Wow. I think after 20 days, I’m recovered. What a night!
Seriously, we (RareForm) do this every year because of the outpouring of love and support folks have for Dilla’s legacy. Its really amazing. We had no clue that when we did the first one at Galapagos Arts Space, that we’d be going strong four years later and beyond!
We raised $4,400 this year! That’s a thousand dollars more than we raised last year! The J Dilla Foundation is incredibly grateful and they are already putting that money to good use and have already located music programs that can benefit from the money!
While DJs Parler, Low Key, and myself held it down in the lounge, DJ Brainchild was absolutely killing it on the main stage with some live blends with some Ruff Draft acapellas he created. He did one with “Nothing Like This” which was really dope.
There was just a ton of great energy in the room when it came time to introduce ?uestlove and Dilla’s mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey (!!!) to the crowd. ?uestlove literally stayed up all night to prep his set and performed in his pjs! The Roots recreated 70 something Dilla beats for the occassion, and we got to hear quite a few woven into ?uest’s set. It was truly a fitting tribute to a great friend of his and I’m glad he was willing to share it with the rest of us.
We are really forever indebted to ?uestlove for bringing Donuts are Forever to a whole other level.
Y’all really don’t want to hear any more of my take on it when you can see and hear a bit of what went down, do you? Of course not.
You can see some photos as well as video of Ma Dukes greeting the crowd on our Donuts Are Forever website.
And since I’ve been away so long, I’d like to do some penance by sharing with you some of the “sandwiches” of Dilla beats that The Roots recorded for ?uestlove’s set. You can download them here.
I’ll always have a Valentine as long as I have music. Come through to Fat Baby on Sunday. DJs Chela, Stimulus, Parler, and myself will be spreading the love in a friendly battle of the sexes.
So Wednesday was my designated “CMJ Day” where I decided to take in a couple of the shows the festival had to offer. Here’s a bit of a rundown of what I saw and heard.
DROM-Brooklyn Bodega Showcase
I started my night here with the homie Dee Phunk from Trees for Breakfast. One thing as a club/show patron and a DJ that I can’t stand are venues with sub-par sound. Its definitely not cool when its a bar or lounge with DJ setups, but its really unbearable when you have a stage and call yourself a performance venue! For that, Drom gets 2 thumbs down. In addition, they charge $7 for Budweiser. WTF.
Brooklyn Bodega puts on several shows a year including the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festivals, which is arguably one of the best NYC summer events every year. They also do an annual showcase in conjunction with CMJ. It is an opportunity for us to get familiar with some dope up and coming artists as well as see more established crews. This year’s lineup included singers Kimberly Nichole and Jesse Boykins III, The Chosen (who are signed to the Bodega’s Savannah Boogie Label), Diamond District, Tanya Morgan, and Pacific Divison aka Pac Div.
I honestly can’t say anyone had a particularly good or bad performance due to the sound, but every artist who performed is definitely quality. So instead of telling you what I thought about each, I’ll just give you some info on the performers, link up some music, and let you be the judge.
Kimberly Nichole, who I hadn’t heard of before the show, has a really great voice. She just dropped her new album Yellow Brick Journey which you can purchase on her site. She also has a series of videos of her performances as well as some songs streaming as well.
Jesse Boykins III was on next. He too has an album out called The Beauty Created that’s on iTunes right now. He has been performing in NYC and appearing on project with artists such as Theophilus London and Melo-X. He’s got a great sound that’s in the vein of other great contemporary soul singers such as Dwele, with solid production that only enhances the overall experience he aims to create. He also hasn’t boxed himself in as just a crooner-he delves into some upbeat grooves as much as he does sexy slow jams. I hear his next project will have a lot of production by Machinedrum which I am super excited about ( I’ll touch on him another day, another blog entry because I.Love.Machinedrum.)
Diamond District has released one of the best hip hop albums this year. In the Ruff is just straight dope-classic production (by MC/Producer Oddisee) that isn’t trite and no tricks. MCs X.O. and Y.U. round out the trio. They released a clean version for free download that had the internets going nuts. Do the Google (c) G.W. Bush to see if you can find a link since it is no longer available on their site. The dirty version is on sale on iTunes and the vinyl LP just dropped so get thee to your local record shop! You can also download a new track from them here.
Tanya Morgan also came out with one of the best albums this year, Brooklynati. I am biased when it comes to Tanya Morgan and I am unapolegtically so. I’ve been a fan of Von Pea since The Waa’s (ha!) and heard a few tracks from Ilyas and Donwill when they were Illwill that I dug as well. 3 MCs with varied styles and different backgrounds forming a great group. I highly recommend you buy Brooklynati off iTunes.
Pac Div ended the night, though I left before their performance ended since I thought I was running late. Another hip-hop trio! They are from SoCal and have found fans in folks like Pharrell Williams and ?uestlove. The recently released a new mixtape Church League Champions and have a full length album coming out soon. Check their website for updates!
Crash Mansion-Plug Research Showcase
With VJ Deluge of Punchdouble , MC Melodee , and DJ INT (also known as La Melodia ) in tow, we trekked to the next CMJ showcase presented by Plug Research. I have to say that La Melodia is the shit. MC Melodee is one of the top MCs in the Netherlands and “Time” is a track I love vibing out to. Here’s the video.
If you’re in NYC, you have one more chance to catch them live this weekend at Plan B .
So, on to the Plug Research show! Plug Research, who recently released the Shafiq Husayn album I spoke about not too long ago, is building up a pretty good roster of acts. They recently signed Om’Mas Keith (another third of Sa-Ra Creative Partners) as well as Bilal and I look forward to hearing their projects that should be coming out next year. The showcase featured Blu and Exile, Shafiq Husayn, and Bilal, with special DJ sets by Large Professor, Jrocc of the Beatjunkies, DJ Spinna, and hosted by Pharaoh Monche and was held at Crash Mansion.
The venue was a step up from Drom, but there were some sound issues which caused the show to run extremely late. Doors opened an hour later than advertised.
Blu and Exile were up first. Exile is one of my favorite producers out right now. The first track of his I ever heard was “Time Has Come” was an early staple when I first started to spin. In 2007, Exile partnered up with Cali MC Blu for the album Above the Heavens which was a favorite of many a hip hop fan. Blu also did another project with producer Mainframe in 2008 called Johnson and Jonson which you can cop on iTunes. Blu and Exile are working on a new album together which I would expect to be coming out next year. They did a quick set of mostly new tracks with a couple from Above the Heavens and they closed out with Exile just doing some nasty live beats on stage with a turntable and his MPC. On a side note, Blu released a very low-rent mixtape earlier this year (circa Valentines’s Day) called Her Favorite Colo(u)r which I really enjoyed. You can download it here.
Then Large Professor came on stage and DJed a quick hip hop set of straight headnodders-both old and new (so new they had DJ Clue tags on the tracks! yikes!) and kept shouting about how he just wanted to hear some hip hop which I’m always down for. What totally grabbed me about his set is he didn’t DJ with headphones. That’s 20+ years of experience right there (and a great trust in Serato).
Next up, Shafiq Husayn. Apparently there were some more sound issues right when he was about to start his set so there were further delays. He started in with “Nirvana” but his back-up singers could barely be heard. This continued throughout his set. He said this was the first time he performed the album and you could tell. I really think he should have selected the songs that had other vocalists rather than rely on the tracks where his vocals were more prominent since he didn’t always sing on the album. The sound at Crash Mansion wasn’t helping the situation either. I would say the highlight of his set for me (apart from him closing out with Sa-Ra’s “Glorious”) was Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, who was part of Shafiq’s live band. He is an accomplished musician/composer/arranger who did something pretty damn amazing last year: He orchestrated select Dilla tracks and released them with the title a Suite for Ma Dukes. He also conducted a live performance of these orchestrations and I really regret not being able to travel out to California to attend. I was really hoping they’d bring this to NYC!
The album was released on Mochilla (same folks who brought you KeepinTime and BrasilinTime) so I’m sure a DVD is forthcoming. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson was absolutely beautiful on the violin during Shafiq’s set. I really just zoned out and listened to him for most of the performance.
By the time Shafiq ended his set it was 1am and a sista had to go to work in the morning so unfortunately, I missed Bilal’s performance.
Hopefully my rundown of a just a very small sliver of CMJ happenings in the city makes up for me not posting for a few days. I highly encourage anyone in the NYC area to try and catch the tail end of the festival. There are a lot of great acts performing and many will be dominating your radio airwaves eventually so check them out while they still have drive and ambition to make “good” music!
Alright! So in the interest in trying to keep things interesting and music related while putting you all onto other things, I’m going to try something new. Every week or so (while supplies last), I’m going to introduce you to one of the super-talented people I’ve been blessed to call friends. Maybe we’ll talk music, maybe we’ll talk art or politics, or maybe we won’t talk at all and I’ll just tell you about them. First up, my pal Dee Phunk.
(I swear we did not intend to coordinate that night. This has happened at least twice before in recent memory. This is what happens when you are friends with someone for 10 years. Good grief! Big ups to Tone for the shot. He’s an amazing photographer.)
If you are ever out and about at a dope party in NY, chances are Dee is either there, helped promote via Rare Form Promotions, or made the flyer or all three. He’s a design geek, music nerd and all around man about town. He’s a great freelance designer and he also runs a great site called Trees for Breakfast. If you see him, say hello! He’s friendly. Buy him a Blue Moon Ale while you’re at it.
So Derreck and I share music. Mostly, I leech off him. (That’s what friends are foooooor!) So he put me on to this group, Quadron, a Danish group with soul and electronic leanings (side note: what’s up with overseas lately? they are killing it with the new music!). So being the ever opinionated lady I am, I struck up a bit of a convo about their album
me: Hi
Dee: Hello
me: I listened to that Quadron
Dee: Like it?
me: Not really but I want to give it a few more listens. I like Jeans but that song is silly.
Dee: OK
me: I can’t figure out why I dont like it so I need to give it some more plays.
Dee: They’re in that same vein as Little Dragon. Dont you like them?
me: Well I didn’t think LD’s first album was so great. I like Machine Dreams a lot. I don’t really see that much of a similarity between the two even if I just compare their first album to Quadron. Other than that theyre both Swedish [Note: they are Danish. I was wrong] and both have music that is soul and electronic, I don’t think they really sound the same. Little Dragon is a little more bass heavy, Even on the first album. This Quadron is a little more light I guess. I can’t think of a better way of describing it.
Dee: The “soul and electronic thing” is what i like. Thats the meat and potatoes of it
me: Little Dragon executes it better so that it is a little more familiar. Quadron’s sound is more unique. What song is your fave?
Dee: Simili Life and The Day
I’m not 100% sure if Quadron’s album is available for purchase on iTunes but you can check our their Myspace to hear their songs. I have to say the verdict is still out with me as far as whether or not I really like them. I’ll be giving them a listen hard this weekend.
Speaking of weekend…adios! I’m heading out of town for the weekend so no more posts until Monday. Here are a couple of new songs to tide you over.
N.E.R.D. feat Santigold-Soldier
Ok. If this was 2 separate songs-one N.E.R.D, one Santi, they’d be decent. Together, not so much. I do, however, appreciate Pharrell delving into punk waters with that flow.
Theophilus London-Enjoy the Sun
Someone actually told me they were surprised I like Theophilus. I don’t love everything he does but with Machinedrum production, he almost can do no wrong. Machinedrum is the shit.
One thing I love about the internet age and advancement of digital media is how areas that were once restricted to “professionals” with access to very expensive equipment are now more accessible. A lot of great videos being made on small budgets and limited equipment that are absolutely sonning most major record label budget videos shown on any of the music channels. The playing ground is leveling a bit. The following two videos are evidence of this, and of course, the music is pretty dope.
I have to say I’ve been a J*Davey stan for years. “No More” was my go-to intro track when I’d start up my sets when I first starting DJing at venues. My crew Rare Form brought them out to NYC for one of their earlier performances in 2006. In a sad irony, all the work I put into getting them out resulted in me missing the show since I was already committed to a service trip and double-booked the show! It took another 2 years for me to finally catch them live and it was worth the wait. Speaking of wait, hopefully this video means Warner Bros has finally put a timeline on releasing their full length album New Designer Drug so the rest of the world can finally get familiar. You can also check out more on iwantmymusic.mtv.com. VOTE FOR J*DAVEY!
Another ridiculous video out is for the latest single by the brother-duo Christian Rich. I don’t know much other than they’re from the Chi, remind me a bit of N.E.R.D. (more electro than rock) but can actually sing and rap. Apart from the track they did with Armand Van Helden last year, I can’t say I’ve heard much from them. They’re latest single is “Famous Girl” and this video was done by BBGUN. If the single isn’t available yet on iTunes, it will be soon. All I know is that this is super creepy and very awesome.
Summer after summer movie theatres are inundated with big-budget movies. Most of them suck but that doesn’t stop us from going to see them-shitty soundtrack and all!
That’s why its such a breath of fresh air to see one of my favorite MCs and fellow Bed Stuy denizen Spec Boogie and his latest project: Summer Movie Season.
Spec’s favorite films and their scores+ Spec’s rhymes = Blockbuster
I am beyond honored to be a part of yet another quality event brought to you by Ladies Love NYC.
Ladies Love the Breaks is a fundraiser for Autism Awareness. At this point, I don’ t think I know one person who isn’t impacted by Autism in some way, shape or form. It affects 1 in every 150 persons born-this is more than pediatric diabetes, cancer, and AIDS combined. Autism impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.
The amazingly strong and beautiful women of Ladies Love NYC is on a mission to raise money to increase awareness so that it will lead to a cure. This is a night chock full of the most talented people in New York City: Visual Artists, B-Girls, DJs, Musicians, MCs, Singers, and more, who are getting together to try and raise awareness and raise money!
Ladies Love The Breaks -
Autism Awareness Fundraiser @ Southpaw
June 4th -
9pm -1am / 8 with RSVP & 12 w/o
RSVP@LADIESLOVENYC.COM
Revive Da Live Presents:
BILAL – Special Performance
NICKY GUILAND (HEAvy)/ INVINCIBLE / LAH TERE / RAYDAR ELLIS
IGMAR THOMAS and THE CYPHER
DONWILL / HOMEBOY SANDMAN / LIKWUID
Sounds By:
DJ CHELA / DJ SPARKLES / JASMINE SOLANO / DJ NICKEE / BRINAPAYNE / DJ TARA / DJ TYGER LILLY
OK
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