We got word that Pam the Funkstress passed away this morning, and we are just overwhelmed. We met Pam many years ago while she was the DJ for The Coup. Not only super talented on the 1’s and 2’s, she was an accomplished chef, radio mix DJ on KBLX, and of course “Purple Pam”, the DJ for Prince. And above all, just a really cool person. She was the ultimate Turntable Queen, and she is going to be missed. Her mother had started a GoFundMe to help her family with medical bills when she was hospitalized last month, which will now probably help with final arrangements. You can donate here. Rest in paradise, Queen.
2016 has been a decidedly difficult year for most people…we would be remiss if we let the year pass without acknowledging the death of someone close to TGP.
We met Mike Pinkney aka Mike the Mover around 2002 when we were located in Berkeley. At the time, he was doing jobs for VC groups and a number of notable Bay Area families. He started out giving us extra furniture, and then he helped us move our warehouse to Oakland (and later Alameda). He had an extensive knowledge of wiring and completely rewired two separate offices for us.
Mike would always tell us stories about his life…growing up in New York with neighbors like Lena Horne, moving out west, working for much of his life at Pac Bell, and losing one of his children in a terrible accident. He was a biker who enjoyed having an Irish Coffee at Brennans. He survived cancer and rehabbed himself after a stroke.
We will miss his kindness and wit, rest easy Mike.
This weekend ComplexCon descended upon the LB Convention Center. The extravaganza was put together by Complex with guidance from Takashi Murakami, Pharell & Skrillex, the event features art, clothing, musical performances, and of course, shoes. Nathan & Natasha went to check it out. Thank you to Capsule for thinking of us…
(Click twice on images for larger view)
Takashi Murakami
DABS MYLA
Ben Venom (in Roger Gastman’s Strange Power Installation)
We’re trying to make it to L.A. to check out the new show at Subliminal Projects, Banned In Babylon: The Art and Culture of Bad Brain featuring works by Darryl Jenifer, Lucian Perkins, John Mousheghian, Jeannie “Aunt Jean” Pawlowski, and Shepard Fairey. Open now through August 20th, 1331 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles (usually 12-6pm).
Shepard Fairey
Obey Clothing just dropped a fairly extensive capsule collection with classic Bad Brains designs as well as some new artwork. We have a sampling here.
Recently reconnected with Adisa, The Bishop. He has been busy with the Hip Hop Chess Federation which fuses chess, hip hop & martial arts to promote unity, strategy and non violence to kids across the world. He also has a new book coming out focused on how the work of Bobby Fischer, Bruce Lee & Afrika Bambaataa overlapped in the 70’s and how to use their principles to guide your life decisions now. The kindle version is available now with the hard copy coming out on April 10th.
We are currently giving the site a much-needed refresh. You may encounter some broken links or missing images…please bear with us while we complete all of the changes.
Rest in peace to Hunafa /African Identity who passed away last week. His children have established a GoFundMe page where you can help with final arrangements. Billy Jam (who introduced us to African Identity’s music in the 90’s) wrote a touching remembrance on the Amoeblog. Check out a song he did with Del called “17 Slaves” from his release, You Won’t Come To My Funeral.
Stretch & Bobbito teamed up with Omar Acosta to create a documentary about their legendary WKCR show (and the subsequent success of the artists they broke). They are currently doing a Kickstarter to help fund post-production. Please pitch in if you can!
Two of our favorites together: Bill Withers is as snappy as ever in conversation with Aloe Blacc at the 10th Annual ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo 2015 which was held in April-May. If we can only get them together on a track…
DJ Neil Armstrong found out his dog, Poh, was terminally ill. When he embarked on his #dinnerandamixtape road trip, Poh was in tow. They visited 35 cities stretching across the US (they had to return home when Poh started not to feel so well)
You can find Poh on Instagram @pohthedogsbigadventure
