1. Mighty Peace Makers
2. Go-Go Lorenzo - You Can Dance
3. Mass Extension - Happy Feet
4. Rare Essence - Body Moves
5. Experience Unlimited - Ooh La La La
6. Class Band - Welcome to the Go-Go
7. Pumpblenders - Loveboat (live)
8. Trouble Funk - Double Trouble (live)
9. Trouble Funk - Trouble Funk Express
10. Experience Unlimited - Take the Picture (Pose)
11. Rare Essence - Dance to the Drummer’s Beat (live 1983)
12. Chance Band (live)
I am ashamed but also grown enough to admit that I slept on them for a minute. I’d heard good things about them but I don’t interface with many youngsters these days and hardly ever listen to the radio so the groundswell of support they’ve been amassing was late in reaching my old ears. I might actually have to get down to P.A. Palace to make sure I stay current.
I’d also heard them dismissed as “pop” but my verdict is that these bammas crank, joe. They’re polished but still aggressive. I dig the rapping dude and the vocalist, and the cutie pie female drummer, and the fact that the members have put in work with some of the most important bands in the city (NEG, Suttle and more). Call it corny if you must but I dig the POSITIVITY. I dig that the kids like them. I’m probably most pleased with the musicianship.
This jont is like Linkin Park playing go-go.
I’m no A&R but my instincts tell me that a national audience might eat this up.
I’m sorry, I had to do it again. It just makes me too happy.
It looks like this vid made its way to YouTube from the U.K. and I’ve heard that Trouble Funk was big over there. I’m still trying to track down that BBC go-go documentary.
It’s hard to explain to folks who aren’t from the DC area. Actually, I’ve met natives who have no concept of go-go but that’s another social/economic/racial discussion. You can get some pretty accurate musical and historical background but the first time you step into a go-go you’ll either be profoundly puzzled or something will resonate deep within you. I’ve seen it happen both ways, that’s why I’m often hesitant when out-of-towners tell me they want to experience go-go when they visit DC.
To put it bluntly, go-go is some really black shit. It’s visceral. It’s the drum. It’s been hyper-regional for the entirety of its existence. It’s something that you don’t feel like you have to represent because once you’ve been inoculated with it at a young age it’s always in you.
My musical upbringing included hip-hop, the church, my mom’s record collection, and Top 40 radio. Go-go fit in a bit differently because it was something that was fully integrated into the world I experienced outside of my home. It was the language, aesthetic and landscape of a kid growing up in different hoods in DC in the ’80s. I left DC when I was 13. The timing was good because crack was ravenously devouring the city. I put my Junkyard tapes away and threw myself into hip-hop which really shaped my teen years. By the time I returned I was a college student and strident hip-hop head. The go-gos were too violent and I was a budding backpacker.
I’ve seen a lot of the world since those days. I’ve explored many musical paths. And now, I rarely go to go-gos anymore. It’s not really “rarely”, it’s more like “almost never”. My social universe doesn’t intersect with the go-go world. Sometimes I try to force an intersection. I’ll drop go-go joints in my DJ sets. The problem with that is that my core audience and the crowd at most of the gigs I play are not DC natives. I can fit in one classic Essence joint maybe, or of course that one Def Jam single that everyone loves.
And if I were to play for primarily DC natives, they wouldn’t really embrace all of the other musical lanes I like to travel in, with a few exceptions.
I know folks like me. They may have lived in other countries. Their music collection might have Radiohead next to Manu Chao next to Art Tatum. They might have advanced degrees from fancy universities. But drop a crankin’ ass socket on ‘em and they’ll work it like they were sweating at the Metro Club.
We’re a small tribe. As a result, I have fleeting reunions with my old friend. I’ll crank up the radio when I’m driving if I happen to catch a ‘PGC or ‘KYS go-go segment. If you see me at a stop light I am not having a seizure. I trade digitized versions of old PA tapes with friends on the internet. I scour the used record bins for classic go-go vinyl releases. I’ll grab PA tape re-releases from the kiosk at PG Plaza or the sweet CD-R section at CDepot.
I’m renewing my relationship with my old friend. I don’t know how exactly that will come out in what I do musically but, maaan… I MISS THIS SHIT.
It’s no coincidence that I’m gravitating towards NEG lately. For me they represent a great intersection of classic breakdowns and musicianship with the percussive aggression of modern go-go.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS RATED “SC” FOR “SERIOUS CRANK”
and of course, the good JYB… KNOCK ‘EM OUT THE BOX, WINK!!!! (direct link, embedding disabled)
This one puts a lump in my throat… Cap Center, Heavy One (R.I.P.) on the buckets (direct link, embedding disabled)
When I was a shorty I wanted to be these dudes SO BAD. I’m damn near crying now.
I saved six live mixes from the Wednesday night residency I had at Rendezvous Lounge a couple years ago. When you hear the record skip, someone either bumped the table or was dancing too hard.
These jonts have been sitting on my hard drive the whole time, occasionally burned on cd to share with friends. I’ll get them all up here eventually. Here’s #1.
1. Soulive - Tuesday Night’s Squad
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Description of a Fool
3. Q-Tip - Feelin’
4. Cru - Just Another Case (instr.)
5. Mystic feat. Talib Kweli & Kam - The Life (rmx)
6. Brand Nubian - Travel Jam (instr.)
7. Jamiroquai - Black Capricorn Day (Slum Village rmx.)
8. Davina - Comin’ For You
9. Critically Acclaimed feat. Cy Young - Flashbacks (rmx.)
10. Will.i.am - Ev Rebahdee
11. The Roots feat. Jill Scott - Complexity
12. Mos Def - Brown Sugar
13. Floetry - Floetic
14. D’Angelo feat. Redman & Method Man - Left & Right
15. DJ Krush - Big City Lover(rmx.)
16. Dwele - A.N.G.E.L.
17. Choclair - Mach 4
18. Hi-Tek feat. Mos Def & Vinia Mojica - Get Ta Steppin’
19. Digable Planets - Dial 7 (Axiom of Creamy Spies)
20. Amel Larrieux - I n I
21. Donnie - Cloud 9
22. Donnie - Do You Know
23. Rare Essence - No Ordinary Love
I did the first Progressive Groove mix about 4 years ago. It marked a period in my path as a dj where my style broadened considerably and laid the groundwork for the Vibe Conductor concept. Some fortunate networking got me gigs where I was able to rock a lot of the records that I was buying for my own enjoyment but had no audience for. I challenged myself to put together sets that covered much wider stylistic ground but still “made sense” and the process has been a lot of fun.
This past Saturday was the official Rhomiepalooza birthday celebration and I created a new mix for the occasion that was distributed to my guests at the jam.
It’s woven with several thematic threads. Some of these tunes are current personal faves, others are records that have stayed in heavy rotation in my sets over the last couple of years and are popular with folks that come to see me. Most importantly, I’ve included some of the many local artists who have inspired me during my time in the DC arts scene. It feels like a fitting way to mark the 30th birthday milestone.
So if you missed out at the party, here’s another chance. Enjoy and tell a friend!
1. Ty - Look For Me
2. Opus Akoben - Ronin
3. Asheru - Black Moses
4. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Nothingness
5. Bobby Hutcherson - La Malanga (Kenny Dope rmx feat. Kronkite)
6. Chuck Brown - Bustin’ Loose
7. Rare Essence - Back Up Off The Wall
8. John Arnold - Rise Up
9. Beady Belle - Hindsight (Ricanstruction mix)
10. Okada Taxi - Season 2 Season (feat. Abdul Shyllon &
Mark De Clive-Lowe)
11. Mark de Clive-Lowe - 4.Y.V. (feat Abdul Shyllon)
12. Snowboy - 42nd And Broadway
13. Deadline vs. Batacumbele - Batacumbele
14. Big Bang feat. Nathan Haines - Smile In Your Eyes (Mark De Clive-Lowe rmx)
15. Ty - Wait A Minute (Dwele rmx)
16. The Sunburst Band - Far Beyond
17. Kenny Dope - Comin’ Inside
18. Alice Russell - Take Your Time, Change Your Mind
19. Common - Go!
20. Lizz Fields - I Gotta Go (DJ Spinna rmx)
21. Platinum Pied Pipers - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
22. Chris Lowe Anda Ill Pedestrians - Midnight Blue
