Thank you Porsche!!!

http://schememag.com/daily-news/hip-hops-sweet-tooth/


Hip Hop’s Sweet Tooth!
Daily News > Features > – Apr 19, 2009 – by Porschia Baker

Musically edible with a heighten perspective, Marcus Gray created Hip Hop Chocolate in 2005 after tinkering with America’s temporary symbolism for terrorism, a box cutter, and making it pliable. With a belief in questioning and that evolution in the truthful sense is unending; he has created another Hip Hop element that has the same instant effect as musical vibrations. Constantly inspired by culture and a student of art, theology and culture, this is his gift; one aligned with positive association, solidarity and collaboration. Hip Hop Chocolate is a fascinating example of two household names, hip hop as well as chocolate, being deconstructed and assembled with a new mind offering hope, future dialogue and autonomy. If that isn’t enough, try licking his Shell Toes!
SCHEME: What’s the idea behind molding chocolate with one of our most influential cultures to create Hip Hop Chocolate?
HHC: The Idea was inspired by symbol systems used specifically in Catholic communion. I’m not Catholic but it occurred to me that by eating a symbol you can create a psychic link with the meaning behind the symbol.

SCHEME: You’ve mentioned once before that it was the creative and abusive force of the media that also sparked the idea for this. How has Hip Hop Chocolate become your response to what the media forces feeds us?
HHC: Well, after 9-11 all I saw on the news was talk about terrorist and terrorism. Which I felt even then couldn’t be defined. It reminded me of Hip Hop. They were creating a culture of fear based on a concept that had no true definition; especially in the context of National security. Who’s a terrorist? What do they look like? Which is what I feel has become of Hip Hop. It’s a culture that can’t be defined yet continues to grow. Although some who contribute to the culture get to make rules about what it could be, I believe all boundaries are open to be debated. I saw that the same could potentially happen to the idea of a terrorist! Which means anybody could be labeled a terrorist and dragged away without reason! Also anyone could challenge the definition if inspired. As an artist my mind immediately conjured images that could be used to illustrate this relationship between the idea of defining terrorism and creating culture. Then the thought of consuming fear came to mind. What if I made a symbol of terrorism that was edible? It would be difficult to be afraid of if you could eat it. So I made a chocolate box cutter. Box cutters which were eligibly used to hijack the planes would be the terrorists. I made a prototype, showed it to a couple of people and the response was great. It all translated. So I started to think about where else this could be applied, Hip Hop was the next obvious move. A communion for Hip Hop was born.
SCHEME: What does Hip Hop Chocolate simultaneously create and destroy?
HHC: Hip Hop simultaneously creates culture as it destroys the idea of what a coherent culture is. As a culture based on sampling other cultures, it is the ultimate anti culture…culture; with influences ranging from martial arts to calligraphy, physics and politics. I feel that Hip Hop personified, is the ultimate artist, an artist with the natural born talent of collaborating with various inspirations without being held by definitions or dogma.


SCHEME: How does the digestion of it correlate with the way we intake hip hop?
HHC: When you bite into a hip hop chocolate it is your opportunity to have a self induced spiritual experience! To meditate in that moment on what hip hop is to you personally and how you are contributing to the maturity of the culture. I feel that Hip Hop isn’t being fully taken in. The culture has been stagnating because of its romance with capitalism. It’s become a job as opposed to a medium. I say we each take time to think about what culture does for our lives. Take a bite and fully appreciate culture. Hip Hop being one of the many that influence our decisions every day.
SCHEME: Ideally you could have made another tee shirt line, bounced the idea off some kicks or even a mixtape, but you definitely aren’t a person who blurs within the lines. Why is that you chose chocolate?
HHC: I do plan to eventually diversify once I find the visionary angel eager to invest in the evolution of hip hop culture. But ultimately, I personally don’t see a more effective way to communicate the idea of meditating on the power of a culture, its purpose and what influence it has on individuals than by offering it as chocolate in a meaningful symbol form. There are way too many aimless clothing lines out there! I’m concentrating on building a brand that will carry this meditation into any other venture we go into.
SCHEME: In numerous instances you’ve been able to get back stage and connect with artists. You’ve given your chocolate to Erykah Badu, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Quest Love, Saul Williams, just to name a few, and even made one to commemorate President Obama. Who are some artists you’d like to collaborate with or produce a specific chocolate line for?
HHC: I’ve been very blessed to be able to speak with many of the cultures’ most inspiring artists. The response has been overwhelmingly positive! They all loved the concept even if they couldn’t completely grasp it. The idea of a sacred food for Hip Hop has a noble tone to it and it’s truly my intention. As far as collaboration…I’d love to collaborate with Barack Obama himself! To help nurture legislation that would subsidize the education of underprivileged inner city youths interested in creating and defining culture for themselves. Instead of being constantly forced into consuming an aging pop paradigm validated by the media. I want Hip Hop Chocolates to be a reference for the gourmet manifestation of hip hop, a maturing hip hop that truly cares about how it’s influence races the planet. In addition I would invite any and all artists to contact me about collaborating on a piece or contributing music to our compilation in the works. I want the chocolates to belong to everyone. The idea is to continue to let hip hop expand without boundaries.
SCHEME: Just for kicks, which Hip Hop artists embody the essence of Hip Hop Chocolate?
HHC: I really think Saul Williams is a future citizen of a maturing hip hop culture. His work helps to redefine Hip Hops parameters. Also Mear One, His art combines the samurai sensibility of a very intuitive graffiti artist and the skill and vision of a world class fine artist. His art fuses supernatural, political and mystical realms with profound imagery that you can meditate on forever! He is also creating a fresh mythology inspired by the spirit of Hip hop. Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, Zack de la Rocha, Blackbird, Tyler HVW8, Prince, Thavius Beck, Kofie the draftsmen, Daedelus, Codak, MF DOOM, Janelle Monae…I could go on and on. I think real artists in the culture know it’s about evolving to stay refreshed.

SCHEME: Your chocolate is a one man business. Are you currently working on expanding it?
HHC: Everyday I’m working on expanding. I just started a line of organic soaps in the shape of a turntable. Unfortunately even a cure for cancer will go unnoticed without marketing and venture capital. Do you know any Millionaires? Any chocolate loving millionaires with a passion for art and culture?

SCHEME: Anything else you’d like to put out in the universe?
HHC: Hip Hop has its prophets. But I’ve come to learn that a prophets job is to bring a new dogma to replace the old…knowing that one day their dogma will also be soon dismantled and replaced. Let us not be afraid to experiment with our idea of what a culture is!
Check out more Hip Hop Chocolate!

http://blog.shopflick.com/2009/01/23/hip-hop-choco...

Shopflicks blog Interview!!

http://www.browncrownmedia.com/UrbAw_Hip_Hop_Chocolates.php


When you take something simple, and available to everyone in their local convenience store and turn it into a much sought after product you may very well be talking about Hip Hop Chocolate. Created by Marcus Gray. We asked him about his inspiration and how he took confectionary to a whole new level. Here is the interview with the self proclaimed Chocolatier and Activist giving the motivation behind the Hip Hop Chocolate Movement.

BCM : You were a part of the Nappy Roots album launch with Def Jam that Brown Crown Media threw in April 08, your product was recieved well in the VIP bags and people loved the concept .. I think the word used was 'out of the box' so tell me what was the inspiration behind developing a brand linking Hip Hop music and chocolate?

HHC : First I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my story with your people. Your such a sweet heart I'll always have chocolates for you! Out the Box is a term I've forced to follow me my whole life. I'm grateful they appreciated them.

This is actually the fruit of a meditation I've had for more than 10 years. I've always been a student of Art, theology and mythology. In school and outside school. I'm obsessed with the nature of consciousness and reality. My fascination with religion lead me to contemplate actually becoming a minister of sorts. But after studying Religion I realized that at some point you have to move beyond everything you think is true to find out whats really going on..you know? There are so many ways to describe what you experience as truth. Whether its falling in love or having a spiritual epiphany. Some say God others say Chaos. (Im finding that The really advanced mystics say nothing at all...Shh) So I wrote this paper as a meditation called The Physics of Hip Hop which was a 6 page prose that analyzed and compared Hip Hop to other religions. It reads like a long ass Poem...pretty abstract when I think about it now. But doing research and writing that got me hooked on this idea that Hip Hop is a religion that links us with the our essence. Which is what religions should do. But like other religions it has been corrupted by greed and the lack for a sense of real purpose. So...i started to think...if we are Hip Hop as KRS would say, does that mean that I lack a sense of purpose? How has Hip Hop been lead away from this idea of being a vehicle for empowerment and refinement? Then I started this quest to define purpose and culture.(I'm a true Nerd!) This lead to authors, artists, madmen, and genius' who aimed way beyond culture with their art. As a consequence brought back symbols, poems, images of what they saw on the other side. In my case the symbol is what you eat to get there. Original Hip Hop Chocolate is Hip Hops Sacred food. It's meant to be used as a tool for meditating on the potential and purpose of Hip Hop. Thats actually the short version. LOL

BCM : Chocolate is a given, everyone loves it but whats your personal view on the state of hip hop at the moment?

HHC : Good or bad can't tell the whole truth for me. I feel the state of hip hop reflects our own spiritual state/development. As a whole, We haven't taken the time to imagine more for the culture so others outside of the culture have imagined a purpose for it. Mainly making money and maintaining a low level of consciousness. Not to mention having fun expressing yourself which is there whether the state of hip hop is destructive or constructive. But I see an untapped side to hip hop that holds wisdom in the elements. Potential that doesn't include Turning mainstream culture into a distraction factory.

Original and subversive versus can be oppressed by corporate visionaries creating a pop validated hip hop culture with the mentality of a child addicted to scarcity. We deserve more than diamonds we should be reaching for realestate, community credit unions were we can decide on whats currency and whats not, Hip Hop can own the world with a little compassion and solidarity. Hip Hop can be seen as a community, a tribe, a collective of personal cultures combined under one spirit. Hip Hop can be an opportunity to initiate yourself into maturity with your art and passion. As you share with the world and get the feedback as to how your effecting society you can be exposed to hidden parts of yourself, which is what maturing is all about. Things to nurture as your true self or style begins to emerge. When you really, really think about what Hip Hop could be used for...what a "culture" is..(think petry dish)..you have to take deep breaths. Cultures create perspective and what grows within them is up to us. Forgot Nuclear bombs or Fear. Thats real power! When those who participate in the culture don't take full control of it then the potential is harvested by someone else's vision of what it should be. Just like a human being. If you don't chose your life it will be chosen for you. I love Hip Hop I think it's actually where it needs to be..today...but tomorrow is coming quick!

BCM : What type of venues have you been involved in this year? Any personal highlights? Any crazy moments?

HHC : I've had a great time at amazing events all over Los angeles! Any events involved with the Artdontsleep, Quality collective or Hit & Run are always extra incredible. Simply because they are the homies and we've been blessed enough to be able to watch each other grow into our roles in the community. A Highlight was meeting up with Hit and Run at Magic in Vegas. It was my first time to Magic (tradeshow). It blew my mind! I think it was the first time i realized that when someone says Urban what they mean is, for Hip Hop but not necessarily by Hip Hop. It was really a Hip Hop life style show! Without Hip Hops influence there would've been no Magic! And with the exception of the chocolates, Hit and Run was the only real dope concept there! Learning about how hip hop effects commerce and culture world wide was a highlight for me.

Also, the amazing sculptor Thomas the Messenger and I we're handed an opportunity to create an 8 inch communion waffer/coin for an event in celebration of the symbolic "resurrection" of Martin Luther King on the 40th anniversary of his assassination. It was commissioned by an incredible group of people at the Shade Tree foundation. I can't tell you what it was like to have the chocolate consumed with the intention of honoring and meditating on the message of Dr.King. Thats the same intention I make each hip hop chocolate with..to honor and meditate on the message from Hip Hop!

Actually I'd like to be getting into alot more venues and events. The problem is I'm not to good at networking and chasing down gigs. I recently got a P.R. person to volunteer some of her time. But it's difficult when your not paying much. So if anyone wants me at their event, all they have to do is contact me at oghiphopchocol8@yahoo.com.

BCM : So tell me a little about the man behind the Chocolate?

HHC : Tall, Dark and Always Hungry. LOL.. There's really nothing I can say about myself that my words wont tell you. Thats Hip Hop to me.

BCM : And without giving away trade secrets how do you put together your sweet concoctions? What flavor ranges do you guys have?

HHC : At the moment We are concentrating on the aesthetic quality of each piece. We sculpt and make our own molds. I'm blessed to be working with one of the most talented sculptors in the world. Messenger has become the official sculptor of Original Hip Hop Chocolates. Simply put, he can render a piece in hours which would take me weeks to sculpt!

We have been experimenting with flavors but unless they are special ordered I stick to Milk, semi sweet, white or Dark chocolate (although any color is available..thats right any color!). Last year I began making these candied ginger dark chocolate Mix tapes and giving them to friends and they were a big Hit! Im inspired by the potential of working with chocolate and learning more about the craft.

BCM : Whats been your biggest acheivement and what goal do you hope to acheive with the company in the next 12 months?

HHC : My biggest achievement has been putting together a proper LLC. Business has quickly become one of my strong areas. I never even considered a life of sales before. Now I'm learning to present, promote and inspire clients to align with the concept. That has been my biggest achievement. Simply making it all happen! Also using the chocolates as an excuse to collaborate with some of my favorite artists, activists and foundations has been amazing. Matter a fact I'll soon be releasing the first Original Hip Hop Chocolate Mix tape. Featuring L.A's finest progressive Hip Hop. I plan to make a series of compilations. Truth is the chocolate is nothing without the community.

My Goal is to Have a franchise-able Hip Hop chocolate shop in L.A. By Next summer. A shop that could function as a gallery, candy shop/factory, and Urban retail, skateboard, vinyl, shoe, clothing shop. But until I raise the funds it remains in my head...and on paper.

BCM : Have you thought about taking the brand internationally? the Europeans have a history of chocolate making like Belgium and the music culture is strong .. is that a potential goal for the long term?

HHC : Everyday I do the chocolates I'm taking a step towards an international Market. Americans Haven't, until recently been exposed to the wide world of gourmet chocolate and therefore don't consume as much. On the other hand, Europe alone has a %50 daily consumption rate! That means one in two people eat chocolate daily! Ill say that in addition to learning about the full on chocolate only cafe's that I visited on a trip to madrid are signs that europe is the place for chocolate. Let me say this, the friend I was staying with had a refrigerator dedicated souly to chocolate from around the world! I have to live and build the business in europe eventually. Plus Hip Hop is a phenomenon in europe, Asia and africa. Each adding their own authentic flavor to the culture. And it's still on a level of purity that the states have left behind long ago. I hear there are more bboys & girls, graff heads, Dj's and MC's in germany than there ever was or will be in New York City! Thats crazy to me because that tells me that Germany will soon have a generation of Hip Hop Heads leading the country! I look forward to that world. Thats Hip Hop's destiny and mine as well. But my dream is to have my own cocoa farms in south america...Thats where I want to die.

BCM : Where do you get the ideas for your creations? We have mics, casettes, boom boxes, sneakers. Any specific commissions you want to speak on and any chance of developing a banging Brown Crown Media chocolate for the launch of our new website?

HHC : Brown Crown for life!! Of course we can do a chocolate! Get me your logo..consider it done. As you know we've done a chocolate for Elke that came out amazing! I'm also the first person in the world to make a life sized chocolate Nike Blazer! That was fun! I want to eventually do an art show that takes us through the history of Hip Hop in chocolate! The ideas come everyday. From the culture, collaborations, discussions Hip Hop Chocolate grows with Hip Hop.

BCM : What plans do you have for this year .. where can we find more about Hip Hop Chocolates?

HHC : Well I plan get launch my own web site soon. But for now you can reach me at Myspace. com/hiphopchocolate. I also plan to find an investor who can share with me this vision of Hip Hop as a sacred space. Someone who wants to be vary rich and contribute in endless ways to the culture and community through Hip Hop chocolates. If you know any millionaires who want to be Billionaires shot them my info ;)

by: Benjamin Hunter

Wide-Eyed: Could you fill us in with a bit of history, a back drop to give us the essence of Hip Hop Chocolates.

Marcus Gray: First, my intention with chocolate was to create a sacred food for the culture. I'm a student, a long time student of art and theology, and culture. A student of the idea of culture. I am really inspired by the idea that culture is evolving and can evolve, and can remain undefined or can be completely defined,

Read More...

I'm a nerd {laughs}. After September 11th, I was really disturbed by the idea that the media had the power to define terrorism, had the power to point their finger and say "This person is a terrorist" or "This is what a terrorist is." I saw it as a culture of them (the media) using their power to lynch people spiritually. I wanted to take a symbol of terrorism and make it edible. So what I did was, I heard that they (the terrorists) used box cutters to highjack planes, and I don't believe any of that shit anymore, there are conspiracies to decide, so I made a chocolate box cutter. IT was a hit in the underground, I showed it to a friend of mine who owned the Anti-Market in Echo Park and he put it in his store and the first one he sold was to a comedian that used it in his play about September 11th. He actually ate the chocolate and it was a great beginning because that is exactly what I had wanted it to exist for, I wanted it to be consumed. After that I started thinking about other symbols that could be used as a metaphor and hip hop was the first thing. Obviously chocolate and hip hop are related somehow and I saw how this could be used, just having a symbol, and an aspect of the culture and having an opportunity to put that inside your body can give that person a deliberate spiritual experience. You can choose to have a relationship with the culture almost instantly by eating a symbol. At least that is how I was thinking about it. It is kind of psychedelic.

WE: It's ritualistic.

MG: Yeah. Having a Native American background, and being interested in the culture or just studying religion and the idea of the Catholic communion. Just communion period, infusing a symbol with your intention and then eating it. So this was my gift to the culture, and I hope to at least start a dialog in the culture about how we are affecting hip hop. You are not going to give a tainted piece of chocolate to your little boy or little girl, you (hip hop artists) should really think about how you are personally effecting the culture and then love it and then pass it on.

WE: Can we be friends? You are spot on man.

MG: I think this is how we should be creating art.

WE: You grew up in Colorado. What was the first medium that you got your hands on? Can you recall when you began creating art or some of the things that were influencing you growing up?

MG: I can't remember the beginning. I was always interested in creating and destroying shit, like most kids growing up especially in hip hop. So I gravitated towards skateboarding and trying to kill myself on a skateboard. I think that culture (skateboarding) is so popular and prevalent with youth, because they are initiating themselves into adulthood in some way, so that was me. I was actually one of five black kids in high school, so I grew up listening to Fugazi, DRI, and Day Glow Abortion {laughs}. I think I heard hip hop for the first time when I was in high school, I heard Low End Theory and Tribe Called Quest when I was like a freshman. Before that it was Anthrax and jazz. My dad listened to jazz, Keith Jarrett and my mom was into funk. I had a unique background, my mom was actually in a biker gang for most of my life. She was in a biker gang that came from St. Louis and was running from the FBI, because they thought she was Angela Davis {laughs}. I want to write a story about it.

WE: If you could do an abridged narrative for Wide-Eyed, I'd publish it. That is very interesting.

MG: It's really bizarre to me that they thought it was true. They (FBI) thought my mom was Angela Davis {laughs}. She had a big red afro, running with sixteen dude bikers, and they followed her to Colorado and because of that we really couldn't stay in one place. So it was me and my half sister on the back of a motorcycle sleeping under pool tables for most of young childhood. I think that I missed my first year of grade school because of that. I was able to make it up. She got married and turned into a Christian housewife. I guess that kind of accounts for who I am today. The extremes have lead me always to try to create some kind of harmony, since I was young I have always been interested in the nature of reality {laughs}. Plain and simple, I have always been interested in what the hell is going on. So I was really drawn to religion and mythology, magic and occult studies. So first year I went to the Colorado Art Institute and got my associates degree there.

WE: In sculpture?

MG: No, I was in the Film and Video program, I wanted to be a director and writing was my first love. I was writing screenplays and short stories and then, I don't know, something clicked and I just wanted to run away to India and become a Sadu and smoke hash and grow my hair. So instead I had an opportunity to study theology in Boston and I went out there when I was 21, I was there six years. Man, I couldn't make it through that either, because after studying to much religion and belief systems you see that we can create our own belief systems. Anton Wilson, who is a writer, kind of in the vein of Timothy Leary and Terence McKenna, he calls belief systems BS. A lot of intellectuals believe that culture is the problem, culture is what keeps us away from each other but we have to go through culture to create a new paradigm which I believe we are in the middle of right now. I consciously and unconsciously want to embody that in the way I carry myself and the way that I dress. I don't like the idea that someone could point at me and be like "this is where he is from and this is who he is," because I don't like to do that to other people. There is no reason to assume anything. So yeah after studying religion, I had a few epiphanies to say the least, I narrowly escaped the mental hospital and then I came to LA to work on a film that a friend of mine was doing. I have been here ever since, I've been doing the chocolates for two years now. I have had to put aside the art part and really pick up the business side, I still have a long way to go, learning about the FDA and trademarks, so this is a novelty if anybody asks, you're not yet supposed to eat it.

WE: So you are in the works for getting your patents and trademarks?

MG: Yeah and it's a lot of work. You have to be on the phone with your lawyer, and you're like, I don't want to spend more money, but when you have to, you have to. So I have been working on the business side more and collaborating with different artists, which has been my new epiphany, any artist I meet within the culture, I want to collaborate with them. Most artists are used to working independently whether it is music or visual art, especially nowadays there is not as much currency going around, few people get those million dollar music contracts anymore, there is not much room for Andy Worhols and Banksys these days, or overnight sensations in the art community. So I feel like as a community, through association, collaboration and solidarity, its the only way that anybody can be seen. To have a voice and be associated with others, like doing this interview. The little that I read about you guys and just knowing that you were interested in Saul (Williams), I was like, I have to work with you guys, that is what you are associated with, it's like the chocolates. You are attached to that intention, and as a mystic that's what creates the path for abundance, because I don't want to be associated with anything negative. So I have been doing collaborations. This (holding a sculpture of graffiti spray can) is a collaboration that I have done with this guy Thomas the Messenger, he is an amazing sculptor. Man he has a story of his own you should speak with him. He actually went to Pratt Institute in New York. So prolific, yet lives on the floor of this lady's kitchen floor in South Central right now, and he is getting evicted today so he is moving in with me. He made my large format hip hop chocolates sign. He used to go back and forth from Long Beach on the train and give art lessons to the kids. He would set up and give them crayons and paper and put on a class. There are so many artists like that, who are struggling ........see more in the hard Copy!!

I did this shoe Specifically for the Shoe Shine Event in Denver.





























Yes it is 100% Chocolate
No..it wont melt (consequently it's no longer edible due to a glaze treatment.)

For Sale...Serious enquires contact me here

Why is chocolate better than sex?

1. You can GET chocolate.

2. Chocolate satisfies even when it has gone soft.

3. You can safely have chocolate while you are driving.

4. You can make chocolate last as long as you want it to.

5. You can have chocolate even in front of your mother.

6. If you bite the nuts too hard the chocolate won't mind.

7. Two people of the same sex can have chocolate without being called nasty names.

8. The word "commitment" doesn't scare off chocolate.

9. You can have chocolate on your workbench/desk during working hours without upsetting your co-workers.

10. You can ask a stranger for chocolate without getting your face slapped.

11. With chocolate there's no need to fake it.

12. Chocolate doesn't make you pregnant.

13. You can have chocolate at any time of the month.

14. Good chocolate is easy to find.

15. You can have as many kinds of chocolate as you can handle.

16. You are never too young or too old for chocolate.

17. When you have chocolate it does not keep your neighbors awake.

18. With chocolate size doesn't matter."

Thanks Blood, Man & Land

WESTWORDS Best of Denver.

Best Chocolate With a Message

Original Hip Hop Chocolates

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Hops Communion.


Chocolate Mission Statement.

Original Hip Hop Chocolate is an L.L.C whose product consists of a series of chocolate sculptures made in the shape of various symbols associated with the hip hop culture. The intention is to create a communion that will help inspire a meditation within the Hip Hop Culture. Used to change the psychology and perspective of the consumer. Hip Hop chocolate will provide visual and edible cues as points of meditation. Each piece, representing a different aspect of the Hip Hop culture. Which can be effortlessly associated with the power and influence of that specific facet of the culture. When consumed the symbol is meant to inspire a reflection on how the consumer is contributing to that element on a personal level.
Our goal is to inspire a catalyst for discussion on the evolution of art and culture in the world. How it can be focused and used to edify and refine our community. Through the fabrication of symbols as points of reverence for the hip hop culture. We will be accepted into the Hip Hop Culture as Hip Hops official communion. Making it a tool for meditation as well as a treat for hip hop chocolate connoisseurs literally all over the planet.

For those who don't know, The Use of food as a tool in the creation of symbol systems is not new. Many indigenous people recognized how the Sun played an incredible role in the cultivation of the environment. Farmers were magicians taught by nature to raise life from the earth consistently. By observing and playing by it's rules , we hoped to understand and coexist with Nature. For the initiated, The sun was a metaphor for the source of life itself. For the Uninitiated, The Sun was the source of that food which brought life. Everything that these people consumed from this nature was a gift from the source. From the sun. They lived within this relationship. So when they ate they knew they were eating fruit from the sun, the source. Symbols are everywhere. But in most cases symbols are made by finding some sort of value in a gesture. The catholic communion is an example of how We can create a symbol. According the Bible, Jesus referred to the bread as his flesh. Century's later the communion stands as a ritualized recreation of that night and what it stood for. By recreating the event through symbols or myth you provide an opportunity for meditation.

Original Hip hop Chocol8 was inspired by the idea of creating a meditation for the hip hop culture. While the uninitiated Dj nibbles nonchalantly on the delectable texture of confectionery culture, thinking only of the surge of brilliance shifting his soul, the initiated knows that this is a time of action. The initiated knows that Hip Hop is not a toy. Hip Hop is a malnourished beast built by turbulence to illuminate existence through celebration. The initiated Dj sees this chocol8 as an opportunity to have a deliberate spiritual experience. She may think about what it actually means to "move the crowd", or "Give the drummer some". How She is contributing personally the culture and why. Original Hip Hop Chocol8 is our generations opportunity to meditate on it's power. Power to Dance, Power to speak, Power to peak and get a glimpse at freedom. Our power to grow from the pain as Hip Hop did once at birth. To march it's way into the worlds imagination with a flesh fired warrior spirit. But now we stumble. So I give you Hip Hop chocol8's, The Authentic Gesture. Because everything in hip hop is about achieving that "authentic gesture".

 The possibilities of chocolate shaped into sacred symbols...What a great idea... wonder if they'll EAT IT.  Put it to work...







FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. - As a chocolatier to the rich and famous, Martucci Angiano has posed with many celebrities.
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But on Thursday she held in her hand a figure that dazzles her more than any Hollywood star: a 2-inch-tall column of chocolate drippings that workers at her gourmet chocolate company believe bears a striking resemblance to the Virgin Mary.

Since the discovery at Bodega Chocolates, Angiano's employees have spent much of their time hovering over the tiny figure, praying and placing rose petals and candles around it.

"I was raised to believe in the Virgin Mary, but this still gives me the chills," Angiano said as she balanced the figure in her hand. "Everyone should see this."

Kitchen worker Cruz Jacinto was the first to spot the lump of melted chocolate when she began her shift Monday cleaning up drippings that had accumulated under a large vat of dark chocolate.

Chocolate drippings usually harden in thin, flat strips on wax paper, but Jacinto said she froze when she noticed the unusual shape of this cast-off: It looked just like the Virgin Mary on the prayer card she always carries in her right pocket.

"When I come in, the first thing I do is look at the clock, but this time I didn't look at the clock. My eyes went directly to the chocolate," Jacinto said. "I thought, 'Am I the only one who can see this? I picked it up and I felt emotion just come over me.

"For me, it was a sign," she said.

The chocolate, on display for most of the week in the front of the company gift shop, now rests in a plastic case in a back room. It is brought out for curious visitors.

The confection has a wide base and tapers gently toward a rounded top, giving the appearance of a female figure with her head tilted slightly to the right. The dark brown melting chocolate hardened into subtle layers that resemble the folds of a gown and a flowing veil.

A tiny white circle, about the size of a pencil eraser, sits in the upper center of the creation. Cruz said the white speck is the head of the Baby Jesus as he is held in Mary's folded arms.

For Jacinto, the discovery came just in time.

Raising a son on her own, she has struggled with marital problems for months and said she was about to lose her faith. "I have big problems right now, personally, and lately I've been saying that God doesn't exist," she said, pulling the dog-eared prayer card out of her pocket. "This has given me renewed faith."

Angiano, who co-owns the 10-year-old company with her sister, has rubbed shoulders with plenty of stars in her job.

The gourmet boutique runs booths at all the big awards shows, including the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the
Oscars, the Country Music Awards and the Latin
Grammys. Pictures of Angiano with top celebrities and her chocolates line the office walls.

But this week's brush with the image of a 2,000-year-old idol has left even Angiano star-struck.

"That's our Oscar right there," she said