2007 5000

I spend some time checkin for Blogs. Not an obsessive amount, but I check out what people are checkin out. I'm not deep enough in the game to have anyone talking about my blog, in their blog, or probably even in their AIM. I do check out alot, and my NEW UPDATED blogroll will reflect what I'm talking about. There is a whole sub-culture behind blogs: Comment Widgets, Piracy, Ettiquette, Marketing, RSS Feeds, Links, Long Winded Opinions, Photobucket. I check for Blogs more than the news, thats for sure. One thing I have definitely seen is the "Best of 200?" blog.

This year I started my blog, and I see you guys coming through to check it out. I'm not sure why, or how, but it's cool that people are shooting through. I have only spoken on myself a few times, assuming that only people that knew me would be checkin for my blog. So for my 2007 recap, I'm just going to introduce myself, in hopes that we'll get to know each other better in 2008.

3rd Grade: Began making Pause Mix Tapes off of the radio.
4th Grade: (84-85): Copped my first Rap Tape at the Swap Meet. Fat Boys "Fat Boys".
5th Grade: My First DJ gig. 50 bucks. Had a combo Cassette/Record Player home stereo, and switched back and forth. My Dad's Mic and Guitar Amp. Rap was not widely accepted, and the parents putting on the party found it too profane, and forbade me to play it. I was reduced to Radio Cassingles and a little Top Gun soundtrack.
6th Grade: My last DJ gig until after High School. Left my records out in the sun, hit the astro jump, the pool, then realized my records were fucked.
Jr. High (88-90): Made Mix Tapes for prospective girlfriends. Remember those?
High School (90-94): Fucked Around doing dumb shit. Freestyled and Drank 40s. Did graffitti. No DJing whatsoever. Learned how to make beats though.


Met Disko Rick (1995): Joined First Power Crew. We had a weekly rap session in Disko's garage. Forty Ounce bottles and mad blunts. Sound familiar? At some point, most of the MCs in Daygo who were doing work, had slid through the spot. This where I learned to play Reggae records, being able to play tunes as people arrived, before the festivities began, Recorded my first songs on 4 track cassette over SP1200 beats from Disko.


Met Mike Czech (1997): Created a Rap group called Roundtable MCs with another fellow MC Wick. Put out three Albums: Roundtable MCs, Universal Discussion, Table Manners. 3 singles: SD Chargers EP, Steady Rockin' (UK), Table Manners EP. We went on tour with Osiris Shoes, and got to perform all over the country.

Mike and I also started putting together Hip-Hop functions locally called "Strictly Hip-Hop" which led to us getting a Tuesday Night at G-Lounge in Ocean Beach. We had live performances, DJs Mike Czech, Iron Mike, Demon, and more played there.

First Reggae gig: Carlos Culture let me open at his Sunday night party in Ocean Beach, and got paid in Guinness. Good vibes.


Joined Tribe Of Kings Sound (1997-present): Started playing Roots with Rashi, Jay Dread and Stump I at a place called The Dog in Pacific Beach, which began our Sunday night legacy. We got the opportunity to move it to Bar Dynamite, at a party called Forward Rhythms. This rocked for 2 1/2 years before it got too big to be housed there. We moved it to Martini Ranch in Gaslamp San Diego, and called the party Downtown Top Ranking. This blew it up even more. We moved it to a bigger location, Aubergine, and called it Super Hit which was under new management. the capacity was 700, and we had two rooms. There was a shootout outside after our first VERY successful month, and returned to Bar Dynamite. Bar D had us for another 2 1/2 years before they were forced by the neighbors to let us go. We had a brief transition at the Kava Lounge, before settling into our new home on Sunday Nights at U-31, called Uptown Top Ranking. We also won San Diego's Champion Sound title by winning a Clash in 2006.

The Rolling Blackouts (2003-2004): The Rollin' Blackouts-No Vacation
Started a punk rock for shits and giggles. It consisted of Gabe Ryan on the drums, Dunning Butler on guitar, Tino on bass, and myself on vocals. We played a good number of gigs over those two years, and only have a couple of recordings. We just tried to create chaos at every show, with friends constantly interupting our shows with wrestling style antics on stage, and random objects flying everywhere. Too bad we fell apart, because it was real fun.

Mr. Henshaw: I got into First Power Crew the same day as Henshaw. We are currently putting the finishing touches on an album featuring me on the vocals, DJ D-Styles on the scratch, and Mr. Henshaw on production. I will give you more of that when the time is right.

I play at different events, which calls for many types of tunes. Let the following tunes be my farewell to 2007, since this month is going to be busy, and give you an idea of the type of content I'll be looking to get into in 2008.


The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds-Across 110th Street
This is a track I scored from my homie, who let me digitize the record. If you can find a copy of this record, definitely bid on it.


Spoonie Gee-Spoonie Rappin'
Man...What happened to Rap? Spoonie should be be required listening for all these new school rappers who think they are the Kings of Hip-Hop.


Tristan Palma-Time So Hard
This is one of those tunes that has stuck with me from the beginning of my Selection career.


Chambacu-Aurita Castillo Y Su Conjunto
Aight, this isnt the right photo, but I couldn't find anything for this artist. Cumbia collections always had bad ass bikini models in that old time fashion. This tune kills everytime I play a Cumbia set. "Mi Varrio Mas Popular..."


M.I.A.-XR2 Why do birds, suddenly appear?.......

Thanks for giving me some of your time, and feel free to leave comments, just so I know it's not just The Reverend Sonny Phono chiming in...

I look forward to a positive, and prosperous 2008.

Hugh Knight