Rukahs’ take on Katrina looks prophetic now
By MK Stallings
For the St. Louis American
It was pitch black at 10 p.m. last Friday night as I turned onto Lucas and Hunt Road from Natural Bridge. With no electricity, spoiling food, gas prices at well over $3 and limited access to clean water, particularly when the boil order was in effect, I could not help but think about a lyric rapped by Rukahs, a St. Louis-based emcee, that critiqued the ambivalence some St. Louisans felt about their level of involvement in Katrina relief efforts.
“You don’t want to hear that, if you’re not in the storm. You’re like, ‘Whateva, Red Cross will raise money for ’em.’ But you ain’t raised a dime, and you ain’t shed tear. At any time, that could be you within a year.”
Steven Brownridge – also known as Rukahs, the Hostile Apostle – felt compelled to spit that lyric and write that song.
“It’s really a call to action,” Rukahs said, adding, “I’m an apostle. The acronym for the Apostlez is Addressing People or Subjects that Lacks Everyone’s Zealous. It was my duty. I had to do this to clear my conscience of the guilt of what was going on.”
As his pseudonym implies, Rukahs is a spiritual person who emcees by conviction, but the word “guilt” did not make sense, given that he never worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency or in President Bush’s cabinet.
“What made me feel guilty was that I was still [in St. Louis] cutting my grass and cooking my food,” he explained. “I wasn’t in no dire straights. I was complaining about the gas prices, and I had to check myself because I was thinking about what [the hurricane victims] were going through”
The “Katrina” track, produced by Future Mic and Se7en, features a steady percussive snare with light piano and a well-timed 808 kick drum. Future Mic also sings on the hook. Though the song has length, language and beats that make it radio-friendly, it could not find its way onto the air.
“I ain’t gonna mention his name, but I tried to get a hold of a DJ I knew personally [who works for] 100.3 the Beat. He emailed me back and we were supposed to meet, but it kept falling off,” he said.
Though the unnamed Beat DJ never fulfilled his commitment, a commitment made by another St. Louis artist eventually netted Rukahs “Best Video” award and a “Melvin Van Peebles Award” nomination from the San Francisco Black Film Festival in June of 2006 for his slept-on song, “Katrina.”
“The idea for the video was from my buddy Falaq, who I work with” he said.
Rukahs and Ronnell “Falaq” Bennett, a St. Louis-based independent filmmaker, work as massive control operators at UPN Channel 46, monitoring video feed from several television networks. In a room with 20 televisions screens that they monitor, Rukahs and Falaq often discussed social issues and art, which laid the groundwork for the “Katrina” video.
“[Rukahs] loves documentaries. He was taping this footage of everything that was happening [with the Hurricane Katrina aftermath]. He came in one weekend and said that the song had came to him,” Falaq said, “He was really moved by it.”
Falaq used Hurricane Katrina footage with location shots of the Mississippi riverfront and a recording studio to depict the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, the will of a long-suffering people and the artists inspired to contribute their voices.
“It was just pure love,” Rukahs said, “Pure love.”
Rukahs has not stepped back into the studio since recording “Katrina.” Yet his God-inspired lyric that challenges St. Louisans to be more responsive in crisis, has new found significance in the wake of last week’s storms.
“I’m down in the city where my grandmamma stay, and I don’t see no one coming through with no water when they know elderly people stay [there],” he said.
With all the lessons learned from the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, Rukahs feels that St. Louis, as a community, has yet to get past its ambivalence about getting involved.
“All I hear is ‘bring ’em to this place’ and ‘bring ’em to that place.’ I don’t see nobody going out and doing nothing unless they’re relatives.”
For more information about the “Katrina” music video, contact Rukahs at (314) 517-5584.
