Olmeca

The son of two beautiful and hard-working parents, Olmeca is a hip-hop artist / activist / educator from Los Angeles, California. He has toured the U.S., Latin American and Europe and collaborated with notable names.  His bi-national experience has allowed him to perform with the likes of KRS-One, Jenni Rivera, Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Ana TIjoux.  He has written music for films, documentaries and t.v. series, such as “Sons of Anarchy.” 

Olmeca’s story is inspiring.  Poverty filled his life. His family moved from place to place in order to find means of survival. This made them part of the “cheap urban labor market” that gave Olmeca an insight to realities too often hidden from mainstream narratives.  Olmeca’s family settled in Rosemead, CA, a gang training ground in Los Angeles County. By 19, Olmeca was on his own. His family pursued employment elsewhere.  Without a home, he was forced to live out of his car. This ultimately fueled his motivation to seek the root causes of the conditions he lived in.  He grew up in the U.S. and Mexico, a reality that brewed Olmeca’s blending of music genres and cultural sensitivity. He graduated from Cal State L.A. with a degree in Philosophy before leaving the U.S.

Music
In 1998, Olmeca joined L.A. based crew, Acid Reign becoming part of the infamous Project Blowed, a home to artists such as Freestyle Fellowship, Jurassic 5, Black Eyed Peas, Abstract Rude, Open Mike Eagle and many others.  This scene would introduce Olmeca to the likes of Living Legends, Rhymesayers Entertainment, Dilated Peoples and other well established indie hip hop artists. Olmeca performed with legendary MCs and took him to his first tour throughout the Midwest ending with a performance with Kool Keith.  Olmeca later became vocalist and songwriter for the L.A. Latin soul band Slowrider. The band accompanied Ozomatli on various tours, shared the stage with the late Joe Strummer and Maldita Vecindad.  He bridged these two worlds, quickly helping spawn a new music trend of bilingual and “culture based hip-hop.” This style would allow him to perform alongside Ana Tijoux in 2008 and subsequent years.  His first solo album, Semillas Rebeldes, (2006) was mainly written in the Chiapas Jungle. After a hiatus he released “Counter Culture” (2010) collaborating with producer DJ Pain (50 Cent, Schoolboy Q, Public Enemy), La Marisoul (Grammy winner, Santa Cecilia) amongst others.  The album received some international attention, granting Olmeca the opportunity to travel to Vancouver, Honduras, Mexico, and Ecuador.

In 2014 Olmeca released “Brown Is Beautiful.” Since it’s release, Olmeca toured Europe  (London, Madrid, Barcleona, Granada, Malaga) opening a new market for his blend of music and toured the U.S.

Other efforts
In May 2014, Olmeca was part of a national campaign that included Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Junot Diaz, Cornell West, and more, bringing attention to the issues in Zapatista communities

Olmeca joined the The Coalition of Immokalee Workers during their “fast for fair-food” campaign, fasting for 5 days.

Since 2008, Olmeca worked on developing strategies for immigrant rights organizations in Arizona.  He is now a strong advocate writing songs for the “Not One More Deportation” campaign, and working closely with various organization throughout the U.S. 

Olmeca experiences and efforts have allowed him to be a panelist, facilitator, and keynote speaker at universities, conferences, rallies, and community spaces across the U.S. His story and community efforts have earned him accolades from professors, community organizations, and social justice dignitaries like Dolores Huerta, Luis J. Rodriguez, Naomi Klein, Zack de la Rocha, and Emery Douglas.