Happy
Thanksgiving
•City of
Roses'
Celebrate with holiday recipes
on page 24
hsem r
Volume XXXX, Number 45
Hip Hop
Dreams
Female trio Rose Bent
will keep you movin’
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
Blooming in our own City of Roses backyard is
the lady hip-hop trio, Rose Bent, featuring musical
artists Kheoshi, a.k.a. Lady Trinity; Jacque; a.k.a.
J-Kronic; and Rose City Miss Chief.
Refusing to let bent-necked pasts hinder their
dreams, these strong-minded and educated la
dies have made it their mission to represent the
silenced voices of women in hip-hop.
The three Portland locals united last Febru
ary after discovering each other’s talents dur
ing various solo performances in venues
around town.
With shared musical influences like Tu
pac, Kaaye West, Foxy Brown, Nas, and
Mary J. Blige, Rose Bent offers an alter
native to the male-dominated industry,
with a w om an’s self respect being a
significant theme for their songs.
W ith their energizing beats, catchy
lyrics, and a party-thum ping stage pres
by
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
w w w .portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • November 24, 2010
ence, the fem ale rappers are celebrating their debut
self-titled album , “ Rose B ent.” An official release
party will take place on Friday, Dec. 3 at the
Backspace. Lucky listeners ju st scoped out the
g roup’s new jam s at the pre-listening party ear
lier this month at Ash Street Saloon.
“The album is very diverse...it has som ething
for everyone,” said Jacque, “ It’s fun and full
of energy, it'll get you m oving and even
hardcore underground hip-hop fans will en
joy dissecting some o f the m etaphors and
lyrical w ord play.”
G row ing up, the m em bers o f Rose
Bent w eathered their own troubles; los
ing loved ones to gang violence, teen
pregnancy, friends or fam ily going to
prison, and the list goes on. Yet like the
bent rose, each w om an made room to
flourish and on top of devoting countless
hours every week to m usical collabora
tion, rehearsals and perform ances.
Rose Bent now juggles a full-time work
schedule as community advocates, single
motherhood, and personal pursuits of higher
education.
continued
on page 7
Three Portland locals, Jacque,
a.k.a. J-Kronic (from left);
Kheoshi, a.k.a. Lady Trinity; and Rose
City Miss Chief, are on their way to
making a impact in Portland’s urban
music scene with their hip hop group
Rose Bent.
<
City Assembles Youth Division
Kicking off a new effort to positively
engage local youth in a new Youth
Services Division of the Portland
Police Bureau are Antoinette
Edwards, director of Public Safety
and Peacekeeping for Mayor Sam
Adams; Joe Marziello, Portland
executive director of the Boys and
Girls Club; Police Capt. Kevin
Modica and local Boys and Girls
Club Youth of the Year Joshua-
John Delorenzo.
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
photo by
North Precinct
Capt. Módica to
lead effort
Police C h ief M ichael Reese an
nounced the formation of the Youth
Services Division of the Portland Police
Bureau at a news conference on Mon
day at the Blazer Boys and Girls Club on
Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Bou-
continued
on page 6