“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.
“Skydreamer” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals featuring Helen Chanthongthip, Up Before the Sunrise, released by CHiTT Productions (2008)
Skydreamer is the opening track off Up Before the Sunrise, my first full-length album. It was a dream. I had been writing rhymes for 10 years, constantly envisioning what my first album might look like. What would it sound like? What would I say if I had one chance, one album, to say something to the world?
I started writing material for Up Before the Sunrise during the summer of 2006. I had been through a lot during the years prior. In 2005 I left the life I was living. It was a life that wasn’t mine. It was beating me down, slowly murdering me, and it probably would have killed me, mentally and spiritually, if not physically. I faced my demons, handled my business, then tested out my wings.
This is one of two tracks SOULAJU released with DJ Ceiba for “My America”, a benefit compilation for Papers the movie, released July 4th, 2009. The other SOULAJU/CEIBA collaboration is “Believe It”.
Sending love out to Brotha Sean aka DJ Ceiba, who recently became a father. Ceiba is a Harlem-based drummer, DJ, and producer. He puts together jarring, head-nodding beats, fusing Reggae, Latin, and Hip-Hop influences. Ceiba flirts with some samples but relies mostly on his own musicianship.
This was the first track I recorded with DJ Icewater in October 2008. I was a few months into my Up Before the Sunrise tour. I decided to head to the Bay Area and do some volunteer work for Youth Speaks during their Living Word Festival.
I called my friend Jeff Chang and told him that I’d be in town. Could he hook me up with any producers?
Recorded in Harlem, NY, February 2009. Beat by DJ Ceiba, NYC drummer and producer. Released on My America, benefit compilation for Papers the Movie—a film about undocumented youth. Release Date July 4, 2009.
I walk on through the winter, where all the trees are dying. Behind me, a road of tar and red clay. I reach across the new ocean, borderless in brothels of freedom. A long night awaits us…” – e.g. bailey
(above: image from BP spill in the gulf coast, April 2010)
On July 4th, 2009 CHiTT Productions released My America—a benefit CD for Papers the movie. Molina spent months compiling music for the project, which features artists from across the United States, including Denver, Albuquerque, Oakland, Harlem, and Minneapolis. The CD is raising awareness about immigration and racial justice issues, and it is steadily bringing in funding to support the Papers movement. Special shoutout to the Tru Ruts collective out of MN for contributing almost one half the music on the album. WireTap Magazine recently wrote about My America. The story ran Thanksgiving Day.
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.
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. 
