“I would like everyone to read before downloading: There’s usually a reason why I make every mixtape I make, but this one deserves a bit of an explanation. Now, I’m not one of those cats that can’t get over the fact that it’s no longer 1993, and that the state of Hip Hop is getting worse on a daily basis, BUT like most Hip Hop listeners young and old, I appreciate the Golden Era for molding me as a person and shaping the current “Hip Hop Renaissance” I started DJing in 1997, and that’s when early 90’s Hip Hop was being preserved as best it could, and I was also a vinyl junkee. Buying 12″ was a weekly thing, and frankly, I’m not sure if singles were really being pushed on any format. With that being said, if an artist had a remix of a song, SOMETIMES it would be a bonus track on an album, but usually the only way you could get it is on the 12″ single, or CD single (which Im sure no one was buying). THAT was the importance of the DJ, and THAT was the importance of collecting vinyl. If you were a HUGE Hip Hop fan, and bought every album that came out, and loved the music, there were a lot of remixes that weren’t available to you. Or if you’re a youngster that grew up a couple years after I did, these remixes may have got lost, erased, and forgotten. So Im throwin it back, bringin to the light music that only DJs would be available to DJs, vinyl collectors, and the truly extinct maxi-cassette single collectors. I’m also shoutin out the DJs that carried the vinyl and spent hours in the record stores. I also intentionally made this Mixtape have that throwback 90’s sound, so this one is geared for the O.G.’s and the New School heads When you remember the Golden Era, don’t for get the REEEEEEMIIIIIIXXXX!!” – DJ Haylow
UncategorizedComments Off on Alex Pardee x Upper Playground: Walrus Rider Vinyl Toy
Alex Pardee’s (Juxtapoz cover #79) long-awaited (first ever) vinyl figure is the Walrus Rider, a two-faced creature, whose legs were stolen, seeking vengeance and searching for his legs atop his walrus associate. The figure is approximately 11″ tall and has bendy arms and a removable tusk, which fits into the rider’s hand. Make sure to mark on Saturday, May 30th on your calendars, as Alex will be releasing and signing his Walrus Rider at the UP flagship store in San Francisco. More info here…
On Saturday May 9, The Living Word Project partnered with Riverside Theatre, MAPP International, Mighty4 and Samurai Graphix to present LIFE is LIVING, a public outdoor installation to catalyze deeper thought and community action around the value of life and our relationship to our planet. LIFE is LIVING is an attempt to use Hip-Hop culture to de-corporatize the GREEN movement, emphasizing LIFE in neglected neighborhoods as a pathway to arts integration and green living.
The event in Harlem featured: The Estria Invitational Living Word Graffiti Battle, The Mighty 4 B Boy Battle hosted by Paulskeee and the JamesTOP Blackbook Battles with live performances by Kurtis Blow’s Hip Hop Choir, Brave New Voices Green Team, Riverside Inspirational Choir, Grace Kelly Jazz Quartet, and D Cross, hosted by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Youth Speaks Executive Director James Kass will accompany two incredible young poets to the White House as they perform for President and Mrs. Obama. Jamaica Osorio (Hawai’i) and Joshua Bennett (Philadelphia), both prominently featured in HBO’s Brave New Voices, will share poems as part of a night of artistic exploration around the power of voice. Joining James Earl Jones, Michael Chabon and others, these two young poets will represent the Brave New Voices movement as part of a new generation of poets and cultural leaders.
Pushing the limits of DIY once again, Tone Tank and director / crazy friend Paul Korzan spent weeks creating the paper Mache set pieces for this video, which was shot almost entirely in Tone’s cramped, dungeonous basement in Brooklyn. “It started off with me deciding to make a full-sized, paper Mache, red ’68 Cadillac, and it just kept going” says Tone. When asked to describe the aesthetic of the video, the rapper / clothing designer / toy-maker said it was “Kind of like ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ meets ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse’, with a rapping sea creature driving a Cadillac with dinosaurs, luchadores, and debaucherous women.” Indeed.
You can download King of the Surf Guitar Rap for free at www.scumlife.com
