POW

Thank g-d for dead prez....

dead prez, "politrickkks"

:::THA EARRRRLY SET:::

A couple folks (hi, mom! hi, dad!) asked me to post more live recordings of my sets here. unfortunately i'm sorta picky about posting sh*t cuz i always find mistakes, flaws, mess ups etc (sometimes hundreds lol) but recently i was speakin with a homie about tha subject of "early sets" and i decided to post this segment from last week's COLORS party i DJ'ed at with Mind Motion.

Getting asked to rock a 1-2 hour set during tha hypest moments of a party is definitely fun and rewarding -- so much so, that i feel some DJs neglect tha importance of tha EARLY SET -- where tha mood is set, new records and sounds are experimented with, tha long blend is privileged over tha quickmix and 1/2-bar drop, and (for lack of a better phrase) tha "sexy sh*t" gets played. Sometimes DJ's (myself included) forget that alotta folks are spendig 4-6 hours in a club, even if we are just spinning records for 1 hour of that time. There should be musical changes, in tone, volume, tempo, and feel.

This may not be tha best example of that, but i feel it represents a little of tha ideas discussed above. enjoy...

DJ Sake One, "Tha Early Set" (Live @ Levende Lounge, Oct 16, 2008)

"ARAB MONEY" = WACK

This is maybe tha worst example of corporate fuckery i have heard in a long ass time -- whats scary is tha number of DJs and music heads jumping on it cuz it has a "hot beat." Sorry yall -- its never cool to make gross stereotypes about racial groups (even "positive" ones, such as tha allegation of wealth), PARTICULARY when you're mispronouncing that groups identity (tha ubiquitous "AY-rab").

Is everyone fucking crazy? Pointing out tha racism of tha McCain campaign all day long, and ignoring tha obviously backwardness of tha Busta song....hmmmm....aite. Keep dancin...

Oh and let's not forget tha "Arab Money" dance, which looks SORTA like some kinda racist stereotypical sh*t. All yall dancin to this sh*t in tha club -- you ever been to tha Middle East? How many rich people did you meet there? Did you see tha refugee camps, full of Palestinians who aren't allowed to return home? How about tha miles-high stacks of box-sized rooms that house workers who toil 15-hour days to produce that "Arab Money"? In tha words of Ice Cube: "Think about it. Ya fuckin sellout."

PLUMBERS CRACKK

All this talk about Joe tha Plumber got me irked. See, I'm sort of a traditionalist, and definitely loyal to tha old school. Therefore, I present you with this TIMELESS tribute to tha original Joe -- JOE BLOW. Special shout out to Joe Cool (Snoopy), Average Joe and Sloppy Joe!!


Puffy Dee, "Joe Blow" (Tuff City Records, 1985)

KOOL BOB LOVE aka BOBBITO GARCIA aka CUCUMBER SLICE aka BAG OF TRICS aka....

...tha dude with more nicknames than you will be rockin with us tonite @ Planet Rock, right here in tha heart of San Franpsycho. Get there early n often!



The Beatnuts feat. Bobbito Garcia, "Fried Chicken"

A GIANT IN THA MENTAL

I promised to give y'all a little more info on tha legendary DJ Mind Motion -- and he's spinning at my party this Thursday, so it seemed like tha perfect time. He's on of my idols and teachers in tha game and without Mind Motion and tha Pirate DJs there wouldn't be no DJ Sake One or (((Local 1200)) DJ crew -- beleive dat! I did a brief interview with him (sorry, dudes is busy) and he was cool enough to pass along a couple OG pics. This is Bay Area hip-hop history right here -- do tha knowledge and make sure to check out Mind Motion at tha hottest clubs around tha Bay Area, on air (weekday mornings and weekend evenings on 106.1 KMEL-FM) and also on his website www.mindmotionrockstheparty.com....

One thing that was ill about doing this interview is that Mind Motion is like a big brother to me and alotta other DJs in tha Bay Area -- and yet, like me, he was put on and inspired by HIS older brother. Its fresh to be able to pay tribute to giants like Mind Motion while they are still at tha peak of their game...

SAKE: When did you start DJing?
MM: I've been around djing since about 1982-83. I started djing around 1986-87 and really started my come up (knew for sure that it was my life) in 1989-1990.

SAKE: Who/what inspired you to become a DJ?
MM: I started djing all because of my brother and cousin as they started to do it when I was a young kid. I was always fascinated by it and I wanted to be as cool as they were. They always had the hottest music.

SAKE: Who is your brother?
MM: (The Original) DJ EFX is my older brother. He was the one responsible for me doing what I'm doing now. I have a lot of love for him for giving me life in this DJ world. What I really admired about him was, he always knew when to move on to the next thing happening and never forgot what he and other fellow DJs had done in the past as they moved forward.

DJ EFX

He's retired now, chilling in El Salvador (he's done it all, so now he's on to the next thing.... hahahaha)

SAKE: Who did you look up to coming up? What other DJs inspired you?
MM: The DJs that have inspired me when first coming up where the bay area (TRUE) legends... My brother DJ EFX of course, Dr. Funk (Miguel Fonseca), Big Bob & The Monster Crew (for all the young djs out now, Big Bob is our Afrikka Bambataa of the Bay Area, learn about him), Cameron Paul, Michael Erickson... from the east coast Funkmaster Flex and Red Alert.


SAKE: How did you develop your own style, while learning from tha old school?
MM: I looked at these DJs I mentioned as teachers. Everytime I would go see them DJ, they would have glow around them that made them shine and it translated to them rocking the party. I learn from them what to do and what not to do as they were pioneering DJ mix and crowd control skills I still follow today. You really have to be deep into DJ'ing to understand what I'm talking about.

SAKE: Alot of Bay Area people talk about Cream of Beat. What was Cream of Beat, and why was it important? What is its legacy?
MM: Cream of Beat was the godfather of all hip hop parties in the SF Bay Area from about 1992 to 1996. It formed from earlier parties we used to do outdoors starting at 2am (when clubs didn't want hip-hop at all) wich that ivolved to a party called "Mothership Connection" and as that party was reaching it's peak, we flipped it to Cream of Beat. The name came from the breakfast hot meal cream of wheat, wich the first cream of beat flyer was the actual design of the box of the meal. We controlled the music industry in the bay area. 99% of all legendary hip hop artist/groups broke out here after performing at the party, along with some of our local big djs still doing it now. At it's peaked, Cream of Beat packed in about 1,600-1,800 people once a month. We showed and proved to clubs that hip hop was profitable and we open the doors to other hip hop parties to blossom in the bay area. I can get more detailed, but it would take a cople of days... hahahaha

The legacy that Cream of Beat has left is that the party created a community based around hip-hop. Breaking new music, artist and DJs were the key for the party. Also, a lot of families formed from that party. Now days when we do the reunion, people come up to me and say to me that they met their wife/husband at cream of beat...that's big.

That's why cream of beat is so important to us Pirate DJs -- all the love and support we got from the people back in the day when we were helping build the culture here in the bay area for all of us and all the love and support we get now which keeps us going on doing what we do.



DJ Mind Motion & DJ Ivan (2nd and 3rd from left, respectively) in 1994 during tha "Cream of Beat" Era. Along with DJ Rolo 1-3 (aka Daddy Rolo) these three formed tha Bay Area's premier DJ crew -- the Pirate DJs.

CATCH DJ MIND MOTION FLEXING HIS LEGENDARY PARTY ROCKIN' SKILLS THIS THURSDAY NIGHT IN SF @ COLORS!!!!!

TRACK THA MOVEMENT

Got a gig tonite so this is gonna be brief BUT i wanted to give a hand-in-hole holla to Alameda's Finest, Trackademicks who has been steady building a name for himself as one of tha game's most uppest and comingest (pause) producers. Obviously he's not no new jack (recently signed to Fool's Gold) but his production credits continue to get more and more impressive.

Try and keep up with him by frequenting his blog and checkin' for dude this Fall on tour with tha Fool's Gold crew!! Fail to complete tha above assignments on time and you may receive a zero for tha day...or be forced to get a big ass LATE PASS once my dude is super major.

Like most of us, Track is a big Janelle Monae stan -- unlike most of us, she game him a holla to remix one of tha tracks off her incredible debut EP. Check it out here:

Janelle Monae, "Many Moons" (Trackademicks "Yall Better Shut Up" Remix)

Also, he remixed a track from tha dope "Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80s" EP -- and its none other than tha Joe Jackson classic, "Steppin' Out" -- do tha knowledge:

Zo! & Tigallo, "Steppin' Out" (Trackademicks Extra Wet Like Stoney Jackson's Curl Remix)

recent house mix

wanted to let yall know about a recent house mix i did, and even MORE so i wanted to let yall know about a dope site that covers tha 360 of DJ culture. Its called Limachips (named after its creator, Orlando Lima) and it features some amazing DJ talent such as Bobbito Garcia, DJ Eleven, Rich Medina, and DJ Moni) -- all of whom have mixes posted!! Real talk, tha site is worth checking out (and signing up for) on tha strength of tha mixes alone -- sh*t is like a Good Music Jukebox for your crib!!!

Any which way, i recorded a live house mix for Limachips (and ONLY Limachips - you won't be able to hear this mix anywhere else for awhile) so by all means, stop by my page and give it a listen. And check out my other mixes, and mixes by tha other Limachips DJs while your at it!

Big shout out to OJ and tha whole Limachips team!!!!!!



Enjoy!!