Step up New York’s Immortal Technique. The heir to Dead Prez and Public Enemy’s revolutionary legacy, dude bust onto the scene with the Green Lantern-helmed ‘Bin Laden’ four years ago and hasn’t let up since. With the critically lauded The 3rd World mixtape just out, most artists would be touring TV stations. Immortal Technique, by contrast, is off to Afghanistan to build an orphanage.
“It’s a medical clinic and an orphanage for children that have been involved, and whose parents have been involved in the violence in Afghanistan,” says a weary sounding Tech down the phone from his native Harlem. “For those that have been orphaned by a conflict that’s lasted for… God knows how many years. I’m going out there. I’m obviously not gonna be able to administer the entire project, but I feel like it’s essential to be involved. The aspect of media coverage is essential. I joined with the human rights organisation Omeid International to facilitate this. I get lots of programmes shown to me. I could choose to do this, or choose to do that, and this particular time around I wanted to do this. The need came from the same place that all my music came from. It ain’t like I decided to reach into another part of myself, it’s just a natural progression. It’s a little bit of weight on the shoulders, but it’s something that I welcome because it’s something I know needs to be done.”
(via Zenarchery)