40 KTUH!

Did you know that KTUH had a free showing of their 40th anniversary documentary?  I guess not too many people did.  Well, i don’t know if i am out of the loop but i didn’t really see a huge push for the showing.  Which is a bummer cuz i know for a fact that at we could of packed that theatre easy.  Oh well, maybe thats the way KTUH wanted it, quaint and special.

Really ill instrumental in the begin.  Overall i thought the begining and the birth of KTUH was exellent.  I love the old pictures and video.  The interviews with the OG Dj’s is priceless.  Also, the vast information was a geek fest for KTUH peeps.  There was alot of information , interviews, and events missing in the Doc, but seriously what do you expect when the producers made this in 1 semester, with borrowed equipment, and for free.  Mad respect for all the hard work they put in.  Mahalo.

There they are the brain children of this dope doc.  Respect guys, i would love to see what yall could of done with a year or so.  Peace

BR Serious.

Beatroot was the jam. One thing about BR is that it is really not about the battle.  The battle format is just there for us humans to fit into a structure, and that structure is the battle format.  Why not just have have a “come to EMC and play beats” night?  Would other producers and people that really dig Music come to a night like that, i don’t think so, well if i spin it right it could work? I usually explain to every producer that enters that its as much bout the battle as it is about the fellowship, the brain picking, the studying and learning of the beats.  That is why i encourage producers to bring out their Machines, and not play a CD and dance around like a ‘Big Tune’.  I want all the producers to geek out if someone is using the same machine or if some one actually brings out their Triton.  It saddens me when producers don’t try to make it out to BR, only because it is made for the Producers. Actually, the MC’s should come out in loads so they can meet up with new producers. Plus, its FREE! Oh well, we do it cuz we love it, i just hope the people that need BR actually come out before it runs it course, DON’T SLEEP.

Blue and Bold!

Check it out, i decided to show the back of the Super Mark Duper shirts we made to thank the Blue Scholars.

This Back is the one with the LIGHTSLEEPERS on the front, the original lyrics.  Blue Scholars got our back!

And of course this is the back of the shirt that has BLUE SCHOLARS on the front, LIGHTSLEEPERS got their back! Done. You want one? Click here!

After putting the keed to sleep, i made it down to the Loft for the first of 2 Oahu shows.  I had no idea that i was supposed to Introduce them. What an honor, thanks guys. This pic is in the Artist only room? Basically, a room that no one can be in.  Yes, VIP.

The crowd came out in droves and showed mad love.  For some reason SEA heads were in attendance. Also big ups to Bambu (pull it back, squeeze the triggah), Creed, and Taasho!  Later that weekend i went to this…

Bigs ups to my brother Kalen for marrying such a cool women, she flies refuling planes for the miliatry and she was in Hawaii for the Thunder Birds.  We got to watch the show from the cockpit of her plane.  Honestly, X-box looks more hi-tech than these massive flying machines.  I guess i expected lazers and touch screen joints, too much District 9.

The coolest thing was when one of the planes did a tail drag right above us, if i had a roman candle i could blast it, BOOM.

Hustling Scholars

As you might know or not, Beatroot 3 of 6 qualifier got moved to next week.  There was a mix up in scheduling.  All good. So we decided to set up shop outside of Easy Music and give away free CDs, stickers, & pepsi to anyone that never got the myspace, twitter, facebook, or text.  A good 20 or so people came by to chop it up and get their freebies.  Good things that came out of a disappointing evening – 1 we got to sign up a new producer, 2 – got to chop it up with new LS family, and 3 – we actually sold a few CDs.  I got a good feeling that next week BR will be major!

Blue Scholars are in Hawaii as we speak.  They will be touring all the islands promoting their OOOF CD.  We decided to make them a thank you gift in return for the shout out they have on their track “HI-808″.

So we took the lyrics from that song and scribed it on a shirt!  It took  a little brainstorming on how we were going to present it.  At first i tried to make an original font and just blast it on the front.  The fonts came out cool, but it was missing that  UGGHH factor.  So i went back to the stock fonts and decided to use a school house font,  i rarely see anyone use this font, it popped off well…

The lines create a horizontal flow and the added tag of which ever crew just drops the flavor on the shirt.  I don’t think we will be releasing this shirt unless the demand is huge, but right now just Blue Schol and a few LS heads got the shirt.  Also, the Blue Schols are getting the LS logo on the front and a BS logo hit on the back.  While the LS heads are getting the BS tag on the front and the LS tag on the back. Anyway, i hope they dig the shirt. peace.

IntheVeinsUnit

Big ups to THNK for the flick.  This was taken at a 808 Giants event @ the old Source in Pucks Alley.  These were the days when MC cyphers were HOT i mean vicious.  There were battles but it was a combination of style, cadence, punctuality, punchlines, and flow.  Now a battle is a only racial slurrs, yah momma sex jokes, and slam poetry.  The worst part is now the battles are organized writtens, talented none the less, but i love the freestyle battles.  I remember when EP and i would drive into down to go to an event or KTUH to lurk outside, we would freestyle from the Stadium to the destination.  I don’t know if any other freestyle session would consist of this, but we used to try and rhyme: only the first words, only the last words, only the middle word, one word rhymes, every other word, and a gang of other styles.  What happen to the styles. *sigh* LIVICATED TO EP! Miss you mang!

Love

I believe as a dj its your job to keep the art alive.  I probably never embrace Serato, well only if i decide to go on tour again and i need it for our instrumental sets, but even then i found a site that will cut 1 off vinyl dubplate for DJs that want to have custom scratch phrases and instrumentals.  I would rather hold up my own vinyl dubplates as a badge of Gold then a lap top of MP3’s.  I love music that much and i love to give the experience of DJing and Hip-Hop that i would pay for my own dubplates.  Electric Drums came out years ago, but you wouldn’t catch Clyde Stubblefield backing James Brown with none of that junk…bottom line is you can dislike my opinion or think i’m wack, when i’m on the decks its pure Hip-hop needle to the groove, analog low, vinyl crunch, physical records being shuffled like a human jukebox….how about some we just give the drummer some, cuz the drummer aint had some in a long time, HIT IT!

Learning curves.

Who would of thought i would be making woven labels? Crazy? Through the years i have learned thru trial and error what and how to run my own clothing/music label, and i say that very loosely.  After going thru the two batches of 1000 labels, i knew the next step was to bring attention to detail.  In a over saturated market, it takes a lot – not quantity, but qualitiy.  I always thought printing on the inside of a shirt was, eh, eazy way to do things.  And yes look for LS in a quality store near you. Mahalo

North and Grouch!

This is some of dat good music. I’ll take Grouch over Jay-Z any day. Yes, you are probably thinking i am crazy but The Grouch been about the streets even when Hova was all cigars, cars, diamond, cryst, and all the material ish.

“it used to be stress, but now its Breath…it used to be broke, now its invest!”

Me and da Ohana is chilling at Turtle bay, well not the Hotel but at a Good Friends spot! I decided to use this picture because Who the heck wears shoes like dat to the beach?  Also, sitting in the sun at that time will kill your skin, aaah c’mon. “You break you stick you shred so bad!”

Mills Steezy!

Big ups to Ryan Chun for this one, check his blog out at www.chunzilla.blogspot.com. Mills got the best style for decades. From Holo and Ryan Arakaki rocking that early 90’s style, to Fybes, Mark Gushimi, Clint Chinen, Ian Okui, and those guys bringing in the cleaner street flatground styles. To this bunch of Ruffians- Justin, Chun, Dyson, Keala, Webb, to name a few. I am missing choke people, but i do claim Mills produces the most stylistic and smooth skaters in Hawaii.

45 Yes.

Took this from Jeff Staple’s blog! Wow, first i didn’t know that Staple dj’ed.  According to his post he was in Japan and he got to dj along side of DJ MURO and DJ KENSEI.  Wow, those two djs are known to be huge diggers!

DJ Muro killing the 45’s and i mean Murder, with flawless mixes and on point fading. Wow!

Check the vid of Muro killing the 45’s according to Jeff Staple Muro does not use Serato or maybe he doesn’t majority of the time.  Domo Arigato Nomo Serrato!  Ehh, you like that one!  It really inspired me.  I only seen The reggae dj’s in Hawaii and Jus1oh rock only 45’s.  The reggae selectors can rock a whole set, but i never seen a Hip-Hop dj from Hawaii rock a only 45 set.  I think that might be the next goal.