Monday, November 16, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Plies pays a young fan $1000 to leave his concert...
Grand Master Roc Raida - Tribute Event @ BB Kings - October 22nd - NEW YORK CITY
Thursday 22nd October @ BB Kings saw New York and the rest of the world for that matter, came together for what was the greatest event I have ever witnessed. The Grand Master Roc Raida Tribute. I have never seen so much unity, love and respect in one room! All to tribute a World Champion DJ, great father, family man and friend. RIP Grand Master Roc Raida.
I was so happy to be in New York for this memorable event along with Tony Prince (Founder of DMC).
Many of the greatest turntablists on planet Earth gathered at BB Kings to re-create Roc Raida’s routines throughout his battling/DJ career and to pay tribute to this legend. It took me a few days after the event to even come up with what I wanted to say about the event, because if I am honest it left me completely speechless.
Where do I start?
BB Kings was full to the brim of 900+ people all there for one reason.
Tony Prince got up on stage to a full house to introduce the incredible DJs who were about to perform. It was great hearing Tony shouting Roc Raidaaaaaaaaaaaaaa like he did in1995, the year he won the DMC World Championship, and I know how many of the DJs loved having Tony on stage!
The night kicked off with tributes by the X-Ecutioners – Rob Swift, Boogie Blind, Total Eclipse, Mista Sinista and Precision. Boogie Blind in particular blew me away; these guys are truly the best! Raida would have been so proud of them all.
The stage was full and crowded! As I looked around on stage and saw the super star line up, I realised this was a one off event and was unlikely to ever happen again!
Paying their tributes to the Grand Master was former DMC World Champions A-Trak who performed Raida’s ‘Push It Routine’ and DJ Craze who performed ‘Ugly People Be Quiet’ and ‘Sucka MCs’. I don’t know what it is about Craze, but I could watch him for hours, he oooozed personality and flare as he always does and smiled throughout his set, his re-creations were out of this world, he makes it look way too easy!
Newly crowned DMC World Champion DJ Shiftee stepped up with one of my favourite Raida routines – ‘Chief Rocka’.
The Beat Junkies DJ Babu performed ‘Going Back To Cali’ and Shortkut performed ‘I Got To Have It’.
DJ I-Dee re-created ‘Bring It Here’, DJ Dummy performed ‘Bridge Is Over’.
I loved how all the DJs incorporated Raida’s body tricks, it was so special, and every single DJ who performed was amazing.
There were two screens on either side of stage that aired tribute videos to Raida. Personal videos, on tour documentaries, DMC footage, messages from the likes of DJ Premier, Jazzy Jeff and Mix Master Mike. It was so touching, and I could feel everyone in BB Kings felt the same way I did.
The night was an emotional roller coaster, brimming with happiness and joy and sad and tearful the next, all within the space of 3 hours.
Other performances on the night came from the Almighty Beat Junkies (Babu, J.Rocc, Rhettmatic and Shortkut) who performed a tribute set, amazing amazing performance. It was so good to see all the Beat Junkies in the building! I love these guys.
The inventor of the Beat Juggle and X-Men founder ‘Steve Dee’ stepped up to stage to perform as well as Roli Rho of the 5th Platoon.
The night’s hosts were Kinetic NRG and Lord Sear. Fantastic party rocking sets were provided by Z-Trip, J.Rocc and Spin One (who runs a show alongside DJ Fatfingaz and DJ Yonny) on alistradio.net and their show that I have been a guest on now numerous times is Table Manners, so big shouts to the Table Manners crew!
One of the highlights for me alongside Craze and Boogie Blind was the phenomenal ‘Rock The Bells’ circle. This was truly outstanding! DMC Legend and one of my fav men in the world: DJ Cash Money got up, everyone chanting his name! Rock The Bells included – Rob Swift, Mista Sinista, Total Eclipse, A Trak, DJ Scratch, Boogie Blind, Cash Money, Total Eclipse, Sean C, Precision, Craze and more!
I could have stayed at BB Kings till daylight, and I think the DJs and everyone in the building would have too!
Busta Rhymes came onto stage and brought Tyesha (Raida’s wife) and two of their beautiful children up one by one. He talked about Raida, touring with him, how they have become close and close to his beautiful family. It was just something else.
Many other attendees included: Kool Herc, Lord Finesse, Large Professor, Johnny Juice, Scram Jones, Scribble, IXL, Eclipse, Infamous, Klever, J-Smoke, DJ Slyce, IXL, Immortal Technique and so many many more plus Roc Raida’s mother and family on his side and in laws.
It was great to also see my friends Christie Z, Sondra, Marilyn, Cutfucious, Marcus, Fatfingaz (ouuuuuuuuuuuw), Rugged One, Esquire, Yom, Kyle aka DJ air conditioning unit, Complex, Russell, Matty Mcfly, Ty Handswell and anyone who I have missed I am sorry, there were too many people there!
Huge respect and props to Sugarcuts, Sean C, Pro and everyone that put together and worked on the event.
Much love and respect to Tyesha and their beautiful family.
RIP ROC RAIDA. MUCH LOVE
Sally Mclintock
Check this footage directly from John Carluccio (Battlesounds/Hop Fu)
DJ Roc Raida Tribute -- Video for Tableturns Reunion / NYC Tribute event (10.2009)
http://www.youtube.com/wat
PS: Those requesting permission to organize an official fundraiser/tribute - please contact roc4raida@gmail.com
http://www.myspace.com/roc
http://www.myspace.com/the
Donations can be sent directly to his family through http://www.paypal.com using: ladietye@yahoo.com
The Next Official Roc Raida Tribute/Fundraiser has been organized by Lord Finesse for
Nov. 17 @ SOBs NYC
Doors at 7pm. Show at 9pm - ? Featuring DITC, Brand Nubian, Large Professor, The Beatnuts, Immortal Technique. Host: Lord Sear. DJ Boogie Blind and Da Beatminerz. More guests tba. $18 adv. $22 day of. Buy tickets now! sobs.com SOBs 204 Varick St. at West Houston NYC. 1 to Houston. No Guest List! NO Video Cameras!
OCT. 21: THE HALFTIME SHOW WNYU
DJ Craze, Shiftee, Roli Rho, Mista Sinista, Sean C, Sugarcuts, Tyeasha (Roc Raida's wife) and more! http://bit.ly/kMzPz Watch footage! youtube.com/watch?v=n-xpln
DJ PREMIER's RADIO TRIBUTE TO ROC RAIDA
Part 1: sendspace.com/file/2axsye
Part 2: sendspace.com/file/9cnkw4
Monday, November 2, 2009
Def Jam changed music business, still a power at 25, By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) -- A recipe that includes a nondescript New York University dorm room, a heavyset Jewish kid from Long Island and a street-wise black guy from Queens seems like an unlikely one to cook up musical history.
But when Def Jam Records came on the scene a quarter of a century ago, it did just that and more.
What began as a boutique indie label quickly caught the ear of a generation and elevated a style of music that had existed primarily in the clubs and block parties of the city boroughs into a thriving new genre.
"Def Jam meant to the music industry as much as Stax, Atlantic and Motown meant to their respective music," said rapper Chuck D, whose group Public Enemy is one of the most famous to appear on the label. "It started from the same humble beginnings that all of those other companies started, very small, but very much passionate about the music."
When Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons joined forces to co-found the label, their business savvy -- combined with their love of rap -- resulted in a company that, despite changes in the music business and the label itself, retains a notable name.
Max Gousse, now an executive with the Island Def Jam Music Group, was a young man in the New York borough of Queens when he first fell in love with the tunes of Def Jam artists such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys.
"Def Jam was the label that you kind of grew up with, so it was definitely a goal of mine to work here," Gousse said.
What is now one of the largest labels in the world was initially a two-man operation featuring the forefathers, Rubin and Simmons.
According to the 2005 book "Def Jam, Inc.: Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Influential Hip-Hop Label" by Stacy Gueraseva, Rubin was a film and video major at New York University in 1982 when he fell in love with rap music.
After parlaying the connections he made at clubs into party promotion, Rubin found success producing T La Rock and DJ Jazzy Jay's single "It's Yours."
His path soon crossed that of Simmons, himself a successful party promoter with an ear for a hit. Rubin was impressed.
"Hip-hop was a tiny little cottage industry, and Russell [Simmons] was the center of the hip-hop world," Rubin said during the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors program that celebrated the label's anniversary. "And there was no one else even in that business really except Russell. He was it."
Their first release was LL Cool J's "I Need a Beat" after the teen mailed his demo to Rubin's dorm room.
The company soon graduated to a 600-square-foot former dance studio on Manhattan's East 19th Street (Simmons and future label executive Lyor Cohen shared an apartment next door).
Despite the new address, the company was anything but conventional. "Def Jam, Inc." author Gueraseva describes the many meetings Rubin held in his SoHo apartment "amid its clutter of paperwork, porn magazines, and records" as well as the occasional scurrying rat.
Before long, mainstream America would become aware of Def Jam, partially thanks to the crossover success of the rap group Run-D.M.C. (which included Simmons' younger brother Joseph), whose collaboration with the rock group Aerosmith, "Walk This Way," received heavy rotation on MTV.
Now, the list of artists that can claim Def Jam in their lineage is vast.
"Def Jam is the Motown Records of hip-hop, and that is without question," said writer and pop culture expert Kevin Powell. "You really can't talk about a significant chapter in hip-hop history over the last 25 years without talking about Def Jam."
The company didn't just stop with one genre.
Def Jam was purchased by the Universal Music Group in 2000 and was merged with Island Records to form Island Def Jam Music Group.
R&B singers, including Ne-Yo and Chrisette Michele, have joined pop artists such as Duffy and rockers such as Fall Out Boy to extend the label's reach even further.
"I think the label attempts to reflect the experiences the youth culture is going through," executive Gousse said. "I think that as long as we mirror what's happening that the label will continue to be relevant."
And for hip-hop artists, Def Jam remains iconic.
"I think Def Jam has done a whole lot for hip-hop, for music in general. It's just given us a face of hip-hop for us to want to become a part of something," rapper Snoop Dogg said. "Even the rappers from the west[ern U.S.] wanted to be a part of Def Jam. Def Jam was like the Mecca of hip-hop."
Not that it has all been smooth sailing.
Chuck D said he remembers feeling like "it was us against the world" because initially, so many looked down on hip-hop.
"We figured that in order for the genre to survive, we weren't just fighting for ourselves," he said. "We were fighting for the respect for the whole art form."
That family atmosphere is gone now, Chuck D said.
The rapper lamented that he doesn't think the current executives grasp or respect the very strong place hip-hop holds in the hearts of the music-loving public.
"I don't think the people that run Def Jam today have a clue," Chuck D said, adding that he floated his name as a replacement after rapper and former Def Jam President Jay-Z left in 2007. "I think that the brand and the name stand up because it's been around for a long time, but I don't think the folks at Universal have a clue."
Rubin and Simmons have moved on to continue their success, the former as a celebrated producer (and sometime record exec) and the latter as an entrepreneur whose business interests have included a thriving clothing empire, Phat Farm.
Yet Def Jam remains.
Speaking during the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Island Def Jam Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio "L.A." Reid said he believes that it will continue to live on for years to come.
"When Def Jam was founded, it was founded upon an amazing idea," he said. "And it's an amazing idea that's bigger than all of its founders, bigger than all of its presidents, bigger than all of its chairmen and bigger than all of its artists. My guess is that it will be around a lot longer than any of us."
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