Hell's Winter Release Party SF

Y@k Ballz was a surprise opener for Cage Saturday night at Slim's. Well there was some other kid earlier who rapped over other people's beats, including Mr. Dibbs', who wasn't good. Hell's Winter is pretty damn good, and very different from previous Cage stuff. I hear he was scared to release it. Glad he did it anyway. He says he'll be back in November. I like Cage's new look too. My friend Dan says he looks like he's in Weezer. Check out this week's VE Radio for "Good Morning" and some other great new and old joints.



Aesop Rock shared the stage with Y@k, Cage and El-P.



El-P says he won't be back until the spring, after his album is done. I got this shirt.

Feist-y

Feist at the Great American Music Hall, Sept. 17, 2005

Does anyone else love rap AND Feist? Holla. Girl's got soul.

Last time I talked to Buck 65, he was mad at her for flaking on the recording session for his album, since he had given up attending some big play (or something with Tom Waits ?) that he had tickets for to film her "One Evening" video (which I LOVE, love love!). Listen to Feist.

Friday night we caught Boom Bip and his band at the Bottom of the Hill. He's touring with Interpol so they cooked up a rock lineup and ol' Bryan Hollon was rockin'. What does he NOT do? He is good peeps.

Filipino! Filipino!

DJ Jester the Filipino Fist rolled through San Francisco again (as he likes to do), this time DJing for the always awesome and sweet Grand Buffet. They played the Hemlock Tavern last Tuesday night and were on FIRE. Jester's opening set consisted of some genius mixing of country, Southern rap and 80s. (He loves Terence Trent D'Arby's "Wishing Well.") Grand Buffet was awesome as usual. They're not even halfway through their tour, so catch them if you can.

As much as I hate the Black Eyed Peas, I'm obsessed with the song "Bebot." Thanks, Kersten and Diane! "Filipino! Filipino!"

Happy Birthday, Serg!

This is where we'll be tonight, celebrating with the crew.



His next birthday is the 20th. Ask him why he has two.

Record Auction for New Orleans

The kind folks at Soul Strut are now hosting members' vinyl auctions/sales in the "Let a Heatrock Loose" forum. All money goes to the Red Cross and their relief efforts in New Orleans. Register and raise some money! I plucked this Pete Rock & CL Smooth promo from my Pete Rock collection.



Includes a slipmat autographed by Pete Rock.

"The idea should be to pick something that will hurt you not to have. That’s what sacrifice is about. That pain you’ll feel is called empathy, compassion, camaraderie. Because every time you think of that particular record, and you feel the pang of its absence, you can think of all the victims of Katrina who lost their entire record collection, their pets, their homes, their loved ones, their lives, and you can count yourself among those who were part of the solution."

Last month we saw Saafir perform not once, but twice. Look out for the new album, the three tracks he performed, "Crispy," "Cash Me Out," and "PDs" (I'm making up the titles based on the choruses) are DOPE. At Kevvy Kev's 21st Anniversary (21 years! Incredible.) showcase for The Drum show on KZSU Stanford, Saafir shared the stage with Money B and Ras Kass. Warmed my hip-hop heart.





As always, please check the weekly VE Radio Show for a half-hour mix of hip-hop vinyl gems.

"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..."