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