Bambu DePistola-Old Man Raps

Another solid production from Bambu DePistola! Not only is the production, delivery, and sampling done beautifully, Bambu is spittin straight truth. As a father myself, this song resonates deep within me. Bambu captures the essence of what it is to be a father to a boy growing up in the same streets he grew up in. It's a point of view that can be seen for someone without children, but only truly felt for those of us with children. Big ups to Bambu, Kid Heroes, Xylophone, and PG Films. The song and video is classic.

Make sure to see the story behind the making of Old Man Raps to catch a glimpse of the person that Bambu is.

RED BULL BIG TUNE THIS THURS @ EL REY

The highest profile producer beat battle returns to the west coast with the Los Angeles and San Francisco of the Red Bull Big Tune producer battle. As expected, Vitamin D and J. Moore will host each event while producers DJ Toomp and Rick Rock will be featured at the San Francisco event and producers DJ Premier and Nottz will be featured at the Los Angeles event.

Both events start at 8pm and require only $5 charitable donation for entry. The regional battles are always exciting, so make sure to attend if you’re in the area.

Thursday, May 27th (Los Angeles)
Feat. DJ Premier & Nottz

Def Jef feat Etta James - Dropping Rhymes On Drums

If my energy had a soundtrack, it would be this song. The balance of conciousness, delivery, danceability, and lyricism has had me in it's grip since '89. To this day, the second that this song comes on, you will find me on the dancefloor letting my body get back in touch with it's energy.

MUST HAVE MOVIES-The Freshest Kids

The Freshest Kids brilliantly chronicles the birth, death, and reemergence of the B Boy and all encompassing facets of break culture.

Director Israel's passion for the B Boy world exudes with every frame, and the work put into such a film constitutes the highest acclaim. Being a B Boy student myself, this movie solidifies itself as the ultimate primer on hip hop, graffiti art, and of course highlights power moves, top rock, flair, low rock, and freezes as it tries to reaffirm breakin as a cultural phenomenon refusing to fade. The Freshest Kids touches on the dismantling of breakin by the government and the transition to crime many dancers took after the saturation of the market in the 80s. The reunions of today are still pockmarked by cop interference. At one point, B Boy "elder" Crazy Legs turns to the camera after riot cops rain in, "All this over dancing..."



Even if I hated everything hip hop, the film itself is done with such technical and directorial deftness that I would have taken notice and commended it.

It's hard to express what b-boying does to you, it's too visceral to try explaining. However, this film is such a charge to the core that it's impossible to not want to battle right after seeing it. I suck so I'd get burned right away but after the moves showcased in this movie, I'm humbled already.

Here are a few of my favorite things...Shoes and Music

I was going to write about my take on this, but it's better if you watch the vid first.

30 minutes of Fresh

Living Legend DJ Jazzy Jeff doing it Live. Mad Skillz on EMCEE duty. Refill your inspiration bucket.

Here's the Track List

1. Cell Therapy – Goodie Mob
2. Git Up, Get Out – Outkast
3. Luchini – Camp Lo
4. Warning – B.I.G.
5. Whoa – Black Rob
6. 10 Crack Commandments – B.I.G.
7. Passin’ Me By – Pharcyde
8. Gwen McCrae – Rockin’ Chair
9. Danger – Blahzay Blahzay
10. Stay With Me – DeBarge
11. One More Chance – B.I.G. (Both Remixes)
12. I Wish – Carl Thomas
13. Flava In Ya Ear – Craig Mack
14. Fu-Gee-La – The Fugees
15. You Know My Steez – Gang Starr
16. Da Bichez – Jeru the Damaja
17. Bad – LL Cool J
18. It Ain’t Hard to Tell – Nas
19. Put A Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
20. Kick In The Door – B.I.G.
21. Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill
22. Ooh – De La Soul ft. Redman
23. Take That – Da Beatminerz ft. Flipmode Squad
24. Act Too – The Roots ft. Common
25. Real Hip-Hop – Das Efx
26. Boom – Royce Da 5′9″
27. Survival of the Fittest – Mobb Deep
28. Quiet Storm – Mobb Deep
29. Story to Tell – B.I.G.

An orange's worst fears realized

If I were to get an Ipad, I'd def pick up this app.

Groovemaker, the popular music remixing app for the iPhone and iPod touch, has now made its way to the iPad. Offering the same features and capabilities as the earlier versions, Groovemaker for the iPad takes advantage of the larger touchscreen and offers increased control over loops.

Groovemaker for the iPad is available in four different versions: Free, House, Hip-Hop, D’n'B (Drum & Bass). While Groovemaker Free comes with a 120-loop pack, the House, Hip-Hop, and D’n'B versions come equipped with over 300 loops each for the price of $9.99.

Visit IK Multimedia or iTunes for more info.

The Hip Hop Belt

No longer do you have to be a superhero to wear a do-it-all utility belt. Emily Carr design students Justin Alm and Jack Curtis created The Hip-Hop Belt, an “educational tool for younger children” to assist in learning about hip-hop DJ‘ing and sampling. The belt features a mixer, two turntables w/ rotary sensors, and an ultrasonic sensitive kill switch.

The Hip-Hop Belt from Justin Alm on Vimeo.

Never eNeff

From Grass roots to Global. I am still a believer that the dreams within us can live in the reality outside of us. Check out the commercial that Shaun Neff did with Sony.

Pro Keds X Bobbito

In case you missed it...REWIND:Spanish Harlem, Music, History, Design...El Barrio.

PRO-KEDS X BOBBITO: ROYAL FLASH RELEASE from PRO KEDS on Vimeo.

DJ Frank(e)-Turntable Inspiration

My boy Frank(e) is a true inspiration on the decks. Not only is his style clean, acrobatic, technical, and musical, but his knowledge and passion for music itself seems as bottomless as an abyss. Have one conversation with Frank(e) and you'll also know that he's one of the most down to earth cats you'll come across. Just the same, watching Frank(e) get to work on the 1's and 2's just once, you'll see one of the illest doing what he does best, conversing with turntable technique. I hate going to spots and cats just standing watching the DJ, but some DJ's hypnotize, and Frank(e) definitely is one of those DJ's. Anytime you get a chance to catch Frank(e), I highly suggest you do. Peep the vid, and catch some inspiration for yourself.

BZ

Copy/Paste the URL to catch the Live vid on DJBUDDY TV.

http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/5694703

Auto EN-V

When I was growing up, for the year 2000 I was fed images of flying cars, and teleportation. Well, we're not hovering yet, but here's what GM sees as our future...



The city car of the future will seat two people, run on electric power and communicate with other vehicles to reach a destination faster while automatically avoiding traffic tie-ups and crashes.

General Motors, working with electric-scooter maker Segway, has developed three concepts tailored toward that vision of future transportation. The Electric Networked Vehicle, or EN-V, concepts go on display May 1 at the World Expo in Shanghai.

The EN-V concepts are a next-generation vehicle from the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility prototype that GM debuted at the New York auto show a year ago.

There are three concepts, one each from GM's design studios in Australia, Europe and the United States.



The concept from Holden in Australia is named Xiao, or Laugh, and is painted blue. The U.S. concept, Miao, or Magic, is dark silver and used light-emitting diode accent lighting. The Europe concept, Jiao, or Pride, is red. Its design is influenced by bullet trains.

The pod-looking vehicles measure about 60 inches long, 56 inches wide and range from 65 inches to 69 inches tall. The weight averages 900 pounds, with half of that concentrated in the chassis platform. The bodies are built from lightweight plastic and carbon fiber.

GM says an EN-V is about one-third the length of a traditional car. A parking lot could hold 10 times the number of EN-Vs as regular cars.

All of the EN-V concepts are powered by a Segway powertrain--brushless direct-current wheel motors that provide propulsion and braking. GM says the EN-V can reach a top speed of 25 mph and travel 25 miles on a full charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. The battery is recharged by plugging in to standard household current.

A key to making all these EN-Vs work in dense urban environments is an array of sensors and wireless communication. GM says the EN-V is constantly talking with traffic-management networks and control signals to automatically find the most efficient route to the destination. Sensing technologies--such as GPS, lane departure and radar distance control used in today's vehicles--let the EN-V platoon, or travel in tight groups to maximize road capacity without crashing. Sensors would detect if a pedestrian steps in the way and automatically brake the EN-V to a stop.

BZ on Vibes & Stuff Radio

February was a great month for music at the Vibes & Stuff Radio Show. As we keep the premise of the show organic, global, rhythmic, and soulful, we took the listeners on a musical journey from jazz to samba to house to disco to funk to afrobeat. Sharing music we love is our goal as we try to reach everyone one broadcast at a time. In case you missed any of the music we played for the month of February, we have provided ALL the tracklists from the February shows for your viewing and listening pleasure on the main site (http://www.djconcise.net/).

This is just a little sampler to wet your whistle...Thank you for tuning in to the show and we hope we can continue to provide you sounds musically and sonically.

DJ CONCISE

IDEA

MICHELLE Q

SPECIAL GUEST DJ BZ

Peep the FULL PLAYLISTS HERE

Distant Relatives

Not much in the musical mainstream excites me, but when it comes to a man with royal musical lineage, and a man that is a deserved king of his own throne, I can't help but be excited for the upcoming DISTANT RELATIVES release. Just watch.

NAS & DAMIAN "JR GONG" MARLEY DISTANT RELATIVES preview

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you...

Without a short read to get through. LOL

I know that I've been gone for a minute, but it's been a very hectic time for my family and myself. With the Holidays, and getting everything situated for our own little place on Earth, things have been in motion non-stop. My always on point wife has been on a mission collecting the right elements in furntiture and functionality, myself on the daily grind, and Brandon always growing and learning and keeping us on our toes, all the while dealing with the rest of our families for the holidays.....TWEEET!!! Time out. But we all know that there is no Time Out in real life. So we do what we have to do, and keep it moving.

Luckily for me, I have a quick moment to reflect on the happenings of the past year. I am so very thankful for all the things that I have been able to be a part of with my family and friends in 2009. I am thankful for all the opportunities that I have been given to be involved in your lives, and even more thankful for the opportunites that arise that show that you want to be a part of mine. I am thankful that I have the ability to see where I can learn and grow from this years experiences, whether they be good or bad. I am thankful that I have a solid support system at home that keeps me grounded, and no matter how high I want to fly, they're always there to make sure I land safely.

I wish for all of you the same support that I've been given.

Aside from taking better care of myself physically, eating healthier, exercising regularly, and getting a good amount of rest, for this upcoming year I hope to become a better me to everyone else. A better husband to my wife. A better father to my son. A better son to my mom and dad. A better brother to my sister. A better uncle to my nieces and nephews. A better relative to my family. A better friend to my friends. This sounds like a lot of work, but I think, and I hope, what it boils down to is me becoming a better me to myself. Living to the ideals of what I think a good person is. Not always doing what is easy, but doing what is right, in my eyes. I may not always perform perfectly, but I'll definitely be in pursuit of it.

Besides, I've learned that in order to truly appreciate the end result, you've got to love and learn from the journey.

In this journey, as in any other journey, (figurative or literal), it is harder to make moves when you're carrying baggage. So the first part of my journey is shedding any residual baggage that I have from 2009. Nothing but the brightness of positivity to light my path, (If you know me, you know that positive is not hard for me), and with that, I step into 2010 gleaming, ready for the challenges that I know will arise. Because no matter how smooth we try to make things, something always comes up. ALWAYS. But that's life, I'm just thankful that I've been given another chance to make life a better place. 2010 I hope you're ready, because I know that I am.

Planting the seed: To all my family and friends-Life is not going to wait for us to figure things out, and then move forward. We've got to move in order to make life what we want it to be. I don't have all the answers, but I have the energy, so let's create something that will sustain our families for a long, long time. Together, we'll figure it out. I know that for sure.