— ------------------------------------- — Portland Observer B 13 Ck H ¡StOry Month ___________ , February 23, 2011 Ar t s & , x X ENTERTAINMENT Hip Hop Group Keeps it Positive Embraces stage as alternative to the streets by C ari E. H achmann T he P ortland O bserver La Eam ilia, a local hip-hop group founded in 2003 by the C ordeta brothers, Jonathan “JC ” and Bo- M andela, are at w ork on their next street album , “the N orthw est K ing” , com piled o f lyrics inspired by e v ­ eryday life living in Portland; from a flam boyant party life o f love, d e ­ sig n er digs, expensive cars, and flashy jew elry to a darker, m ore som ­ ber reality o f gangs, poverty, p ro s­ titution and political injustice. “ W e like to say things people can relate to,” says B o-M andela, “The N orthw est King is about the n o rth ­ w est that people d o n ’t hear about. It’s very diverse, w ith songs about love, p arties, d e p re ssio n , and a w hole spectrum o f em o tio n s.” G row ing up in low -incom e neigh­ borhoods o f C om pton and Portland, the tw o brothers w itnessed their friends’ involvem ent w ith gangs and experienced the m any troubles o f street violence firsthand. So w hen K Prynce, Timmi Hendrixxx and Bo-Mandela o f La Familia, a local hip hop group. the rap-duo team ed up w ith A neal Jeannis, singer and m usic studio engineer, and Eloe G ail-W illiam s at a low -incom e sum m er cam p in high school, the y outh-em pow ered hip- hop group had plenty to rap about l,K P( «land Observer a d s (