A self-identified Chicano born and raised on the Northside of Houston, Marco Cervantes now lives in San Antonio where he performs regularly as emcee, Mexican Stepgrandfather. His aesthetic combines politically conscious lyrics with hip-hop beats sampled from Tejano and Mexican albums passed down by family members, creating a distinctly Tejano hip-hop sound that has garnered a broad fan base throughout Texas and beyond.
When asked about his hip-hop influences, Cervantes states, “Musically, hip-hop producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier Dr. Dre and Prince Paul are some of my biggest influences. Lyrically, I would say Chuck D, Brother J from X Clan, Scarface and 2 Pac come to mind.” Equally influential to Cervantes’s musical style are the sounds provided by his Tejano cultural background. “When I’m putting together songs, I make an effort to blend hip-hop with sounds I heard growing up in the house, at quinceañeras, weddings, barbecues and throughout the neighborhood,” says Cervantes.
Having Chicano parents who were also born and raised in Texas, Cervantes’s identity is one marked by generations of Texas colonialism and its accompanying oppression of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. The effects of this colonial legacy are manifested in Cervantes’s lyrics. “Lyrically, I write about who I am, so my background plays a big role in influencing my art. Language appropriation, cultural amnesia, and internalized racism are all issues that have affected me and surface in my lyrics,” he states.
These issues are presented throughout his newest album, Estere-ere-o, released May 15, 2009 and produced under Dále Shine Records. For example, “In Session” tackles the issue of the violence imposed on Chicano students by the Texas educational system. Over a cumbia sample, Cervantes describes Texas history from the Chicano perspective stating:
...I knew about the Mayflower and pilgrims,
the Texas Revolution and it made us feel real dumb.
‘Cause every year when we studied the Alamo
we were taught we were savages.
That’s why I bust this flow
Whereas lyrics such as these speak largely to a “pocho” U.S. Chicano experience, Cervantes’s performances have also been embraced by crowds in Spain and Mexico where he has received “much love.”
Adding to the cultural and political richness of his music is Cervantes’s other role as an academician. After a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Cervantes attended the University of Houston-Downtown where he pursued is love of reading and writing by majoring in English. Knowing he wanted to teach English, he continued his education at the University of Texas at San Antonio where here completed his Master’s degree and then began pursuing a Ph.D. in English specializing in Latina/o Literature.
It was then that Cervantes realized that the music he’d been producing could be read in a similar manner as the literature he was trained to critique, leading him in innovative directions in his dissertation research. “The result of my readings of hip-hop and Tejano culture led me to further explore Afro-Chicano connections through bloodlines and cultural expression,” he states. The significance of his cross-cultural analysis and its contribution to academic scholarship has recently earned Cervantes a prestigious Dissertation Fellowship by the Ford Foundation of the National Academies. He further states that whereas he used to try to keep his artistic and academic lives separate he now realizes their connections. “Now my academic life and music life are in constant dialogue.”
Having already accepted a tenure-track academic position which he will assume next year after completing his dissertation, Cervantes acts as an integral bridge between the Western institution of academia and the working class Chicano community of which he is a part. Identifying the need for more non-stereotypical Chicana/o visibility in popular culture, Cervantes states, “When I'm on stage as an intellectual musical artist, I feel I am working to break longstanding stereotypes by rapping about political issues that need to be addressed rather than copying, as many Chicanos do, what's hot on the radio.” Encouraging the next generation of young musicians to follow suit, Cervantes offers the following advice: “Keep at it and don't sell out. Work first on building a strong following in your community instead of trying to be the next national sensation and make sure you make music that you love.”
So, what’s the “Mex Step” for Cervantes? “I want to continue to travel to other countries and present who I am and where I come from to a global audience. Also, one of my big aims is to help encourage young Latina/os to express who they are and let them know that their voice matters. We've been silent for too long.”
See and hear more of Mexican Stepgrandfather at his MySpace page. Clickiar Here
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