I co-produced “My America” – a benefit cd for Papers the Movie.  I put this project together with CHiTT Productions.  It was released on July 4th, 2009.  The collaborative project features artists from across the country, including Oakland, Denver, Albuquerque, Laramie, the Twin Cities, and Harlem.  The spoken word and music tracks address issues of racial identity, immigration, citizenship, and the question of what it means to be an “American”. 

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“Without Papers” is a follow-up to “Sin Papeles” , which was released on Shine Flow EP with DJ Icewater, June 2009.  “Without Papers” is a lighter and more hopeful version of the same concept, made specifically for “Papers” the movie.

Papers is now available for the first time on DVD for personal use. 

As the music supervisor for the film, I needed a theme song.  I was given the green light to create some original music to pitch.  DJ Icewater worked on the instrumentation with his man G Koop. 

The film Papers explores the challenges that undocumented youth face in pursuing higher education.  But the film takes on  broader issues with respect to American society, American history, and what it means to live in “America”.   As artists, we had three  and a half minutes to sum up musically not just the themes, but also the energy transmitted on screen.

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“Sin Papeles” by Molina Soleil & Aju w/ DJ Icewater, Shine Flow EP (2009)

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People love “Sin Papeles”.  Bangin’ beat, pure fire, bilingual, timely.  This is the story of la vida sin papeles.

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“La Historia del Mexicano” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals, CHiTT Productions 2008

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I wrote the first version of La Historia del Mexicano back in 2002 during my days as an undergraduate student activist.  I began performing it as a spoken word piece, then a lyrical acapella piece, then rapping it over other artists’ beats.  Mannequin Rituals put a sound to it in 2008.

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Music by Mannequin Rituals

Molina Soleil & Aju are proud to have contributed to the making of Papers—a film by and about undocumented youth.  Papers is now screening nationally!  For more on Papers, including information on how to bring Papers to your community, visit http://www.papersthemovie.com.