"You're so tall."

That's what I say to Subtitle almost every time I see him, and he's still nice to me. Be nice and check him out Wednesday night, August 17th at Madrone Lounge, with Eliot Lipp, Leo 123 and Benji aka DJ Centipede. See you at the bar.



P.S. His album, Young Dangerous Heart, is dope.

P.P.S. The VinylExchange board is on and poppin' once again.

The Vinyl Exchange board is DOWN again.

The board is down. You haven't been banned, and yes I paid the bill. (But I won't turn down your PayPal donations to stef@vinylexchange.com.)

This week on VE Radio, I played something off of Boxcar Sessions in honor of Saafir's show at Milk on Sunday night. Serg talks about it on Beer and Rap.



Let me know if you're checking out the mixes: djbooth@veradio.com.

DJ Premier in SF July 22nd

Yes, the twenty-second aka "twenty-twoth."

Stolen Records Alert: Toronto!!

Toronto heads and eBay shoppers, please keep an eye out for my man Big Jacks' records which were stolen the evening of June 24. Here is his message:

==============================================
peace ya'll,

a DJs nightmare has just happened to me. Shortly after the Pete Rock jam over @ Roxy Blu here in Toronto my friends car was broken into and my crate of records, mixer, needles, and headphones were all stolen.

The car was parked on adelaide near spadina where una mas used to be and broken into between 3:30 and 4:30 am. If anyone knows ANYTHING or saw ANYTHING i'd appreciate if you could let me know.

each one of my records has my initials, "JI" written on the label,
mostly in permanent black marker. if this is seen in any stores or in anyone's crates, please let me know.

here's a list of records which were in the crate that was stolen. this is NOT EVERYTHING that was in the crate this is just what i remember off the top of the head,

these are all ORIGINAL PRESSED 12" singles unless otherwise noted....

R & B
Aaron Hall ‘don’t be afraid’
Arrested Development ‘Tennessee’
Casserine ‘why not take all of me’
Jade ‘don’t walk away’
Jomada ‘I like it’
Keith Sweat ‘just a touch of love’
Love & Laughter ‘I surrender’
Mary J Blige ‘be happy’
" " " ‘you bring me joy’
‘EP’ (w/ real love remix, everyday it rains, sincerity, etc)
Raphael Saadiq ‘get involved’
The Rayne ‘didn’t you know’
Soul 4 Real ‘candy rain’
" " " ‘every little thing you do’
SWV ‘right there’
" ‘im so into you’
‘im so into you’ (remix)
Toni Tony Tone LP (w/ Let’s get down)
Zhane ‘groove thang’
" ‘ hey mr DJ’

Hip Hop
ADOR ‘let it all hang out’
Alkaholiks ‘daaam’
The Alliance ‘do it’
Beatnuts ‘get funky’
Beastie Boys love America style EP (w/ hey ladies)
Big Daddy Kane ‘raw’
" " " ‘smooth operator’
Biz Markie ‘make the music with your mouth” EP
" " ‘something for the radio’
Black Sheep ‘flava of the month’ (test press)
" " ‘choice is yours’
Boogie Boys ‘fly girl’
Boogie Down Productions ‘criminal minded’ LP
" " " ‘jack of spades’
Chubb Rock ‘treat em right’
Common ‘like water for chocolate’ LP
Cypress Hill ‘hand on the pump’
De La Soul ‘me myself and I’
" " " ‘ring ring ring’
" " " ‘supasweepstakes’ EP
Diamond D 'sally got a one track mind'
Diamond D ‘f**k what you heard’
Digable Planets ‘rebirth of slick’
Dougie Fresh & Slick Rick ‘the show’
EPMD ‘headbanger’
Eric B & Rakim ‘paid in full’ LP
" " " ‘don’t sweat the technique’
" " " ‘juice (know the ledge)’
Fearless Four ‘rocking it’
Funkdoobiest ‘bow wow wow’
Fu Shnickens ‘breakdown’
Gangstarr ‘full clip’ LP
Ghostface Killah ‘cher chez la ghost’
Grand Daddy IU ‘something new’
Grand Puba ‘that’s how we move it’
Jeru ‘sun rises in the east’ LP
Jungle Brothers ‘straight out the jungle’ LP
Kardinal Offishall ‘ol time killin’
Kool G Rap ‘talk like sex’ reissue
KMD ‘what a niggy know’
Leaders of the new school ‘zone coasters’
LL Cool J ‘big ole butt’
Lords of the Underground ‘funky child’
Main Source ‘breakin atoms’ LP reissue
MC Lyte ‘cha cha cha’
Nas ‘virgo’
Nice & Smooth ‘funky for you’
" " " ‘hip hop junkies’
Notorious BIG ‘ready to die’ remastered reissue
NWA ‘straight outta compton’ LP
Poor Rigtheous Teachers ‘rock this funky joint’
Positive K ‘step up front’
Q tip ‘let’s ride’
Redman ‘time for some action’
Roxanne Shante ‘have a nice day’
Run DMC ‘it’s like that’
" " ‘peter piper’
" " ‘down with the king’
Schoolly D ‘Saturday night’
Slick Rick ‘children’s story’
" " ‘sittin in my car’
Showbiz & AG ‘runaway slave’ LP reissue
Special Ed ‘legal’ LP
Third Bass ‘gasface’
Tribe Called Quest ‘low end theory’ LP reissue
" " " ‘midnight mauraders’ LP reissue
" " " ‘find a way’
Ultramagnetic MCs ‘poppa large’
Wu Tang Clan ‘shame on a nigga’

again, ANY help is appreciated. thanks for your time
==================================
You can find Big Jacks at www.black-rap.com

Speaking of Canadians, I got to meet DJ Killa-Jewel (a kilojoule is like, a fraction of a kcal, I think?) from Montreal this weekend and do a little shopping with her at Amoeba and Groove Merchant (which she didn't want to leave). Check out her website, www.killajewel.com.

Animal Chin

"It's been a long time..." We moved a few weeks ago and are still unpacking. We are NOT going to move 3,000+ records again anytime soon.



I haven't found Animal Chin but I did capture Mr. Dibbs' chin when he was here on June 11th for the Scribble Jam tour. He also has nicely groomed eyebrows, thanks to the lovely Mrs. Dibbs. Performances by Glue, Blueprint and Mr. Dibbs were all spectacular, but to be honest I didn't pay much attention to the emcee battle which was won by Borat who, along with 2nd placer The Sauras, won a free trip to Scribble Jam to compete for the $10,000 prize. That's a lot of dough.


Pase (5 Deez), Kevin Beacham (Rhymesayers) and Dibbs pick the battle winner.

The next day was spent with Kevin Beacham and Trinity at the Haight Street Fair, hitting up some record stores along the way -- Future Primitive, Groove Merchant, Amoeba, Open Mind. The rest of the Scribble crew started on their way to Portland right after the show, but Kevin spent a little extra time to see SF before he had to get back to work planning the Scribble Jam 10th Anniversary. Hopefully we'll see you there in Cincinnati, August 11-14.

If you can answer the question, "Bryce Luv, where you at?"* then you already know about this record:



I put this in the mix today for this week's Vinyl Exchange Radio show. Not hard to find, but a must for any Mantronik collection. This is one of my favorite non-Mantronix Mantronik productions. Bryce Luv later joined Mantronix after Crime Master Tee left, and then later created Groove Theory. There are a couple of copies up on eBay right now. Check out the mix here. (And listen to ALL the past ones while you're at it.)

*answer: "(I'm) Just Adjustin' My Mic"

Biz doll!

Cot damn, had a blast last night. You can't complain about seeing Lowbudget, Paul Nice and Prince Paul, all in close quarters. Milk was packed, but not uncomfortable.

Paul Nice blessed me with this Biz Markie doll -- 18" in height and one of 1,000 made, according to Bufalo Club, the manufacturer. I love him! He beatboxes when you squeeze him. He comes in a big ass cereal box complete with Nutrition Facts ("Calories from fat... Don't ask") and a warning: "Caution: This is not food." Gotta keep him in the plastic for now.


Prince Paul and Paul Nice -- I didn't notice the Serato until I saw this picture. Yep, I'm paying attention. Wish I'd had one of these buttons to give Prince Paul:


But I'm all out.


Lowbudget


This dude Whiz is a TIGHT Oakland emcee with references from all over the place. Serg should have his new music covered soon on So Many Shrimp.

(This post brought to you by Advil Fast Acting Liqui-Gels.)

Paul N-I-C-E

photo jacked from http://betterpropaganda.com/artist_page.asp?id=739

Tonight at Milk:
LAB SESSIONS 01 w/

DJ PAUL NICE
LOWBUDGET (HOLLERTRONIX)
BLU JEMZ (MONEY STUDIES/TTLAB)
AND JUST ADDED!!! PRINCE PAUL

See you there!

Rappity rap rap

FRIDAY, May 13th
Club 6 Presents:
SFMC BATTLE #5
MCs:
1. Subverse
2. Infinite
3. Dublin
4. Pharoah C
5. Megabusive
6. Uptown
7. Orukusaki
8. Wonway

First Place:
$200 cash prize + $100 in gear

DJs:
SHORTKUT (Triplethreat/Beat Junkies Sound)
B-CAUSE (4Onefunk)
DELIVERY (Modus)
MORSECODE (Audiophonik)
SATVA (I.T.S./ The Breaks)
KELSONE (Modus)

HOSTED BY CONCEIT (Strangeface)

Setting off a raptastic weekend in rapalicious fashion! Saturday night we'll be gettin' durrty at Extra Classic presents The Block Is Hot at 26Mix, then Sunday be sure you get to the record swap at 1177 Polk St., Ste. 310 (near Sutter), noon to 6 pm.

Same !@#$ Different Day

Meet us at the Great American Music Hall tonight for the Lyrics Born show. Tom, you look so Zoolander in this photo. Maybe I'll see my old roommate, Chief Xcel. Yep, I used to get free Solesides shows in my living room. But every time Shadow came over, I was either asleep or in the shower.

It's the newww style.

I wore two different shoes today. And not on purpose.


My ol' Steve Maddens.

I know, I need new shoes and a tan.

Big Shug is back...

"...with the flyest material."



Got the 12-inch in the mail the other day. He's not singing this time. Am I the only one who's disappointed by that? I love the record, even though Serg says he shouldn't make Lord of the Rings references. (Serg saw Elijah Wood at the Fader party at SXSW and pointed "Frodo" toward the end of the line for the porta-potty.) You can hear "The Way It Is" in this week's VE Radio show. I played a lot of Boston stuff this week -- Big Shug, Ed O.G., Almighty RSO. Check out Big Shug's Never Say Die (The Pre-Album). I also got DJ Premier's "Step Ya Game Up 2" CD, which includes the Big Shug, Geto Boys' "When It Gets Gangsta" and Slim Thug, Mike Jones and Paul Wall "Still Tippin."


Shug and me, SF '99

Did you see "My Block: Houston" on MTV2? They could have had my boy Matt on there for at least a minute. At least he's in the credits, as Matt Sonzala So Real.

Paul Wall's mouth

...looks like Christmas.

"Jedi Mind 252, we mad nice!"

Vinnie Paz (The Independent SF, Oct. 2004), pic by Diane

Jedi Mind Tricks are on tour with Living Legends and opened for them (after Pigeon John and Serg's friend Mestizo, who calls me "ate") at the sold out Fillmore last night. My friend Yan (the Phenomenon -- check the first album) is their tour manager. He was part of Superegular Recordings, who I interviewed back in '97. I'll post that as soon as I get the new VinylExchange.com design up. Yan hooked me up with free entrance as he did back in October when they were here last. I wore my OG Jedi Mind Tricks shirt again. Always good to see him and the guys. No Stoupe (aka "Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind," Vinnie once said, "Me and Stoupe, we don't like people." They like me, though, luckily) this time. Vinnie, DJ Drew Dollars and crew killed it, playing a full hour, running through classic cuts from all the albums. I pushed my way up front for their set, waving my arms, yelling lyrics and jumping up and down with mostly teenage boys who can't drink anyway so they post up front and don't leave their spots all night. The kicker was the raw, uncensored version of "Kidnap the President's Wife." (That's a Nas quote from "Live at the Barbeque" in case you didn't know: "Kidnap the president's wife without a plan!") An edited version is hidden on the Legacy of Blood album, so says Fat Tony. (Big ups, Fat Tony!) Have to check on that. But the shit they did last night was ridiculous. I asked Yan for a copy, he said the label told him something like, "We like the beat, but uh... we're not putting that out." I was pretty tired after that and we didn't stay for the Legends' whole set, but I've only seen them like a million and a half times over the years. Had a killer headache today -- I get bad tension headaches -- but it was worth it. So I recorded this week's VE Radio show on two Advil gel caps. Maybe I should try mixing a screwed set when I'm on medication. Listen for the pedestrian, I mean Whitefolks drop, it's funny.


Blazefest & Whitefolks = Da Babylonianz

I feel really bad about missing Sole's San Francisco tour stop last Wednesday. I heard the show was great. We used to be really close and I miss him. Maybe he'll move back to the Bay sometime soon. Getting caught in the middle of the crap with him and El-P really sucked, and I don't think either of them trusts nor likes me as much as before all that shit went down. But that's a whole other long story that I won't be telling on the internet. When El-P was here a couple of years ago and we were riding to Amoeba for his in-store, I asked him, "Who was your first friend in this town?" He said, "You were." He also said, "Are you still doing The Vinyl Exchange? I miss that magazine."

I can't believe it's already May. That gives me a month and a half to lose 30 pounds by summer.

Gimme the Finger

Eibol and Nobs, flexin'.

Short video clip (11MB): eibolandnobs.mpg

Had a great time last night over in Oakland at the last show of the Fingerprint Records' crew's Gimme the Finger tour. Check them out at fingerprint-records.com. I also posted all my photos on their board. I went picture crrrrrrazy. Spent all day sizing and posting photos and recording this week's VE Radio show. Please listen but watch out for the trainwreck, you might hurt yourself. Pay attention to the Raw Soul record. I have an extra if anyone's interested. The shows now live on a new domain, veradio.com. (Soon with Quicktime streaming!) VE Radio is now looking for sponsors. So if you own a successful company that you'd like me to help promote on my weekly mix, gimme some dough.

Gotta rest up for the Dax Pierson benefit tomorrow night. Can't wait to hear what DJ Doseone is going to play.


Me and Dose.

Holy F*ck the new Trailer Park Boys is f*ckin' awesome.

"Tonight I am getting so f*cking drunk and smoking so much goddamn dope and cigarettes, it's gonna be awesome..."

Thank you, Trailer Park Boys and Longmont Potion Castle for keeping me sane. This level of genius renews my faith in humanity.


"To Corey and Trevor..."

Doowutchyalike tonight!

See you here:



EZ5 is a cozy spot in Chinatown. Dos Rexx points out that it's the perfect set for a Japanese gangster film.

He is also bringing the NEW Trailer Park Boys.

"No one cares about records anymore."

Rascue, Spair, Serg and B.Cause

That's what I heard someone say at the record sale yesterday. Maybe it was said in jest, but I found it depressing.

Anyway, I picked up a bunch of stuff for cheap, including Fanatik's Seismology Pt. 2, Ice-T "99 Problems," a couple of Seagram 12-inches and Mix Master Spade "It's the Mix Master" w/ "Let's Get Stupid" on the B. Rest in peace, Mix Master Spade. I don't hang out with other DJs enough lately. We enjoyed pizza and beer, and talked records. Hopefully this goes down on a regular basis.

Biz slangin' Cherry Pepto

A slimmer Biz

You hear Biz Markie's Cherry Pepto radio spot? For the hip hop demographic with occasional stomach discomfort. Reminds me of seeing Viagra banners on a bboy website. Check out the Pepto-Bismol Dance Machine. Ugh, now I don't feel so good.

@ It Again

Rhymesayers Entertainment's @ It Again tour rolled into San Francisco last night, with a show at Slim's last night and one tonight at Bottom of the Hill, both sold out. Thanks to my hero JBird (DeeJay Bird), I was on Atmosphere's guest list. JBird isn't working this tour, but came out to catch a couple of the California dates.

Special guest (He's not on the whole tour.) Crescent Moon opened, surprisingly playing guitar and rapping/singing. He and Buck 65 should collaborate. Ironically the other Oddjobs guys, Deetalx and Nomi, were in Minneapolis doing a show as their new group, Power Struggle. P.O.S. was dope -- he got the crowd going ("Who said 'Fuck Bush' but didn't vote?") and even though I didn't know any of his songs, I liked his voice and hard sound. I'll be checking for his records. He asked the crowd, "What's my DJ's name?" (Answer: Boombox. It was a boombox.) Reminds me of when I saw Ice-T in the 80s and he said, "This is my DJ Evil E. What's my DJ's name?" and the crowd yelled, "Cut Creator!" I don't know what P.O.S. stands for (Point Of Sale?), but his name is Stef too. Grayskul went on at around 10 but I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to their set.

When I first heard about Slug touring with a band instead of Mr. Dibbs, I was disappointed because I looooove Dibbs. And I also thought JBird wouldn't be there. But once the tour started, the reviews were positive and JBird told me he'd be at the San Francisco show, so I was really looking forward to it. Atmosphere really killed it. The band (keyboards, drums, guitar, bass) didn't just play the beats live, they interpreted them with sounds that went very soulful, bluesy and even metal at times. Slug was Slug, and that's a good thing, doing a lot of the hits as well as a couple of new songs. He seemed refreshed and excited by this different turn he's taken, and rocked it for two hours straight. After the show he introduced my friend Diane and me as "famous around here" and genuinely asked our opinions of the show. JBird noticed my 1986 Beastie Boys shirt peeking out of my hoodie and told me he has one too. Those were sold on the Licensed to Ill tour back in '87. He also told me that he recently met Cey who still rolls with the Beasties. It was great to see everyone, but I'm too tired to go again tonight. Last night's show was a benefit for Dax Pierson. Jel told me that Sole and the guys on the War On Self Tour got to visit with Dax when they stopped in Houston. Good to hear that Dax enjoyed that visit. I can't wait to see Tim. I never call him Sole to his face even though he still always calls me DJ Stef.


Photo by Raw B.

Friday night we donned our fresh from Texas gear to hit up 26Mix and wish Ross Hogg a Happy Birthday. I wonder if Rapid Ric knows about the What It Do cocktail. OH and check out Serg's What It Do story. This person who calls himself Pretty Flaco apparently doesn't have a life of his own and has to steal Serg's posts for his blog. But this time it's a story that's mine as well as Serg's: Pretty Flaco's bitten story -- insane.

Anyway, DJ Raw B's monthly party First Serve Basis, every 2nd Friday at 26Mix, is always fun and the music is always good. Even though Ross said a girl asked him, "Can you play something I know?" He doesn't know what you know!

Reveen!!

DJ Marz

If you know the Trailer Park Boys, then you know what's up with this picture. (That's pepperoni in his hand.)

If you're a TPB virgin, I suggest you start with the movie pilot, then watch the TV episodes, Seasons 1-4, in order. (If you're a hip hop fan, you can watch "Who's the Microphone Assassin" first -- Season 3.) Plots, subplots, relationships and characters build gradually, and for God's sake don't start with a Season 4 episode or you'll OD.

Click here for the DVDs.

Big up to my TPB connect, Dos Rexx, who shares my obsession. We've indoctrinated a few of our friends to the TPB code, including Marz here as well as Megabusive. Could you be next?