This year the family reunion vibe trumped the hustle, and I’ve come to appreciate that a lot more. I don’t know how much of it is the economy, a shift in the industry or a waning interest in WMC but attendance was noticeably lower. Last year I noted a recession effect and this year my mans John Crooms accurately quipped how South Beach was trying to get us all to pay for it. The gouging was ill this year.

[credit: John Crooms]

Even at a low point in the cycle, I was able to get great performances from the names I trust to always bring it, and also those moments of discovery when you get to experience artists and DJs you’ve heard about but never seen live before.

I didn’t make it to any Louis Vega associated parties or anything that had to do with South Africans. This was a huge FAIL on my part. Black Coffee and a bunch of his South African compatriots are making a big splash in the deep house world and they had some hot events at WMC this year. I’m really happy to see them blowing up. “Superman” is a big record now and we’ve been banging “Even Though” over here for the longest.

I’m pleased that Jahsonic and I were able to get our dynamic duo on and grateful to the folks who let us grace their sets. Afrique Electrique was a fun way to get the week started with a nice intimate room of appreciative dancers. Shouts to Salah Ananse and the whole ATL massive. Playing in memory of James Brown at Godfather IV was a deep honor. And our set at The G++dness was us showing everyone how we get down back home in DC. Much thanks to Daz-I-Kue for both of those.

[credit: Shelley Nicole]

Despite not hitting as many events as I usually would, here are a few highlights.

Favorite Party: The Do-Over

The perfect end to the week had me dancing on a backyard patio for 8 hours, eating burgers, drinking cold Mexican brews and experiencing some inspired, ridiculous displays of mixing records. Experiences like that will always allow me to be a fan, especially when you see how the big dogs in the game are all fans too. I love it. Still haven’t been to the Do-Over in L.A. but I now know what’s up.

Maceo of De La Soul was on when we arrived and I was a teen fanboy again. At first I was surprised by how he was as equally versed in broken beat, UK Funky and electro as he was with hip-hop, soul and funk. Then I remembered that he’s been doing this for 20-some years and rocking parties all over the world and I felt dumb. Jeremy Sole followed Mase, more on that later. Vikter Duplaix broke down to jazz after Jeremy and built back up through neo-soul, raw hip-hop and reggae before bringing the tempo up. Masterful. Rich Medina followed him with an all 45 set that made me feel like I knew nothing after collecting records for 20 years. Cosmo Baker was up next and he was one of the dudes I was most looking forward to hearing for the first time. After a whole day of monstrous sets, Cosmo stepped up and spanked it. Boogie, deep funk, disco, breaks, all handled with a party-rocker’s expertise. All on original vinyl. And his dashiki was cleeeeean.

The party was going into overtime with Daz-I-Kue, Jeremy Ellis and John Arnold among others next on deck. I could barely walk at that point and was obsessed with getting some delicious Tap Tap.

Runner-up: TRIBE Records with Peven Everett, Nathan Adams, Ian Friday & more

I caught the tail-end of the TRIBE jam since we were rocking at Godfather at the same time. When I got there, Peven Everett was in full holy ghost mode in the last couple of tunes of his show, working himself into a pentacostal trance. Ian Friday got on and damn near had folks coming out of their clothes out on the sand and under the palm trees. But that’s how he always do.

Favorite DJ set: Jeremy Sole at The Do-Over

I try to stay up on my research. I knew about Jeremy Sole’s Afro-Funké party in L.A. I knew about his band Musaics. What I didn’t know was that he was going to stomp a funkhole into the Do-Over amid a band of heavy hitters dropping bombs of their own.

Is that cumbia? Plena? Is that an original edit? What break is that? Jeremy’s set sparked tons of mental notes and even more furious dancing. It was a well paced, seamless, ridiculously funky tour through classic and modern beats of the latin diaspora. I still won’t rest until I get every record in his set list. It’s that serious.

Runner-up: Ezel at The G++dness

Young master Ezel put on a clinic on the 2nd floor of Jazid at The G++dness. I think he caught Shango. His house set was very aggressive but well paced. He reminded me of Karizma in that way. It’s scary to think about how much iller he’s going to be in years to come on the decks and behind the boards.

Records you should be checking for:
At least the ones that I can mention… my trainspotting had me blowing up records on Twitter that aren’t out yet!

Aloe Blacc – “I Need a Dollar”
Ezel feat. Tamara Wellons – “In My Lifetime”
The Goodness EP

These highlights from last week’s set will freshen your library until we resume.

Al Green – “Love Ritual”

Reverend Al did afrobeat in 1975? Word? Now you know.

The Pharcyde – “Drop” (Da Beatminerz Remix)

This version always went hard. I’ve got a good amount of cue burn on my 12″ doubles.

Moodymann – “Black Mahogani”

I was getting in the proper focus for this week. Moodymann is a wild dude. You should explore more of his twisted genius in his RBMA lecture. ‘Sup, Detroit.

N’Dambi – “The World Is Beat” (Applejac’s Bruk-Up mix)

Applejac recently dropped this crucial EP so his presence at WMC would be felt although he won’t be able to make it this year. While others are on that Lalah Hathaway and that Reel People, my heater of choice is this gotdayum N’Dambi joint. Stank you very much for this project my ATLien friend.

See you next week.

AFRIQUE ELECTRIQUE: THE MIAMI WMC EDITION!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010- 12-10PM

DJ SETS BY:
Salah Ananse(ATL), DJ Wasabi(MIA), DJ Kwest_on(CHI), Sean Alvarez(CHI), DJ Stylus(DC), DJ Jahsonic(DC), Kev Kruz(NYC), Ramon Rawsoul(ATL/CHI), DJ Dave K(ITALY) DJ Vidal(NJ) DJ Aladdin(MIA) & Benjamin C(MIA)& more!

LIVE PA’S BY:
Dezaray Dawn, Ne’a Posey, Zynzelay & Salah Ananse

The Chelsea Hotel
944 Washington Ave.
Miami, FL
12:00pm – 10:00pm
RSVP to: soulsessions@bellsouth.net for Free Entry!

Born out of a sincere desire by Karl Injex (Rude Movement, ATL/NYC) and Daz-I-Kue (Bugz in the Attic/Uprock, ATL/London) to recognize the singular genius of the late, great JAMES BROWN, the ‘Godfather’ tribute parties have quickly become a staple in the annual WMC program with help from talented dj friends, and now has the blessing of the James Brown Family Foundation,

Once again you will hear tribute being paid, playing the sounds and influence of James Brown, but also with the sad demise of the legend that is Michael Jackson and soul master Teddy Pendergrass within the last year, we will be bringing their legacy to The Godfather event…and rightfully so.

The roster of talent expected to throwdown is incredible.

DJ Scratch, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Sake1, DJ Cashmoney, Applejac, Amir (Kon & Amir), DJ Kemit (Spreadlove, ATL), Daniel Best (Jazzanova), Mad Mats (Raw Fusion), Geology, J-Boogie (Om Records), Karl Injex, Soulfingah, The Whooligan, Soul Controllers, DJ Salah, DJ Leroy Rey, Daz-I-Kue + MORE

Live: Jeremy Ellis
Hosted by Dynas

And really if anything goes by the last few years…EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

This year donations will be collected on behalf of the James Brown Family Foundation & YELE for Haiti. So if you have any sheckles in your pocket, put it towards these worthy causes.

Thursday, March 25, 2010
2:00pm – 8:00pm
Yuca Lounge
501 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, FL

Friday, March 26, 2010
9:30pm – 5:00am
Jazid
1342 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL

FUTURE SOUL RECORDS has joined up with THE G++DNESS which is presenting the official record release party for “THE G++DNESS EP”, which is set to take place during the 2010 Winter Music Conference in Miami.

There will be live performances by John Arnold & Jeremy Ellis with Paul Randolph, as well as well as DJ sets from Daz-I-Kue, Dego from 4Hero, and other special guests…with 2 Floors playing from Future Soul, Deep Boogie…right up to Broken, Soulful ancestral (with a touch quality UK Funky & Dubstep)…into the early morn.

Admission: $10.00 before 11:00pm, $15.00 after 11:00pm

For everyone who didn’t follow my Twitter feed or check out Fusicology’s breakdown, here’s a much delayed final word on that one thing that happens after SXSW.

This was definitely the recession WMC, but the actual effect was less severe than I anticipated. Attendance was lower all around but the folks that did come were there to hustle hard and have fun. Lots of connections were made and parties got smashed off properly. It was kind of bugged out to see places like The Marlin and Specs Music shuttered that were the sites of landmark memories of WMC’s past (Jump-N-Funk and the debut performance of Elements of Life respectively) but SoBe isn’t immune to the downturn.

This was also the year where I actually had a couple of high(er) profile gigs. I’m still trying to graduate out of 12th grade but the Vibe Conductor brand isn’t yet a household name. The grind continues.

The first jam I played was one for the record books. Daz-I-Kue’s 3rd annual James Brown tribute had a power packed lineup of everybody who is somebody and many of whom made me want to be the somebody I’m still trying to be. Jahsonic and I knocked out a quick and energetic set of fast rap with all James Brown samples. Then everyone else continued to merk it, building up the energy level until Spinna, DJ Cash Money, 3D and Scratch executed a four-man weave on the decks. Jeremy Ellis had already stunned the crowd with his unbelievable James Brown routine and came back out to spark a little freestyle cipher. I happened to grab some footage.

The other gig I had was with an old friend who recently got nominated for a Grammy, but met up with some hard times on her way out of Texas. We worked it out though. Keep pushing, Wayna!

After sets from young B-more club sensation Rye Rye, Canadian chanteuse Anjulie and future funk diva Joy Jones I finally got a live dose of the much talked about K’Naan. I’m definitely glad I stuck around until the end.

So outside of handling that bidness, it’s always good to hear my favorite jocks kill it, and hear cats for the first time that I’ve only heard of before. In that first group, there was the beat down that Benji B delivered at the Delano. Starting out with progressive hip-hop and nu soul bits, Benji worked it up through some latin funk into house into a roaring 2-step garage finish. Ian Friday levitated the situation at the Brooklyn Mecca/Libation jam with deep spiritual afro-house goodness. Karizma assaulted the Objektivity party with big-room bombs. There was literally no space to move in there, much less breathe.

In the group of folks I got to hear for the first time, Sabine impressed with her trance inducing, deeply black and raw set preceding Ian Friday. Young Miami local Mr. Brown is one of those crate digging cats who have actually combined their obsession with rare records with the ability to rock the spot. Every time I saw him he was playing out of massive soft-sided bag full of originals that have never passed through my hands. ‘Nuff respect to him and partners DJ Wasabi and DJ Le Spam for the fly balcony afro roots session they set off. Mad Mats has a huge rep and I’ve long been an admirer of what him and his crew have done with Raw Fusion. His turntable game is no joke. Quick, nimble and funky cuts combined with a buoyant, soulful selection is how he gets down. “Mad” mental notes taken of course.

Speaking of Raw Fusion, it was bananas like it is every year. And truthfully, the slightly lower turnout made it better, because there was actually room to dance. Big ups to OP!, Karl Injex, Phil Asher, Rich Medina, Freddie Cruger (Red Astaire), Simbad and of course Daz-I-Kue. If you can’t get across the water to Sweden, it’s definitely worth visiting the offshoot in NYC.

The main takeaway point from this week of sun, dancing and furious hustling is that we’re all fortunate to be sharing this time as peers, artists and fans invested in the music we love. This blog could run multiple pages if I bigged everyone up but I’m more motivated than ever to build the connections to you all this year.

Records to watch out for:

- Cecilia Stalin – Afro Blue
- Nathan Adams & Zepherin Saint – Circles
- Joy Jones – Supanova
- Salah Ananse feat. Zynzelay – Wonder
- Flood of hot joints pumping out of Exchange Bureau Music right now

Record that I desperately need a track ID for:

- Whatever it is that uses the Future Rage drums with those mental reversed synth stabs over the top. I think Simbad dropped it at Jazzanova vs. Bugz, and I heard it a few other places too. I NEED THIS SONG.

The Goodness & Fusicology presents the Third Annual All-Star throwdown, giving it up for Soul Brother No. 1, Minister of the New. New Super-heavy Funk, the Godfather of Soul…James Brown

Godfather III
Yuca Lounge
501 Lincoln Rd
Miami Beach, FL
5 PM – midnight
Free w/RSVP or WMC Badge
RSVP email: thegodfather@rude-nyc.com

Saturday March 28, 2009

Giant Step 13th Annual Sunset Soiree
Hotel Delano
1685 Collins Ave
South Beach Miami, FL
6PM – 11PM
Free w/RSVP
http://www.giantstep.net/rsvp/miami2009/

K’Naan
Anjulie
Rye Rye
Wayna (w/support from DJ Stylus)
Vikter Duplaix
Brendan O’Hara & The Big Bounce
Joy Jones

It’s like a hip-hop booster shot. Skillz & Ty on the mic, Spinna cutting up the James Brown breaks.

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!!!!!

No velvet rope. No dress code. No silly bouncers. No noise ordinance.

NO EMPTY, VAPID MUSIC.

No requests (unless they’re good ones).

Just a gang of DC’s finest deck handlers banging out with full creative control and no agenda other than taking you higher.

Lineup Includes:
DJ Eurok / DJ Stylus / Adrian Loving / Chris Burns / Keith Miller
Double 07 / Sam “the man” Burns / DJ John Johnson / Birdhouse
Gavin Holland / DJ Iwah and Yoko. K

Oasis Music & Video Art Presents…
The First Annual
WMC 2 DC
The Post-Conference Wrap Party
Saturday April 5th 2008
9pm-5am
$10.00 (includes one drink ticket)
411 New York Ave. NE
Warehouse Loft Studio
(Alley Entrance) Near Morris Electric Co. on 4th and Penn Street. in the Florida Avenue Warehouse District

RSVP: adrian at dissidentdisplay dot com for reduced guest list.

Also Performing:
Kolai on sax and flute
and
Video Projections and Grafitti Art by CON

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

Some of you can’t make it to WMC. We’re going to bang out one good time before we get on the plane so you can share in the fun.

Monday March 24
Pre-WMC jump-off with DJ Jahsonic & DJ Stylus
Marvin
2007 14th St. NW, WDC
9 until whenever
cover charge: FREE(style)

• 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.