
DJ Miss Ginger breaks out a rhyme to bring music to all.
Ginger Dunnill, aka DJ Miss Ginger, has a challenging path ahead of her, but as she prepares to fly off to Brazil to participate in the 2009 World Social Forum, her mission is crystal clear.
“The [World] Social Forum is basically a weeklong meeting of workshops, seminars and music acts that come together to try to raise the consciousness of the world,” Dunnill says.
Activists come to the World Social Forum, which is held this year in Brazil but has also been held in Kenya, India and Venezuela, to tackle issues ranging from the deforestation of the Amazon jungle to the lack of full legal rights for the indigenous people of French Guiana.
For some people, tackling these issues would seem daunting, but Dunnill knows how to make work fun. In conjunction with Priscilla Bertucci, and DJs Pablo77 and Clemente, Dunnill was a key player behind the highly successful Funk the System dance parties this summer.
“Funk the System actually started in Brazil in 2007,” she says. “We brought it to New Mexico this year and spent a lot of time and energy on it. It was the hardest event I’ve ever had to plan. But the main reason I DJ is because I love providing a space for people to just dance and enjoy themselves.”
Thankfully for the Santa Fe community, Dunnill is chugging along with idea after idea for ways to keep the dance crowd moving. The upcoming Dinner And A Rap event at Back Road Pizza is a fund-raiser to help take Funk The System back to Brazil.
“I have a lot of friends who are sick emcees and strange emcees, and I wanted them to come out of their closets—they’re kind of like closeted rap stars,” she says. “They’ve been doing it for awhile but don’t really perform in Santa Fe. This is a chance for them to showcase their projects.”
In addition to fresh performances by Dunnill, The Werewulf Micah, Lady Processor, Aztech Sol and Black Child Red, two brand-spanking-new hip-hop projects will officially debut.
“My friends from High Mayhem have this rap duo that they’re coming out with, Apis Tune and That Brother Trenell. It’s so sick,” she says.
Dunnill and The Humble art collective’s Cannupa and The Werewulf Micah form the second hip-hop group, Creature of Routine.
Most importantly, Dinner and a Rap Song is intended to generate a little income for Dunnill and the organizers of Funk the System so they can make it to the World Social Forum. The goal is to raise $2,000 to send seven people from Sao Paulo to Belem in northern Brazil.
In addition to the performance, Dunnill and crew have put together LPs and T-shirts to help with the fund-raising.
That Dunnill continually spreads love through music and dance is a breath of fresh air. Her approach expresses the symbiotic relationship between her turntables and the
audience.
“Music is my love. I can’t imagine living without it. Santa Fe’s dope in the sense that here you have a chance to get total community involvement,” she says.
Dinner and A Rap Song provides a suitable platform to draw people of all ages open to hearing a variety of music from hip-hop, funk and soul to world grooves, electronic beats and breaks. It’s also a catalyst for worldwide musical expansion. When the plane lands in Brazil, Dunnill will embark on another journey to share her deep appreciation for music and culture.
“I hope to learn a lot at the [World] Social Forum. My favorite thing is to exchange culture through music. I used to host open-mic emcee nights in Italy and learned that you can transcend any boundary through music,” she recalls. “So my number one thing is to gain as much knowledge as I can and bring it back to Santa Fe.”
5-10 pm Saturday, Dec. 13
$10
1807 Second St.
505-955-9055