Not as many pics today im afraid peeps... its my second last day in the the city and ive actually spent a large percentage of the day moping about depressed over the fact that its nearly time to come back to the sess pit of a city i call home. To be honest though... my plans didnt work today anyway. Firstly i was supposed to go and meet Audrey for "Brunch" (its an NY thing apparently??) but knowone warned me it was gay parade in manahtten so rather than get caught in that, i turned and walked the other way... out of fear of coppin an eye full of a man in a g string first thing sunday morning, i made it my business to focus on the massive amount of Peurto Rican lesbians instead..... then i was supposed to meet my friend Ramona to watch the football but she got so drunk with her friend that didnt happen.... (i thought it was only English people that get smashed before 3pm?) So i went home and got ready to go spin at the EOW battle.... not before takin a quick flick of the paintin that hangs on my boys wall, been meaning to do this the whole trip... see above.
Got down there for about 8ish, Good to see Webb who i aint seen in about 2 years. All the EOW guys out here are def good peoples. The night started quietly but picked up and was rammed by about 11.
I got to kick the night off playing all the shit I love which is allways a blessing from old school Mobb Deep to new Nas joints... was def a nice change from being asked to play "Funky" or "T-Pain".
The host Big Zoo was one of the illest freestyle Mc ive heard in a while. All the Mcs were on point actually. I got to spin for one of the challenges where i had to play 3 different beats to throw the mcs off. I had them rhyming on Madonna tracks and all sorts!
I was told that the quality is normally a bit higher than it was tonight however i thought eveyone involved was pretty good. Again i got showed a lot of love by people. Its actually worrying that throughout the whole time ive been here i get shown more love by artists and promoters here than i do in my own home town.... maybe this is telling me something!... London might just not be my home town for too much longer! Anyway, till tommorows grand finale of Shabaam Shadeeqs mixtape release with me, Tony Touch and Evil D.... i bid you all farewell. Peace!
Monday 30 June 2008
New York, New York - Day 8
Monkey Dust
Excuse me for not posting in a while, I've been feeling rather shite and in that time I managed to watch the whole 3 series of Monkey Dust.
By the powers invested in me by a bloke down the pub, I find you guilty of paedophilia!
Die you filthy paedophiles!
Heres the link for you toss pots!
Watch all 3 series here tv-links
Sunday 29 June 2008
New York, New York - Day 7
I did a few little pieces of running around today but in all honesty, there was one major event that deserved all my blogging time. The Crooklyn Dodgers reunion... Yes, thats right. Masta Ace, Special Ed, Buckshot, Jeru, Chubb Rock and OC all doing solo performances AND performing both Crooklyn Dodgers Pt 1 and 2 together... oh and Evil D, Preemo and Alil Shaheed Mohamed on deck!.... this was possibly the best thing ive ever seen in my life... EVER!
The event took place in Prospect Park in the middle of Brooklyn. London could actually learn a lot from this, there were two thousand people in an open space at a hip hop event in the middle of the hood.... no fights, no stabbings and noone got shot. Why can this happen in Brooklyn but not London? Chip fu kicked it off and literally broke the place up when he did La Shmoove. EMC came on next and did there thing... i actually forget the order for the whole day b ut Special Ed did "I got it made" Chubb Rock did a whole party set while the dj cut up old school breaks and reggae before launching into "Treat em Right" and literalling destroying the park... Evil D rocked through Black Moon classics while Buckshot tore it down. Preemo Spun a half hour Gangstarr set, Then brought OC out... Jeru killed it.... wow... it was just to much...
I also got to hang out with a couple of Brooklyn Locals!... the one and only DJ Premier....
Jeru The Damaja and Brand Nubians Sadat X.....
The one and only Evil D from Black Moon who ill be spinning with tommorow night!...
BDI Buckshot!..
And the legendary Masta Ace....
Honestly, i know i try and not take these posts to seriously but in this case, i need to be real... I LOVE this shit from the bottom of my heart, i know for a fact that even when im 60 i will be listening to these guys. If u would have told me at 15 years old that i would not only get to meet these guys but some of them would be my peers and actually know me and respect me for what i do.. i would have jumped out a window!... This is all ive ever wanted to do and to be in the position that im in right now is a massive blessing... To witness something like this today was amazing!... Big ups to Sucio Smash as well cause it was nice to see that i wasnt the only DJ in the house who was just straight up on some geeked out fan shit!!! lol...
So after everybody rocked and the night came to a close... Ali shaheed dropped the Crooklyn instrumental and Special Ed, Buckshot and Masta Ace came back out and did Vol 1... then Preem came on, Dropped pt 2 and Chubb Rock, Jeru and OC came on.... Theres not much else i can say, this literaly was just amazing. To see 2000 Brooklynites wiling out and screaming "We be doing up Crooklyn styyyyyyyyyle... what does it take to get you wiiiiiiiiiiild"... gave me hope that NYC hip hop does still exist.....
So after what was probably the best show ive ever seen... we headed up to manhatten to see what maybe the best film ive seen in a long time. If u havent seen "Wanted"... go watch it!... anyway, im all hip hoped out... im going bed! till tommorow.... Peace!
Saturday 28 June 2008
I Got some dope M.O.P for ya
I tell ya these things are maaaaad nice for getting them corners and you can get your electric slide on, and i think nike are putting them out too!
Just fucking with ya!!!
M.O.P Ft Lord Have Mercy - Home Sweet Home (Dirty, Clean, Instrumental)
This is a rip from vinyl so sorry if it sounds abit shit but fuck it this is how music used to sound.
Enjoy
New York, New York - Day 6
Yeah! Yeah!... finally had 8 hours sleep!.. So ive been hearing about this place called Greenpoint in Brooklyn that sells used records. The legend of this place came to light via a utube video recently... so i set out on my mission!...
This is basically a giant Op shop.... like a salvation army store x 10!... with a basement of records that u literally could not comprehend untill u see it!...
There was about 4 rows of records like this.... no order whatsover, there were Nancy Sinatra records next to M.O.P joints, next to Led Zeppelin disc with a few reggae classics scattered accross!
Oh... and on top of that, everything in there was $2 a pop... yes my Uk people, that is 1 pound per record (sorry... this yankee keyboard doesnt have a pound sign!)
I managed to pick up some real classics... a Main ingredient record ive been looking for for ages, a copy of Rah Diggas first album, The Heavy D "Black Coffee" joint, Chubb Rocks "Ya bad chubbs"... and a whole load of 90s RnB.... a good 3 hours well spent!
So it was off home for dinner.... to keep it in the classic vein, i figured why not snack on some classic american grub... it gets no better. Time to hit the club!...
Ronin stayed in so i ventured alone down to the world famous "Freedom Party" in downtown manhatten, this place is like a religion to me when im in NYC. Looking at this pic, u would estimate 4-500 people right??.. so u would probably expect that in a city club of that proportion you would be hearing soulja boy and cassie right??.... wrong!... at this particular moment, the DJ had just cut Nice and Smooths "Hip Hop Junkies" in to Brand Nubians "Slow Down".... wow.... how can u not love it??.... i hate London right now!!!
London was out in full effect, The one and only Ms Audrey Lartey came out to party and enjoy the vibe!... im so jealous that this one has another week to stay out here!!!... so i took the 2 train journey back home to Brooklyn on my own and fell asleep for most of it....
And i arrived home to find this lazy ass on the phone and not having done any of the work that he alledgedly stayed in for!.... Tommorow watch this space for pics of the Crooklyn Dodgers reunion in prospect park!..... yeah baby!!!! PEACE!!
Some Vintage Common Tracks for Download
Some old skool Common joints for your downloading needs....
I Used To Love H.E.R. (Clean, Inst & Acapella)
Communism (Clean, Dirty, Inst & Acapella)
Breaker 1-9 (Clean, Clean LP & Inst)
Download here via Megaupload.
Nas Feat. Busta Rhymes 'Fried Chicken' (Download)
New track off the album, produced by Mark Ronson....Dope metaphors throughout....
Stream/Download
Friday 27 June 2008
New York, New York - Day 5
Yes people... day 5 and im still unable to get a full nights sleep!
Started the day with a studio session with Sav Killz and recorded a quick verse. Actually bumped into Tru Life in the LES today but didnt get a pic as his goons looked like they were ready to take my camera so i hit him with a beat cd and kept it movin!... cool guy though!
J-Ronins pops came to pic us up to take us out to dinner to celebrate the label deal that All Elements have secured with Warner Bros!... yeeeeeeah baby!.. big thinsg for next year. We passed this little comic book dudes exhibition in Flatbush to check out his work. Real talented guy!
Hit up a wicked thai resteraunt to celebrate, J-Ronins parents are some of the coolest people ive met in a while. His mum is basically a jewish, New York version of my my mum!
Enjoying the celebrations!.. the fried banana ice cream in this place is just ridiculous!
So we filled our bellys on hopped on the subway to williamsburg in Brooklyn.... Williamsburg is kinda like a ladbrook grove type of place, really trendy but used to be rough as shit... and it parts it still is, namely.. the part we were in!... The night started off ok, a whole load of thugged out dudes from Brooklyn rapping like they were from Texas.... really wack!
Big shouts to Jon Carlo from Miami reppin All Elements down south. J-Ronin pretty much didnt move from the bar the whole night and i THINK he may finally be ending his drought for a hug as the bartender seemed a lil friendly towards him!..... untill this happened.....
Somehow, somebody got upset and a fight broke out. Whoever decided it was a good idea to put swords on the wall in this place didnt anticipate that a bunch of wild peurto rican dudes may just end up ripping them off the wall and cuttin each other up.... which is exactly what happened. Even the manager got sliced... lovely!... so after watchin a few people get arrested and seeing an ambulance cart of a few peeps.. we moved on!
Luckily accross the road, this man saved out lives.... and after hearing fake us bloods rap like Young Jeezy, i got to listen to this dude spin gangstarr, mobb deep and onyx records... thank you sir!... eternal props!
This bares no relevance to the night but the murial is crazy!....
This is where the night got embarresing. To subway took so long to come, by the time we got to church ave i was literally ready to piss myself... i had no choice... Mum if ur reading this... im sorry!.. im ashamed too... but yes... i went to a corner, and pissed in a mcdonals cup!... grimey!
so here i am again... 6am and back to my temporary home of Flatbush Junction!.... untill tommorow.... PEACE!
Thursday 26 June 2008
New York, New York - Day 4
Well my body clock is still fucked up as i seem to not be able to sleep till 7am but am wide awake by 10!... not good!. So Day 4 is all about records!... First stop, the legendary Fat Beats. This is how i know Hip Hop is shit these days, i bought TWO records. There is literally NOTHING woth buying these days!
However the shop does look impressive and there selection of Hip Hop reissues is secind to none... however, the REAL spots for diggin are always the used record shops!... so off to A1 i went.
This place is literally heaven for any record collector, regardless of what what music u listen to. Everything is so cheap and u can find anything you want!... i found copies of Nice and Smooths "Hip Hop Junkies" Das Efx "They Want Efx" Redmans "Tonights the night" all for less than 2 quid each!.. not to mention a couple of ill breaks that may just get flipped on the plane on the way back!
So back to brooklyn, drop the records off and back into manhatten for a 90s hip hop/rnb party on the lower east side. Run by some friends of Eric Lau that he put me onto (Big shouts to him!)
I was ready for a good night out however Mr ronin, evidentally still required a hug!.. lets hope he gets one at the party! (... he didnt!)
So I know i dont look excited but the music was actually dope, vibe was cool, more of a chilled out bar vibe but when the DJ is playing Soul 2 Soul, Pete Rock, Jade, Jodeci and Rakim... who can complain?? Got a phone call mid way through the night from the UKs own Mr Matty Dat sounds who went awol from London a year ago and is now doing his thing in NYC.
However judging by this photo of him showing me a disturbing amount of affection im guessing hes either really missing his London peoples... or hes just been spending too much time on Christopher Street partying with the rainbow warriors!... anyway, it was a nice change of scene to take a break from all the hip hop ive been overdosing on and have a beer in an irish pup while listening to The Ramones!
So once again... 4am and we head to the subway, only to wait yet another 30 minutes for a train... the subway runs all night here however i do actually miss the simplicity of a simple night bus, no matter how many crach heads i have to share the experience with... Home by 6am, just in time for some cheerios!.. Untill Tommorow... Peace!
Fire in ICE!! And he's older than Jigga!
Snizzla Colange!
YKHWD!
New York, New York - Day 3
Excuse the lateness of this post people!... couldnt find the wire to the camera to connect to the computer. Well i woke up on day 3 and thought, summertime in NYC, i cant NOT have a brand spankin new pair of white on white air forces!
Whoa.... dont they just sting your eyes??... did a little shoppin on Flatbush Ave, caught some joke hearing a pakistani dude in the middle of a black neighbourhood telling 3 black boys that "You little monkeys need to get out of my shop!".... Wow, i guess some people not only have no respect for others but actually have no respect for there own saftey!.
After some discount hood shoppin, we head into manhatten and hit up Burkina on the Lower East Side. This place is amazing, They sell everything i love, Clothes, Hip Hop Music and Porn. I definatley have to come back tommorow and pick up the Biggie T-Shirt they have of him shooting dice on the corner! Classic!
We head three blocks away to catch All Elements very own Letia Larok performing at the Bowery Poetry club. She absolutley tore it down. They had a live band set up who were replaying hip hop classics like Jay Zs "PSA" Blackstarrs "Theives in the night"... it was crazy... although the vibe quickly went from mellow and soulfull to the polar opposite!...
5ft of Black Moon hit the stage with his his new crew Militant Minds, this was the rowdiest performance i think ive ever seen. Fts flow has definatley stepped up since the days of him being looked at as just Buckshots sidekick. He peformed a few Black Moon classics though which was very dope!
Oh... and this man was in the building. If you cant see what im holding its The All Elements Vol 9 mix cd hosted by the very man himself brought to you by Myself and Dj J - Ronin!... go cop it!! Big up Joell Ortiz, hes definatly one of NYs brightest hopes right now!
So after yet another slice of NYs finest pizza... we headed down to broadway and got the subway home, once again we spent an hour on the subway waiting for connections but got to catch some joke watchin some old man fall asleep and then fall of his chair!...
So we hit home at about 4am, i learned its possible to fall asleep while walking!.. got in, ate half a tub of hargendaas and crashed out!... Untill tommorow.....