titled “Power Of The Hye”, with the music video filmed entirely in Armenia. The soundtrack / mixtape will also feature Ras Kass and several Armenian artists both from the U.S. and overseas.
On the film side, Nazo is currently in production on the feature film Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love, a period drama set in 1915 based on stories from survivors of the genocide. Nazo plays the role of Grigor Orbelian, an Armenian intellectual called to Constantinople by Turkey during World War I on the eve of the Armenian Genocide. Historically, the rounding up and deportation of Armenian intellectuals (sometimes known as Red Sunday) marks the first phase of the genocide. The story then follows Grigor’s family as they face the treacherous death marches carried out by Turkish soldiers leading hundreds of thousands of defenseless Armenian women, children, and elderly to their deaths. The film is scheduled for release in theaters this April.
In regards to both projects, Nazo states, “It’s a crucial time for my people. April 24th marks the 100th year of denial of my people’s genocide, which Turkey still denies and America won’t officially recognize, so I’m doing what I can to help bring awareness to the issue.”
RIP The Jacka – An Open Letter
I met The Jacka through my guys Googie and Dre Line. Jacka heard me on another song I did for Goog and was like “who’s that?” That lead to our collab “2 Live Crew” and they invited me to shoot the video in Oakland. I got a chance to kick it with him and his crew, and I think if he never made it as a rapper he could’ve been a comedian. He had us cracking up all day. He was a good dude and I just noticed certain things from being around him. He took care of his people, and he gave me wisdom about the game. We were in the studio at the end of last year and someone asked him about the secret to his longevity, and he was open and helpful. He was real. He said what was on his mind and I think that’s one of the things people loved about him. He could go to a show and not say one word, the crowd would just be happy he was there and sing every word for him. He had love like that.
The last text I got from him was about doing more music together. I still have that on the wall in the studio – “Jacka collab”. When I got the call the night it happened, I couldn’t believe it. He got killed in the Bay, and he’s from the Bay, how fucked up is that? It’s easy to think sometimes because a person gets to a certain point in life, they’re past the danger of the streets. Unfortunately that’s not the case. It could all go away at any second, and sadly we’re reminded of that when things like this happen. We were reminded with 2Pac. We were reminded with Mac Dre. And now we are reminded with The Jacka.
After the wave on the news and social media hit, you really got to see the love he had from all over. Some people said some dumb shit about his death, some real disrespectful shit, which can really piss you off if you let it, because when you actually know the person it’s different. I was fucked up, and I’m still fucked up over it. The Bay lost a legend. Hip Hop lost a legend. And we will always remember him. Rest In Paradise Jacka.
– Nazo Bravo
Nazo Bravo Interview With My DJs Radio
2 Live Crew – The Jacka / Nazo Bravo / Cheats / Fly50
Check out Nazo Bravo’s new music video shot in Oakland, CA alongside The Jacka, Cheats, and Fly50. The song is produced by Atlanta based producer The Show (credits: Future, Migos) and the collaboration was put together by Googie for Megalodon Family Entertainment.