Phorilla.com

Here's a local piece on Uprising.

What is up! Why no updates for a looooooong time? Too damn busy with Uprising. Haven't seen much of the play-offs but happy the Spurs are in the final - if you know ball then you're happy too. Lots of good music poppin off these days but no time to talk about it. Not much time to read new things, that's coming soon.

Uprising (going down TOMORROW May 31 @ Babylon on Bank St.) is going to be the boom-lick. Full line-up and details at www.uprisingfam.com. Don't miss, see you there. . .

After Uprising, it's back to life, back to reality, back to updates at Phorilla.com. Peace.

The National Basketball Association just got a lot more interesting. I still love Tony Parker's game, the last player I saw with that kind of speed was a young #3.

From CBC News: "GDP Should Consider Environmental Factors: report". This is exactly the sort of initiative that will actually lead to significant improvements in the environment. There's a place for bleeding hearts and alarm-sounding surrounding the environment, but a lot of that energy would be better spent on efforts like this. It's when you can make your case in the language of the (mostly) boring men who manage the world that you can directly impact their decisions.

Kanye West doing the slam poet thing: definitely worth a listen. And he does it nice! He's much better poet than an emcee: "the prettiest people do the ugliest things. . ."

Here's where I came across it.

ODB is out and back in the studio! This time around, he's signed to the ROC and working with the Neptunes. . . There's something about Ol' Dirty that you just can't hate. Whatever he drops is guaranteed to be f-u-n. . .

Uprising is coming up May 31. No hyperbole here, just be there.

What a great basketball game. The Mavs had 83 points in the first half! One of my teachers went to Cincinnati with Nick the Quick and said he was a grade-A buster, but MAN can he play. . .

This is why Okayplayer shits on every other Website.

?uestlove of the Roots has been 2-waying with Jay-Z about how he should make the ultimate Jigga album. Here's your chance to comment, and if you suggest something strong enough it may even reach Hove's ears :-)

Thanks to Cham for the infamous Bugz in the Attic re-rub of Macy Gray (snippet). My favourite part? The Fabolous "I Can't Deny It"-jacked bass tone to start the whole thing off. Perfect for starting the rewind anew. . .

Let's see if this becomes one of the summer anthems. This is the part of the year when this summer's Grindins, Get Ur Freak Ons, and Bodyrocks start to appear.

Spine Magazine has a nice little thing going on. Haven't had much of a chance to check it but the man like Dragon says it's worthwhile throughout. Take notice of the Class Is In Session One and Two features: both good intros to golden age hip hop that stands the test of time.

Respect to everyone who swung by our little workshop session on Saturday, Demus and I had a good time. Good questions from everyone too. We'll follow up with the promised email in the next week or so, believe that.

They've announced the lineup for the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (May 24-26). No time to go through the whole thing, but looks nice with Slum, Dwele, and Detroit Experiment on the bill. . .

Ladies and gentlemen: the Get By remix pt. 2 feat. Kweli, Jay-Z and Buster Rhymes (!). Not only does Bus rip it, there's a classic ghetto-CNN moment. Just a few days after her passing: "Even Jesus was stoned before receiving the throne, I send a rest-in-peace to Nina Simone". Read the details re: the different versions - I'm still amped to hear the Mos Def version!

This is gonna get the all-3-version mega-mix on numerous occasions this summer :-)

So KG gets knocked out the play-offs, then they rob him of the MVP in his year. First the Fat Boys break up, now this.

Here's something D-mass and I are doing tomorrow. I'm cut-and-pasting the blurb that appeared elsewhere:

D-mass and yours truly (http://www.palmsquad.com) will be running a FREE hour-long workshop at 3pm this Saturday, May 3 at Ottawa U. The title is "DJing and the Power of Socially Conscious Music" and here's the description:

"A beginner's primer on DJing, followed by a discussion of the power of socially conscious music throughout the years: from funk to reggae to hip hop to electronic music".

Basically, the first half-hour will be a simple little intro to gear, mixing, and scratching (with a real 2-turns-and-a-mixer setup), and the second half will be a discussion on the progressive effects that music can have on society.

The workshop is part of the Ottawa-Outaouais Social Forum (OOSF), a community-based project inspired by similar events happening around the world, like the World Social Forum in Porto Alegr�, Brasil. The social forum process was created with the goal of building a culture of participatory democracy in the region, forging new links among groups and individuals working for social change, and generally developing a stronger, more dynamic and connected community. Full info on the whole dealy can be found at: http://socialforum.digitalindependence.org

To sum up:
Name: "DJing and the Power of Socially Conscious Music"
Lead by: D-mass and Pho
Time: 3pm on Saturday, May 3 (1 hour long)
Location: Room 204 at Montpetit Hall, Ottawa U downtown campus
Cost: Free!
N.B.: There's info re: a recommended donation and optional on-line registration at http://socialforum.digitalindependence.org if you're interested in being part of the larger event. There's tons of workshops, etc. over Saturday and Sunday. But if you just want to swing by our workshop, it's like Leon's: don't have to pay a cent.



So there you have it. Neither D-mass or I has done something like this before, I'm looking forward to it.

Also, don't forget that tonight (Friday, May 2) is the Golden Star Lounge at The African Palace (376 Rideau Street, Ottawa). It runs 8:30-11pm with an open mic slam to start and performance by Congom, Ms. Lynx, nth digri, and T-dot's Wakefield Brewster. Nth told me that Wakefield brings it heavy like Saul Williams and Akpata told me that he's got some new shit to drop. So I'm telling you that it's gonna be tight 1nce again. See you there. . .

Listening to the Jazzanova "In Between" remix album right now. It's just a CD-R so I don't know who's responsible for what, but suffice to say this is gonna be the summer shit. Propers to Cham for the hook-up.