Phorilla.com

?uestlove from the Roots dropped a little journal update a couple days back. Worth checking for beat digs, a Cuban hip hop excursion, Lisa Lisa live at some kind of house party, and much more. Is there anyone in music doing more interesting stuff on all those fronts? Ahmir is a renaissance man through and through, someone to look up to. The best part like J-Live? Scroll diggy down to the bottom for a live performance of "Waiting for the DJ" feat. Mos Def & Rippity Rappity Dave Chappelle :-)

An interesting piece on how faster computers make for an inexorable march towards weaker privacy and more conformity. Closed-circuit TV cameras are big on the streets of the UK: "You have millions of CCTV cameras here. Every citizen is monitored, and this creates pressure to adhere to conformist behaviour. The original purpose of cameras was to catch terrorists, but to my knowledge they haven't caught many terrorists using cameras."

Found out today that Coldcut's legendary Solid Steel radio show is syndicated over the airways here in Ottawa. This is the original, running-for-just-about-forever show to do the funk to hip hop to drum'n'bass and everything in between (and leftfield) mash-up. It doesn't show up on CHUO 89.1 FM's Internet-listed broadcast schedule, but I remember it being listed as Monday afternoons on the up-to-date paper sched. I think it's on 1-2pm or 2-3pm. Recommended if you want to be turned onto the new shit (and the old shit you should learn about).

Thanks to Chris for the heads-up.

How nice is Gang Starr's "The Planet" off Hard To Earn? The ultimate anthem when it's summer in the city and you need a little extra boost to make some moves. What a beautiful piece of music, something that people will still be listening to in 20 years.

Well well, yet another Sunday Session went down and yet another Sunday Session was mad tight. Props to Chris, Demus, Ryan, Natalia, Carmaine, Felisatti, Liz, Sara, Monica, Alex, and everybody else who did it. Summer in the city is going to be a Quincy Jones-type hit this year. Special big-up to Eric and Ger for nice sets of hip hop and drum'n'bass, that was just about the perfect music for the feeling of the afternoon gentlemen.

Here's some proof that concerted effort by individuals acting together can have a real effect. GlaxoSmithKline has dropped the price of its AIDS drugs in the developing world.

A great song that I just picked up on recently: Donnie's "Our New National Anthem". Dude reminds me of Donny Hathaway, he really does.

Last night was a good time despite the low turnout. Big up Andrew and everyone who swung by. Linus had a great set, I was really impressed with his track selection. I was happy with my set but cot damn did I have a train wreck mix at the end there. That broken stuff can be wonky for a hip hop head like myself. Time to hit the lab and work it out, I can't be havin that. Off to the Sunday Session soon, see at left for details.

There's a trend in hip hop lately: rhyming over other people's beats. This is not the R&B loop-jacking of old, it's bootleg mixtapes of dudes rhyming over other people's beats. Sure, there were always freestyle tapes, but now we're seeing whole albums.

50 Cent's emergence can be traced back to the mass of bootlegs he released to street corners over NYC the last couple years. He built his name doing parodies of hits and re-working old tunes to the point that when his album dropped, he had more buzz than any debut LP since Snoop. Mad Skillz was stuck in limbo as a battle/punchline emcee until he put out a bootleg of himself rhyming over Neptunes instrumentals. . . suddenly he's got the video on air and album coming.

Jigga has a CD out with the same concept, but you've gotta buy a pair of his ugly-ass kicks to get it (if anyone has this, get in touch, I haven't heard it). Even Kardi just dropped Firestarter Vol. 2 as a bootleg. Hey, if the label's not gonna promote you right, take matters into your own hands Offishall, that's right.

What's the verdict? I think it's a good thing for hip hop. Some would argue that it pushes mainstream beats into the underground, but people are more inclined to admit these days that a hot beat is a hot beat. Dancehall has acknowledged this for years: everyone rhymes over the riddim of the moment, so it comes down to who has the cuttinest concept, lyrics, and flow. It gives the most skilled emcees a better chance of rising to the top, rather than limiting access to hottest bangers to those with the budget to approach Timbaland or Premier.

Does it limit the opportunities for new producers to break into the game? A little, but with the advent of the Internet and CD burners, it's easier than ever to hustle your beat tape out there. And every bootleg emcee needs to move onto original tracks at some point: witness "Wanksta". It was the only original on a 50 bootleg, and it turned into the most requested song on NY radio and a worldwide. And that's one of the worst beats I've heard in years, so it proves that just about anyone can get on ;-)

Off to play the show at Babylon alongside Linus, Cham, and Allsgood: details at left. Can't wait to hear the unreleased goodies that, um, actually all 3 have. A real update tomorrow, trust.

Tomorrow: The final Culture Thursday at Escape (222 Slater @ Bank). Cal and I are tagging and doing a little something special and the whole party'll be jumpin off. We're on 10:45-12:15, check for full details at left. Boom.

Too busy to post anything the last couple days. Here's a few more photos from the Juno weekend:

The chef himself gettin down. A good sign at any party.


CTV political correspondent Craig Oliver holding it down like Big Snoop Dogg. You have no idea. . .


The frou frou thing we tomfooleried our way into at the Empire Grill.


After the party it's the. . . old school pose with Cham.

One of the most haunting voices in music is gone: Nina Simone passed away yesterday. She was a powerful woman who attended the Juillard in NY but couldn't break into a career playing her first love, classical musical, because of prejudice. She fell into jazz and became of the most accomplished jazz vocalists of the second half of the 20th century. If you don't know her stuff, a few good introductions would be: "Young, Gifted and Black", "Ne Me Quitte Pas", and "Funkier Than A Mosquitoe's Tweeter".

This is one of the nicer mixes I've listened to in a while. Both of the Drumagick tracks are smooth & beautiful Brasilian heat like they were extras in the "Beautiful" video - can't wait for them to hit 12. Beleza Music has all the archived shows and strong links.

May 31. UPRISING. If you don't know, now you know. Keep watching uprisingfam.com for more details.

This article describes an Islamic school in the centre of France and how it's helping to build a model for Islamic society in the Western world. Sounds like the kind of bridge-building that Canadians are proud of being known for.

A couple interesting excerpts:

- "Here the political systems have no understanding of Islam, so they cannot direct it or make people think in a particular way. In the East, it is different. Governments there are well-versed in manipulation. They know what they want you to learn and what they don't want you to learn," he said.

- Around 70 students are young women - they wear headscarves but share classes with the men. Many said their aim was to return to their communities to teach Arabic and share their new knowledge of Islam. "What we have learned is to distinguish between law and custom," said Aziza from Strasbourg in eastern France. "It has been easy for men in our society to tell us what to do by saying it comes from religion. But things like forced marriage are not in Islamic law. They are only customs and can be discarded," she said.

Listening to Sun Ra's "Super-sonic Jazz" and catching up on some news and email. Killer Kela was really nice on Thursday, but I was really disappointed that Lone Catalysts got held up at the border. Kela really does bring it from a bunch of different angles though: drum'n'bass beats, some "beat-juggling" tricks, Neptunes beats. . .

Aloke has collected a plethora of worthwhile radio links on his site, including Jazzy Jeff, Benji B (featuring the Bugz remix of Macy Gray that everyone's talking about), and Masters at Work with a live band - all from the Miami WMC. Scroll down to the April 9th post, you'll find them all there.

I'm listening to the Jazzy Jeff right now, holy shit does he ever run styles together. . . a new record every 20 seconds, but the mixing's perfect :-)

If you're in Ottawa tomorrow, the place to be is Stamina at Surface (128 York) for Killer Kela and Lone Catalysts, plus a whole set of drum'n'bass cats. $10 before midnight, $12 after. The second-last Culture at Escape is also doing a live-band thing: Presswon, who are described as "flavoring of afro-funk-jazz with a hint of hiphop". Hmm, sorry I'm gonna miss that.

Man, I've just been going through photos from the last few weeks and there's mad stuff to post. When I have time on the weekend I'll throw up a whole gang of stuff. In the meantime, nibble on these:


Saracino wins the "Scratching for the first time at MASH at 3am" world championship with a trick that uses the headphones as a telephone.


Over a dozen people posed with this MJ Cole twelve at Culture on April 3. You can check them all out on my page at XVI, it's not worth posting them all here. Had to put up this one of Ruby 'cause it looks SO DAMN REAL.


Crowd shot of a nice nice gig alongside Chameleonic at Culture on April 3. Culture Thursdays are closing out with a big bash next Thursday (April 24) - people are already talking about it, I'm looking forward to it. Will post more info soon.

Picked up a nice twelve today: Rise (produced by the brothers Dewgarde aka the Beatminerz) "Make Sure (That We Win)". It says here "written & recorded & produced & designed entirely in Brooklyn".

Thanks to Andy aka Cowboy Raver at Spinnie's for the good word.

It's going up to 24 degrees celsius today here in Ottawa! Kool & the Gang did a song about it, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince did a song about it - the SUMMERTIME is soon around the corner. Awwwwwww, yeayer!

A teacher in New Mexico, USA has been suspended on a technicality in retaliation for allowing his students to speak out against the war on Iraq as part of a Slam Poetry club. What was the purpose of the war again? Freedom?

This kind of thing exposes the hyprocisy of the Fox News types who claim to present "the truth" but really lead a witch hunt against any dissent. There's no question that many people are against the war because it's a trend and not because they're well-informed. That's ignorant. At the same time, there's something very dangerous about people who spout doublespeak like "Obviously, Garofalo has her right to speak her mind, but it's our feeling that in this time of crisis that it's best to either support your country or stay in the shadows".

Thanks to Garmamie for the heads-up. You need to get yourself a page on the web so I can link to you man.

I just caught the tail end of the Blazers/Lakers game (exciting finish, young Kobe stepped up and the Lakers almost stole it) and saw one of the original Mars Blackman ads featuring Spike Lee. Turns out they're re-running them (enter throwback sneaker ads) in honour of Money's retirement. I was 9 when these came out: it's funny to hear the "new jack swing" soundtrack, I remember it seemed MAD cool at the time.

April 2003 Chart

1. Rosey - One (Seiji remix) (Giant Step/Island)
2. Diverse - Certified (Chocolate)
3. Cinerex - Shine (IG Culture remix) (LEA)
4. Gang Starr - Nice Girl, Wrong Place (Virgin)
5. Rima - Forward (JCR)
6. Izzi Dunn - Fire (Unsung Heroes remix) (FireWorx)
7. Butta - O'kwawa se' (Fruitmeat)
8. Wildchild - Secondary Protocol (Stones Throw)
9. Kiley Dean - Make me a Song (Beat Club/Interscope)
10. Dooley O - Watch My Moves 1990 (Stones Throw)

Looks like Kweli's Get By remix is done. The link goes to an Okayplayer post where Kwe's manager warns a DJ against leaking the track. There's no cyberspace any more, it's all the real world!

Looks like Mos Def and Kweli went on Chappelle's show again - and they did a cover of Biggie's What is Beef!? Sounds like new lyrics that ripped the song a new asshole though. This weekend I'm gonna have to hit up Kazaa for the hook-up, and boys, we are going to LAUGH!

More regular-type updates soon, I've just been too damn busy to actualy write anything.

ESPN picks for the NBA's season awards. Damn right KG for MVP! He should get it like his name was Mazda. . .

New broken funk hotness from Seven Heads (J-Live's label): Djinji Brown's "Abuelita's Dance".

Here's a new Timbaland song on the subject of. . . having Tim make you a hot beat. Ha ha! It's Kiley Dean's Make Me A Song.

Sing with me now: "Can you give me a song like 'Rock the Boat', Can you give me a song that you and Missy wrote? . . ."

Jean Grae (aka What What of Herbaliser fame) implores you: join the Anti-Big Hat Movement!

When I visited the page, there was an advertisement for "The Music Industries Hottest New Production Camp!". Dudes are trying to sell beats with banner ads now? And they can't even spell!

If you're from outside Canada and wondering what the hell Ottawa is about, here's a taste. The Junos (Canadian music awards) were in town this. CBC (the national broadcaster) did a series of audio postcards to let people know what Ottawa's about. Here are the ones from my boys (and inspirations) Trevor Walker and Rise Ashen.

Thanks to Ashen for the heads-up.

Buck 65 at Zaphod's is $12 (all-access wristbands are $20 but word is they're sold out). This is an EARLY show. . . Uprising DJs (Cham and I) are on at 8:15, Love and Body Parts at 9:15, and Buck 65 at 10:15. That is all I know.

Respect to all who came and danced last night, Culture is always beautiful. You saw the debut of Cham and I on 4 turntables, and it's only getting better from here! Good to hook up with some new peoples too: Phat Conductor, Jason P, others too but I'm too beat to remember. . .

Tonight I'm up at Escape for Culture alongside Alkaline and Chameleonic, and tomorrow we're playing between locals Love'n'Body Parts and Buck 65 at Zaphod's. I think you need a wristband to get into the Buck 65 show 'cause it's part of Junofest, so you should find the full info somewhere on the Juno site. As always, be sure to say whattup if we haven't met before.

Poet, DJ, and homeboy extraordinaire Dane (now that I think about it, he's like a T-dot version of Rich Medina) just hooked up his own website at www.danejahras.com. He's always into something nice and he's doing a weblog like this one too. Watch for the album, "Red" when it drops. . . Take this with a grain of salt 'cause he's my boy but it really is something special.

P.S. Medina can prolly ball better than you Dane, he played in the USBL. Come to think of it, even I ball better than you, ha! Who's gangsta!?

I was talking to a friend on the weekend who got back from Iraq a few weeks before the war started. He was there as part of a peace mission, I don't know the exact details.

One of my questions to him was "how do the people in Iraq feel about the U.S. invasion? I know that they hate Saddam Hussein, but how much do they welcome the U.S. government that's coming?" His response was that as much as they hate Hussein, the Iraqis are a proud people with a history of rejecting occupation. He said the general feeling is that they'd rather be governed by one of their own (no matter how horrible) than have the country run by people from halfway around the world. Now this is one man's perspective, but he's been there and talked to a lot of regular Iraqi people, which is more than most people commenting on this thing can say.

I pass this on because it's made me see the war from a bit of a different perspective. We get a lot of details on what's happening in the day-to-day battles, but the media rarely step back to take a broader perspective. The U.S. is expected to rule Iraq via a military government for months or years after they eliminate the current regime. I had never thought about it that way, but it makes sense: who wants to be ruled by people who aren't even from your country?

This post on the 4Hero message board gives the tracklisting for Madlib's album of Blue Note remixes. Didn't know that DJ Rells is yet another 'lib pseudonym either.

I'm a lot more amped about Madlib's new stuff after watching the video of his production workshop. I think we're gonna see less half-baked noodly stuff and more heavy-duty music. I guess anyone who locks himself in his room to make beats and smoke herb 7 days a week AND has a NICE set of influences is gonna be something special when he gets his focus straight.

Has anyone got a link to this new Jaylib track "The Red"? Everybody's talking about it and I haven't heard it yet. . .

Just a tip: If you drive a giant pick-up, don't spike your hair and wear orange-tinted sunglasses. We'll be forced to laugh at your ass just on general principle, you should at least give us a choice.

My boy Gerald recommends Yes Yes Y'all: an oral history of hip hop's first decade by Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn (dudes who directed Wildstyle). It's the oral history part that makes me want to read it. I'm less and less interested in scholarly attempts to define scenes and movements - I'd much rather read direct interviews with the people who were actually there. People telling stories is the best way to get the low-down on just about anything.