Mixtape: Julie Parrty Mix

Here is a mix I mentioned putting up here last week. It is an old mix I made for a friend's birthday party in 2002 (the party was on 12/16/02, to be exact). It's a mix of classic hip-hop jams (I called it "Julie Parrty Mix") and from a quick listen I can say that the tracks are good but the mixing and scratching are somewhat suspect. But whatever, I am still posting it up here for everyone to check out. Like the title says it was made for my friend, Julie, who passed away early this month. This isn't meant as a sentimental mix of songs by any means, really just wanted to revisit the mix given the circumstances and figured it was now or never. I went by DJ Naive at the time but call it a mix by Jayemzee. So here is it, check it out, please forgive any sloppiness, and enjoy. And remember, live and love life to the fullest as Julie did and I'm sure she wants us to do now.



Side A Tracklisting:

Fugees - Nappy Heads (remix)
The Pharcyde - Soulflower (remix)
The Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies
A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario
House of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock remix)
The Beatnuts - Watch Out Now
Erick Sermon & Redman - React
Jay-Z - I Just Wanna Love U
Ol' Dirty Bastart - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Dr. Dre (w. Snoop) - Nuthin' But a G Thang
Dr. Dre (w. Snoop) - The Next Episode
Notorious BIG - Hypnotize
2Pac & Digital Underground - I Get Around



Side B Tracklisting:

Zimbabwe Legit - To Bead or Not to Bead
Naughty By Nature - Hip-Hop Hooray
Black Sheep - The Choice is Yours (revisited)
Redman - Time 4 Sum Aksion
Young Black Teenagers - Tap the Bottle
Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance
DMX -Born Loser
A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
Notorious BIG - Juicy (Pete Rock remix)
Ed O.G & the Bulldogs - I Got to Have It
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - A Touch of Jazz (inst.)
3rd Bass - Pop Goes the Weasel
Slick Rick - Children's Story
Run-DMC - Peter Piper

Finally, this is a start in a few mixes I've made that are in digital (or can be in digital) format. More to come next week. I wish my computer recording program wasn't on the skitz because I would love to make new ones. One day...

The Roots do Go-Go

Well, it may not be 100% Go-Go but its definitely got that go-go swing to it...



This is the last track off of the new album "Rising Down" and it features DC's own new hip-hop sensation Wale (pronounced "Wah-lay"). I have to admit I am really not familiar with his work but I do have an older mix by him that I am going to give a listen to sometime very soon (as in, once I dump it on my ipod, so tonight or tomorrow.) You can download that here:Wale: 100 Miles and Running

So back to the Roots track. I had heard about this track before the album dropped and the Roots labeled it "go-go influenced" hip-hop. I agree it's not go-go but damn, the influence is strong. After the chorus intro, the instrumental starts and definitely has that live go-go feel. Then Black Thought drops a few lines and, boom, all of a sudden the head-nodding go-go beat starts. I can hear it banging on the streets of DC, from the cats on the buckets around the Verizon Center (and Georgetown back in the day) to the radio to spots in between. Hell yea. That is nice. Thank you Roots for droppin' some go-go and giving a District area artist a chance to shine.

I'm gonna do a post dedicated to the Godfather of DC Go-Go, Chuck Brown, sometime soon so stay tuned. Peace.

New Portishead!!!! Album & Live Recording

It's been too long. Finally the new album, Third, dropped today. I copped the vinyl over the weekend and gave it a spin last night for Monopoly Monday. The album is decent but most defintely needs some more spins before I really pass judgement. I will say that it is a little bit more experimental than past works with a few instrumental only cuts but overall it still has that moody beats sound with Beth Gibbons haunting vocals. Glad to have it and looking forward to more listens.

This morning I was trolling the 'net and came across a live recording from Coachella which was just this past weekend. Here is the single from the album, Machine Gun, live. It is a very agressive track with digital "machine gun" sounding snare hits:



Finally, here is a link to the whole show on .zip format. it is a good mix of new and old and the quality is not too horrible though it could be a bit better: Portishead Live @ Coachella '08

Enjoy!

Jay-Z Disses DeShawn

boomp3.com

Jay-Z decided to jump into the fray even though he "so big (he) ain't gotta respond." I knew those he and LeBron were boys since they hosted an all-star game party together this year but who would've thought that Sean Carter would make a track backing up LeBron and dissing DeShawn and, in reality, wouldn't this be more a diss towards Soulja Boy. Classy stuff about spending the night with DeShawn's girl and being offended by being mentioned, (didn't LeBron make the whole Jay-Z/ Soulja Boy comparison?) What I find to me the most offensive is this track made its debut at a party for LeBron at a club in DC on Friday night. Supposedly Damon "I haven't played this series" Jones got on the mic and started saying some pretty dirty stuff afterwards. This prompted Caron Butler to exit the building as he felt offended in his own town. Man, LeBron is a bitch,I can't stand him. He gets too many calls, takes too many steps, and is generally a crybaby when things don't go his way.

Soulja Boy vs. Lebron James

Now onto something a bit more upbeat, I would even say it's funny...

So Soulja Boy feels that LeBron James has disrespected him. This all started last month when Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson called LeBron "overrated." Now as much as can't stand "King James" this is not so true and he is really a beast on the court. But I can't get mad at DeShawn for trying to get under the guy's skin as the Cav's seem to have the Wizards number in the playoffs (not this year hopefully), but back to the story...

So in an interview afer Stevenson's remarks, BronBron was asked about the comments and said this, "it's kind of funny. It's almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy. It doesn't make sense to respond." Well I think thats a response, its dissing Stevenson. But Soulja Boy also took it as a diss to him. He has this to say just the other day about it, "Someone from Interscope Records called me and sent me the quote, I looked and didn't really think much about it. LeBron said something like he was Jay-Z and DeShawn [Stevenson] is Soulja Boy. I took that as [disrespectful]." So clearly he wasn't happy in that regard but went on to say, "this makes me feel like a very important individual. I'm in the middle of this conversation in the playoffs, and that makes me feel good."

I guess I'm happy if Soulja Boy is happy. Shouldn't we all be?

For real though, I like the fact that someone basically said that Soulja Boy is a blip on the screen and not worth real artists time because his 15 minutes are just about up. With such great lyrics like "supaman dat ho" and telling kids to tell people "yahhh, trick, yahhh" when you want them to go away, I don't think that he should have even gotten 15 seconds.

So thanks LeBron, even though you dissed DeShawn thanks for getting at Soulja Boy too, even though thats too easy.

So its been a minute...

Life's been interesting in the past couple of weeks. Things have been kind of turned upside down but are working there way back around. A friend passed away recently and blogging kind of felt like a waste of time, really nothing seemed to be important enough to b.s. about. The friend was Julie Granum, someone I had known for pretty much forever as I have been best friends with her brother Jamie since about kindergarten and my sister was one of her best friends since they met at a similar young age. Really tragic as Julie was truly a one of a kind person who had the most amazingly postive outlook on life, such a great soul. Someone who will be truly missed by the many people whose lives she touched in so many ways. So happy, loving, caring, so many adjectives to describe her and all of them positive but I feel that word cannot properly describe her. She will be missed so greatly.

I am in the process of converting a tape to digital that I had made for a birthday party for her in 2002. Nothing really sentimental with regards to the track selection but I figured if i was going to ever listen to the mix again now was the time. So that will appear up here before the end of the week...

In closing, here is a video of one her favorite songs. It was played to close out the funeral and is really quite wonderful. Julie, I (and so many others) will miss you. R.I.P. Much love and peace from now until eternity. Until we meet again..............

The Roots are coming

Sunday April 2oth is gonna be a good day. Not only is it 4-20 but there is a big concert happening on the mall right in front of the Capitol. The headliners are the one and only Roots crew and rumors are starting to spread that "friends" of the Roots will be there too. Mos? Kweli? Common? Erykah Badu? I don't know but any show featuring the Roots is bound to be good and adding anyone else to lineup can only make it better. There is also going to be a DJ set by Thievery Corporation which should be cool as well. If only it was a live Thievery show I would have to say I found heaven, but oh well, no, just dj'ing. Other artists are performing as well, mostly local, but Toots and the Maytals is gonna be down here as well. So all the DC heads, this is a must see. The JTL crew will mos def be down there enjoying the day and the music. Hope to see some of you there. Oh and did I mention it's free!

Bush Gets Booed (YAY!)

Here's a video of the great George "Dubya" Bush getting booed before he throws out the first pitch at the Nationals new stadium. Classic. I must say, when I watched this live the other night I got quite a kick out of it. So enjoy, cuz I did for sure and I wish I could have been there to join in. This almost makes me want to support the Nats, not yet tho. Go Red Sox!