Happy Holidays!

Guilty Pleasures at Gestalt 12/23

It's the Xmas edition of Guilty Pleasures this Thursday night. Come by and toast to the holidays and wish Toph Zilla Happy Birthday. He just celebrated his big 4-0 last Saturday night. "And many more ... "

Remembering Rob One on his birthday

I was SO happy to find this video of my good friend Rob One on a DJ roundtable at Bboy Summit. I don't know what year this was, but I think it was mid- to late-'90s. There are 6 short parts, all Rob speaking only. You'll also see Cut Chemist, Charlie Chase, Babu, JRocc, Rhettmatic, Z-Trip and more.

Rob was born Robert Cory on December 16, 1971 and passed away from non-Hodgkins lymphoma on March 16, 2000. Happy Birthday, homie, I miss you more than I can explain.

Spindig Holiday Jam 12/10

Happy Holidays! It's the last Spindig of the year! It may also be, sadly, the last Spindig at The Triple Crown, which has new ownership.

Guilty Pleasures at Gestalt 2nite! 12/2

Maaaan I love DJing with Rob Metal. Not only does he have a great selection, he brings his own lights to the gig. And you'd be surprised to hear some of his "guilty pleasures."



Rob Metal is the DJ for Whore for Satan Presents. I'll be at the Forbidden, Evile, Gama Bomb, Bonded by Blood, Fog Of War show at DNA Lounge on 12/11/10 starting at 2 pm.

RIP Kwanz (aka DubStar/Rick Flare) of Bored Stiff

San Francisco just lost one of its hip-hop legends, emcee DubStar aka Kwanz of Bored Stiff. His music lives on. His energy, smile and warmth will be severely missed. May he rest in peace.

Spindig Friday 11/12

See you Friday at Triple Crown starting at 5:30.

Get the "KC Shuffle Mix" by The Principle here.

Guilty Pleasures at Gestalt 10/21

This Thursday it's round 2 of my guest spot at Toph Zilla's "weekly plus one Saturday a month" gig. This time I'm joined by the illustrious DJ Rob Metal, who has been known to throw down some of his personal guilty pleasures. Come through Gestalt and chill with us, it's fun times.

Spindig's 5th Anniversary 10/8/10

Details at Spindig.com.

Guilty Pleasures at Gestalt 9/23

RedWine presents Guilty Pleasures every Thursday and 3rd Saturdays at Gestalt Haus. I'm the guest DJ this week. Looking forward to throwing down some punk, thrash, electro, rap and fun weirdness with Toph Zilla.

Adult Situations feat. Motion Man out today

Get "High School Reunion" at 320kbps right here.

Motion Man is back! Adult Situations, a CD featuring Motion Man with beats by Unagi & Jethroe, is out today. The album also features Lyrical C and D'Wyze, with remixes by KutMasta Kurt and TomC3.



It's the Motion Man we all know and love, with ultra-clever -- and at times hilarious -- lyrics, all under the theme of, in the words of Borat, "sexy time." Beatmakers Unagi and Jethroe create the aural ambience with smooth, soulful, early-70s-feelin' keys over hip-hop drums, peppered with vocal samples from the likes of -- uh, let's not name names. You'll know.

The album opener gets you primed by "Pouring You More Champagne." But "not trying to get you drunk," Motion doesn't like you sloppy. The Motion Man sing-a-along choruses are my favorite, as in "High School Reunion" with old friend Lyrical C, which also includes some sexy whispering: "juuuniorr... seeeniorr..." After high school, it's time to move on to an "Interoffice Romance," which also appears later with a KutMasta Kurt remix -- a musical reunion. From there it's a journey through several Adult Situations. Get it and get stimulated.

Check it out at adult-situations.com.

Freddie Gibbs at 330 Ritch

Enjoyed a rap show at 330 Ritch with Tanya Morgan, DaVinci and Freddie Gibbs last week.



Check out A Day In The Life Of DaVinci by Corey Bloom.

Joe Bank$ Birthday Bash @ Spindig 8/13

DJ B.Cause is back and we're celebrating Joe Bank$' birthday! Hit up Spindig.com and join our mailing list.

Fruit and Rap

This is my new cartooning adventure, which only fans of rap music can appreciate. More are in the works, which will include such fruits and vegetables as yams, celery, avocados and a "lime to a lemon." The URL, FruitandRap.com, is inspired by my husband's website, BeerandRap.com

Guru Rest In Peace

Keith Elam, aka Guru, passed away yesterday.

Gang Starr is my favorite group of all time, all genres. DJ Premier and the Guru had a synergy that was magic. Guru, aka Keithy E, as he signed here, was an emcee and lyricist like no other. I was lucky enough to meet Guru, hang out with him, and watch him perform from the wings a few times. I'm grateful for the memories. Today is a day of mourning for the hip-hop world.



20 years ago my friend Stacey worked at BRE Magazine and found this 8x10 in a file. She also met Guru around this time. She grabbed the photo and had him sign it for me. It hangs in my kitchen. She is also the person who played Gang Starr for me first, from a tape dubbed from Davey D. I've been the biggest Gang Starr fan ever since. It was during Gavin of 1991 that I met them. Almost 20 years ago. My heart goes out to the entire Gang Starr Foundation.

This is what Keith wrote on the photo: "To Stephanie, Keep spinning baby and remember music is the universal voice. Peace and we wish you all of the best! Blessings & love, from 'GURU' Brooklyn - Gang Starr 1990-91 - Upward Flow!"

Interview with The Genius - KPOO 1991

Click image for mp3.

I knew I had this tape somewhere. Thanks to my husband Serg finding it, it's here for all to enjoy.

The Genius (pre-GZA) hit San Francisco with his manager, Melquan (the same Melquan that Just-Ice said "peace" to) the Funky President, to promote his first album, Words From the Genius, on Warner Bros/Cold Chillin'. I believe this was in January or February of 1991. He made a promo/autograph signing appearance at 520 4th Street (old Trocadero Transfer, now Glas Kat), and one of his radio stops was at KPOO-FM 89.5 on the "Soulful Sundays" show with KK Baby. This is a recording of that interview.

Genius Interview - San Francisco 1991

During this visit, he told us (a group of friends including Stacey Holmes and Adisa Banjoko) about his cousin Rakeem, and talked about how hip-hop would soon be taken over, and changed forever, by their crew. Two years later we realized he had been talking about the Wu-Tang Clan.

RedWine's monthly record swap 2/14

Bad Brains "Omega Sessions" 10-inch

Toph One and the RedWine crew present their monthly record swap today and every second Sunday afternoon/evening complete w/ beer, pool & brats. Rap, Latin, punk, rock, metal, funk, soul -- all genres of wax represented.

No cost to sell and no cover to get in!
4-8 pm @ Gestalt
3159 16th Street between Albion & Guerrero (nr. 16th St. BART)
In the Mission, San Francisco

I missed last month's, when Grand Invincible shot their new music video. Last time I came up on a Bad Brains "Omega Session" 10-inch, a gift from Sake1. Gotta get there early!

Valentine's Spindig w/ Matthew Africa

Spindig is this Friday! Our special guest Matthew Africa promises to get romantic wit'cha.

Metal Wednesdays & Left Fest Success

(Thanks for the W, Municipal Waste.)

With the success of Full Metal Spindig and the Metal Xmas Party, Butter will now host a monthly metal night every first Wednesday of the month. Doors open at 8, DJs 10-1, and all kinds of metal will be played all night. It jumps off this week on February 3rd. Want to spin metal with us for free drinks? Hit me up.


(And here I borrowed a W from Warbringer.)

"Back to the hip-hop" (like the Troubleneck Brothers): I failed to post about this show beforehand, but last Thursday night's Left Fest at Mezzanine had a great lineup with an equally great crowd to enjoy it. Here's the video flyer I made, which I was excited to see up on the wall.



Souls of Mischief celebrated the release of their new album, Montezuma's Revenge. It was also Crowne Royale's (Buff1 and DJ Rhettmatic) debut appearance in the Bay Area. Learn more about them at the Myx Music Label site. Hot shit!

If you missed the Edan and Ricky Powell "Echo Party" party, or just want to reminisce, check out Ron Nachmann's excerpts:

Echo Party feat. Edan & Ricky Powell @ SOM, San Francisco 1/19/10 (excerpts) from Shockman on Vimeo.

Excerpts from Echo Party @ SOM, San Francisco 1/19/10. Includes DJ Centipede opening set, narrated slide show by legendary NYC street photographer Ricky Powell, video interpretation of Edan's Echo Party mixtape by Tom Fitzgerald, & Edan DJ set. Shot by Ron Nachmann & Stephanie Ornelas, edited by Ron N.

SteadySonic with DJ B.Cause

I don't DJ on Saturday nights much anymore, mostly because I'm sticking to vinyl only and don't have Lady Gaga or David Guetta on wax nor would I want it. But this party at SOM will be different. The DJs have the opportunity to be creative, and I think SOM's crowd will appreciate it. See you on the dance floor.



Edan's Echo Party party last Tuesday night at Change the Beat was phenomenal. The man Ron Nachmann provides an on-point review over at SFWeekly.com's Last Night section. Here's a clip of the first part of Edan's set.

Edan Echo Party

Got Edan's Echo Party album on vinyl and it's an incredible collage of old school rap, dance, various rhythms and crazy sound effects that make me want to double dutch. Read about it in Stones Throw news.



He's DJing at SOM tonight and screening the "Echo Party" film along with photographer Ricky Powell who will present a slide show of his work. Sounds like two great things that go great together like chocolate and peanut butter in a Reese's cup. I found a few flicks from the LA show on Flickr.

Tonight at SOM also marks the first installment of CB Records' legendary weekly party, Change the Beat, at its new location.

D.R.I. tonight

I'm stoked to see Dirty Rotten Imbeciles live for the first time tonight at Slim's. Note to self: Get the "Live at The Ritz" DVD, which this clip is from:



It almost makes up for Slayer cancelling their tour. Almost.

Happy New Year! Spindig 1/8/10

The first Spindig Happy Hour of 2010 is this Friday with special guest DJ B.Cause.