Jay Electronica "Exhibit C"

Saw this on DJ Soul's blog, holy fuck, I haven't heard Hip Hop that made me wanna punch something in ages...I need more of this in my life...please...this is HEAT...Just Blaze on the beat-nuff said...Jay Electronica rips...speaking of Just Blaze, the Footage from the Redbull Just Blaze vs Alchemist battle of the beats thing looked amazingly fun...

Stretch Armstrong

DJ Riz, Kid Capri & Stretch Armstrong
For anyone in the Boston area make sure you come down to 'Keys Open Doors' tonight(10/29) at 106.5 Bedford Street, where we'll be rocking with Stretch Armstrong. This party has continuously been a blast, each guest(DJ Riz, DJ Soul, Cosmo Baker) has sparked a new inspiration in DJing for us both...just seeing dudes have fun..play what they want.....no requests...no cover, no BS..it's a guest list only party, if you don't have a key, u gotta find someone with one or email us..the key actually does unlock the door to the club..for real...below I ripped one of Stretch's Mix Tapes from 99/2000..think its 99 tho...I gotta rip The World is Not Enough, Unbreakable and the Murder Mixtape ones next...

Also be sure to listen in to his new show alongside Eli Escobar on EVR radio, Monday Nights, 10-12...

Stretch Armstrong DRUGS

Paul C & Mandolindley Road Show

Its safe to say some the best Hip Hop I have ever heard in my life Paul C was either directly or somewhat indirectly involved in...Superlover Cee & Casanova Rud to Ultramagnetic MC's, to Kool G Rap and Rakim....(I always felt Let the Rythm Hit'em and Wanted:Dead or Alive were Hip Hop perfection and great companion pieces, matching production and lyrics at the highest caliber possible)...I pretty much have spent the past 15 years or so, always keeping an eye out for the smaller releases that have his name on it, be it Production, or Engineering...I say 15 years because before that, I was well aware of the 87 to 89 era, Ultra, Stezo, the LA Posse stuff..Kevy Kev & AK B...Superlover Cee, so on and so forth, ...but then names like The Heartbeat Brothers and Pelon were suddenly and randomly showing up...then hearing Stretch & Bobbito play Simply 2 Positive MC's Demo's(Organized Konfusion) I realised there was so much more to his catalog than I was aware of, even though I thought I had it all!...I was hooked(shit even The Almighty R.S.O apparently had done some recoding with him! although the material was never released)....even if he didn't produce the record, his engineering alone could bring a beat to levels I don't think anyone else could bring it to...I mean have u ever heard 'Impeach the President' sound as 'big' and as good as it did on 'Do the James'...I always thought "Ring,Ring" by De la was great usage of 'Impeach..' as well, but out of the thousands of people who used that break I don't think anyone could have matched what Paul C did in the mix....same way early Bomb Squad,Pete Rock, Large Pro, Marley Marl the way his mic almost had this 'tin-can' sound to it('Check it out ya'll ya don't stop...keep on')...all the early Def Jam stuff Rick Rubin was doing, they all had 'that sound'...production aside, I am talking about the mix, and whats in that mix that makes it special...

....now The Mandolindley Road Show was a band Paul C was in around 1985..right before he started working at Studio 1212...which leads me to ask...on Ultramagnetic's "One Two, One Two" I always romanticized that that was Keith's way of paying homage and shouting out the Studio and Paul C, while at the same time tieing that into a description of the songs rhyme pattern....however, nerdyness aside, its probably more based on the latter...ANYWAY..the band was Paul, Stuart Rifkin(no relation to the Spring Records,Loud Records,SRC Bloodline) and the lead singer Lindley Farley...whom I tracked down via MYspace about 3 years ago to ask if they had anymore material..he obliged and sent me a cd of 14 or so tracks, mainly the original album but with a few added Demo Cuts...all packaged with a nice promo pic of the trio(with Paul sporting a tye dye V neck)...the best description I could give the style of music is its 'very downtown'...whatever that really means I am not quite sure...I always took that as a pretentious way of describing music that isn't quite 'new wave' or rock or dance...but I guess it fits...Paul plays bass...these song are completely different than any other work he is famous for, but still an interesting listen and a nice look into to some of his less known projects...

I picked 2 of my favorite cuts off the album, 'I've got a Hatchet' and 'The Three Cavaliers'

DJ AM

I spent the past day and a half reading Blogs,'tweets' and message board comments on people's reaction to AM's passing...some close friends wanting to vent, some never met him but wanted to share their thoughts....I didn't want to make a post about it..it's just too fucking sad of a situation, and didn't really feel it was my place.... but tonight after DJing, and having had a really fun night of DJing at that, I thought it would make perfect sense for me to pay respects to a man, that has forever changed the way I and every single DJ, DJ's....point blank....it's that simple. He changed the game, and I hate that phrase because it's so general, but in this case it's fitting.

I don't remember exactly when I first starting talking to AM...it was defiantly through Mike B, maybe I had mentioned to Mike 'feel free to give AM our edits' or Mike had simply just gave us his email...but literally, within minutes of my initial email(sotra just blindly emailing him with 'bladerunner edits' in the title) I got a response..and it bugged me the fuck out! it wasn't your typical 'thanks' or 'cool, I'll take a listen' short response I had been so used to getting from 'big' named DJ's....he was genuinely excited, and just very appreciative...thankful..the same way you or I would be...he wanted to talk about music,wanted to talk about the edits, shit, the Earth Wind & Fire 'Brazilian Edits' we did was his idea..100%...he had said during one of our convo's, 'you know what would be an ill edit you guys could do____'..not thinking he'd hold us to it, he would joke about it when I would send him newer stuff, he'd always throw in 'what about the EW&F lol'....once we finally did finish it I was so excited to hear his response, the second Steve was done mastering it, I couldn't wait and get his opinion....to be able to know him on such a small level that we did, I am very thankful...and sad...he was an extremely kind and humble human being...he brought so much good music to the mainstream audience it's baffling to me....he just loved music and DJing...and the point of what made me think of him tonight-he had so much fun at it, and no matter what always kept it interesting...I wanted to share something from the last time we spoke in May...I had sent him some new club edits we had along with a few random DJ tools Beyonder and I made for just us to play out....figuring they'd be overlooked next to the more relevant club edits we had in there...the one that caught his eye was this St Ides blend I did with putting a Biz Markie beat box sample under the Nate Dogg/Warren G track:

"I have never been more excited to download an attachment then I am to hear the St Ides commercial.. JUST HIT THE CORNA STOOOOO YOU KNOW WHAT IM LOOKIN FOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ST IDDDDDDDDDDDDDES AHAHAHAHAHA I used to play that every night"


...AM left a mark that I thought was unimaginable...a true inspiration, not only to dj's but to people in general...fame, success all that didn't seem to change him, and how he treated his friends and carried himself. A true gentlemen, rest in peace.

DJ SOUL INTERVIEW

It's that time once again, this Thursday, August 27th we are throwing our second installment of Keys Open Doors at 106.5 Bedford Street in Downtown Boston. This month we got my man DJ Soul as a guest, so for anyone who missed out on Riz last month,please make it a point to come down....good Djing and good Music...it's as simple as that.If you still need a quick run down on the party, you need a 'Key' to get in. Its Invite only, you have to know someone involved to get a Key..if the door is closed it will be locked...use your key..it really works..anyone else hit up rsvpkod@gmail.com..because the party is for the Key Holders the space on the guest list is limited, we hold off room for those who actually have a key...

Moving things along...

After the great response from last months DJ Riz interview, I wanted to chop it up with DJ Soul before the 'Keys' night to sorta go over his career. As an extended member of the OKAYPLAYER fam, DJ Soul has gone on to doing the Hottest Clubs(Bungalow 8,Lotus,Marquee,Pink Elephant,Speed,105 Rivington,Goldbar etc etc) to DJing the first Season of the Chapelle Show and working exclusivley on events for 50 Cent,Diddy,Derek Jeter,Kate Moss,Naomi Cambell,Complex Magazine,Nike,Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons,Alife,Haze..the list goes on and on...

DJ 7L -So for the basic 'what made you want to dj' question, when did you start?

DJ SOUL - I started in June of 1992, I asked my step dad if he could buy me two turntables and a mixer for my birthday. I didn't think it was going to happen until him and my uncle took a trip to Canal Street in Manhattan and came home with two Technic 1210's and a Gemini MX-6500 Mixer (a lot of dancehall dj's used that mixer just for the sound efx).As far back as I can remember, I was fascinated with DJing. One memory that comes to mind is hearing Grandmaster DST scratch on Herbie Hancock's "Rock It". I remember watching that video and thinking it was the flyest shit ever!

DJ 7L - What were some early influences around this time, that u think helped get hooked on DJing?

DJ SOUL - Growing up, I spent a lot of weekends at my aunts house where my older cousins listened to Kiss FM & Red Alert on the regular. That was very influential on me musically but it wasn't until after the mixtape game began when I realized that I wanted to DJ. Kid Capri's 10/9 mixtape and his Old School series along with the Ron G's mixes inspired me to want to blend and make tapes. I know this might be cliche but the scratching scenes from the movie Juice inspired me to want to learn how to cut.

DJ 7L - oh no doubt, the Juice Battle Scenes were pretty true to form, also very captivating for any young DJ. Richie Rich and DJ Majesty were both just incredible...Richie Rich doubling up on Rakim 'Suckers get smacked up/Suckers get smacked up'...anyways..what were some early spots you began to grab vinyl at?

DJ SOUL - I didn't start buying wax until after I got turntables. Before that it was strictly cassettes and later cds . One of my first purchases was buying Run DMC's Raising Hell and The Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill from Pathmark (circa '86). As I listened to more and more radio, I got into into b-sides and remixes which usually weren't available on albums, so I started buying cassette singles from The Wiz. In 1990, I began to shop on Jamaica Avenue in Queens and got into mixtapes. Hearing Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight" mixed with Biz Markie's instrumental of "Make The Music" and Stephanie Mills mixed with "Impeach The President" blew my mind and I became an addict.
When I first started buying wax, I shopped at Dynasty Records (which was inside the Coliseum Mall) and at Paradise Records (in Brentwood). For Reggae I went to Positive Vibes in Amityville and to this spot that was around the corner from my house. It was actually a front for a weed spot but there had a lot of imports from Jamaica. Across town, I used to go this dance shop RPM Records and the owner would sell me his promos. After moving to Brooklyn in '94, I shopped at Beatstreet, Rock-N-Soul, Music Factory and later on A-One & Sound Library. Two of the first records I bought after I got my equipment were Jodeci's Remix of "Come And Talk To Me" and Heavy D's "You Can't See What I See".

DJ 7L - Who were some early DJ's that began to catch ur attention...whether it was someone on the radio, or around the way...I mean Hip Hop Radio in NY from 85 to 95 is probably influence enough for anyone..from the Awesome Two to Magic & Marley to Pete Rock to Flex to Stretch & Bobbito...I am envious of anyone who was able to experience those shows in 'real time'..its always great to get a vintage cassette but to be able to turn on the radio and hear Red Alert or Chuck Chillout whenever you wanted is just nuts to me...so was it radio mainly or...

DJ SOUL - As I said earlier Red Alert, Kid Capri & Ron G. I studied those guys and taught myself how to mix and scratch. When I moved to Brooklyn, I met DJ Craig G when he was working at Music Factory on Fulton Street. I used to hang out there a lot and learned a lot about the music industry and the mixtape game through him. With radio, I was a religious Red Alert listener from '89 until '94. Funkmaster Flex also. I remember when he started on Hot 97 and watched how the station switched it's format from dance music into hip-hop and R&B. Flex went from being an unknown dj into one of the biggest dj's in the city. That was very inspiring to see.

DJ 7L - What were your first experiences with the NY Club scene, also when was it you started playing out?

DJ SOUL - On the club tip, I started going out in '94. I went to The Palladium a lot on Fridays where Flex and DJ Riz played. I paid attention to what they played and how the crowd reacted. I did the same whenever Kid Capri was playing. The first time I heard him was at Club Velvet on a Sunday sometime in '94. He was a beast on those turntables! Seeing what he did to the crowd was amazing and I wanted to be able to do that. I also hung out at Mecca (Sunday night party at the Tunnel) in the mid 90's. To this day I still haven't seen anything like that party. It was crazy with the co-ed bathrooms and artists hanging out at the bar along with over a thousand people.
Between '95 and '96 I started to check out parties where Stretch Armstrong and Mark Ronson played (specifically Tuesdays and Saturdays at Rebar - which used to be on the corner of 16th street and 8th Avenue). Hearing them spin introduced me to a more open format and that rubbed off on my style.
I started doing local parties around my way right after I got equipment. Parties in the projects, house parties, basement parties, backyard parties which sometimes ended with fights or shootouts. Those parties were tough because of the crowds. I had no choice but to rock it because I was competing against local cats who were already established (shouts to Tiger and Johnny Mirand).
Between '96 and '98 I did a few clubs in Long Island (Jam Roc in Hempstead, 27A in Bay Shore), and did at bunch of college parties (Brooklyn Campus of LIU ,CW Post, Manhattan College, NYU)
Between '98 and 2001, I started to get booked at a bunch of downtown spots in Manhattan. One of the first people to let me do a prime time set was Mark Ronson at Shine. Bill Spector promoted that party (Jay-Z mentions it on "So Ghetto").


DJ 7L - Lets talk about the mixtapes for a minute..being as that's where I had first heard of you, when did you start making tapes?

DJ SOUL - The first mixtape I released was in the summer of '92. It was a blend tape that sold at a few spots in Queens & Long Island. I dropped a few mixtapes up to '96 which were sold at Harlem Music Hut, Beatstreet, Youngstarr and at a few other spots though out the city.
In 1998, I got a job at Rawkus working in promotions and A&R. While I was there I got access to some exclusive music and put together the mixtape Can you Feel It. Rich King and Amir (who were the buyers at Fat Beats) heard the mix and ordered almost a thousand copies. It was received well and it sold out at a bunch of stores (Union, Bobbito's Footwork, Triple 5 Soul, House Of Nubian, Sandbox).
After that I dropped a few more mixes Competition Is None (1999), 3 Da Hardway (2000) Dangerous (2001) and Double Or Nothing (2002). Double Or Nothing was the only cd release and Japan only ordered tapes.


Out of all those mixes, Competition Is None did the best. I moved almost 5,000 tapes. Big L had just passed away and I got an exclusive track with him and Fat Joe (which was for D.I.T.C. album on Tommy Boy). I remember giving Stretch the tape and he edited out my drops and played the Big L song on Hot 97. The next day I got a phone from a friend saying that Showbiz was mad about the song leaking and wanted to beat me down. Mos Def and his manager Shaka (R.I.P) were also pissed because I put "Very Well" on the mix. That's an unreleased track that 88 Keys produced.
Nothing ever happened with those situations. I apologized to Mos when I saw him (which was like a day after) and he was cool. I met Showbiz (through DJ Premier) a few years later while I was spinnin at a Dave Chapelle Movie premier party and he was cool. Overall those mixes helped establish myself within the New York hip-hop scene.


I started my blog in August of 2007. I started posting mixes about a month after that.

DJ 7L - Judging by your Mix Covers you must be a film buff? Right?

DJ SOUL - I don't consider myself a film buff but I do have a huge dvd collection of all types of shit. In regards to the artwork for those mixtapes, I was trying to do something different so I decided to use record covers (I don't remember anybody who was doing that at the time). I also did a sticker for each release. Tim aka Nobody (who was art director at Rawkus) designed the artwork for Can You Feel It. I chose the image and told him what I liked and didn't liked as he designed it. It was the same process with the other mixes. Jeff Staple did the artwork for Competition Is None, 3 Da Hardway and Dangerous. Adrian Moeller (founder and editor of Mass Appeal Magazine) designed the cover for Double Or Nothing.

DJ 7L - So was it after 2002's Double or Nothing Mix that you focused more on DJIng around the New York Club Circuit? I know you had residencies before this, but it seems that you were more prominent on the club scene round this time...

DJ SOUL - When I first started out on the New York City scene, I was part of the DJ rotation at 2I's on Saturday along with Bobbito, Mighty Mi & Eli. I played a lot of Hip-Hop, Classic R&B and Reggae. Mark Ronson also hooked me up with opening gigs here and there. I became a resident at the Monday night party at Cheetah (Jay-Z also mentions that party in the song "So Ghetto") and I played a bunch of events with The Lyricist Lounge and Frank 151 crew. Other promoters noticed that I was good so they booked me (shouts to Bill Spector, Peter Oasis, Matt Goias, Everton, Cordell, Mateo, Bonnie and Belina). By 2004, I was doing the hottest parties in the city (Bungalow 8, Butter, Marquee, Lot 61).

DJ 7L - And once the Bottle Service era of Clubs came to be...what's been your experience in those settings?

DJ SOUL - I never had any bad experiences with commercial parties or bottle service spots. I already know what to expect so I adapt and play music that's more friendly for that crowd.

DJ 7L - True...what's the story where Puffy..or should I say Diddy, had been impressed with ur play list that he wanted you to make him a personal mix? And this mix became Diddy's St. Tropez Mix... I could have my facts way off...

DJ SOUL - It was the 2005 CFDA Awards After Party at Bungalow 8 when Puff wanted me to make him that mix... I had a Monday night residency there where I would play classics all night. On that night I played a set which consisted of the songs which are on the St Tropez mix and people were wilding.

It's funny because a year prior to that party was my first time spinning at an event for Diddy (it was Zac Posen's Birthday Party after the CFDA Awards). I remember wearing a Polo T-shirt with the big horse on it (this was before the US Open shirts) and Puff had just won designer of the year for Sean John (beating out Ralph Lauren). Looking back on that, it wasn't a smart decision on my part to wear that shirt but I rocked the party and got booked to spin the Jive Records B.E.T. Awards Pre Party a week later in Los Angeles. While I was out there, Hen Roc (from Bad Boy) called me and asked if I could spin Puff's 4th of July White Party in the Hamptons. We confirmed it and a few days later, Noah Teppenburg (the event coordinator and also the owner of Marquee) called me and cancelled without reason. I didn't get a cancellation fee because I didn't contract anybody and that pissed me off because I could've worked in Miami and made a nice paycheck. After that I stopped playing anything that was a Bad Boy release (with the exception of B.I.G. records) and that led to an incident with one of their promo people at Lot 61 (which was the best hip hop party in the New York City at the time) who was pushing the "Boyz In The Hood" record.


When Puff's people approached me about making the St Tropez mix, I explained that I wasn't willing to do anything until I was reimbursed for The White Party. Harve Pierre (president of Bad Boy) later came into the booth and we spoke about what happened. Nothing was ever resolved and for the next few months I received calls on the regular about making Puff this mix. I wasn't going to do it but I did one night after not being able to sleep.

After sending over the mix, Puff called me personally and asked me to meet him in the studio because he wanted help him with the intro for The MTV Music Awards (he was hosting that year). We built on some ideas (which included Metallica, explosions and Ryan Leslie engineering) and we became cool. He was also working on the Press Play album and I played him some samples including "Shaft in Africa" which ended up becoming "We Gon Make It". In exchange for helping him, he asked me to spin backstage at the MTV Awards which was a crazy experience. The after party was nuts. Quincy Jones, Paris Hilton, Scott Storch and a bunch of people all hanging out in this small ass room while a hurricane was suppose to hit Miami. After that we've worked together on a bunch of occassions which include two New Years Eve parties at his Miami mansion.

DOWNLOAD DJ SOUL DIDDY MIX

DJ 7L - So lets talk about a few other mixes that came out recently...more 'concept' style release...like the Dilla Mix...how did that come about?

DJ SOUL - I've always been a fan of Dilla's music and production going back to the summer of '96 when he made his debut on the production tip with Tribe, De La Soul and The Pharcyde. When I found out he died on that Saturday afternoon, I downloaded Donuts (which was released earlier that week) off of itunes and and listened to it on repeat cuz it was so good. During that time, I couldn't stop thinking about how he never got the street recognition that Kanye and Just Blaze got as producers from working artists such as Jay-Z and then thought about what it would've sounded like if Dilla would've worked with Nas or Jay or B.I.G. or Jadakiss or M.O.P. or Big L. That's how the project was born.

At this time, I'd already released a few remixes on wax (which were getting played by mixshow dj's) so I was in a zone. I pulled out some acapellas and did some rough mixes and played them to a bunch of people including Jean Grae and Dantana (the product manager at Okayplayer). Everybody liked what they heard so I made a sampler of a few songs, posted it on my myspace page and leaked the Jay-Z "Song Cry" remix online and the response was amazing. After that, Dantana approached me and asked if I wanted to release the mix as an Okayplayer collaboration. I wasn't even sure if I was going to finish the project until that point. Questlove heard what I did and co signed the project. That was the green light for me to finish it since he was a good friend and fan of Dilla.

After working on the mix for months, I finished it on March 20th of 2007 around 6:30 am (which was the release date). It was uploaded to the web around 7am and I had to go to the airport to catch a 9am plane to Miami to spin a party that night for Winter Music Conference. When I landed there was over ten thousand downloads and I was speechless. By midnite the mix had over 26,000 downloads. Dilla's uncle Herm and cousin Roshonda both emailed me that day and thanked me for doing the project. I ended up meeting Dilla's mother a few months later and she thanked me also. It was nominated for The Vibe Magazine / VH-1 mixtape of the year award along with Lil Wayne, Kanye West & DJ Drama. To date it's has received over 100,000 downloads making it one of the most successful online releases and project that I've done. It was an amazing experience.!


DOWNLOAD DJ SOUL ASSORTED DONUTS

DJ 7L - Then there is the recent Big L Mix..

DJ SOUL - It was almost a year after I did Assorted Donuts when I decided to do the Big L tribute. I came up with the idea after Ralph McDaniels from Video Music Box edited a video for the Big L & Dilla Remix that I put together. After posting the video on youtube, I realized that nobody had properly put together a good Big L mix and that 2009 would mark 10 years since his passing so I thought it was a good idea. I reached out to Lord Finesse (Premier had already introduced us) about it and he was cool down. After that I bumped into Rich King (who worked with L before he passed and was responsible for putting together the Big Picture album for Rawkus) and told him that I wanted to do the mix. He spoke to L's brother Donald and they gave me the green light. Both DJ Premier and Bobbito did interludes for the mix and it has received great reviews including Complex's Magazine Album Of The Week back in May.


DOWNLOAD DJ SOUL BIG L MIX


DJ 7L - And now your working on a mix of 'originals' with Elliot Wilson(Ego Trip/XXL)..

DJ SOUL - About a month ago, my boy Dro (from Shady Records) reached out to me and told me that Elliot wants to put together a sample mix and asked if I was interested. Since I'm a huge fan of Ego Trip and this is a mix that I've always wanted to do, I took the meeting and it's in the works.. The only way I can describe it is that it will be a modern take between Ken Sport's Original mixtapes and DJ Riz's Live From Brooklyn Series...

DJ 7L - How about new artists..anyone catching your ear these days? Be it Club shit or just regualr good 'ol Hip Hop shit...

DJ SOUL - Over the last year or two, I've like what I've heard from Ryan Leslie, Jay Electronica, Mavado, Kid Cudi and The Foreign Exchange. Gucci Man & OJ Da Juiceman are foolish yet entertaining. On the commercial tip, Chelley has a dope record with "Took The Night". Scottie B isn't an new artist but he always puts out dope Baltimore remixes. The Drake mixtape was done well if you like contempary R&B (Lol). In regards to Hip-Hop, it isn't dead. Hip-Hop radio is for the most part is but there's still quality music being released. Q-Tip, Mos Def, Rick Ross, Mad Lib & Lil Wayne have put out some good albums over the last year.

DJ 7L - And how about the current explosion of the heavy electro dance records...do those find there way into your sets at all?

DJ SOUL - I like what Diplo and Switch have been doing. The Major Lazer album is good. Some of the remixes by Calvin Harris, The Crookers, Boyz Noise and Dave Nada are dope and I play them out depending on the party and crowd. Overall, the electro thing has been entertaining to watch. It's become trendy but I'm not mad at it. Daft Punk have always produced dope music but it wasn't until a few years ago that hipsters considered it the best music ever made.

DJ 7L - How about the current DJ climate?

DJ SOUL - Honestly I'm annoyed with Electronic House (Dave Guetta, Bob Sinclair, Dirty South and Klass remixes). It seems like that's the only genre of music that bottle service clubs in New York want their DJ's to play now. With the recession in full effect, more europeans have moved to New York and they're the ones who go out regularly now so the clubs cater to them. That has really hurt the New York nightlife.
In regards to the DJ climate, it's out of control. Everybody and their mother is a DJ now because of serato and it's tarnished the game. There's really no experience or skill involved anymore. People get the software and a dj's hard drive music and the next week, they're working at the club because they're friends with either the owner or promoter. It's sad. I used to go to clubs because I enjoyed hearing other DJ's play. Now I walk in and walk out because the dj sucks.


3 DJ's Who Definatley DON'T suck, Camillo, Stretch & DJ Soul

Wanna thank Soul again for his time, anyone in the Boston area make sure you come through to the party on Thursday...DJ Soul will have copies of his Big L tribute mix to give away, we'll have our Keys Open Doors BLADERUNNER Mix to give away, BLADERUNNER Tee's and plenty of other TBD suprises...

Keys Open Doors Re Cap

What up ya'll!!! First let me say that the kick off to the Keys Open Doors party was so much fun I forgot I was in Boston!! Riz tore it down with an amazing, technical, inspiring, fun and down right intelligent set...flawless...I am sorry if you missed it...the vibe was incredible right from jump and we were at capacity by 11...to peep a few pic's go here, www.keysdoopendoors.blogspot.com ....wanna give an extra big shout out to my man Adam for going strong with us on this party and help make the whole idea happen,Riz for re igniting my faith in hearing what good djing is, Peter(for being the coolest fucking Club Owner ever),Harmeet(for totally seeing the vision), Knife(for looking hard), Tree's(for enjoying the tan),Ryan(for the dope logo/flyer work) and everyone who came thru for really making that night what it was!

The Next Party is Thursday August 27th, its us along with DJ Soul, again if you don't have a key, u gotta email your name(s) to rsvpkod@gmail.com

Look for an interview w/DJ Soul in the next week, and peep the Riz interview below if you haven't yet....the response to it has been incredible!! Over 800 of his Westwood Mega Mix were downloaded, big shout to DJ Anonymous,Turntablelab and all the other blogs for the Re Posts, it def helped!

ALSO, onto to more important things, my man Kon has been in the Hospital for a few weeks now, and in and out for a few more on tp of that, he is getting the best care possible and will be healthy before you know it, but in the meantime, he has been unable to play any of gigs, and being that he is a 'working DJ',well, I don't have to spell it out for you...so next Monday, August 24th, at The Middlesex Lounge there is a benefit, all proceeds will go to Kon, it's a 10 Dollar donation at the Door, myself along with Supreme One, Soul Clap, Miss Thang and Gucci Vuiton will all be playing...please, please come down and support, if you cannot make it down and would like to make a donation, any amount counts, send them via paypal to:

djmsthang@gmail.com


And finally, wanna wish my man Esoteric(along with Beyonder) safe travels and a fun ass time on the Hell Awaits tour with Jedi Mind Tricks and Reef the Lost Cauze..it all kicks off in San Diego this week, for dates go here

BLADERUNNERS x DJ Riz : KEYS OPEN DOORS

As we come close to the kick off of our new Thursday night party in Boston "Key's Open Doors"(July 30th), I decided to chop it up with this months guest, DJ Riz(1/2 of the Crooklyn Clan). First for those that dont know, let me break down real quick the purpose of the party. K.O.D = "Keys Open Doors" The party is always invite only, if u were given the tiny envelope which contains the invite(designed by the homie Ryan from Enamel Kingdom) with the gold key & chain attached, that gets you and as many people as you'd like into the party..free..no hassles, no questions...if the door is closed it will be locked..however,that key literally works and will unlock it, and ur all set... if u'd like to be on the guest list u must call 1 617 880 9778..the party is located at 106.5 Bedford Street in Boston(near Downtown Crossing)... the point of this party is,everyone is welcome, just be clear there are no requests.. we don't care too much if it's your Birthday and there will be no Lady Gaga in sight... if it sounds like you'd wanna be a part of, again simply call 1 617 880 9778.

So over the weekend I got a chance to talk to Riz real quick and we basically just broke down the different points of his career:



DJ Riz & DJ Red Alert Circa 87

Just to get a few of the basic traditional questions, when did you first start DJing and what type of records made you gravitate towards wanting to be a DJ...was it friends who were Djing? Also what radio shows were you listening to at this time?


DJ Riz: I first started djing in 1985. My friends mom was our tenant in brooklyn bought me my first 3 records for my birthday cause we always exchanged bday gifts. Those 3 records were: "Rock It" - Herbie Hancock, "Live at the Disco Fever" - Lovebug Starski, & "One for the Trebble" - Davey Dmx.There were a few radio stations back then that really inspired me to become a dj. I tried to find all the mixshows on the dial. I used to come home from school and listen to the "Paco Supermix" on 92 ktu around that time. I recorded it everyday. The played megamixes from the latin rascals, the animal, chep nunez and other djs. They played stuff like 'Planet Rock', Jive Rhythm Tracks, 'I'm Ready', 'Hip Hop Be Bop', 'Get Tough', 'Breakdancer', 'Remember what you like', ect...They always did interesting edits and mixes which caught my attention and opened my ears to creativity.I also listened to Red Alert and Chuck Chillout on 98.7 Kiss as well as Tony Humphries and few others on Kiss who played the urban house music which I loved. I listened to 105.9 a lot, they had Bambaata, Mr. Magic, etc...then came the awesome 2, DNA & Hank Love, and others. My favorite show though was "Mr. Magic's Rap Attack" with DJ Marley Marl on WBLS. I would listen every friday and sat from 9pm-12, religiously. I wouldn't leave my house till I called up there and got my shout out. After that, I would go hang out and have my walkman or radio with me. If I wasn't in town or able to listen, I would give my friend cassettes to record the shows for me. Like Rakim once said "I was a fiend", lol.

I have so many shows(courtesy of Will C) where Mr. Magic pratically shouts you out on every one, referring to you as "white Wiz', ha, whats the story with that?


DJ Riz: My DJ name was giving to me by a friend "the white wiz dj riz". I kinda ran with it cause it rhymed with my name and back then, those sorts of titles were in for dj's. I used to call up the show every week and get my white wiz dj riz shout out. It became so frequent that after a while, they shouted me out automatically on a regular, even if I didn't call. I remember Mr. Magic, Craig G, Tradegy, and a few others used to answer the phone, I was so amped!


Once you got into DJing a little more heavily were there any 'mentors' in particualar you'd look to?.


DJ Riz: There was a kid in my neighborhood named frank who was a local dj. I used to go by his house and watch him, he actually showed me how to dj. I always mention him in every interview I ever did. Thanks frank! Brooklyn had a bunch of dope dj's. In the late 80's I hooked up with the likes of DJ Majesty (Da King & I, also in the battle scene in the Juice movie), Daddy Rich (3rd bass), Clark Kent, DJ Dice (Das Efx). We all lived like 10 minutes from each other and would have practice sessions on a daily basis. I always surrounded myself with different types of dj's so it could help me become well rounded. Battle, club, scratchin, mixing, whatever it was. That was important to me. Another important thing back then was building your record collection. I started by goin to all the dope record stores in the city. Vinylmania, downtown, music factory. Beat Street, Rock&Soul, etc..


Oh man, record shopping must have been insane at that time, especially in New York..


I would buy a lot of local djs collections who stopped spinning. I would also go up to kiss fm cause my friend owned a croissant shop right downstairs from them. He would take me up there and I would meet red alert and others. I always left with a crate of records that they were gettin rid of. Years later, after getting on radio and doing clubs, I was on every record labels list and would get all the new stuff sent to me daily. We still would go shopping for records we needed, house, reggae, etc. I also became and avid 12" record collector. I would hit record conventions, hole in the wall mom and pops stores, liquidation places all over the world with a few other vinyl junkies (Sting International, Sean C, Dj Spinna, Dj Premier, A-Vee). Those truley we're the good old days, I would never give up that era for ANYTHING and glad I came up as a dj during that time.


Let's talk about Radio for a second,you first got on the Radio around 1990 on Hofstra Radio(88.7)...give a little history on how you went from there to "The Hip Hop Spot" to "New York Live" to "The Halftime Show" to KTU. And I gotta mention "The Halftime Show" was such an essential part of the whole mid 90's Indy Rap scene(and most definatly still holding it down today), you guys would have everyone from Redman and Method Man all the way to Natural Elements and Mr Voodoo, it was really a special time.


DJ Riz: My first radio show was in 1990 with Jeff Foss when I was going to college at Hofstra University. He had the "p5" show which was legendary because it was the home to local artists like Public Enemy, Original Concept, Leaders of the New School and a few others. Ez G Rockwell (Original Concept) and Johnny Juice were the regular djs. They were dope. I kept givin Jeff my mixtapes hopin to get on someday. he called me one night to fill in and I became a regular in the rotation. A few years later, after I graduated school I went to another legendary show "the hip hop spot" with Wildman Steve. Ed lover & Dr. Dre (Yo!Mtv Raps), Chuck D. (Public Enemy) as well as Bill Stepheny(Def Jam/Stepsun) used to do the show before steve. After the station was sold, I joined Mayhem and Martin Moor on WNYU for a few years on the "New York Live" show, which later became "The Halftime Show" when Mayhem and Martin left, and became myself, DJ Eclipse (Fat Beats, Non Phixion) and Lynn Gonzales. Eclipse still does the show till this day! The underground radio era in the early-late 90's was incredible. We were getting major label groups & artists always coming up to the shows. The records that were being made in that era were consistently good. Independent records and labels were at there peak. There were many outlets like our show, Stretch and Bob, Underground Railroad, Fat Beats, so many showcases, open mics(Nu Yorican), battles, etc...I feel honored to have been part of (imo) the greatest era of Hip Hop, period! Around 2001, I was winding down my college radio days and actually started doing a mixshow on commercial station WKTU. Thus station was a top 40 station which played barely any hip hop. My friend DJ Moody brought me up to DJ Skribbles show on KTU which was all dance music. I did a live set on his show with vinyl, burning thru 80's, 90's and some commercial hip hop. After that, they wanted me to do mixes for the station, which u could say was like an open format mix, throwing in different genres of music. This was before serato, mahups, etc...were really the norm.They wanted to add some dj's to, so I told them I wanna put my partner Siz down and we eventually had a 1 hour Crooklyn Clan show for 4 or 5 years, then changes at the station made for an end to our show as well as many others. In all my years of radio, we always tried to mix up genres and make it interesting.



DJ Riz w/Wildman Steve, Cipha Sounds & Mobb Deep


So you DJ'd for MC Serch(along with DJ Eclipse)when he went solo,this was what around 1992? Was he the first MC you had DJ'd for , or were there any local groups you were a part of before that?


DJ Riz: Yea, I had met Eclipse through Serch and we both became Serchs show DJs. DJ Daddy Rich put in a good word for me. I djd a few shows with Mad Skillz, O.C. and Missing Linx, but Serch was all the time. I didn't really take on more offers because I liked spinning in the clubs. That's what I wanted to do at the time, especially being on radio.


And I think it was around this time you started releasing your own Party Breaks. Now before Crooklyn Clan you had a few released under the name 'Brooklyn Slum Lordz' that came out on Nervous(93/94)...that was you and DJ Scribble and Eclipse.I wanna say I had another 12" by you guys that had Firstborn(YBT) on the production credits...am I right?


DJ Riz: Yea, the first record was Skribble, First Born(both members of Young Black Teenagers) and myself . We were called "The Brooklyn Slumlords"(laughs). The 2nd record was Skribble, DJ Eclipse and me. After that, we did "Brooklyn Slumlords presents Crooklyn Clan" that was the beginning of me and Sizzahandz.


Where/when did you hook up with Sizzahandz?


DJ Riz: Sizzhandz & I lived in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. Its funny cause we never hung out together but we did have djing & music in common. I forgot how we linked up to put out our first record, but I think it came out on Strapped (Nervous) around 1994. We then were thinking "let's try and approach AV8 records". At that time, they were putting out most of those party breaks. Armand Van Helden put out the first ones on that label and we would always hear them on the radio, they we're dope.We then got in contact with a producer named Manny Napuri who was from "the Nubian Crackers". They used to put out some good shit on the label Slammin Records. He hooked us up with Marc Petricone who was the owner of AV8. We used to meet up in queens at Mannys studio and let them hear what we were doing. We then put out our first record on AV8 which was "Coffee Breaks". (1994/95).


That's the record with the now infamous DJ Kool sample "is New York in the house, say what now..." over the Total/B.I.G beat...I think no matter what City you were from, you were rocking that, I remember when Justin Hoffman was DJing in Boston in the early 90's he was always playing that record and people would go nuts, even though it was blatanly asking if 'New York' was in the house,haha...so was this around the time you hooked up with Funkmaster Flex and the Flip Squad?


DJ Riz: Haha, shout out to Justin Hoffman! Yeah,at that time, I got down the "Flip Squad" which was run by Funkmaster Flex. Some of the "Original Members" consisted of Flex, Biz Markie, DJ Enuff, Big Kap, Frankie Cutless, and a few others. We had radio djs, club djs playin all the joints so it created a nice buzz. We had the NY radio/club scene on lock so we dictated a lot of music at that time.


There was also a Flip Squad album in 1998, that featured a much different line up, Mark Ronson,Doo Wop and Cipha Sounds etc were now added, I remember getting the record thru MCA, it sorta came and went, and then The Big Dawg Pitbulls started...

DJ Riz: I'm not sure if that flip squad album ever came out commercially, it might have just been only a promo, but at that time, yeah, the Flip Squad broke apart right when the album was supposed to come out.




So...what's the story behind Fatman Scoop? I don't think he needs any introduction, if anyone has ever stepped into a night club you've heard his voice...give a little history on how you guys all hooked up..I know he worked promo for Tommy Boy in the early 90's(also appearing in many of their adds in the back of the Source 93-95),(little known fact alert: Fatman Scoop made a cameo on Diamond D's Stunts Blunts & Hip Hop on one of the interludes, not yelling, just background chatter, he's not credited,but mentioned it while on the air on Hot 97 in the late 90's)

DJ Riz: I actually knew Scoop when I as on radio,yeah he was workin at Tommy Boy at the time so we were in contact talking about Tommy Boy Records. Scoop told me he asked Flex "who made the Benjaminz Party Break" Flex said "Riz". So Scoop hit me up and asked, I said me and my partner Sizzahandz made it. He was then interested in doing a party record with us, he was an emcee as well back in the day. The first record we made together was "Hands Up" where we used Busta's "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See". Scoop had a very commanding voice and we were excited that we had someone to say what we wanted to use(instead of sampling). Scoop would send us his ideas and we would tell him as well, what we wanted him to say. He sent us the vocals and me and Siz put the record together. That was the start of "the voice of the clubs" in this new era of party breaks. We then went on to record the platinum single "Be Faithful", which I can't believe till this day, still gets a reaction like its a new record. Big Kap also had a dope party voice and did a few records as well as one together with scoop which we didn't produce,around late 97/98.


Around this time you started doing some work for Dante Ross' Stimulated Label(through Loud)you had that DJ track on the Stimulated Volume 1 Compilation, but it's the now classic Live From Brooklyn that really was the stellar release from that period...how did that all come about?

DJ Riz: my good friend DJ Emz worked for Dante Ross at stimulated and would always get me to do stuff on the label. I did a scratch track for all the artists that were featured on the Stimulated album as well as "Live from BK" Volume 1, which I think was done on vinyl only around 1997. Emz gave me the idea to do the "Live from BK" (thanks Emz).I recorded that from Sean C. (Vinyl Reanimators-lol) spot in Brooklyn on his A-Dat machine. Some parts were done live, and others obviously tracked. Sean's cat "Ms. Puskins", who amazingly is still alive today sat on the couch the whole time I was working on the mix, so we gave her engineering credits, cause Sean sure as hell wasn't there most of the time. When he was, he was trying to re-live his old radio days and start mixing and scratching(laughs).


Is there anything in particular you look for in new records?...And what are your thoughts on Serato & DJing in general today,with it becoming so easy for anyone to get their hands on the tracks needed and build up a library overnight...

DJ Riz: Honestly, I play mostly commercial parties cause I travel a lot so I just make sure I have the new popular joints. I like to make my own edits, dj tools of certain songs so I can play them. That's the good thing about Serato, which I've been using for around 5 years now and is a dope program. Emz was actually the first person I saw using it, he showed it to me and I was very impressed, at that point, I knew the dj game was gonna change in a major way.It's a double edge sword because u can do so much with it, have unlimited music, not have to lug crates around anymore, but now the playing field is wide open. Every dj has access to music, mixes, etc...u can find ANYTHING on the Internet.It helped make people who were never djs, working djs. I'm def all for upcoming djs continuing the tradition, but at least do your homework musically, learn the older music, practice your skills, don't copy other djs mixes. There's enough ways to be yourself as a dj. When its 11pm, your the opening dj and the club has 50-100 people, don't play all the hits cause u think that's what u have to do to rock the party, there's tons of good stuff to play to gradually maintain the dance floor until the club gets more crowded. You will have your times to play the main part of the night, until then play your role like ALL of us did at one time.


Finally, I am always curious about other DJ's, but any favorite joints you love playing, and or just enjoy hearing when your out?


DJ Riz: Haha, as u well kno, being a dj yourself, we can write a scroll of all time favorite records we love or like to play. When I'm doin the dope Old School only real music lovin parties like the infamous APT with DJ Premier, DJ Eclipse, Stretch Armstrong, or Tony Touch Tuesdays at Sutra, we can play what we love.Songs like Kraftwerk "Numbers", Malcolm Mclaren world famous, Nas "Represent", the O'Jays "I Love Music", Underground Solution "Luv Dancin'", Old School Reggae etc...man there's wayyyy to many to mention. I just shout out the dope parties that go on in nyc still that play great music (Santos with Q-Tip, Rich Medina, APT with DJ Spinna & Bobbito, Beatminerz, Eli Escobar and Cosmo Baker with the bang party, the Rub with Ayres, Dj Eleven, Cosmo and the rest of the crew, DJ Soul with his 90s parties).



DJ AM, DJ Riz & Stretch Armstrong @ APT, Like They Used to Say 1 Year Anniversary Party


as an Added Bonus here is DJ Riz's Megamix he made for Tim Westwood circa 1994, it is hands down my favorite mix ever done...real talk..

DJ RIZ Westwood Megamix