DJ Stylus - The Vibe Conductor

Every year it’s more and more like a family affair, with great friends old and new. So many folks to shout out for memorable musical moments, conversation, drinks at the bar, promos packed with treats, and the wonderful opportunity to be a peer and a fan:

King Britt, Vikter Duplaix, Rich Medina, DJ Moni, SunTzu Sound, OP!, Ge-Ology, Spinna, Taylor McFerrin, Ayro & Arnold, Santiago, Rojas & Amalgama fam, Daz-I-Kue, Domu, IG, Ty & UK fam, Miss Kai, Sake Uno, Asya & Fusicology, Erik Rico, Skillz, Dynas, Salah, Ian Friday, Tracy & Nikki, Tiye Phoenix, Aloe Blacc, Karl Injex, Ty G. & HVW8, Derek Mazzone, Dave Nada, Tittsworth & Craze, DJ Enferno, the whole DC massive (we roll deep)… and that’s only a fraction.

Highlights:

- Spinna & Scratch going in at the end of the Godfather II party, culminating a celebration of James Brown with an impromptu bit of classic turntable showmanship. The best part was observing two cats at the height of their field having an unscripted moment of fun, like all of us dj’s can remember in our early years having sessions in basements, dorm rooms and garages with our boys.

- studying Jeremy Ellis’ James Brown routine on MPC up close - multiple times - and still not getting it.

- Raw Fusion was carnage yet again, explosive madness and mayhem. Taylor McFerrin & TK Wonder’s final performance of the week was the one to see. They did bits and pieces throughout the week but it all came together at Jazid, from the precision beatboxing to TK’s flow to Taylor’s on the fly beat manipulation. Stoopit. I missed a lot of folks’ sets but Simbad, Karl Injex, Daz, Benji B and Christian Prommer destroyed the spot convincingly enough for me. Ty was getting it in too.

- Nickodemus at the OM party. Every year I make it a point to track down certain dj’s I’ve never heard but whose names precede them. I always take away a ton of new concepts. No wonder why Turntables on the Hudson is such a big deal. Took me way too long to see this cat, even though he hits at ESL occasionally.

- Being drafted as a sound tech at the Giant Step Erykah Badu session.

- Karriem Riggins‘ bottomless inventory of Dilla exclusives and his own fresh out the lab creations. The Stones Throw party was a great day to bring down the bpm’s and chill under the sun listening and kicking it with fam.

- Dãm Funk’s deep west coast boogie excursions. Get you some.

- Lil Dave’s newest creations. Please join me in harassing this man until he puts out a record. Get some flame retardant headphones first.

- Having a cornball fanboy moment meeting Monique Bingham on the street. It seems like I’m destined to miss every one of her performances. Because of this, I suffer.

- Ave.To + Stylus + Jahsonic + Adrian Loving + Roy Davis, Jr. combo attack.

- rocking at Co-Op again with SunTzu.

- mango caiprinhas and veggie sausage breakfast biscuits

- Puerto Sagua

- La Sandwicherie

- The Pacemaker. Roddy Rod wants one. Lil Dave wants one. I also covet. It’s like iPod Serato.

- The new Fantom G’s. I’m JUST now getting into Reason. The Roland site shouldn’t even be in my browser right now.

Stuff I missed that I heard was crucial:

- Erro, Amp Fiddler & Louie Vega Roots NYC jam
- Ian Friday’s Libation party
- The Live party with Steal Vybe. We were so dead by the end of the week, definitely didn’t have the energy for a house party that intense. Lamped with Self Born down at Classic Sundays instead.

Big choons that I’ll be caning at least for the next few months, if not for the whole year and beyond (I bet this is the tracklisting for my next podcast):

- Erik Rico, “Forever”
- Exchange Bureau, “The End of Me & You”
- Rich Brown, “Sunshine” (Re-Love Mix)
- IMC Soul feat. Dawn Pemberton, “Running Back To You”
- Alton Miller, “Blues (What Am I Missing)”
- the whole damn Reel People album…. woowweeeeee!!!!!

MIAMI MAGAZINE & ASAHRA MUSIC PRESENT
OASIS MUSIC AND VIDEO ART PARTY
WED, MARCH 26TH 9PM-5AM
Catalina Hotel and Beach Club
1756 Collins Ave, South Beach Miami FL

Hosted By Adrian Loving

Live Performance By
Ave.To (Asahra Music)

DJ Sets By
Yoko K. | Adrian Loving | Jahsonic | DJ Stylus

Video Art By
Aranka Israni | Vernon Reid | Dissident Display & Adrian Loving
Chris Kitze’s ‘The Electric Image’ | Megasleepyhead | Evita Robinson

Poolside Drinks By
Ruby Rey Rum

RSVP By Tues 25th to: adrian (at) dissidentdisplay (dot) com

Another week of putting hella mileage on my feet with hours of dancing and walking, making new friends and strengthening existing alliances. Many adult beverages were consumed, many ill beats absorbed, many pounds given and pretty much non-stop good cheer was spread all around. Here are some highlights…

• Illest DJ’ing Display (aka the “Y’all Bammas Is Out Of Hand, Somebody Needs To Slap You For What You Did To Those Decks” Award): TIE - J-Rocc & Karizma
J-Rocc rolled into an explosive James Brown tribute party where it seems everyone had a few tricks to pull out in a friendly little game of one-upmanship. Even though digital DJ’ing is pretty standard now, he busted out a 45 case and proceeded to flip original 7 inches flawlessly for over an hour, cueing breaks and cutting them back and forth with timing that could be measured in nanoseconds. Fast forward to Saturday at the Raw Fusion jam, B-more’s own Karizma had a star-studded crowd of world class DJ’s awestruck with his mastery of the Pioneer CDJ-1000. His combination of creative pre-made edits and live manipulation of the CDJ’s looping and pitch functions were some of the most original DJ’ing concepts I’ve heard in a minute. Topped off with deft selection instincts and the ability to segue into different tempos, Karizma is one of the toughest cats to rock a set right now.

• Best Live P.A.: TIE - Jody Watley & Linn
Two vastly different experiences that I hate to have to compare but they both had me amped for different reasons. Jody Watley appeared behind the DJ booth where King Britt and Vikter Duplaix had already succeeded in lacing the proceedings with sexiness (it ain’t called Art of Seduction for nothing). She put on her stunna shades, grabbed the mic and strutted her fine self across the tiny stage, belting out only one of her new songs before vanishing into the night air. I went into full groupie mode and I will be copping her collabo with DJ Spinna as soon as humanly possible. Over at Raw Fusion, I had a chance to hear one of my favorite new voices rock some of the hottest tunes in her repertoire. Linn is a demure Swede with soul in her voice that sounds like it’s backed with generations of experience. She makes feel-good records that sound just as good when she’s delivering them live as they do when spinning on my turntable.

Honorable Mentions: Tamara Wellons, Ne’a Posey, Tiombe Lockhart and Muhsinah (yes, I have a DC bias.) I heard Jneiro Jarel mashed the mic @ Co-Op but I missed it. Who had a chance to catch Erik Rico?

• Broadened Horizons Award: DJ Heather
As I pushed my way through the crazed hordes at the massive OM party I eventually reached an outdoor tent where DJ Heather was BANGING OUT. I’d never seen her before and it was dope that her skills were on point even though her selection wasn’t my steez. I probably need to hang out in Chicago more. The crowd was going bonkers and that’s what matters. Heather left no doubt that she takes her job seriously.

• Best Jam: Jump-N-Funk
Every year this event makes folks literally go apeshit for eight hours straight and its momentum shows no sign of slowing. Rich Medina, Ron Trent, Rob Rizk & the whole Africa Hi-Fi crew… don’t mess with the formula!

• James Brown Award (hardest working cats on South Beach): Daz-I-Kue & Afronaught of Bugz in the Attic
I swear these dudes had like 4 gigs a day. Are they the new British invasion? They damn sure were working overtime in Miami this year. Hope y’all made a lot of bank cuz you deserve it, even though that American money is jive slim. Keep mashing!

• Step Up Time Award: SunTzu Sound
What do you do when you’ve got to rock for 7 hours on the first level of a club where some of the biggest heavyweights in the game are crushing it upstairs? You step up and knock that jont out of the park. Big ups to J-Justice and Atlee for keeping the bottom level cranking at Co-Op until 5am while the Bugz crew had ‘em packed in upstairs. These cats are making a lot of noise for a crew that’s only been together 4 years.

• And The Reputation Precedes Them Award: J-Boogie
I have mix cd’s, edits & remixes from this cat but I’d never been able to catch one of his sets. He was a much needed relief from the crowded & overly ravish scene in many of the rooms at the OM party. His fresh mix of afro-latin funk mash-ups, obscure hip-hop bits and party classics gave me a lot of great ideas. Big ups to Sake One who plays with J a lot and who I managed to miss YET AGAIN. You should check him out.

• The “Why didn’t I think of that before?” Award: Y Ultra Lounge’s DJ moat.
The small stage that held the outdoor DJ booth in the front courtyard was surrounded by an actual moat fed by a waterfall. This must be one of the worst developments to happen to drunken idiots obsessed with harassing the DJ. Brilliant! Too bad the homie Statik fell in. Collateral damage does happen to non-combatants sometimes.