I am a music HEAD!! My parents are music HEADS and I spent most of my teenage and early adult years identifying the original songs from which hip hop artists sampled and I used my parents’ music libraries to do it.

As a person on the “north side” of 35, I’ve also watched the evolution of hip-hop, and I’m passionate about my shit. The beauty of Saturday night’s experience is that you and your co-pilot are equally as passionate. It showed not only in what you played, but the joy you both got out sharing with others. Plus, there’s NOTHING like seeing a DJ in the booth, rapping along to a classic, eyes closed, in “reminisce mode”!!

WONDERFUL job. I’m greatly looking forward to “S.O.A.R’ing” again.

P.S. – If you play “Either Way” by Dave Grusin, I will act an even GREATER fool than I did on Saturday!! Yeah, that was me jumping around, dancing and rapping like a crazy woman!!

Thanks again!!!

I will get primal if you play If You Want It by 2nd II None fo sho!

hip hop is what you make of it.
btw, tho, and pardon the rant on your blog:

i’m OVER this town and the dj scene/

cuz you know what?

being a HOT dj in this town means playing the hits for clubs to sell alcohol.

no CLUB OWNER, with the exception of Farid at ESL actually respects the CRAFT of DJing.

DC club owners only respect the MONEY THAT GETS MADE BY SELLING ALCOHOL.

What music do you need to play to maximize alcohol sales in a club full of zero to 1000:

students
professionals
bohemian scenesters

at a mixed club or at a segregated one.

If you can do that, you will get paid between $0 and $1000 to do it for 5 hours.

being a HOT DJ and a GOOD DJ are conflated.
hot djs play the hits to sell alcohol
good djs play quality music and mix it well.
anyway.

queue this up for next time someone asks me why I don’t play out any more…

And Cali definitely gets love. I’m talking from Lench Mob to E-Rule. But folks ain’t ready for all that. I stay itching to drop some Freestyle Fellowship and some 2nd II None.

1. La Schmoove – Fu Schnickens
2. Flavor Of The Month – Black Sheep
3. Peach Fuzz – KMD
4. How Ya Like Me Now – Kool Moe Dee
5. Love Me Or Leave Me Alone – Brand Nubian
6. Change The Style – Son Of Bazerk
7. Mass Appeal – Gang Starr
8. Don’t Give Me No Bammer Weed – RBL Posse
9. It’s Going Down – Celly Cel
10. Captain Save A Hoe – E-40

lol@ you C’mon Son-ing me!

Hip-hop is 35 years old. There’s a lot of classic music in that time span. But if you’ve been playing the same records since 1990, them shits can get old. I can’t play “I Got It Made” or “Scenario” in my sets anymore. They’ve been PLAYED OUT. There are so many more amazing classic hip-hop records. I know. I was dancing to them when they first came out. But if all the audience knows are 30 records, are we supposed to just play those until we all die?

Small world thanks to the internets. I didn’t know that was your comment when I sat down to blog this. It was a catalyst to explore issues I’ve been noticing for a long time, so I wasn’t picking on you uniquely. Every DJ I know is like “Amen!” Despite him having done some of the best and most famous remixes in hip-hop history, everyone doesn’t have to love Pete Rock. But you know what Ed Lover would say about your summary of my set. I’m sure your hip-hop itch will be scratched tonight, along with all kinds of other chambers we’ll be hitting so I look forward to seeing you there.

Ryan,

Thanks for your comment. The more I think about it, it’s not just a youth thing. It’s a “me” thing. People feel like their personal tastes trump everything else. Even if the whole room is going nuts there’s always someone who thinks it’s wack because they can’t control the playlist. Rather than open up, feel the vibe and get hip to something new, they choose to hate. Sit your favorite DJ down over a drink and ask them about it. You’ll get stories for days. For more on all of this, I’d recommend checking out this post and its comments.