THIS BLOG HAS MOVED
http://asiaticmajic.wordpress.com/
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Free 2 piece grilled chicken meal
Note: You can only print out 2 coupons
No Purchase Necessary (I think?!)
Go to:
www.unthinkfc.com
No Purchase Necessary (I think?!)
Go to:
www.unthinkfc.com
REAL TALK: Keoni Chan
Kalani: Do you think your reputation and experience as a promoter helped at all in locking down the venue?
K. Chan: I would like to say yes and that a lot of hard work helped but I cant really give you the true answer for that one. I think Thomas(the owner), tony, charley and joett can answer that for you! They are a really great management team. They really make a lot of things happen for us.
Kalani: Were there any difficulties locking down the venue?
K. Chan: I think the perception of promoters in general made it a bit difficult for us in the beginning! Like anything we had to prove ourselves and work hard at making it a place to go to on Saturday nights!
Kalani: Has the promotion game changed the last few years? If so what are the biggest differences you see today?
K. Chan: I think the game has changed tremendously over the past few years! The one thing is people don’t really have the money they used to have before to go out and spend on nightlife! It’s also a very saturated market, dog eat dog! But the big one is that people don’t have the disposable income they once had and that really has affected the nightlife I feel!
Kalani: What has pleased you about the crowds?
K. Chan: Very mature and good looking!! There are important nightlife people that come to the pleasure lounge on Saturdays. Im getting older and my partners and I were looking to create something that we felt was missing and I think we did a great job with creating that and we will continue to work hard to make sure it stays that way!
Kalani: As competitive as Saturdays can be why should party people decide to check out Pleasure Lounge instead of other alternatives?
K. Chan: Because its very affordable, theres a lot of parking, good looking people, great music, the only amuse wine bar with 80 different wines, a real classy venue!! And we also offer “entourage vip”! they can get all of our info, get on the guest list and more at pleasureloungehawaii@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/pleasureloungehawaii, and www.twitter.com/pleasurelounge (follow us)
REAL TALK: DJ Sho
Kalani: Where are you from originally and when did you move to Hawaii?
SHO: I was born in Guam but moved to Pittsburgh, PA when I was young. I moved here to Hawaii back in 1999 during my senior year in high school.
Kalani: When did you decide you wanted to become a DJ and how did you get your DJ name?
SHO: I was at a school dance back in my freshman year and that was the first time seeing a dj in action. I instantly fell in love. I could care less of what else was going on around me. I knew I wanted to be a dj from that day. I was amazed of all the crates of records these djs brought to the gigs. Dropping the needle on the vinyl and, of course, watching them scratch. Music to my ears.
Funny how I got my dj name. A friend of mine and I started our little mobile dj company called Showtime productions. You can figure out the rest. I don't know how the W got cut off but now its just dj Sho. Fo-Sho! Lol.
Kalani: How do you try to "SHOW" people that you are all about the music?
SHO: No matter if its a 1hour or a 8 hour gig I give it my best. I love dropping remixes and mashups and making people look at me like im crazy. Then, next thing you know they go nuts from hearing “Just Dance” vocals dropped over “Don't stop believing“ instrumentals. I don't do any of the video mixing stuff so I try to keep up in the industry by staying ahead with remixes and mashups. I try to stay away of playing the same things you hear at other clubs.
Kalani: What's the best thing about DJing in Hawaii?
SHO: The best thing djing in Hawaii is knowing all the other djs around the island. Its sort of like having a inner crew among us. They are all great. Over the years I learned a lot from watching other djs like dj Dream dropping old skool jams, Big John handling the tourist crowd, watching NSK ripping it up as always. Edit, Technique, PSI, Eskae, all these guys doing what they do best. Always a good time spinning with dj Flip and MU boyz. That's why I love djing in Hawaii because I love the djs of Hawaii.
Kalani: Describe your style.
SHO: I don't really have a style. I love playing all genres. If you can't be universal then the less opportunities you will have working in this industry. You have to be able to conform to any type of crowd from the regulars to the tourist. From working at Rumours I growned to love the old-skool even more. You can describe me as always trying to be different. I don't go crazy into Mashups and remixes but just enough to make it into harmony with eachother. I really hate playing a song more than once in a night even if its a 8 hour shift. Im not a flashy dj but I get the crowd going. My motto always is, “Get the girls on the dance floor and who cares about anything else.”
Kalani: What's your genre of choice?
SHO: I don't have really have a genre of choice but if I had to choose one it would be some smooth Neo-Soul/Hip-Hop tunes. I can go over hours just listening to Badu, Common, Roots, etc... You can never go wrong with ending the night with a little bit of “Just Friends” from Musiq.
Kalani: What's the vibe like at Rumours and what do you like most about it?
SHO: The vibe at Rumours is an older crowd that goes there for the love of music. There's some clubs that you go to now and just feel like people are there just to try to hook up with somebody or have fights breaking out. Rumours has a reputation of being an “Older” club, thats true. However, I play everything from the 70's all the way to current tracks. Everybody wins. Yes there's an older crowd there but more and more nowadays people are having there 21st birthday parties at Rumours.
Kalani: What's your take on the DJ scene in Hawaii?
SHO: I think Hawaii is a very competitive city to be working as a dj. The island has only so much clubs to work at. Honestly, to get into the scene you would have to know someone that knows someone. It took awhile for me to pick up residencies but it was all worth it. I worked at a lot of clubs on the island. The other djs on the island are great guys and girls. They are all humble and thats what it takes to be a good dj. I totally agree with Euphorik when he says that, “A good dj should be able to go 5-6 hours straight and not replay a single track but also keep the crowd going.” To me, being a good dj is always coming up with something unique and different. Always learn and NEVER steal another djs techiniques. From the words of one of the sickest djs to touch a vinyl, PSI says, “Be careful you step on the way up, chances are you'll see them on the way down.”
Kalani: Current residencies other than Rumours?
SHO: Affiliated with Ultimate Sound, Music Unlimited, & Party Down Productions
"Home Fridays" at The Lotus
Release Fridays with FlashandMattyBoy at Kauai
Flashback Saturdays at Rumours
Red Lion Waikiki every Sunday.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Coo: WiiSpray
WiiSpray: Graffiti, without the legal hassles
by Leslie Katz
(Credit: WiiSpray.com)If blank walls tend to stir your graffiti urges, the Nintendo Wii may soon offer a solution that doesn't involve arrests of any kind.
Students at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, have come up with WiiSpray, a concept interactive game that uses a Wiimote plugged into a special spray can. Players then get to unleash their artistry on a virtual canvas.
That canvas "allows the user to decide what is saved and what is discarded, all the while keeping the surrounding area clean and free of what otherwise would be a messy form of media," media students Martin Lih and Frank Matuse say.
The Flash-enabled software offers a range of colors, plus lots of interchangeable spray can caps, along with the option to incorporate personal photos, graphics, and backgrounds into the setting. The buttonless controller--which has a USB port for charging batteries and updating firmware--is said to sit comfortably in the hands of both righties and lefties.
Sadly, we don't read enough German to be able to extract a whole lot more information from the creators' thesis documentation. But the project has already led to some pretty interesting discussions online about whether such a game would lead to less real graffiti because people would have an actual outlet, or more real graffiti because the practice would become more familiar.
Watch the video below to see a teaser of the students' final presentation. Pretty cool--and colorful--stuff.
WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
WWE No Ka Oi
WWE presents SmackDown/ECW SummerSlam Tour
Date: July 5, 2009
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Blaisdell Arena
City/State: Honolulu, Hawaii
On-Sale Date: Saturday, May 2nd at 10:00am
Ticket Information:
Get your tickets at arena box office, Ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.com , Starting at $15
Charge by Phone: 1-800-745-3000 (Toll Free)
Prices: $60, $40, $30, $20 and $15
WWE Returns to Honolulu after more than 1 Year!!!!
WWE Is The Best Value In Entertainment!!!
Come See Your Favorite SmackDown/ECW Superstars!!!
Timbaland//Rockstar Games collabo
Take-Two/Rockstar Games has announced a collaborative effort with producer Timbaland to release a PSP version of Beaterator. No release date has been revealed, however, a few details such as custom sounds, music mixer, and challenges have been noted.
"Built from the foundation of Rockstar’s widely-acclaimed original web version of Beaterator, Beaterator for PSP system is both a powerful portable music mixer with robust beatmaking features, as well as a highly-addictive collection of rhythm games and challenge modes - all in the palm of your hand.
Featuring original music and built-in sound kit produced by Timbaland exclusively for Beaterator."
Head over to the Rockstar Games Beaterator PSP website or play with the web based version of Beaterator.
CHECK THE DEMO:
http://beaterator.rockstargames.com/beaterator.html
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Off and On, Off and On It's On!
Event: Aloha Music Fest featuring Erykah Badu, Goapele, Nesian Nine, Kimo James, Tassho Pearce, Creed Chameleon, Climbing Poetree, K Salaam, and Dj Min One
Where: The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Market Place.
Time: 7pm till 1:45
Date: Friday May 29th
Age: 21 and over
Price $50 pre sale
Available: at honoluluboxoffice.com and Dig Lifestyles
Monday, April 20, 2009
REAL TALK: DJ AUDISSEY
Kalani: What makes you a "Serato Pimp?"
DJ Audissey: Basically, If you use Serato Scratch Live, you are a working DJ (radio or club), and have some knowledge to share about the product, those are the only requirements. I started the group with Kool E's "Pioneer Junkies" in mind, same mentality.
Where can people hear you spin?
Audissey: I am currently at the Living Room on Thursday and Friday and I guest at Mai Tai's once a month (Sunday) as well as rotating in the Shack Waikiki with DJ Aon.
How do those venues and the crowds match your style?
Audissey: Well, the Living Room allows me to get back to basics. my format on Fridays is mainly groove, underground, throwbacks and the like but I do dip into some jiggy stuff. on Thursdays, we have the Ko-Laboratry which is a live band, live vocalists, and me spinning a capellas or scratching over the band. It's really interesting. Mai Tais and the Shack Waikiki let me get into my element and I feel those spots are where I do best. I am a high energy party DJ so when i'm playing tunes like Flo-Rida - Low or Michael Jackson P.Y.T, thats where I wanna be.
How have you grown as a DJ in the last year?
Audissey: funny thing is, I really got back into spinning about a year ago. I had taken time off of music to pursue a career in law enforcement, some things didn't work out so I gave music another go. I feel I lost touch with the people and the music so i've been spending all this time trying to rebuild that relationship. I've also gained a larger sense of humilty than I had before, when things don't go as you expect, you tend to sit back and go, who am I to expect that? lol.
The nightlife world is even more competitive these days, talk about a few examples of how you get your "grind on" and try to "out work" the competition?
Audissey: Well, on this topic, one thing I will never do is undercut another DJ. I charge what I feel I am worth and stick by it. I just let my work speak for itself in that sense. I really should get my "grind on" but i'm comfortable.
Talk about some of your highlights as a DJ and in music.
Audissey: As a DJ, it would have to be spinning at pipeline, zanzabar, and volcanoes before turning 18 (which meant something to me lol). also spinning in Vegas was a great experience. In music, being able to perform as a musician / singer with bands such as B.E.T, Soul Free, and Sudden Rush are highlights I am proud of.
Famous quote or saying that you live your life by.
"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see." - Benjamin Franklin
TOP 5 BANGERS MANY DJs SLEEP ON
Audissey: This is a tough one because most DJs are hip on music out here...I will say that Everybody Move - Tech N9ne is a tune i've yet to hear another Oahu DJ play...its a dope tune, DONT SLEEP!!
TOP 5 HAWAII DJs
i'm just gonna use my generation.
1. Mike D
2. DJ Aon
3. DJ Technique
4. DJ Freeflow (Maui)
5.
DJ Stylz (Maui)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
REAL TALK: Jimmy Taco
by: Kalani Wilhelm
What was your reaction when Myspace featured you?
I felt honored and surprised by the amount of people who knew me.
It was kind of overwhelming to deal with all of the friend request, and comments in
such a short period of time.
Musically, what are the most important things people should now about you and your attitude towards the art?
They need to know that hip-hop runs through my veins, and I’m not talking about BOW WOW, and CIARA. The entire culture, and the representation of all the
elements. The elements include, djing, break dancing, emceeing, & aerosol art.
How much do you value the recognition you get from other DJs and the local hip hop scene?
I value it with the highest importance. I feel that I have been lucky enough to do what I love for this length of time. It feels good when a young DJ comes up and says you’re the reason why I got into DJ’ing. It’s very humbling as well.
Where does winning the HMA with Tassho rank among your accomplishments in music?
It feels good to be one of the many people behind the scenes on that album. I’m happy for TASSHO, and feel proud to have been able to work with greats like SYZE ONE, DILATED PEOPLES, Q-BERT, & APATHY.
How has your DJing, producing improved from say 5 years ago? 10 years ago?
As far as my DJ’ing, my programming has greatly improved by working with K-SMOOTH, and understanding how to work a crowd at a club, and on air.
Producing, has really fallen off, I don’t have the time to make beats. My knowledge of mixing has really improved in the last 4 years with working on albums for TASSHO PEARCE, OR1GINAL, and THE LUCK.
Your radio show has been a success and integral avenue for local artists and hip hop fans, why do you think "Mind Tactics" has been on the air for so long? Do you see the show ending anytime soon? What are some of your more memorable moments?
These last 12 years have been great. I’m thankful that all of the program directors that I’ve worked with over the years have given me the opportunity to give our local artists this little format to express their music. Some of my favorite memories are being able to meet and interview hip-hop greats like KOOL HERC, GANGSTARR, COMMON, & KANYE WEST. I hope that one day I can pass the torch to someone with the same passion, but I won’t be ready for quite some time
As an accomplished "hip hop DJ" who really has an interest and knowledge for hip hop music, is it ever hard for you to continuously play the more "mainstream" stuff that you might not like?
Yes it can be hard, especially if I don’t like the music I’m playing. But the job of a DJ is to rock his crowd no matter what the occasion. Those instances I see more of a challenge to my skills as an all around DJ, rather than just a hip-hop DJ.
When do you reach that point and say "screw this, i'm playing want I want to play?
There’s been many times where I have felt like that. I just need to remember that either the client, or promoter wants a certain sound for their event and that it’s my job to fulfill their needs.
How long have you been spinning at DnBs?
I’ve been working with dave and busters for the last 7 years.
Other than DnBs what other regular DJ gigs do you have and where else can people find you?
They can catch me hosting Fridays at Level 4, I can also be found filling in for The Nocturnal Sound Crew at Living Room on some Fridays.
Is there anything you want to plug?
My studio Sure Shot Studio is open to all local hip-hop artists. As well as me being available for private gigs, from weddings, grad parties, and corporate events. Email me for price quotes and bookings at sureshotpromo@gmail.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
HW: Rise Against
Chicagoans ’til Chicago ends
Kalani Wilhelm
Apr 8, 2009
Chicago punk band Rise Against has never been afraid to voice its concerns loudly and proudly.
Tim McIlrath, Joe Principe, Brandon Barnes and Zach Blair remind us that punk and politics are tightly bound, so throw your pop stereotypes out the window—or better yet recycle them.
Political and social convictions aside, the vegetarians and PETA supporters have no problems rocking out and have no problem with mosh-pitters or crowd surfers, so don’t let their eating habits or their concerns for the safety of furry animals fool you.
With a string of hits like “Give It All,” “Swing Life Away” and “Ready to Fall,” the Warped Tour vet’s biggest success to date was last year’s Appeal To Reason. Their fifth album earned a spot at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and a stay atop the iTunes album charts.
With a fan base as loyal and allegiant as they come, RA’s following has expanded even further thanks to the ridiculously popular Guitar Hero game series.
Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St., Fri 4/10, 7pm, $25 general, $50 VIP, [ticketmaster.com], [bampproject.com], (877) 750-4400
Nightshift: Oceans808
A rising tide
by Kalani Wilhelm
Once upon a time, the Ocean Club ruled Saturday nights in Honolulu. New owners ran the place into the ground and, before you knew it, the Restaurant Row hot spot closed down leaving loyalists scrambling for alternatives.
Then, unlike the fate of most closed clubs, the beloved spot reopened, added 808 to its name and almost instantaneously got its swagger back and intact.
If it’s possible to have a tight relationship with a nightclub, this is the one: Ocean Club regulars returned in large numbers, and the newbies have come in droves as well.
Although the layout remains unchanged (props to ownership for that), refreshing upgrades in elegance include bubbly water décor, walls that flicker red, blue and green, along with water-themed bar tops. Both additions bring a snazzy flair while white leather couches in the VIP area suggest exclusiveness.
Aside from the updated aesthetics, things are the same. Holding the line is still in style and the cool people still get in first. The dance floor is still prime real estate, with resident DJs Technique and Flykid wreck shop in and out of different genres and grooves. Unofficial emcee Rick Rock keeps things equally exciting and inspiring. The only difference about the 2 o’clock rush is that it’s crazier than before.
Stay away if you have patience issues because the crowd’s thickness extends from wall to wall, including the outdoor area. Waiting for drinks is expected, though find bartenders Mitch, Jon and Titus and consider the wait cut in half. A packed house won’t prevent you from finding a comfortable spots to swig, sip, shoot or chug, just choose that spot wisely. Thanks to cordial and courteous patrons, things flow nicely except if you have to use the bathroom.
While the ladies are about making fashion statements, for some odd reason the guys fail to take part and instead make white long-sleeved collared shirts the dominant color and style choice.
It was evident that the absence of the club formerly known as Oceans left spoiled clubbers without a place to call home. Now that it’s back in the nightlife picture, you can certainly sense the appreciation for the place today.
It’s no secret that most places experience periods of unpopularity and decline. At Oceans808, don’t expect that to occur any time soon.
Oceans808
Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd.
10pm–4am,
587-5838
Getting In: 23 (yes, 23) and up, $10
Dress Code: Slick and hip, collared shirts
Soundtrack: Dem Franchize Boyz, Katy Perry, Beyoncé
Sightings: Rick Rock, Olena Rubin, Keoni Chan
Signature Drinks: $5 Grey Goose, $5 Crown Royal, $5 Patron
Ache-Weekly Spinzone: DJ KT
KT kat
Apr 8, 2009
As far as hot commodities in Honolulu clubland, DJ KT is certainly one of them.
From designing the entire DJ set-up at Fashion 45 to helping introduce Bonsai Restaurant and Lounge as one of the new dominating forces in nightlife, KT has a knack for raising the bar everywhere he goes.
“I’ve been spinning for 19 years and haven’t been bored,” he said. “The music is always changing and there is so much music to experience. Plus the technology is always advancing.”
He used such technological advances to become one of the first wheel-of-steelers in town to incorporate music videos into his DJ sets.
“What makes you stand out as a DJ is not the music you play, but the music that you play that other DJs don’t play,” he said. “All DJs know the current hits, so it’s up to you to find new hits or spin old classics to get the dance floor banging.”
While times have changed since his first club gig at Blue Zebra in 1993, his pride and dedication for his craft will always remain sky high.
Funktastic Tuesdays and Shine Saturdays, Bonsai Restaurant and Lounge, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Restaurant Row, $10, 21+, 525-508010pm, Tuesdays, Fridays, Da Bomb Mix Show 102.7 FM
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
SWV coming to the Blaisdell May 9
w/ Salt N Pepa and Lisa Lisa.
Looking back, SWV were one of the illest female groups of the 90's, with Envogue being the other one that comes to mind. I always wondered what they were doing these days and how dope it would be if they came to Honolulu.
It's a quality line-up overall because all three acts have a decent catalogue of hit songs. It's a toss-up on who's the real headliner, SWV or Ess and Pee? headlining act. There's no doubt that the Sisters With Voices are the highlight for me.
Looking back, SWV were one of the illest female groups of the 90's, with Envogue being the other one that comes to mind. I always wondered what they were doing these days and how dope it would be if they came to Honolulu.
It's a quality line-up overall because all three acts have a decent catalogue of hit songs. It's a toss-up on who's the real headliner, SWV or Ess and Pee? headlining act. There's no doubt that the Sisters With Voices are the highlight for me.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Common out as Green Latern
Common Out As Green Lantern In Justice League Movie
April 3rd, 2009 | Author: Danielle HarlingEarly this year, HipHopDX reported that Chicago rapper Common would play the role of The Green Lantern in the upcoming comic-book based film Justice League of America [click to read]. But according to Wooha.com, Common will no longer be playing the role of The Green Lantern.
The site claims that Warner Brothers has chosen to develop the script around Hal Jordan instead of John Stewart, the African American Green Lantern. Currently, actor Chris Pine, who stars in the upcoming Star Trek movie, is in the running for the role of the new Green Lantern.
Common has made a number of silver screen appearances in the past few years. He has starred in American Gangster, Wanted, Smokin’ Aces, and the upcoming Terminator Salvation movie.
In related news, the two-time Grammy winner and 37-year-old emcee will be the face of Diesel's new fragrance campaign, "Only the Brave."
"Common perfectly represents the spirit and energy of the 'Only the Brave' fragrance: passion, will and conviction," Diesel founder and President Renzo Rosso said in a released statement.
Directed by Martin Campbell, the Justice League movie is expected to be released December 17, 2010. Diesel's "Only the Brave" fragrance was released at Macy’s, Dillard’s, Belk and Sephora stores earlier this week.
April 3rd, 2009 | Author: Danielle HarlingEarly this year, HipHopDX reported that Chicago rapper Common would play the role of The Green Lantern in the upcoming comic-book based film Justice League of America [click to read]. But according to Wooha.com, Common will no longer be playing the role of The Green Lantern.
The site claims that Warner Brothers has chosen to develop the script around Hal Jordan instead of John Stewart, the African American Green Lantern. Currently, actor Chris Pine, who stars in the upcoming Star Trek movie, is in the running for the role of the new Green Lantern.
Common has made a number of silver screen appearances in the past few years. He has starred in American Gangster, Wanted, Smokin’ Aces, and the upcoming Terminator Salvation movie.
In related news, the two-time Grammy winner and 37-year-old emcee will be the face of Diesel's new fragrance campaign, "Only the Brave."
"Common perfectly represents the spirit and energy of the 'Only the Brave' fragrance: passion, will and conviction," Diesel founder and President Renzo Rosso said in a released statement.
Directed by Martin Campbell, the Justice League movie is expected to be released December 17, 2010. Diesel's "Only the Brave" fragrance was released at Macy’s, Dillard’s, Belk and Sephora stores earlier this week.
Air Yeezy's
Kanye West Unveils $200 Nikes, Fat Joe Plans $35 Sneaker
April 2nd, 2009 | Author: Andres TardioFor some time now, Nike has held fans at the edge of their seats in anticipation of their Air Yeezy's, a shoe to be released in a partnership with Kanye West. As the release date gets closer, it seems fans will be lining up outside of some Footlocker locations for these sneakers.
“Nike is such an important brand to me,” Kanye said in a statement released last month on Nikepedia. “Whether you are on the court, in the street, in the club, at school, Nike represents excellence, the standard in design. Growing up, we looked forward to the release of new Nike’s the way we would an album by our favorite artist. So the opportunity to collaborate on a design with Mark Smith and Nike Design has been a dream come true, and a great experience.”
Nike had West try these shoes on during concerts and used his feedback to improve the durability and performance of the shoe. Now, fans can try them on as they will hit select stores Saturday April 4. The price is said to be above $200 and will only be avialble in a Zen Gray colorway for now. Later this year, Nike will release two more colorways.
In related news, Fat Joe is also working on a shoe. His sneakers, made to help those struggling in the rough economic climate, will sell at $35, reportedly. No finalized release date has been set for these shoes, however.
April 2nd, 2009 | Author: Andres TardioFor some time now, Nike has held fans at the edge of their seats in anticipation of their Air Yeezy's, a shoe to be released in a partnership with Kanye West. As the release date gets closer, it seems fans will be lining up outside of some Footlocker locations for these sneakers.
“Nike is such an important brand to me,” Kanye said in a statement released last month on Nikepedia. “Whether you are on the court, in the street, in the club, at school, Nike represents excellence, the standard in design. Growing up, we looked forward to the release of new Nike’s the way we would an album by our favorite artist. So the opportunity to collaborate on a design with Mark Smith and Nike Design has been a dream come true, and a great experience.”
Nike had West try these shoes on during concerts and used his feedback to improve the durability and performance of the shoe. Now, fans can try them on as they will hit select stores Saturday April 4. The price is said to be above $200 and will only be avialble in a Zen Gray colorway for now. Later this year, Nike will release two more colorways.
In related news, Fat Joe is also working on a shoe. His sneakers, made to help those struggling in the rough economic climate, will sell at $35, reportedly. No finalized release date has been set for these shoes, however.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Spinzone: DJ Antikks
DJ Antikks / You can keep your conventional beats and boring bass lines. As far as DJ Antikks is concerned, it’s all about fast and heavy grooves, nothing more nothing less.
Every First Friday for the past four years, Antikks has been a fixture at the Mercury Bar, the drum and bass epicenter and longest running monthly DNB gathering in Hawaii and a major reason why the sound has found its rightful place throughout Honolulu.
“People are definitely becoming aware of this music and slowly starting to relate,” said the former North Carolina product. “This is a music of feeling; not just physical feeling, but a deep, internal fixation derived from the emotion that creates it.”
While drum and bass may never completely break away from its rave culture connection, DJ Antikks has already proved that the sound is a force to be reckoned with but there is still more territory to be conquered.
Let the havoc wrecking continue.
4/3, Friday, “Subphonix”, Mercury Bar, 1154 Fort Street Mall, 10 PM – 2 AM, $5, 21
In the H Weekly: Lil Wayne
The block will be hot
Kalani Wilhelm
Apr 1, 2009
Lil Wayne / When it comes to the downward spiral of the economy, it seems exceptions are made when Grammy-nominated platinum selling rap stars come to town.
With tickets on sale for as much as $125 a pop and going fast, it’s apparent that not even the state’s highest unemployment rate in 30 years will stop fans from dishing out big bucks to see hip-hop sensation Lil Wayne. The Louisiana rapper’s transformation into pop music’s Mr. Right Now has been a steady climb to the top since he signed his first record deal at the ripe age of 11. If he’s not making hits for himself, he’s usually dropping a verse on another artist’s hit record.
He began his career in more of a supporting role with New Orleans based rap collectives The Hot Boys and Cash Money Millionaires coining the phrase “bling-bling” along the way. Mixtapes and solo albums Tha Carter, Tha Carter II and the Tha Carter III have made him one of the hottest names in pop music, further stirring the pot in the best rapper of all time debate.
Tha Carter III set the bar for opening week sales topping over one million sold. The triple platinum project earned the 26-year old an unprecedented eight Grammy nominations. He only won four of the nominations, but when you’ve received the most nominations in hip-hop history, who’s counting?
In June, the CEO of Young Money Entertainment will be getting his inner rock star on with the release of Rebirth, a rock inspired album with guests Lenny Kravitz, Pete Wentz and Avril Lavigne and himself on guitar.
Aside from his music and commercials for Nike and Gatorade, Wayne will also be appearing in the upcoming movie Fast & the Furious 4. Besides, his brewing beef with 50 Cent proves there’s never a dull moment in Lil Wayne’s World.
Blaisdell Arena, 777 Ward Ave., Sat 4/4, 7:30pm, $59.75–$125.75, [www.ticketmaster.com], 591-2211Lil’Wayne’s Official Young Money Entertianment Afterparty, 10pm–4am, Pipeline Café, 805 Pohukaina St, w/concert ticket $15, presale $25, door $35, VIP $75, ultra VIP $200, 589-1999, 18+.
Honolulu Weekly Nightshift club review: The Peach Fridays at Level 4
Night Shift
The giant Peach
Apr 01 - Apr 07, 2009
Hype it up and they will come. The question is: When the hype is dead and gone, will they keep coming? So far, Level 4 Nightclub and Ultra Lounge has survived the initial hype phase and kept the crowds-a-coming.
It’s no secret that early claims of upscale elegance reminiscent of Las Vegas were exaggeration; on Friday nights the club has preserved its popularity by working with a triad of outside promoters. Architechs, Tantriq and Racesauce know a thing or two about keeping there party people happy.
Tactics like offering free drinks for the opening hour and unlimited guest lists have become more and more popular these days. While these are trendy and easy to execute, and essentially bump up crowd numbers, you want people to show up because they like the spot not because of the free stuff.
So far, the result has been consistent crowds of young professionals and pumped-up party seekers in search of the good life where the dress code is one of common sense and waiting in line is so short it almost doesn’t exist.
When the showroom dance floor is at capacity, any attempt to move from one side of the room to the other takes patience, a little courtesy and if you’re carrying a drink a steady hand is a must. If the trek is that bothersome, comfort can be found when you reach the bar on the other side.
The DJ booth, usually relegated to the back of the showroom, is on the stage, a perfect place for DJs Anit, XL and K-Smooth, three of the best in the game, to shine.
Drinks are a little more costly these days—you’ll be happy to know that the experienced bartenders specialize in giving your drinks the extra kick you need. What’s more, since there is no minimum “tab” fee, you can cash out and be on your way.
DJs Technique and Lostboy serve up less-trendy more beat friendly grooves in a separate area close to the main entrance. The open area near the restrooms, which makes you feel like you just got out of a movie minus the greasy popcorn face, serves as a mingler’s paradise. Keep in mind that it’s quite easy to find yourself people watching instead of participating and if you feel like you’re walking in a complete circle, that’s because you are. The night is aptly named because of the club’s peach-shaped layout, pit not included.
Overall, Friday night promoters keep things interesting and at the highest quality possible.
Highlighting things this weekend will be a special performance by R&B diva Keri Hilson.
Peach Fridays
Level 4 (4th floor Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center) 2233 Kalākaua Ave.
11 am–4am , 946-3100
Getting In: Bring ID
Dress Code: Tasteful and sexy
Sightings: Ne-Yo, Busta Rhymes, Nautica Thorn, Donnie Klang
Soundtrack: “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, ‘Universal Mind Control” by Common, “Circus” by Britney Spears
Signature Drink: $7 Patron, $7 Apple Martini, $6 Heineken
The giant Peach
Apr 01 - Apr 07, 2009
Hype it up and they will come. The question is: When the hype is dead and gone, will they keep coming? So far, Level 4 Nightclub and Ultra Lounge has survived the initial hype phase and kept the crowds-a-coming.
It’s no secret that early claims of upscale elegance reminiscent of Las Vegas were exaggeration; on Friday nights the club has preserved its popularity by working with a triad of outside promoters. Architechs, Tantriq and Racesauce know a thing or two about keeping there party people happy.
Tactics like offering free drinks for the opening hour and unlimited guest lists have become more and more popular these days. While these are trendy and easy to execute, and essentially bump up crowd numbers, you want people to show up because they like the spot not because of the free stuff.
So far, the result has been consistent crowds of young professionals and pumped-up party seekers in search of the good life where the dress code is one of common sense and waiting in line is so short it almost doesn’t exist.
When the showroom dance floor is at capacity, any attempt to move from one side of the room to the other takes patience, a little courtesy and if you’re carrying a drink a steady hand is a must. If the trek is that bothersome, comfort can be found when you reach the bar on the other side.
The DJ booth, usually relegated to the back of the showroom, is on the stage, a perfect place for DJs Anit, XL and K-Smooth, three of the best in the game, to shine.
Drinks are a little more costly these days—you’ll be happy to know that the experienced bartenders specialize in giving your drinks the extra kick you need. What’s more, since there is no minimum “tab” fee, you can cash out and be on your way.
DJs Technique and Lostboy serve up less-trendy more beat friendly grooves in a separate area close to the main entrance. The open area near the restrooms, which makes you feel like you just got out of a movie minus the greasy popcorn face, serves as a mingler’s paradise. Keep in mind that it’s quite easy to find yourself people watching instead of participating and if you feel like you’re walking in a complete circle, that’s because you are. The night is aptly named because of the club’s peach-shaped layout, pit not included.
Overall, Friday night promoters keep things interesting and at the highest quality possible.
Highlighting things this weekend will be a special performance by R&B diva Keri Hilson.
Peach Fridays
Level 4 (4th floor Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center) 2233 Kalākaua Ave.
11 am–4am , 946-3100
Getting In: Bring ID
Dress Code: Tasteful and sexy
Sightings: Ne-Yo, Busta Rhymes, Nautica Thorn, Donnie Klang
Soundtrack: “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, ‘Universal Mind Control” by Common, “Circus” by Britney Spears
Signature Drink: $7 Patron, $7 Apple Martini, $6 Heineken
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Black Thought interview
In a rare interview, Touré talks with Black Thought—front man for The Roots and the new house MC of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon—about what Chuck D. taught him about race, why rapping is like jumping rope, and the reasons behind his rhymes.
Black Thought is not just one of the best-named MCs in hip-hop history, he’s one of the best. As the front man of The Roots—Jimmy Fallon’s new house band for his late-night talk show—Black Thought is both a rapper’s rapper and an intellectual’s rapper, who doesn’t brag about the ghetto and never has to say how tough he is. He has a deliciously deep and steely voice, a tremendous rhythmic sensibility, and a pen that delivers furious flurries of rhymes about everything—politics, women, language, whatever. He’s got a personal style that’s as serious as a heart attack—he evinces that there’s-no-smiling-in-hip-hop thing, as if he’s not here to be loved by you, but instead here to slay you with his skill, take your respect, and leave.
Over the years, Black Thought, born Tariq Trotter, has done very few interviews—preferring, he says, to let his rhyming speak for him. But as The Roots will appear every night on Jimmy Fallon, he’s growing a little more amenable. I pulled him aside during a band rehearsal in a rehearsal space in Manhattan one day, found a tiny room, and talked to him about some of the science behind being an MC.
T: Who are the MCs you most closely studied and learned something from?
BT: Kool G Rap. Big Daddy Kane. Rakim. KRS-One.
T: What have you learned from them?
From G Rap, I learned not to be pigeon held as regards to my vocabulary. The young Kool G Rap, when he was the cool genius of rap, it was really about the genius part and the fact that his lexicon was crazy.
It doesn’t matter than he might be using words that we, the audience, don’t know.
Shit, I use words that I don’t know but, you know, they just sound dope. G Rap was not just using hip-hop slang and words that everyone knew and not just using big words just for the sake of using them—he would use them in their proper context. G Rap, if he was an instrument, he’d be like a drum, whereas Rakim was like brass, he was more melodic. I’d compare Rakim to a saxophone. But from Rakim I got the melodic influence and just repetition in my patterns. I got more of the subtleties, I saw someone perfectly marrying consciousness with musicality with street credibility and still gangster. And his tone was crazy. He had a very distinct delivery. Sometimes nasal meets guttural.
“I’ve become a functioning cog in the machine called The Roots, but in my youth I was comin’ from a more braggadocious, egotistical perspective.”
T: Who else did you study?
BT: Chuck D. From Chuck I got the black nationalism, the militancy. Chuck was a more avant-garde MC to me. And LL was a major influence. What I got from him was swagger. He was relatively young when he came in the game and he garnered the respect and admiration of these older MCs. He’s another guy from Queens who was saying, "I’m gonna use every word in the English lexicon and slap you in the face with it real hard." There’s something about MCs that came from that part of New York in the ‘80s.
T: Where do you rhyme from? Your nose, throat, chest, where?
BT: Diaphragm. I try to. Sometimes you forget. If you have to sing you may just slip back into rhyming from my mouth or my throat or rhyming where we naturally speak. You can always hear me breathing during my verses, but that breathing becomes part of the music. If you’re rappin’ in perfect rhythm with the track then you’re gonna be breathin’ in perfect rhythm, too. And that’s part of the percussion.
But sometimes those breaths miss the mark.
I mean, if I swallow incorrectly or if I breathe and some dust goes down the wrong pipe, words will be missed or a line might be left out. The audience may be none the wiser, but more importantly it’s a bump in the stride of us onstage. And there’s gonna be a bloop, a sonic taxing for it, and everyone’s gonna be brought out of their zone for just a split second to acknowledge the fact that this one person just fucked up or left out this line. So you want everything to be as effortless as possible. It happens all the time but that’s one of the things you micromanage.
Every rapper, when they first hear a beat and start relating to it they go uh, uh, yeah, uh, uh—what’s the about?
It’s like a map. You have to be synced.
T: So you’re getting into the rhythm?
BT: Yeah. When you hear a beat it usually takes a measure or one or two lines of the music before you become accustomed to the rhythm. It’s like jumping into a jump rope. You just start turning and then I jump in.
T: The double-dutch analogy is interesting, because you’re very much a part of The Roots in that you’re an instrument in this mix. Most rappers do it as an ego gesture—I’m the man, check me out. All eyes on me. That’s not where you’re coming from. It’s more of a musical gesture.
BT: I’ve become an instrument in this. I’ve become a functioning cog in the machine called The Roots, but in my youth I was comin’ from a more braggadocious, egotistical perspective. I started changing as an artist the day that Ahmir and I met. I feel like I became more musical and he became more street. That’s what we brought to one another. I was definitely knowledgeable in the world of hip-hop and Ahmir was knowledgeable about jazz and soul and all other music and we turned each other on.
T: You guys met in high school at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. Did you take music classes together?
BT: I’ve never studied music. Music for me was a hobby, something to do other than the art I’ve always done. I’ve been in art school from the age of three. I was a visual-arts major so what I learned at the school was just about colors and warm colors and cool colors and the effect that different colors have on people when you see a certain colors or two colors together. Which is where I got my name from: black being all the colors of the palette. The thing that’s carried over from my visual-art education into what I do musically is my openness. I can deal with sonic colors, the sound palette, from the experience I have dealing with the actual palette.
T: Has another rapper ever told you something that made a difference, or made you better?
BT: Well, in KRS-One’s book The Science of Rap, he said come out with your jacket on. Begin your performance and your rapport with your audience by warmin’ yourself up, and that means start rappin’ with your coat on and at some point during the first three songs you take it off. This gives the impression that you’re getting even more personal, getting down to business. And that way you get an extra rush, an extra roar from the crowd and your performance elevates from that point.
T: How do you write a rhyme?
BT: Rhymes will come to me line by line. Maybe I heard these two people over here having a conversation and they reminded me of a phrase that was coined years ago that people don’t use anymore that I wanna bring back. When I’ve accumulated half a book of these I’ll sit down and flip through and start writing a rhyme. I don’t usually write a rhyme before it’s due. I usually write a song when people are waiting for me to turn it in. I don’t just have a pre-manufactured thing. I don’t have songs I haven’t used yet. When I write a song, it’s tailor-written to whatever sonic bed was pre-existing.
T: How did you improve when you were developing?
BT: I would always be rappin’. Always be rappin’. I’d just sit in this room and rap about everything in it. And you’d be sick. You’d be mad. Just stop rapping!
T: So young rappers trying should practice all the time.
BT: The same way Norah Jones and Alicia Keys had to practice at the piano and Wyclef with his guitar, and ?uestlove—I’d call him after school and be like "Lemme speak to Ahmir," and his Dad would be like, he’s practicing, and hang up. That’s what makes a great musician, and if you’re gonna be a vocalist, if your voice is gonna be your axe, then you need to refine your knowledge. You also gotta be abreast of what’s goin’ on in current affairs, news, the latest reality-TV shit, what’s goin’ on in the Internet—you boil all of that down into one line that was witty because you compared this thing with that thing. You have to be knowledgeable of all the pre-existing information in order to edit it into something that’s fly to say.
**Touré is the host of BET’s The Black Carpet and the host of Treasure HD’s I’ll Try Anything Once. He is the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN’s first pop-culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard.
Black Thought is not just one of the best-named MCs in hip-hop history, he’s one of the best. As the front man of The Roots—Jimmy Fallon’s new house band for his late-night talk show—Black Thought is both a rapper’s rapper and an intellectual’s rapper, who doesn’t brag about the ghetto and never has to say how tough he is. He has a deliciously deep and steely voice, a tremendous rhythmic sensibility, and a pen that delivers furious flurries of rhymes about everything—politics, women, language, whatever. He’s got a personal style that’s as serious as a heart attack—he evinces that there’s-no-smiling-in-hip-hop thing, as if he’s not here to be loved by you, but instead here to slay you with his skill, take your respect, and leave.
Over the years, Black Thought, born Tariq Trotter, has done very few interviews—preferring, he says, to let his rhyming speak for him. But as The Roots will appear every night on Jimmy Fallon, he’s growing a little more amenable. I pulled him aside during a band rehearsal in a rehearsal space in Manhattan one day, found a tiny room, and talked to him about some of the science behind being an MC.
T: Who are the MCs you most closely studied and learned something from?
BT: Kool G Rap. Big Daddy Kane. Rakim. KRS-One.
T: What have you learned from them?
From G Rap, I learned not to be pigeon held as regards to my vocabulary. The young Kool G Rap, when he was the cool genius of rap, it was really about the genius part and the fact that his lexicon was crazy.
It doesn’t matter than he might be using words that we, the audience, don’t know.
Shit, I use words that I don’t know but, you know, they just sound dope. G Rap was not just using hip-hop slang and words that everyone knew and not just using big words just for the sake of using them—he would use them in their proper context. G Rap, if he was an instrument, he’d be like a drum, whereas Rakim was like brass, he was more melodic. I’d compare Rakim to a saxophone. But from Rakim I got the melodic influence and just repetition in my patterns. I got more of the subtleties, I saw someone perfectly marrying consciousness with musicality with street credibility and still gangster. And his tone was crazy. He had a very distinct delivery. Sometimes nasal meets guttural.
“I’ve become a functioning cog in the machine called The Roots, but in my youth I was comin’ from a more braggadocious, egotistical perspective.”
T: Who else did you study?
BT: Chuck D. From Chuck I got the black nationalism, the militancy. Chuck was a more avant-garde MC to me. And LL was a major influence. What I got from him was swagger. He was relatively young when he came in the game and he garnered the respect and admiration of these older MCs. He’s another guy from Queens who was saying, "I’m gonna use every word in the English lexicon and slap you in the face with it real hard." There’s something about MCs that came from that part of New York in the ‘80s.
T: Where do you rhyme from? Your nose, throat, chest, where?
BT: Diaphragm. I try to. Sometimes you forget. If you have to sing you may just slip back into rhyming from my mouth or my throat or rhyming where we naturally speak. You can always hear me breathing during my verses, but that breathing becomes part of the music. If you’re rappin’ in perfect rhythm with the track then you’re gonna be breathin’ in perfect rhythm, too. And that’s part of the percussion.
But sometimes those breaths miss the mark.
I mean, if I swallow incorrectly or if I breathe and some dust goes down the wrong pipe, words will be missed or a line might be left out. The audience may be none the wiser, but more importantly it’s a bump in the stride of us onstage. And there’s gonna be a bloop, a sonic taxing for it, and everyone’s gonna be brought out of their zone for just a split second to acknowledge the fact that this one person just fucked up or left out this line. So you want everything to be as effortless as possible. It happens all the time but that’s one of the things you micromanage.
Every rapper, when they first hear a beat and start relating to it they go uh, uh, yeah, uh, uh—what’s the about?
It’s like a map. You have to be synced.
T: So you’re getting into the rhythm?
BT: Yeah. When you hear a beat it usually takes a measure or one or two lines of the music before you become accustomed to the rhythm. It’s like jumping into a jump rope. You just start turning and then I jump in.
T: The double-dutch analogy is interesting, because you’re very much a part of The Roots in that you’re an instrument in this mix. Most rappers do it as an ego gesture—I’m the man, check me out. All eyes on me. That’s not where you’re coming from. It’s more of a musical gesture.
BT: I’ve become an instrument in this. I’ve become a functioning cog in the machine called The Roots, but in my youth I was comin’ from a more braggadocious, egotistical perspective. I started changing as an artist the day that Ahmir and I met. I feel like I became more musical and he became more street. That’s what we brought to one another. I was definitely knowledgeable in the world of hip-hop and Ahmir was knowledgeable about jazz and soul and all other music and we turned each other on.
T: You guys met in high school at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. Did you take music classes together?
BT: I’ve never studied music. Music for me was a hobby, something to do other than the art I’ve always done. I’ve been in art school from the age of three. I was a visual-arts major so what I learned at the school was just about colors and warm colors and cool colors and the effect that different colors have on people when you see a certain colors or two colors together. Which is where I got my name from: black being all the colors of the palette. The thing that’s carried over from my visual-art education into what I do musically is my openness. I can deal with sonic colors, the sound palette, from the experience I have dealing with the actual palette.
T: Has another rapper ever told you something that made a difference, or made you better?
BT: Well, in KRS-One’s book The Science of Rap, he said come out with your jacket on. Begin your performance and your rapport with your audience by warmin’ yourself up, and that means start rappin’ with your coat on and at some point during the first three songs you take it off. This gives the impression that you’re getting even more personal, getting down to business. And that way you get an extra rush, an extra roar from the crowd and your performance elevates from that point.
T: How do you write a rhyme?
BT: Rhymes will come to me line by line. Maybe I heard these two people over here having a conversation and they reminded me of a phrase that was coined years ago that people don’t use anymore that I wanna bring back. When I’ve accumulated half a book of these I’ll sit down and flip through and start writing a rhyme. I don’t usually write a rhyme before it’s due. I usually write a song when people are waiting for me to turn it in. I don’t just have a pre-manufactured thing. I don’t have songs I haven’t used yet. When I write a song, it’s tailor-written to whatever sonic bed was pre-existing.
T: How did you improve when you were developing?
BT: I would always be rappin’. Always be rappin’. I’d just sit in this room and rap about everything in it. And you’d be sick. You’d be mad. Just stop rapping!
T: So young rappers trying should practice all the time.
BT: The same way Norah Jones and Alicia Keys had to practice at the piano and Wyclef with his guitar, and ?uestlove—I’d call him after school and be like "Lemme speak to Ahmir," and his Dad would be like, he’s practicing, and hang up. That’s what makes a great musician, and if you’re gonna be a vocalist, if your voice is gonna be your axe, then you need to refine your knowledge. You also gotta be abreast of what’s goin’ on in current affairs, news, the latest reality-TV shit, what’s goin’ on in the Internet—you boil all of that down into one line that was witty because you compared this thing with that thing. You have to be knowledgeable of all the pre-existing information in order to edit it into something that’s fly to say.
**Touré is the host of BET’s The Black Carpet and the host of Treasure HD’s I’ll Try Anything Once. He is the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN’s first pop-culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard.
RZArector!
Posted on 03/06/2009
The RZA is a cold beast! His body of work attests to it. The breadth and depth of his work goes well beyond that of the typical producer/rapper. He’s worked on movie scores (Kill Bill I & II, Ghostdog, and Blade among others), acted alongside Denzel Washington, produced for pop and alternative music’s elite, and contributed to developing the Wu brand to conglomerate status. And, oh yeah, he also helped to assemble what many believe is the greatest hip-hop collective ever with the venerable Wu-tang Clan.
All the while he’s kept the Wu ensemble on pretty much the same page over the last 16 years to the tune of roughly 20 million album sales. Most crews that tried to copy the Wu-Tang crew’s blueprint barely held things together for a year or two. No one could capture the chemistry, loyalty, and overall skill-set that this collective exhibited. Of course there were bumps in the road, but the Wu always came back to re-form like Voltron.
OKP’s Mel Blunt recently spoke with the RZA to get the scoop on the Afro Samurai 2: Resurrection project and what really goes on in the mind of a true master.
OKP: Tell me something about the Afro Samurai 2 soundtrack that defines RZA 2009.
RZA: It’s stuff on there that’s classic from the ‘92 to ‘93 era, songs like “War,” where I took that beat, off the Wu Killer Bee album--we never rapped on it before. The song features Kool G Rap, Ghostface, and myself. At the same time you hear songs like “Family Affair” with Sly Stone who is definitely a classic artist. The production on that cut is more futuristic. One moment I’m in the past and the next moment I’m years ahead. You can time-travel with my music.
OKP: How did you choose the artists for this project?
RZA: Well on the first Afro Samurai project I came with Talib, Big Daddy Kane, and the GZA; we even had Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest. Those brothers represented the pureness of hip-hop, the Afrocentric vibe as well as a raw street vibe. I wanted to capture some of the same elements on this project, but the female antagonist, [Cio] played by Lucy Liu, was like the main focus of the episode. It was all about Cio coming back and raising Afro.
I had to find a female emcee who could be pretty and deadly at the same time. That’s what I found in Rah Digga. I knew that I was going to have Rah Digga on it [Afro Samurai 2 soundtrack] while the script was still in development, before they started the animation. I reached out to her eight months before we did the soundtrack. I told her that I had something that I wanted her to do. These things [project development] take a little time to come to fruition given the time needed to create the animation, and compose the score. The soundtrack came last.
When the time came, and I had some footage to show her, I flew her to Cali and spent a couple of weeks with her, and we put in work.
OKP:You’ve worked with or contributed tracks to some of the top or most popular female emcees in the game; L-boogie, Charlie Baltimore, and Rah Diggah. Were there any near misses on potential projects with other female emcess or singers?
My first song that I attempted to write for, when I was like 15 or16, was Roxanne Shante.
OKP: What?
RZA: Word! Back when I was a young buck and my cousin GZA was signed to Cold Chillin and my manager Melquan was cool with Fly Ty and em’. I had a chance to write a couple of songs for her demo them, but they were never released.
As a producer, after Roxanne Shante, my company worked with a female named Entice. We also had The Venomz signed to Wu-Tang Records. I like to do whatever the times call for. Like now I’m working on the remake of The Last Dragon and you say who could be cast or who should we be thinking about putting in this movie? Who could make sense for our time and still keep it classic? I think like that. I try to figure what character or what energy could fit the vibe of my project. And on Afro Samurai 2, I felt Rah Digga was the female, who . . . you watch her in her videos, she always came out with the tough voice, she’d always have some good punch lines, yet she looked like a lady.
Then also on the record, you know I chose Kool G Rap. The reason I chose him was because on the last Afro Samurai I had GZA and Big Daddy Kane. That’s like me as an emcee, as a producer, and as a fan of hip-hop just wanting to hear these two dudes on a track. That’s the same thing with G-Rap and Ghostface, or G-Rap and Deck.
Deck is one of the most underrated emcees in the game.
OKP: Deck, now that’s my dude.
RZA: Yeah he’s a master, he still he doesn’t get that full type recognition. Now if they do a top 50 emcees list and they don’t have Deck up there, they must be crazy.
OKP: One thing I’ve noticed with Deck is that he’s like your lead-off hitter.
RZA: Yeah exactly, that motherfucker gets on base. And so I figure let’s get G Rap, who’s like a godfather to a lot of emcees; lets get Deck, who most emcees respect, but sometimes overlook; then add me and Ghost. We listened to G-Rap back in our street days. Then again, I just jumped on it just because I can.
OKP: Is there anything artistically on the Afro Samurai 2 project that you think needs explanation for fear of flying over some listeners’ heads?
RZA: You really shouldn’t have to explain art, but people have to understand that this is a soundtrack to an animated series. I made all of the music for animated scenes. Yet some of the themes of the project were not intended to be songs. Like on “Dead Birds,” we have Killah Priest, who’s also a dope emcee, and Prodigal Sun from Sunz of Man.
They spit over a rock and roll beat with my man Shavo Odadjian from System of a Down playing the guitar. The idea of that, when you watch the series you’ll see a scene when the same beat comes on and it makes the whole fuckin’ scene exciting.
Now making a rap out of it was not an easy job, but I put it together, they came in and tried something, but it doesn’t fit into the whole hip-hop vein, so that’s an experiment.
But one song …Cio’s theme, she wanted to kill Samurai for her family for her brother. That’s why I recorded that song and put it on the soundtrack.
There are some things, if you don’t watch the series and you’re not into the characters that you might not be able to relate to. You may not comprehend why I made a song of it or why this song came after that song. It all fits into the Afro Samurai picture.
OKP: Did you get to work with or build creatively with Sam “Mutherfuckin” Jackson?
RZA: Not really, we didn’t have to check on each other on nothing more than just promoting the project together, sharing a few laughs together, and talking together. He’s a totally independent master at what he does, and I’m a totally independent master at what I do. In fact, there was an incident during episode I, when somebody was bragging about me, and they said, “Rza did all of this in one night, he took the music to another level, he made the trailer so beautiful and saved the day.” Sam said “that what he’s supposed to do nuh!”
He was basically saying if RZA said he could hold that sword, then he better be able to hold that sword. That’s respect, as well as his way of complementing me.
OKP: Do you have creative input into the Afro Samurai brand?
RZA: The director, Bob Osaki, is a big fan as well as a friend. We became friends over the last four years. It’s the little things that you’ll see on the project that you know come from me. Some of the animation is made to fit the music. When the ninja dies in episode I, he does the hand signal to Afro. That hand signal is the same one that I use when I leave Japan, when I leave the meetings. When they included that, they sent me an e-mail that said this is a gesture from the director for how much respect he has for you. You’ll also see that they have a DJ with the Bobby Digital mask on. I also did the voice for the DJ character. That was the director’s way of incorporating my spirit into the project beyond the music.
I was brought into this project before it became a cartoon, when it was just a pamphlet of a few drawings and some potential contributors that we felt could make this a solid American/Japanese production.
OKP: Wu-Tang revolutionized the game in terms of allowing individuals to sign independent solo deals although they were signed as a group with Wu-Tang Clan. It seems like that would be conducive for financial harmony. However, it seems that there is some dissension in regard to finances among the Wu ranks lately.
RZA: It’s always going to be like that, Wu-tang was like that before we became world-wide hip-hop stars. Just like in the hood. Plus most of us are from two different housing projects as well. One minute you don’t know if Rae and Ghost are going to shoot each other, because one is from Park Hill and the other is from Stapleton; the next minute, they’re the tightest dudes in the world. So that comes from having years of friendship. A lot of us have been friends for 25 years.
So that shit goes up and down and everybody’s got their opinions and shit. At one point every opinion was my opinion, because at that point I was the best thrower, I was the one who had the most experience, but now that everyone else has grown, they voice their opinions. Sometimes their opinions are right, sometimes they’re wrong. The same goes for me, but sometimes it’s a matter of perception. When it comes to what I do, I do it how I do it yo, and that’s how I do!
If music was compared to a drug, you have green weed and you have brown weed. You want green weed and that’s what I sell, that’s what I got man. If you were in the mood for brown weed, don’t get mad at me, I don’t have the brown, all I have is the green.
I think that was the case with 8 Diagrams; brothers were looking for a certain flavor. It’s not that I can’t produce that flavor, but this is what I’m making for the Wu fans. I’ve done songs with people from Bjork to Bono; from rock-n-roll people to soul people; from B.I.G. to all types of people who I’ve produced for. For Wu, I always thought it was spiritual, I always felt that it had to have a certain twang, that’s why I do it that way.
OKP: Now is this dissension just a family squabble or something deeper?
RZA: Every time you get a family squabble it comes from individualistic people. It comes from an individual making a mistake and not realizing the root of the mistake. I’ve never messed up any of my brother’s money, that’s one thing that I’ve never done.
If you go back and check from my side of the story, I recently heard about an interview concerning all of that money talk and that shit was just a myth. A lot of brothers realized it and apologized to me personally for that, but not publicly for that.
RZA Mathematics
RZA: But the whole thing is G, I don’t have your damn money. In a nutshell, let’s take Raekwon for instance, OK he has a platinum album, Cuban Links, he has a gold album, Immobilarity, and he has the success from the Wu Tang Albums, OK. Now you put that all together. A Wu tang album is split between 10 dudes, now that’s a hard count. Let’s say altogether, Rae sold 1.5 million records. I share writing credit with him. I went platinum with him on Cuban Links, I had 50 percent of every song on that one. But even though I have a cut of those 1 million sales, I also have 50 percent of an additional 2 million records I sold with Method Man. As a matter of fact he went double platinum twice, that’s 4 more million records I’ve got a cut of. So now I’ve got a piece of 5 million records, you’re [Raekwon] still at million.
Now I’ve got another million records that I did with Ghost, now that’s 6 million records that I share credit on. Then I’ve got another million with GZA; another million with Dirty, another million with Grave Diggaz, another million with Bobby Digital. So the bottom line is that my workload is heavy, my output is heavy. So maybe Raekwon has 150 songs in his catalog—I have 600 songs in my catalog.
I think brothers aren’t realizing—they’ll take a look and say how come after all of these years, why do I have more or less than what they have. It’s because of my work yo, it aint’ because I’ve got your shit. What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. I put in so much work yo. It’s common sense. It won’t seem like common sense if he’s [Raekwon] only evaluating his work with me.
And Inspektah Deck could say “well look at me.” Well Deck, you only have one gold record besides the Wu projects. I’ve got gold Grave Diggaz albums to match that, I’ve got two as a matter of fact. I’ve got a gold Bobby digital album to match that. So it’s like in my producing/rapping career, I’ve sold more records than you as a rapper, I don’t mean nothing against him.
Then to take it to another level, we sold 1.7 million Kill Bill Soundtracks on part I, another 700,000 on part II. Blade went gold in four or five different countries. I’m involved with movies that gross $120 million at the box office. I’ve been doing that since 2001. So when the other brothers are not having the same success, they’re like “how come the god is still holding his weight?”
It’s not because of what I did with Wu, that’s some of the weight. The rest comes from my continuation of work. I think that’s where the brothers got it twisted. Now when they’re talking to their lawyer or their manager, they’ve got to have an imagination about it. With that, it won’t be the truth.
It’s not Louds’s problem or Universal’s problem that 10 dudes are splitting $1 million. If it was all going to one dude, he’d be like a Mother . . .So we’re coming together to do this. Now on the last album, of which I feel really disrespected because brothers were griping about money, I took way less than market value for my beats. I’m talking $20,000 less than what I normally get.
I told Rae I worked on that album for eight months. Now I made a Belvedere commercial that took two days to produce. I made the same amount of money on each venture.
I can’t exploit my value with my brothers. I was telling Rae, you and Ghost, you may have done a verse and got paid for your services. You get four or five verses on a project, you’re straight. You get paid more from me that you would charge a N%$&* in the street!
You can’t overlook those things, but you know, with such a big world and with so many different people in our ears—nah it’s Wu-Tang forever! Every time the flag goes up I’m there. I’m quite sure that all the brothers feel like that, at the end of the day. Because we still tour together, you’ll see Cuban Links II is coming out.
OKP: What’s your involvement with Cuban Links II?
I’ve got songs on it, I produced some songs on there. Really the bulk of the album was produced under my reins. I let Rae take it and do what he wants with it. On the business side of it you know what? You can handle the business, because you know I had a hook-up at Aftermath, he had a hook-up as well, but you know I consolidated the hook-up.
OKP: I understand that Busta Rhymes was involved at some point.
RZA: Yeah Busta was involved, but now Rae’s handling business himself, he has his own company. And just as an example, I came out of pocket big time to contribute to Rae’s project before we got the deal. But at the end of the day I gave it to him. So when it goes down in March, it aint like he can say he paid me X amount of dollars. Rza actually invested in major elements of his project. So I’m like don’t have people thinking some other shit, because I’m a nuh’ that invested in you, and after I invested, I still let you walk with it. I want to see the best for you [Rae] and your family.
We never really need to argue, you know people always take sides.
Just a warning—Raekwon’s pen is on fire!
- Mel Blunt
*Look for RZA in the upcoming films Funny People (Seth Rogan) and Repossession Mambo (Forrest Whitaker, Jude Law), and hopefully his own feature film The Iron Fist. RZA is also featured on the 2nd edition of “The Blak List,” a collection of biographical vignettes that focuses on the modern-day individuals that help to define Black struggle and accomplishment.
The RZA is a cold beast! His body of work attests to it. The breadth and depth of his work goes well beyond that of the typical producer/rapper. He’s worked on movie scores (Kill Bill I & II, Ghostdog, and Blade among others), acted alongside Denzel Washington, produced for pop and alternative music’s elite, and contributed to developing the Wu brand to conglomerate status. And, oh yeah, he also helped to assemble what many believe is the greatest hip-hop collective ever with the venerable Wu-tang Clan.
All the while he’s kept the Wu ensemble on pretty much the same page over the last 16 years to the tune of roughly 20 million album sales. Most crews that tried to copy the Wu-Tang crew’s blueprint barely held things together for a year or two. No one could capture the chemistry, loyalty, and overall skill-set that this collective exhibited. Of course there were bumps in the road, but the Wu always came back to re-form like Voltron.
OKP’s Mel Blunt recently spoke with the RZA to get the scoop on the Afro Samurai 2: Resurrection project and what really goes on in the mind of a true master.
OKP: Tell me something about the Afro Samurai 2 soundtrack that defines RZA 2009.
RZA: It’s stuff on there that’s classic from the ‘92 to ‘93 era, songs like “War,” where I took that beat, off the Wu Killer Bee album--we never rapped on it before. The song features Kool G Rap, Ghostface, and myself. At the same time you hear songs like “Family Affair” with Sly Stone who is definitely a classic artist. The production on that cut is more futuristic. One moment I’m in the past and the next moment I’m years ahead. You can time-travel with my music.
OKP: How did you choose the artists for this project?
RZA: Well on the first Afro Samurai project I came with Talib, Big Daddy Kane, and the GZA; we even had Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest. Those brothers represented the pureness of hip-hop, the Afrocentric vibe as well as a raw street vibe. I wanted to capture some of the same elements on this project, but the female antagonist, [Cio] played by Lucy Liu, was like the main focus of the episode. It was all about Cio coming back and raising Afro.
I had to find a female emcee who could be pretty and deadly at the same time. That’s what I found in Rah Digga. I knew that I was going to have Rah Digga on it [Afro Samurai 2 soundtrack] while the script was still in development, before they started the animation. I reached out to her eight months before we did the soundtrack. I told her that I had something that I wanted her to do. These things [project development] take a little time to come to fruition given the time needed to create the animation, and compose the score. The soundtrack came last.
When the time came, and I had some footage to show her, I flew her to Cali and spent a couple of weeks with her, and we put in work.
OKP:You’ve worked with or contributed tracks to some of the top or most popular female emcees in the game; L-boogie, Charlie Baltimore, and Rah Diggah. Were there any near misses on potential projects with other female emcess or singers?
My first song that I attempted to write for, when I was like 15 or16, was Roxanne Shante.
OKP: What?
RZA: Word! Back when I was a young buck and my cousin GZA was signed to Cold Chillin and my manager Melquan was cool with Fly Ty and em’. I had a chance to write a couple of songs for her demo them, but they were never released.
As a producer, after Roxanne Shante, my company worked with a female named Entice. We also had The Venomz signed to Wu-Tang Records. I like to do whatever the times call for. Like now I’m working on the remake of The Last Dragon and you say who could be cast or who should we be thinking about putting in this movie? Who could make sense for our time and still keep it classic? I think like that. I try to figure what character or what energy could fit the vibe of my project. And on Afro Samurai 2, I felt Rah Digga was the female, who . . . you watch her in her videos, she always came out with the tough voice, she’d always have some good punch lines, yet she looked like a lady.
Then also on the record, you know I chose Kool G Rap. The reason I chose him was because on the last Afro Samurai I had GZA and Big Daddy Kane. That’s like me as an emcee, as a producer, and as a fan of hip-hop just wanting to hear these two dudes on a track. That’s the same thing with G-Rap and Ghostface, or G-Rap and Deck.
Deck is one of the most underrated emcees in the game.
OKP: Deck, now that’s my dude.
RZA: Yeah he’s a master, he still he doesn’t get that full type recognition. Now if they do a top 50 emcees list and they don’t have Deck up there, they must be crazy.
OKP: One thing I’ve noticed with Deck is that he’s like your lead-off hitter.
RZA: Yeah exactly, that motherfucker gets on base. And so I figure let’s get G Rap, who’s like a godfather to a lot of emcees; lets get Deck, who most emcees respect, but sometimes overlook; then add me and Ghost. We listened to G-Rap back in our street days. Then again, I just jumped on it just because I can.
OKP: Is there anything artistically on the Afro Samurai 2 project that you think needs explanation for fear of flying over some listeners’ heads?
RZA: You really shouldn’t have to explain art, but people have to understand that this is a soundtrack to an animated series. I made all of the music for animated scenes. Yet some of the themes of the project were not intended to be songs. Like on “Dead Birds,” we have Killah Priest, who’s also a dope emcee, and Prodigal Sun from Sunz of Man.
They spit over a rock and roll beat with my man Shavo Odadjian from System of a Down playing the guitar. The idea of that, when you watch the series you’ll see a scene when the same beat comes on and it makes the whole fuckin’ scene exciting.
Now making a rap out of it was not an easy job, but I put it together, they came in and tried something, but it doesn’t fit into the whole hip-hop vein, so that’s an experiment.
But one song …Cio’s theme, she wanted to kill Samurai for her family for her brother. That’s why I recorded that song and put it on the soundtrack.
There are some things, if you don’t watch the series and you’re not into the characters that you might not be able to relate to. You may not comprehend why I made a song of it or why this song came after that song. It all fits into the Afro Samurai picture.
OKP: Did you get to work with or build creatively with Sam “Mutherfuckin” Jackson?
RZA: Not really, we didn’t have to check on each other on nothing more than just promoting the project together, sharing a few laughs together, and talking together. He’s a totally independent master at what he does, and I’m a totally independent master at what I do. In fact, there was an incident during episode I, when somebody was bragging about me, and they said, “Rza did all of this in one night, he took the music to another level, he made the trailer so beautiful and saved the day.” Sam said “that what he’s supposed to do nuh!”
He was basically saying if RZA said he could hold that sword, then he better be able to hold that sword. That’s respect, as well as his way of complementing me.
OKP: Do you have creative input into the Afro Samurai brand?
RZA: The director, Bob Osaki, is a big fan as well as a friend. We became friends over the last four years. It’s the little things that you’ll see on the project that you know come from me. Some of the animation is made to fit the music. When the ninja dies in episode I, he does the hand signal to Afro. That hand signal is the same one that I use when I leave Japan, when I leave the meetings. When they included that, they sent me an e-mail that said this is a gesture from the director for how much respect he has for you. You’ll also see that they have a DJ with the Bobby Digital mask on. I also did the voice for the DJ character. That was the director’s way of incorporating my spirit into the project beyond the music.
I was brought into this project before it became a cartoon, when it was just a pamphlet of a few drawings and some potential contributors that we felt could make this a solid American/Japanese production.
OKP: Wu-Tang revolutionized the game in terms of allowing individuals to sign independent solo deals although they were signed as a group with Wu-Tang Clan. It seems like that would be conducive for financial harmony. However, it seems that there is some dissension in regard to finances among the Wu ranks lately.
RZA: It’s always going to be like that, Wu-tang was like that before we became world-wide hip-hop stars. Just like in the hood. Plus most of us are from two different housing projects as well. One minute you don’t know if Rae and Ghost are going to shoot each other, because one is from Park Hill and the other is from Stapleton; the next minute, they’re the tightest dudes in the world. So that comes from having years of friendship. A lot of us have been friends for 25 years.
So that shit goes up and down and everybody’s got their opinions and shit. At one point every opinion was my opinion, because at that point I was the best thrower, I was the one who had the most experience, but now that everyone else has grown, they voice their opinions. Sometimes their opinions are right, sometimes they’re wrong. The same goes for me, but sometimes it’s a matter of perception. When it comes to what I do, I do it how I do it yo, and that’s how I do!
If music was compared to a drug, you have green weed and you have brown weed. You want green weed and that’s what I sell, that’s what I got man. If you were in the mood for brown weed, don’t get mad at me, I don’t have the brown, all I have is the green.
I think that was the case with 8 Diagrams; brothers were looking for a certain flavor. It’s not that I can’t produce that flavor, but this is what I’m making for the Wu fans. I’ve done songs with people from Bjork to Bono; from rock-n-roll people to soul people; from B.I.G. to all types of people who I’ve produced for. For Wu, I always thought it was spiritual, I always felt that it had to have a certain twang, that’s why I do it that way.
OKP: Now is this dissension just a family squabble or something deeper?
RZA: Every time you get a family squabble it comes from individualistic people. It comes from an individual making a mistake and not realizing the root of the mistake. I’ve never messed up any of my brother’s money, that’s one thing that I’ve never done.
If you go back and check from my side of the story, I recently heard about an interview concerning all of that money talk and that shit was just a myth. A lot of brothers realized it and apologized to me personally for that, but not publicly for that.
RZA Mathematics
RZA: But the whole thing is G, I don’t have your damn money. In a nutshell, let’s take Raekwon for instance, OK he has a platinum album, Cuban Links, he has a gold album, Immobilarity, and he has the success from the Wu Tang Albums, OK. Now you put that all together. A Wu tang album is split between 10 dudes, now that’s a hard count. Let’s say altogether, Rae sold 1.5 million records. I share writing credit with him. I went platinum with him on Cuban Links, I had 50 percent of every song on that one. But even though I have a cut of those 1 million sales, I also have 50 percent of an additional 2 million records I sold with Method Man. As a matter of fact he went double platinum twice, that’s 4 more million records I’ve got a cut of. So now I’ve got a piece of 5 million records, you’re [Raekwon] still at million.
Now I’ve got another million records that I did with Ghost, now that’s 6 million records that I share credit on. Then I’ve got another million with GZA; another million with Dirty, another million with Grave Diggaz, another million with Bobby Digital. So the bottom line is that my workload is heavy, my output is heavy. So maybe Raekwon has 150 songs in his catalog—I have 600 songs in my catalog.
I think brothers aren’t realizing—they’ll take a look and say how come after all of these years, why do I have more or less than what they have. It’s because of my work yo, it aint’ because I’ve got your shit. What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. I put in so much work yo. It’s common sense. It won’t seem like common sense if he’s [Raekwon] only evaluating his work with me.
And Inspektah Deck could say “well look at me.” Well Deck, you only have one gold record besides the Wu projects. I’ve got gold Grave Diggaz albums to match that, I’ve got two as a matter of fact. I’ve got a gold Bobby digital album to match that. So it’s like in my producing/rapping career, I’ve sold more records than you as a rapper, I don’t mean nothing against him.
Then to take it to another level, we sold 1.7 million Kill Bill Soundtracks on part I, another 700,000 on part II. Blade went gold in four or five different countries. I’m involved with movies that gross $120 million at the box office. I’ve been doing that since 2001. So when the other brothers are not having the same success, they’re like “how come the god is still holding his weight?”
It’s not because of what I did with Wu, that’s some of the weight. The rest comes from my continuation of work. I think that’s where the brothers got it twisted. Now when they’re talking to their lawyer or their manager, they’ve got to have an imagination about it. With that, it won’t be the truth.
It’s not Louds’s problem or Universal’s problem that 10 dudes are splitting $1 million. If it was all going to one dude, he’d be like a Mother . . .So we’re coming together to do this. Now on the last album, of which I feel really disrespected because brothers were griping about money, I took way less than market value for my beats. I’m talking $20,000 less than what I normally get.
I told Rae I worked on that album for eight months. Now I made a Belvedere commercial that took two days to produce. I made the same amount of money on each venture.
I can’t exploit my value with my brothers. I was telling Rae, you and Ghost, you may have done a verse and got paid for your services. You get four or five verses on a project, you’re straight. You get paid more from me that you would charge a N%$&* in the street!
You can’t overlook those things, but you know, with such a big world and with so many different people in our ears—nah it’s Wu-Tang forever! Every time the flag goes up I’m there. I’m quite sure that all the brothers feel like that, at the end of the day. Because we still tour together, you’ll see Cuban Links II is coming out.
OKP: What’s your involvement with Cuban Links II?
I’ve got songs on it, I produced some songs on there. Really the bulk of the album was produced under my reins. I let Rae take it and do what he wants with it. On the business side of it you know what? You can handle the business, because you know I had a hook-up at Aftermath, he had a hook-up as well, but you know I consolidated the hook-up.
OKP: I understand that Busta Rhymes was involved at some point.
RZA: Yeah Busta was involved, but now Rae’s handling business himself, he has his own company. And just as an example, I came out of pocket big time to contribute to Rae’s project before we got the deal. But at the end of the day I gave it to him. So when it goes down in March, it aint like he can say he paid me X amount of dollars. Rza actually invested in major elements of his project. So I’m like don’t have people thinking some other shit, because I’m a nuh’ that invested in you, and after I invested, I still let you walk with it. I want to see the best for you [Rae] and your family.
We never really need to argue, you know people always take sides.
Just a warning—Raekwon’s pen is on fire!
- Mel Blunt
*Look for RZA in the upcoming films Funny People (Seth Rogan) and Repossession Mambo (Forrest Whitaker, Jude Law), and hopefully his own feature film The Iron Fist. RZA is also featured on the 2nd edition of “The Blak List,” a collection of biographical vignettes that focuses on the modern-day individuals that help to define Black struggle and accomplishment.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
REAL TALK: DJ IDLE
How did you become a DJ?
Back in 1996 0ne of my buddies in high school had borrowed his older brothers turntables and had it set up in his room. He handed me a video and told me to pop it in the VCR (no dvd players back then lol). As soon as the video started he was doing what they were doing “Scratching”. I was so intrigued by the sound of the scratch and intricate cuts that I was hooked as soon as my fingers touched the vinyl and cross fader. From then on I fell in love with the different styles of scratching and thus a scratch DJ was born. It wasn’t until 10yrs ago is when I actually learned to “MIX”. I was djing for a local alternative/rock band and during breaks people asked me to play certain songs and so I started to attempt to mix. It wasn’t the greatest but what the heck they didn’t know the difference. Then I noticed that the dance floor was packed like crazy and that’s when I knew I should focus more on mixing. Since then I never looked back and began strictly mixing instead, all the while adding a little scratch session here and there. Now with the development of the “SERATO” I must say that being a DJ has never been easier.
How did you become known as DJ Idle and how does that name fit your style and personality?
My actual DJ name was DJ Idle handz, it was based on that movie IDLE HANDS. It was about a possessed cut off hand that was causing mayhem and mischief throughout a suburban town. Nonetheless it reminded me of my hands being possessed and going crazy on the cross fader and vinyl (being a scratch dj and all) just tearing up a sound point or a phrase of a song. Later on down the road I heard people and emcees mentioning my name over the mic and it dawned on me, “that’s a long name to say”. So I decided to cut it short and call myself DJ Idle. One of my friends had asked me, “why idle? Do you know what that means?” He began explaining that it’s like a car being stationary in “idle”, your not going anywhere! And my reply to him was “Exactly! This DJ is here to stay” Till this day that name has stuck with me. It has gotten to a point where people don’t even call me by my first name anymore.
When was your first gig? What was that experience like?
I was actually helping a friend of mine do a mobile dj gig and he had asked me to hop on the turntables for a bit. Oh man! I was so nervous that I could not even get the needle on the record. My hands kept shaking and trembling. At that time there was no Serato it was just old school vinyl so I kept skipping the grooves where the breaks where. I actually had to rest my whole forearm on the platter of the turntable in order for me to drop it on to the record. It was a feeling of fear that I will never forget.
How do you think you've improved as a DJ from say a year ago?
I guess for me what has improved with in the past year as a DJ would be my transitioning between songs and song selection. Djing for me has always been a learning process. There are always new styles and methods to learn. I try to absorb as much as I can from other Djs in order to better myself.
Do you have any examples of things you do or habits you have that show that DJ IDLE is a music junkie/nerd?
Music, music and music! I try to download as much as I can when I can so I can have the latest music available. I also share music with other djs and we would just upload each other’s music. We would share links and forums where we can get the latest mixes and remixes of different types of music. I’ve been thru multiple hard drives because my music library keeps growing. Someone once told me, “Your music is what makes you a DJ, having 2 turntables and a mixer don’t mean nothing if you don’t have music! Its like having a gun with no bullets! Chicken nuggets without the sauce! It makes no sense”. So I always arm myself with music and tons of it!
The "mainstream hits" are definitely a DJs best friend, how do you know when its the right time to drop those songs? Is there a wrong time to play them?
I agree. Mainstream hits are a DJs best friend however the DJ has to possess the knowledge to play the crowd. If you know how to play the crowd then you will know when to drop it. For me there is actually no wrong time to play them. If the crowd is feeling it then drop it. You kind of have to fish the crowd a little to see what’s moving them. Personally I spin music that I like to dance to, it helps me get an idea of what mood the crowd is in then I work it from there.
What are your club/promoter affilations?
Currently I am a resident DJ with HIDEF 808 who throws down the sickest parties every Friday night at E&O Trading Company for Lavish Fridays. I also work with TRU21 and Flambukie productions for other events and parties.
What is the strangest most off the wall crazy thing you have seen or been a part DJing at a club?
Ha! One of the most strangest parties that I’ve deejayed was a Foam party. It was an electrical disaster waiting to happen. Let me tell you, you don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that water and electrical currents don’t mix. Hey, I needed the cash at the time! No body got shocked and the party went pretty well, but will I ever do it again? Nah!
With the closure of E and O's what's next for you and HIDEF?
Ah sad but true, it was a good run but like they say, all great things must come to and end. However I look at this as only the beginning of bigger and better things yet to come. Whatever the boys of HIDEF got planned, I'm game for, these guys are always hustlin'. Some venues are already in the works, its just a matter of when. Always remember when one door closes another one opens!
Until a new venue in night is there for you how will you spend your Friday nights now?
Wow you mean I actually have a Friday night off!LOL. Well until something else comes up i'm most likely going to lay low and enjoy a few friday nights off of the DJ scene for a bit and spend friday nights at home with my son. He's a gamer so we will probably be hittin' the XBOX playing CALL OF DUTY!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Soulgasmic.
A different kind of buffet
Kalani Wilhelm
Mar 11, 2009
The soulful groove stylings of Nadirah Shakoor will be on display at Soulgasm, Honolulu’s premiere live house and soul monthly Friday night.
The two-time Grammy nominated artist is best known as the lead singer for ’90s hip-hop group Arrested Development. Shakoor was also a part of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation tour in 1992 and has also worked with megastars like Madonna, Al Jarreau and Quincy Jones among others.
After Arrested Development disbanded in 1995, Spearhead, Yanni and Jimmy Buffett approached the singer songwriter to join their respective live shows. She took Buffett’s offer and has been touring with Mr. Margaritaville and the Coral Reefer Band ever since.
On the solo tip, the talented songstress has four albums to her credit and established herself as a successful voice in the house music world. Her current album is a project honoring Buffett entitled Nod to the Storyteller.
Loft, 115 N. Hotel St., Fri 3/13, 9pm, $12–15, 21+, 688-8813
Spinzone: Freq Nasty
So, it’s Miss Jackson, then?
Kalani Wilhelm
Mar 11, 2009
FreQ Nasty / His musical mantra represents everything innovative and exciting about dance music.
For all of DJ-producer FreQ Nasty’s ahead-of-his-time contributions to the global break beat scene, he will always remain affiliated with the genre first and foremost. From classic tracks like “Boomin’ Back Atcha” and “Move Back” to mix work on the recently released FabricLive 42 album, the UK underground king represents it all. It doesn’t matter what category he’s unfairly pigeonholed into, as long as the beats are hard and heavy, the bass is heavier and the volume is loud.
Downtown is ready for a complete dance blitz at its best. Direct from the dread headed’s creative mind to yours.
Loft, 115 N. Hotel St., Sat 3/14, 9pm–2am, 21+, 688-8813
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