Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
With These Hands DJ Comp, Table Kingz, UNC Charlotte
I wanna give a big shout out to Claude at With These Hands and all of the competitors from last nights event. DJ Ease (Follow him on Twiiter, he's a bad, bad man on some 12's) took home the top prize just edging out DJ SPS (who was on all vinyl I might add). DJ Aquaria, DJ Scooby, DJ Manish, DJ Jaybee, DJ Q-Base, DJ Gabie The Gift, DJ Bamboo, DJ Moto and DJ DA Smooth all did their thing. I unfortunately stunk up the place. I'm not ashamed to admit it but here, but who gets riding a bike right the first time! I took a few flicks but not many and I will post them here. The event was top flight though.</p>So, yeah, I'm nervous. I'm about to walk into an arena with some of the top DJ's in the world to compete in a field that has been a staple of hip-hop for over 20 years. If I had eaten some spaghetti before hand, it probably would have been all over my sweater. Thanks for the heads up Em. So I arrive at UNC Charlotte... on the wrong side of campus, but thanks to a beautiful young co-ed, whose name I did not get because I was FOCUSED MAN, I made my way to the theater at McKnight Hall. Once inside I was introduced to the man of the hour, Claude Whitfield, founder and director of With These Hands DJ Academy and his team. Mr. Kevin Hyrams of Softwired Syetems assisted in directing the battle. We were all read the rules of the competition and re-familiarized with the format... One 30 second scratch round for each competitor and then a 3 minute battle elimination round followed by a special performance by guest judge Chris Karns. After that, the 3 minute championship round for the grand prize of $500.
Since I had the fewest votes online, I got to go first in the scratch round... Way to throw me under the bus people. Anyway, my entire battle segment was plagued with off timing. I didn't do the one thing I kept telling myself over and over to do... keep it simple stupid. Anyways, my scratch round was anything but spectacular and my three minute round was so off that even I didn't want to finish it out. But I'm giving myself points for showing up and trying. I know that with a little more practice and effort, I can make a decent showing. Practice being the optimum word here. But the truth is that all of the other competitors showed up. And not only that, they introduced the world of turntablism to college kids and some younger kids who might have never known this world existed. From Chris Karns' magnificent display to SPS and Ease's sudden death round thriller, the crowd was captivated. The online twitter and text voted provided by Sprite kept the crowd engaged and gave a live contrast to the Judges, all of whom were turntablist champs in their own rite, DJ Skillz, DJ REd, DJ Mvee, DJ EU, DJ, SOden, DJ Dexter Dynamite and DJ Chuck T.
The battle between International DJ Ease (NY) and DJ SPS (Orlando, FL) was intense. SPS on all vinyl showcased the skills that make for legendary DMC champs. Ease, however, came through with some wicked mixes and cuts that entertained and showed that he can do this, with ease.
The first round of the championships ended in a draw. The second round was even closer but a few needle skips gave the edge to DJ Ease and he took home top honors.
Topping the night off, we headed downtown to Snug Harbor to watch Stranger Day and Elevator Jay do their thing with backup from A Huf, J. Overcash and Famous Jason. Live hip-hop, yeah! The night was closed out by Chris Karns on the 1's & 2's rocking hip-hop, trap, club and electonica. Needless to say, it was dope.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Remember When Records
OK... so looking for record shops, I came across this gem on High Point Rd. in Greensboro, NC. I walked in and saw expertly organized rows of LP's, 45's, 12" singles as well as CD's and DVD's. There was an old Jukebox in the corner right near the door. I immediately thought "digger's paradise". So I began to peruse the items in the rows and began to notice the graded labels and the various pricing of the albums. I made my way toward the back and asked the shop owner if he had a portable record player. I was informed that all albums were cleaned and sealed and not available for play unless purchased so that their value was maintained.
I was impressed. So I began to peruse the albums again. Country-Western, Rock, Metal, Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, R&B, Folk. You name it, they had it. I then asked the owner about the grading system. He then explained to me that only about 10% of what he gets makes it into his store. And those ten percent receive one of four grades, Mint, VG+, VG- and G. A meticulously kept store that culminates every week with a Sabbath Sunday of cleaning and organizing the well over 150,000 pieces of vinyl in the 3200 sq ft. store. Every piece kept in order by genre, artist and grade. "Make sure you put it back where you found it!" was the commandment I received and I made sure to abide by it.
I now struck up a conversation with the man who introduced himself as John Hiatt. We began to talk about how hard it is to maintain a record shop in the new digital age and how his shop was once full of DJ's but now not so much. We got into the merits and detriments of MP3 vs. Vinyl and how the art of album making was changing. We got into the almost artificial sound of some digital recordings (I'm partial to FLAC and WAV myself) and how vinyl just has so much warmth and captures the flavor of the microphones used in the recording process. I began to tell him about some notable vinyl party's I've attended and how artists have begun pressing up special edition vinyl and selling that along with digital copies. I guess I was trying to allay his apparent fear that vinyl, as a format, was dying.
It was a fun, albeit short conversation, one I'm glad I happened upon. It was a new battle scene so to speak. It was brick and mortar America battling against the throes of a digital revolution. A battle I am all too familiar with and stuck smack dab in the middle of. The young vs. the old... I Robot. But somehow, this aging man, whose purpose is to preserve the American music past, is making a stand and maintaining an old standard that we all know as "Mom and Pop". Every album in it's place and a place for every album. And the battle was being won, not with quantity, but with quality. And then, I read this article... "Remember When | Our State Magazine" and realized, there was so much more.
Remember When Records 1989-2013
2901 High Point Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27403
John & Brenda Hiatt
(336) 297-1999
Mon - Sat 10-6
I was impressed. So I began to peruse the albums again. Country-Western, Rock, Metal, Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, R&B, Folk. You name it, they had it. I then asked the owner about the grading system. He then explained to me that only about 10% of what he gets makes it into his store. And those ten percent receive one of four grades, Mint, VG+, VG- and G. A meticulously kept store that culminates every week with a Sabbath Sunday of cleaning and organizing the well over 150,000 pieces of vinyl in the 3200 sq ft. store. Every piece kept in order by genre, artist and grade. "Make sure you put it back where you found it!" was the commandment I received and I made sure to abide by it.
I now struck up a conversation with the man who introduced himself as John Hiatt. We began to talk about how hard it is to maintain a record shop in the new digital age and how his shop was once full of DJ's but now not so much. We got into the merits and detriments of MP3 vs. Vinyl and how the art of album making was changing. We got into the almost artificial sound of some digital recordings (I'm partial to FLAC and WAV myself) and how vinyl just has so much warmth and captures the flavor of the microphones used in the recording process. I began to tell him about some notable vinyl party's I've attended and how artists have begun pressing up special edition vinyl and selling that along with digital copies. I guess I was trying to allay his apparent fear that vinyl, as a format, was dying.
It was a fun, albeit short conversation, one I'm glad I happened upon. It was a new battle scene so to speak. It was brick and mortar America battling against the throes of a digital revolution. A battle I am all too familiar with and stuck smack dab in the middle of. The young vs. the old... I Robot. But somehow, this aging man, whose purpose is to preserve the American music past, is making a stand and maintaining an old standard that we all know as "Mom and Pop". Every album in it's place and a place for every album. And the battle was being won, not with quantity, but with quality. And then, I read this article... "Remember When | Our State Magazine" and realized, there was so much more.
Remember When Records 1989-2013
2901 High Point Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27403
John & Brenda Hiatt
(336) 297-1999
Mon - Sat 10-6
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Table Kingz DJ Battle sponsered by With These Hands DJ School and Sprite
So I'm down here in N.C. and I find this battle going on in Charlotte. So I decided to enter... wish me luck. And if anybody in that region is interested in DJ school, check them out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)