Friday Jams (PUTS Love Edition)

I've been practicing a new set for this Saturday. For those not in the know, I'm DJing at the Suite Sole Holiday party tomorrow from 6 to 9 pm. Gonna play lots of good shit, even a couple of People Under The Stairs joints. Coincidentally, I've been listening to PUTS pretty much exclusively (outside of when I'm practicing). I've always dug Thes One and Double K; but Cam has been bumping their The Om Years best of compilation, and it reminded me how much I dig the P. The Next Step is a killer album. Extra classic.

If you aren't familiar with PUTS, San Francisco Knights (The Next Step LP) is a great place to start. You get an illy laid back beat, fresh rhymes, and a somehow catchy cut folk hook. Peep:

Also off The Next Step, my favorite PUTS jam, Time To Rock Our Shit. I love how Thes rides from verse to hook to verse back to hook seamlessly. You almost don't even notice the chorus until he repeats it after his second verse over that ambient horn when the drums come back in. One of the best back-and-forth MC tag team tracks. "it's none other than the brothers from another mothership" is so clever and fits the feel of the groove perfectly. Check:

And Cam put me on to this one: The Bomb Combo (The Om Years). I hadn't heard this ever until Cam was playing The Om Years comp in his whip last week. I guess this cut is a previously unreleased B-side, cause I never even heard of it. PUTS somehow find a way to meld Gang Starr, Ugly Duckling, Mobb Deep, and the Likwit Crew on this. Crazy beat. Peep:

And here's a bonus joint (not PUTS)... East Flatbush Project ft. DeS - Tried By Twelve. Not much to say about this one except you might need a neck brace when it's over. One of the alltime best boom bap tracks. Check:

Enjoy the jams, come out to Suite Sole (Spring between Coming and St. Phillip) on Saturday, and thug out with the homie. weekendsrealbig.

Imallcitylikethemayor... yousemynameonmorefreshshitthancreedtaylor

If You Couldn't Tell

I'm all about Pop Champagne. Peep:

iwannaseeyoudance

Monday Make Up Wake Up Joint

I had this past Monday off from work and forgot to post a wake up joint. This one will more than make up for it, though. Check out Kool G. Rap ft. Nas Fast Life (Vinyl Reanimator Remix). No other song could better capture pulling a hoody up to ride a bike to work in the fog/cold while knowing it'll be humid and gross all day once the sun comes out. Peep:

yeahsoheresatoasttothefundsandthings.

Obligatory Bettie Page Post

Ever since I saw my first photo of Bettie Page (prolly 7th or 8th grade), I've had a serious crush. That crush began to effect me in ways I can't understand/explain myself. Since I was introduced to her beauty, I always went after brunettes with bangs; girls that carry themselves with class and good posture; women with huge, sparkling eyes; and ladies with good taste in high-heeled shoes. I fell in love with Gretchen Moll after seeing The Notorious Bettie Page (watch it if you haven't), I've always dug girls with pin-up tattoos (always wanted to get this photo of Bettie if I ever got a tattoo), and even told a girl I used to see for a bit that I thought she was gorgeous because she reminded me of Gretchen/Bettie.

Bettie died yesterday at the age of 85. Take a moment at some point after reading this to do a google image search of Bettie and appreciate how such a smart, polite, down-home girl from Tennessee could become empowered, appreciate her body and not be ashamed to show it (very tabboo in the 1950s), rise to prominence, make countless men fall in love with her through simple photos, and be a symbol simultaneouly for misogyny/ female sexuality/ women's (womyn's) liberation/ pornography/ sexual deviancy/ and female beauty.

Friday Jams (Super Swagger Edition)

Got the super steez today, mostly cause I got the new dunks on and the teddy bear jacket. Feelin good after getting some good sleep last night. Also feelin good cause this is my last day of work until my night shift on Tuesday. As a result, I'll be mean muggin (haters off the block, I see you, Cam) all day. Jake One and MF DOOM's Trap Door (Jake's White Van Music LP) is some menacing mean mug music. Peep:

Speaking of menacing, here's KRS-One and DJ Revolution's The DJ. Gotta love when KRS lays out the 10 commandments of DJing. He's always respected the DJ as the backbone of hip-hop. Real recognize real. He brings up a good point: if you're gonna use Serato or any other MP3 program, you gotta use it as a tool and not a crutch (Hunter's words) to make your mix better. Personally, it'll always be vinyl for me unless I gotta tour on a plane (never gonna happen). Anyway, peep the song. Kris says it better than I could/want to:

Atmosphere's Crewed Up (Strictly Leakage LP) ft. Stage One, St. Paul Slim, Muja Messiah, YZ, Brother Ali, Toki Wright & Blueprint is one of the only Atmos songs I've dug since the You Can't Imagine LP. I love when Toki says "walk like a pimp, think like a macintosh" so steezy:

And here's the best song I've heard all year: Brother Ali's Mr. President (You're The Man). It hasn't been released on wax or anything yet, so I'm a little sad I can't play it out. Ali supposedly recorded this the night Obama got elected. In fact, if I were Obama, I'd listen to this all day and mean mug haters off Pennsylyania Ave. Peep the illy Marvin Gaye sample:

twoyearsofsayinyeswecanandtodaybarakobamastheman

Steez Update

Last night was great. Not as big a crowd as the last time we opened for Forth and Back, and we had some trouble hearing ourselves on stage (when the music is really loud on the house monitors, it can be hard to hear what you're cueing up in your headphones), but we rocked it with two sets of breaks, an uptempo set, and a recycled set from the first Forth and Back show. Lots of people came out; including Ben, Brittany, TJ, Mel, Tyner, Leah, Kindra, and Tara. I did a good bit of dancing once our set was over, smoked too many cigarettes, talked to a couple of girls, got comliments on our set, and got to bed far too late.

I should have posted this before, but I dropped off some old copies of the Tell A Friend mix at Suite Sole (sneaker boutique on Spring between Coming and St. Phillip) for them to give out. I've been talking to Gus and Walter from Suite Sole (check their blog for new releases/news) about spinning in the store or maybe even making a custom mix CD for them as promos for a big release or just to give out with purchases. Speaking of purchases, check out these dunks (the brown ones on the top) I bought cortesy of Walter, Gus, and the best place for sneakers in Charleston. Prolly gonna debut them on Friday.

Other than that, extremely happy to have the ex-girlfriend off my back, excited for going back to Florida for Christmas (and Jacksonville for Clemson's bowl game), happy with my new records, already wanting to buy more records, needing to go Christmas shopping, reading yet another Bukowski book (South of No North... short stories), and having no trouble at all sleeping.

itsallcomingupmillhouse.

Monday Wake Up Joint

Really looking forward to spinnin records tonight (10 pm at Johnson's if you're down with the Street Prince Clique). It's making it really hard to concentrate on anything else. To keep me at ease today, I'm listening to Menahan Street Band's Make the Road by Walking LP. Wake up this morning to the funky sounds of Home Again. Schmoove.

seeyoutonight

Friday Jams (new records edition)

I'm pretty excited for the Pacquiao vs. De la Hoya fight tomorrow (get at me if you want to watch it, Hunter is getting the PPV). I'm also excited for Monday night. For those not in the know, Hunter and I are DJing again as Street Prince Clique. We're opening for Forth and Back (live instrument hip-hop band) at Johnson's starting at 10. Try and make it out if you're trying to dance/drink/have a damn good time. Until then, here's some records I just bought to play on Monday.

Here's De La Soul's Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) from De La Soul is Dead. So steezy... I'm sure this will get heads dancing on Monday.

Keeping on the De La tip, check out Pass The Plugs (also on De La Soul is Dead).

Finally, here's Uptown's Dope On Plastic. Prolly gonna play The Ledge by Eric B and Rakim after this jam on Monday. '89 was a great year for hip-hop if you didn't know. Peep:

If you dug that, check out Rob Swift - Dope On Plastic (Large Professor Remix). I don't have it on vinyl, but it's extra steezy... had to post. Peep:

makesureyouretheremondaynight

It's Too Damn Gorgeous Out Today

Just went outside for a cigarette break, and shit is it nice out. Clear sky, just the right temp, sunny as hell... I'm eagerly awaiting getting off work (but sunset is at 5:15 today, so I won't get much time to enjoy it). If I had to soundtrack the moment I looked up, sighed, and thought how good my life is and how lucky I am; I'd pick the Ticklah dub remix of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' How Long Do I Have to Wait. Listen here, go outside for a second (if you're in Charleston), and do the same. I appologize for the sound quality, it's a brand new song only available on 7" through Daptone. Just be happy that someone is steezy enough to have already posted it to youtube. Peep:

iwishtheywoulddothisatreggaenight

Monday Wake Up Joint

Great weekend... extra tired today. Gettin awake quick with Jake One ft. Freeway and Brother Ali's The Truth. Shit is super hard. Peep:

thefewthatdozoominrespectmeasalegend