Rap duo aims to challenge stereotypes

"Take a bottle of college life and a bottle of hip-hop, pour a drink, and that shot is what our music is," said Abe Alem, K-State alumnus in electrical engineering, who returned to Manhattan on Saturday night performing as one half of the rap and hip-hop duo, F-14.

The other half of F-14 is Wayne Valentine, graduate in audio engineering from the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, Ariz.

"The music itself is a representation of us," Valentine said. "But hip-hop has a negative connotation, we want to change those perceptions."

The duo, originally from Manhattan, met in first grade at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary. After college, they moved to Oklahoma for separate jobs, but through a series of fortunate events wound up together again and began making music.

"It's a daily thing for us," Valentine said. "Some people write in a diary, we write music."

All of F-14's original music is created by Valentine, who Alem assured doesn't use buttons to make the music. "He's a musician, it's all real," Alem said.

F-14 performed on Saturday night at Lucky's Live in Aggieville to a crowd of loyal fans as well as unsuspecting bar patrons.

"You see the real fans up front," said Steve Melton, steadfast fan and friend of F-14, who was an undergraduate student in electrical engineering with Alem. "But if you look in the back, you see people bobbing their heads. They're fans too, they just don't know it."

The music, according to Alem and Valentine, is about them and their lives. Every song reflects an aspect of their lives or a life experience, but that doesn't mean it is all drama and aggressive lyrics.

"We grew up in Kansas," said Alem. "We aren't gangsters. We make non-violent hip-hop. We're changing a stereotype. Although, I did get shot a few days ago. But it was just a flu shot. I had a Batman Band-Aid."

Their mission to change the labels associated with the hip-hop genre has garnered them respect from fellow musicians in the area, two of whom are rappers who perform locally as well as in surrounding areas like Kansas City.

Emmanuel Sowell and Mark Hanson, who go by the stage names of E-Man and Sabertooth, were both in the audience Saturday night. They said they make a point to attend F-14's shows whenever they perform in town.

"I love what they're doing," Sowell said. "Real hip-hop is artistic, not about violence or drug selling. What I love about hip-hop these days is that you can be yourself, you don't need a gimmick to do it well."

Alem, who said he studied electrical engineering in college specifically to learn how music worked, takes being himself on stage to the next level by adding a quasi-comedy show to F-14's set.

"Girls," he bellowed into the audience between songs, "get with a nerd. You get a boyfriend and free tech support. Two for one."

Saturday night also marked the filming of another music video for F-14. Local videographer James Rico has worked with the duo on three previous music videos and is now creating their fourth.

The show featured three of F-14's friends as guest performers, including the DJ, who kept up a lively atmosphere as Alem and Valentine mingled with the crowd while rapping. Their energy encouraged the patrons dancing by the stage to get involved with their song, "Fist Pump."

The two said they enjoy performing in Manhattan and hope to return for more shows soon.