Big Forward Network

Friday, March 21, 2008

My Selecta: March 08



I'm going to take a moment to humble myself, and fan out real hard. This past month has been the memorable in years for my DJ career. I've done two very memorable shows, that are historical moments for me. I'm sharing this, more as a few anecdotes on DJing, instead of being boastful. Mainly because I know one of you can relate.


SISTER NANCY

You may have already seen my post, mentioning the Sister Nancy show we held right before New Years. Before the buzz had even died down, another promoter approached me about having my Sound play at the Reggae Wintersplash event at 4th & B, in Daygo. The promoters idea was to have an all night dance, since the venue was permitted to do afterhours. He wanted to put us on at 3am, and I told him I was concerned with playing that late, because I felt people would leave was the alcohol stopped flowing. He conceeded, and told me we would play right after Sister Nancy, with a scheduled set at 2am. Around the night of the show, I had been purging my itunes library into my Hard Drive, in an attempt to get an upper hand on this whole Serato/MP3 thing. Bottom line is I had only brought music for the set we were scheduled to play, and not the overstuffed library i usually bring with my laptop. Apparently I did not have enough foresight to conclude I would need anything else but my sets worth of tunes.

The promoter linked us witha little VIP booth for the crew, and when I got to the venue about 12:30am, we eased into the booth and let the smoke blow. Within 30 minutes, the promoter tells us Sister Nancy was not there yet, so he needed us to play earlier. I set up my stuff, and then my bredren Rock hits me up about running riddims for his set before Nancy. Of course that was easy, I loaded up his riddims, and did it. Before I could even start my own set, the promoter comes out on stage and says "I need you to play for Nancy too". I asked if she brought riddims, and apparently she had left them at the hotel. That's when the horror of my situation became apparent. Before I could even argue, they called Sister Nancy out on stage. Mind you this was a pure Sound System style performance, so no band required. I rapidly flew through what I had, and realized I only had 4 usable riddims in my selection. She knew the deal, and worked the crowd like a pro. When it came time to run the riddim called "Stalag", so she could sing Bam Bam, we ended up running the version for 10 minutes, doing different songs before she left the stage, and MURDERED Bam Bam for the encore. The whole show I was walking the line of disaster, and ended up pulling it off by the skin of my teeth.

I also used the Rane Serato mixer for the first time, and had no clue about switching between line and phono on this machine. I also had multiple USB dropouts during the performance, meaning the music would cut out in the middle of a song, and we would have to play it off as a wheel up.

Sister Nancy is a serious Professional Reggae Deejay. She handled the situation with such finesse, I couldn't help but be impressed. The historical moment for me, is that Sister Nancy's album "One Two", was one of the first reggae records I acquired for my set so many years ago. If you would told me then I would be supporting her stage show on the 1's and 2's, I wouldn't have believed you.

Sister Nancy-Dance Pon The Corner


EEK A MOUSE

Not a week goes by, and my old friend Rez from Seedless Clothing asked me to DJ at a reggae show going down at On Broadway with Eek A Mouse. At first I was just doing a set, but Rez then asked if I would play for Eek A Mouse. I said for sure, giving him the guarantee I could be ready with riddims for that. One thing I should mention, is On Broadway is a very upscale, mega club, and I had never made my way in there due to Dress Code enforcement, and steep drink prices. To hear that they were doing a Reggae show there, with a very loose dress code made me very curious as to how the night would pop.

I spent the next week trying to track down Eek A Mouse instrumental versions. After doing a bunch of studying, I realized most of his big tunes were over more obscure Roots Radics riddims, instead of over big, more popular riddims. In fact, there weren't very many Versions of his tunes to found at all. San Diego is a HUGE Eek A Mouse town, and I wouldn't be able to pass off the wrong riddims for their favorite tunes. I immediately realized I might get stuck in another situation where I didn't have enough riddims. It took me talking to my man Eaz One in the Midwest, to realize I should call someone locally. I got a handful of viable riddims from my man Carlos Culture, and figured that was my best bet.

30 minutes before the Eek A Mouse is scheduled to perform, he calls me from the hotel across the street, and he kicked me down some more riddims for the show. Since I was fully stocked for the show, I was able to just enjoy myself, instead of worrying about it. What a good time that was. I got to mix up the tunes for Eek A Mouse, and see the show from a whole other vantage point. The highest points for me, were Eek A Mouse pulling out his first tunes he ever recorded. I had never seen that in the x-amount of Eek A Mouse shows I've seen over the years. When he called for the tune "Wicked Shall Not Reign", I got goosebumps as the bass came in. That's a tune that was released under his original name, Ripton Hylton. He called for a wheel up and explained to the crowd the history behind the tune, and ran it again. F'n wicked!

The historical part for me, came in two parts. Number one, you can't grow up in San Diego without being hit off with one of Eek A Mouse's albums. He is second only to Bob Marley in Daygo, and I've known his tunes front and back from real early. In fact, I was reminiscing with homie from High School, how we used to roll around with my friend's older brother J.G., bumping Eek A Mouse, and smoking herbs. This would have been 10th grade for me. Low and behold, when I knocked on Mouse's hotel door, the door was answered by none other than J.G., who apparently befriend Mouse over the years. It all seemed to come back around last night, and I'm still hyped.

Ripton Hylton-No Wicked Can't Reign

As you can see I'm a serious fan. You have to be in order to be a DJ.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Mikey Dread Bonus Footie

Mikey Dread @ Martini Ranch


Downtown Top Ranking Martini Ranch 2000 something...
Not much to see as far as darkness, but my hat pops up on the dancefloor a couple times.

R.I.P.
Mikey Dread

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Thank You Mikey Dread


Mikey Dread's "Israel Style" is one of my favorite tunes of all time. In fact the whole World War Three album, which includes the tune "Jumping Master", is a genius piece of Roots Reggae work. Heavy on the dub, heavy on the drums and bass, and masterful in Mikey Dread's delivery of his vocals, the album cannot be touched.

I had a gig one night at the Boulevard Club in San Marcos, at a club where Junior Reid was performing. I had to play outside the whole time while the show was going on inside. The gig was kind of a drag, but turned around in the blink of an eye. I was playing Israel Style for the folks burning herbs outside, when low and behold Mikey Dread walks up to the tables. He asked if I was playing the tune because I saw him in the crowd, and I explained to him that it's a staple in my Roots selection, and I had no idea he was in the house. Mikey got a large smile on his face, and said Thank You. I reached out and shook his hand, and told him "No, thank you Mikey Dread!"


It's rare that an artist passes, and I actually feel it inside. I knew the situation was grim for Mikey Dread, after I heard of his battle with a brain tumor. Unfortunately yesterday, Saturday March 15th, he succumbed to the tumor, and has moved on. Of course he's not dead, by any means. With a catalog of great tunes like Mikey's, he will live on in the hearts of Reggae lovers forever.


For Mikey Dread's Bio Click Here



Mikey Dread-Jumping Master

Mikey Dread-Heavy Weight Sound

Mikey Dread-Heavy Weight Dub

Who Cork The Dance, one of my favorite Blogs, posted an old recording Mikey's radio show which was recorded Christmas 1978. You can check the blog, and download the show HERE



Michael Campbell A.K.A. Mikey Dread
1954-2008

Friday, March 14, 2008

Not Clinton, Not McCain, Not Terminator, Not John Wayne

This is Barack Obama


This Is Cocoa Tea


This is Cocoa Tea's new Reggae Anthem, throwing his hat in with Obama's camp.
Barack Obama-Cocoa Tea

Other than I can see people dancing in the streets singing this tune, I don't have much to say about the content. I'll let you give it a listen, and decide whether it's your new anthem.

Jump it...
Hugh

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Rap N Roll



So just as one person asks me why I never have any rock on my blog (meaning they missed My Previous HughTube post) but the blog would turn into a Black Sabbath Blog real quick. Then this falls in my lap. A mix by Mike Czech??? Mike is the driving creative force behind the Scratch N Sniff Radio show which is syndicated throughout the nation, and a good homie. Which makes me puzzled at why I got a burned copy from this rocker chick (with Lighter burns on her arms) that works at the 7/11 by my pad. Mike, you got a wide fanbase...

The perfect blend of rock and rap and anything else that they are sniff'n. Here's a link to this said mix, as it appears on the net. I think you might be feelin this one.

Download FENDER BLENDER mix here

Here's the info I found:

FENDER BLENDER is a 27 track mix of remixes done by Mike Czech. These and MANY MANY more can be heard each week on SKRATCH N SNIFF, and online at snsmix.com myspace.com/snsmix and snsmix.imeem.com

Here's the playlist:


1 I Wanna Rock! Megamix
2 Gnarls Barkley vs. Buckcherry - Crazy Crazy Bitch
3 The Beastie Boys vs. Eminem - Shake That Intergalactic Ass
4 Cheech and Chong vs. Cypress Hill - Up Insane Smoke
5 Run-DMC vs. Pantera vs. Johnny Cash - Walk Walk This Way
6 Cypress Hill vs. Papa Roach - How I Could Just Get Away With Murder
7 Offspring vs. Ying Yang Twins - Self Esteem Shaker
8 Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home California
9 The Notorious B.I.G. vs. Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows How To Hypnotize
10 Wu-Tang Clan vs. Johnny Cash - Johnny C.R.E.A.M.
11 Weezer vs. 2Pac & Dr. Dre - Beverly Hills California
12 Kanye West vs. Metallica - Sad Golddigger
13 Beastie Boys vs. Accept vs. AC/DC - Big Brass Balls To The Wall
14 Gorillaz vs. Nirvana - DARE Like Teen Spirit
15 Black Sabbath vs. Cypress Hill - I Wanna Get Sweet Leaf
16 Aerosmith vs. The Game - Dreams On
17 Lil Wayne vs. Helmet - Go Unsung DJ
18 She Wants Revenge vs. Black Eyed Peas - Pump You Apart
19 Prong vs. Lil Jon - Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
20 Blue October vs. Game - Love Me Or Hate Me
21 Lupe Fiasco vs. Kottonmouth Kings - Kick Push Skate
22 Eminem vs. 311 - Downcore
23 Pharcyde vs. Radiohead - Passin Me High And Dry
24 Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. DJ Kool - Suck My Throat
25 Metallica vs. Kanye West - One Walks With Me
26 Game & 50 Cent vs. Modest Mouse - How We Float
27 T-Pain vs. Def Leppard - I'm N Luv With Sugar On Me

Jump it...Hugh

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

200 Lbs of Herb Chune



If you've been to a Reggae Dance hosted by your local Sound System, chances are the place smelled like 100 burning spliffs. The lights were almost non existent, save for when you saw spliff cherries rise into the air as the selector rinsed another big tune. Dancehall Reggae, and Marijuana are close partners, and cannot be seperated by any means. Certain tunes will bust, and no rules or laws can stop the ganja man from blazing his herbs in excitement.

For the second Herb Tune installment, we have the type of tunes that get forwards inside the dancehalls. The type of tunes that make smoke detectors ring. The type of tune that will get you booted from an establishment in the name of Good Good Sensi. Make sure you rizzla is packed tight, and let it blaze



Setting the thing off correctly....



Chronic-Sanchez
First off, Sanchez is one the smoothest crooners of the Reggae universe, so have him sing a herb tune. Second, you put him on top of a reworking of an All Time Classic Riddim like Love Me Forever. Third you play this tune at maximum level, and you've got a sure fire smokeout. Beware, playing this tune may result in multiple forwards. Have your laser beams ready.


High Grade In My Chalice-Richie Spice
When Richie Spice sings it, he means it. Nothing in this world like the High Grade in my chalice. When he sings it over a big Riddim like Swing Easy, watch the clouds rise. If you aren't already knowing about about Richie Spice, then you are required to check for this!!!


Stalk Of Sensimillia-Mykal Rose
The one time voice of Black Uhuru, became an all time voice for the herb when this remake over the Full Up Riddim first dropped on dancers. Mykal Rose's singing style, which defined Black Uhuru's sound, makes for a solid statement to the heads of those who wish to wipe Weed off the face of the planet. How can you stop it? I got it in my backyard?


Give Me The Weed-Jigsy King
As we move into rougher waters here, the voice of Jigsy King demands an ear. He's not asking for the weed, he's demanding it, like a true Ganja Man. State your demands over a big Riddim like Freedom Blues, and start a revolution! This tune is going to get you the forward, trust me. I played this tune on our Commercial Hip-Hop Station on 4-20, in an attempt to see how far I could go with the herb tunes. I look through the glass, and the DJ, Bobby Loco, is bouncing around in the booth with the gun finger in the air...


Smoke The Herb-Bounty Killer
C'mon yall. I mean, really... this should already be in your box. You should already be really familiar with Mr. Rodney Price, aka Bounty Killer. You should already have a memory of lighting up to this one at a dance. You should already know what kind of reaction this one gets... You should play this tonight!


Got It Right Here-Sizzla
This is another no brainer people! Sizzla's Big Tune catalog is deep, but this one can never be denied it's response from the herb drenched dance-goers. Smoking Marijuana like we just don't care. That should be your motto. It should say that on your business card. That should be your myspace quote. Plan ahead, and engrave it on your headstone. Thank You Sizzla.


Smoking weed is a part of your individual Liberty. So stand up for yourself. Free The Chronic. There's nothing in the world like high grade in my chalice from my Stalk Of Sensimillia, so give me the weed, and smoke the herb. I got it right here if you need it...

Jump It
Hugh

Royal Jelly Reggae Show on Jellyradio.com

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Thats right...my Sound has a new project in the works. Every Monday from 7pm-9pm (PST) is the best in Roots and Culture Reggae and Dancehall on jellyradio.com

Let me explain. For almost 3 years now we have been hosting the Jah Glory Show which is currently broadcasting from bigupradio.com. For awhile, I was torn with the show. We were playing some of the biggest current tunes, which included alot of Badman tunes. That didn't mesh with the Jah Glory theme, so we have started our new project. Jah Glory has shifted to a proper Culture set, and Royal Jelly has become our outlet to hold a mix show containing all content, conscious or not.

One feature that has carried over is our weekly chart of hits. So that I may introduce yall to our show, here is our Top 5 from March 3rd.

1. Protect Your Neck-Tarrus Riley
2. Nuh Go A Jail-Busy Signal
3. Doh-Serani & Bugle
4. Blind To You-Collie Buddz
5. Fallen Soldiers-Demarco

2 new hours of Tribe Of Kings in the mix everyweek. Our podcasts will soon be available, for now our podcasts for Jah Glory are available HERE

TUNE IN!

Send shout outs, requests, and anything else too
royaljellyreggae@yahoo.com
myspace.com/royaljellyreggaeshow

Keep it Jumpin
Hugh