When you were thinking all we get in Australia is has been 50 year old rappers. Kendrick Lamar gets announced. It is rare we get hip hop artists out here while their career is really popping. Maybe Australia is an after thought. Maybe it is too pricey and risky for promoters who find it hard to judge how popular they really are with no record sales and no national radio play. This one is definitely paying off though. Kendrick selling out his Sydney and Melbourne concert with in a number of hours and moving to a bigger venue. Here are the new dates.
For one night only we resurrected three hip hop greats. Using the bodies of Sydney DJ’s Bad Ezzy, Shantan Wantan Ichiban and Levins as hosts, we opened up a portal to the spirit world and brought back – Left Eye, Eazy E and MCA (mad scientist version from the Intergalactic video – too soon) for EXCLUSIVE DJ sets.
Too many shots. Not enough food in stomach. Dark sunglasses in a dark club. All factors which contributed to one of the most ram shackled mixes I have ever done. Fortunately I think everyone else was too drunk to notice at our very loose Hip Hop Halloween Party.
If your memory is as hazy as mine, maybe these pictures will help you piece together this very spooky, very trashy night.
Growing pains continues to bubble along, and this week i am hyped to introduce to the big homie LinoType. Lino is our West Coast Correspondent here at Stolen Records, you all may know Lino from his posts on the blog, that generally make a lot more sense than my own or Shantan’s babble. Lino also happens to be a genuine dude, known for his Pai mai knowledge of tunes, don like skills on the turntables and his uber baritone voice. Lino was a part time Sydney resident/ illegal immigrant and during this time he regulated a bunch of parties, came and hung out at Stolen Records and was my only ever guest at the Who Over.
Intro By LinoType…
Michael Who is a real bro, and for real bros, I won’t mind taking a little trip down memory lane. I’ve gone through many musical phases in life, from soft rock singer to west coast gangster to staunch underground elitist to southern rap fanatic. If anyone was wondering, my current playlist revolves around 2 Chainz and old Prince.
This was the first cassingle I ever bought. Around that time, my sister started college in New York, and I remember our family helping her move out there. ‘Whoomp’ would get played all day on NYC radio, and I remember it being one of the first rap songs where I caught all of the lyrics. That infectious hook was undeniable, and I just had to own it, since it barely got played in LA at the time.
Middle school was all about fronting like you were either in a gang, or that you knew some gang members, or that you knew about gangs. 2Pac would get the most play, along with a lot of ‘Westsiiide’ posturing. It’s funny because the best song on the album was the joint with 2 rappers from NYC. Daz hooked up the beat that can best be described as nocturnal, Method Man compared himself to Magellan and Johnny Cash in one verse, and everyone else came extra correct. (For the record, I’m more of a Biggie guy)
MP3: Bob James – Nautilus
I had already been buying vinyl for a while by the time I got this, but this was the first record I picked up that made me want to have a legit record collection. Listening to this for the first time was like being exposed to the matrix. Shout outs to The Record Spot in Thousand Oaks. If the owner’s daughter is working, you’ll probably have an awkward time. All she does is talk to her boyfriend on the phone and complain about working. However if the owner is there, he’ll hook you up. He noticed me looking through the jazz section, and basically handed me the Bob James joint and recommended I check it out.
We getting moronic tonight. Filling in for Joyride on the Drop, Leon and I do a Ratchet Special. Get stupider by the second as we play the best of the worst club hip hop available. Plus Monchichi comes by the studio to spit bars.
Playlist
The Recipe (Remix)- Kendrick Lamar ft Dr Dre & Twista
My Type Of Party (Remix) – Dom Kennedy Ft Tyga & Juicy J
Shoutout – Birdman ft French Montana & Gudda Gudda
Love Sosa – Chief Keef
Purple Flowers – Yo Gotti
White Bitches (Remix) – Boobe feat. Juicy J
Mind Blown ft 2 Chainz & Waka Flocka Flame – Future
Bible on the Dash – Gunplay
Faded – Bulu (feat. Big K.R.I.T.)
CELEBRATION ft Gucci Mane – D.Dash
No Patron – Pimp Paul feat. Monchichi
Go For It – Freddie Gibbs & Young Jeezy
M.A.A.D City (Feat. MC Eiht) – Kendrick Lamar
Breakfast (Syrup) (Feat. 2 Chainz) – Kreayshawn
She Don’t Put It Down Like You (Feat. Lil Wayne & Tank) – Joe Budden
Reppin Time ft. Fuzz Tha Bossmang – Monchichi
I’m On It ft. French Montana, Fame & Fuzz Tha Bossmang – Monchichi
Out Here (Feat. Vado & A$AP Twelvyy) – Smoke DZA
Ball – T.I. ft Lil Wayne
Fuckin Problem ft. 2 Chainz, Drake & Kendrick Lamar – A$AP Rocky
Throw it Away – Slaughterhouse
Don’t You Quit – T-Pain
Make A Song – Ricky Ruckus Ft. Gucci Mane
Rockin Dat ft. Stuey Rock – LilPlayBoii & YBT
Double Cup & Molly – Future
Swimming Pools (Drank) Black Hippy Remix – Kendrick Lamar feat. Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul & Jay Rock
Get Smoked – Lil Mouse
Ghost Ride It – Mistah F.A.B.
Listen: Kendrick Lamar – M.A.A.D. City ft MC Eigt | Buy Me
That awkward New Zealandy sense of humour, you don’t know how to respond to. It is like having old DJ Ability in the studio again, when Home Brew Crew popped by. They have been totally killing it in New Zealand topping the charts with their new self titled double album. We talk. They rap. It was good. Catch Home Brew at the Civic Underground in Sydney tonight. Details right hurr!
In addition, Naiki pays tribute to the Beat Conducta with a sweet set of Madlib produced jams and the original samples. The genius behind projects like Madvillian, Jaylib, Yesterday’s New Quintet, Lootpack, Quasimoto, The Medicine Show and more. Catch him Friday at the Metro in Sydney supported by Egon and J Rocc… Deeets yo!
I’m going on the self indulgent tip this Mixtape Mondays and blogging one of my own tapes. I put this mix up a few days ago and it’s basically me going on a club tangent. It touches on House, Techno, Uk Bass and a bunch of other easter eggs you will have to listen to find. In a way you could consider this my coming home mix. After living in Chile for close to a year, i’m around 2 weeks i’m heading back home to Sydney and i’m hyped to catch up with fam and friends, eat some good food, play some fun parties and spend a summer in Sydney. See errrrbody soon!!
Mike Who Vibes N Tings
Tracklist is on my soundcloud page, which also has a bunch of other tapes and podcasts floating around on it. Cop here…Mike Who
What kicked off last week as mostly incoherent babble from me reminiscing about weighty choons of my younger days, has now turned into what i can only hope will be a weekly feature here on the blog. For today’s Growing Pain’s we have been blessed by none other than Skryptcha.
Skrytptcha Has had a massive 2012 releasing his 2nd full lenth titled Mindful, which recived a huge amount of support and love nationally. Skryp teamed up with estemed Stateside beatmaker illmind to make Mindful and together they crafted an extremely solid and polished album furthering the evolution of Skryptcha’s sound. If you haven’t copped it yet grab it digitally through itunes or for all touchy feely peeps, you can get your hardcopy through spots like JB hifi.
On the subject of Growing Pains, I got in contact with Skryp last week to ask if he would pen down some thoughts on 3 to 4 tunes that had some influence on his formative years . No doubt Skryptcha’s rapidly increasing fanbase will be hyped to check some baby pictures (see above) and get into the head of their new best friend. For now get acquainted below with the man himself and look forward to us delving into the heads of other talented chums in the coming weeks.
Introduction by Skryptcha..
My first introduction to Hip-Hop was through skate videos.. Mostly 411 vids. Around the ages of 13-14 we’d skate most days,then go back to mates places to watch vids and listen to music. I hadn’t really listened to much Hip-Hop before that as a kid but the second I heard it, I was totally drawn in by it.. Here’s a little break down on the tracks that grabbed me back then in the very beginning and the ones that have shaped me from there.. If I had to list every track that’s ever grabbed me like crazy, I’d be here all day haha.. Hip-Hop reminds me so often how much I love it and that’s one of the biggest reasons I’m still here,we have a lot to be proud of..
I can’t exactly remember where I was when I first heard this track but I know that I have probably listened to it more than any other Hip-Hop track ever. This is probably my favourite DJ Premier beat of all time and that is seriously saying something! That sample just does something to me haha.. It’s dark but still so soulful.. Royce is soo raw and comes SO hard on this. As a teen this track was everything you could want, it had so much angst and ego in it.. I still rap every word to it and get just as stoked as I did as a teen haha. You can’t fault Royce or Preem on this. Two of the best at their finest. Gold Jerry! Gold!
I’ll never forget hearing this song for the first time haha it did crazy things to me and got me so pumped up. It STILL gets me crazy pumped every time I hear it. Everyone knows this track & everyone loves it ha.. You could drop it anywhere and have people go nuts.. Dre & Snoop come so harrd on this, the beat is BANGING & to top it all off, Nate Dogg laces the outro. It is a banger in every sense of the word. One of my all-time faves for sure!
Most of the Hip-Hop I listened to as a teen was on the pretty traditional, raw tip.. Acts like Redman, Beatnuts, Big Pun, Biggie etc. One day at school my mate Ryan gave me Atmosphere’s CD ‘God Loves Ugly’ and told me to check it out.. To be honest, I wasn’t super taken by it on first listen but this song totally grabbed me. It was such a heartfelt song, full on soulful music..It was so different to most of what I’d listened to previously. I was more drawn to the raw, rugged rap as a teen but this track made me see things a little differently. I started to see that Hip-Hop didn’t all have to be like that, that there was a bit more to it. I fell in love with this track.. It shifted the type of Hip-Hop I listened to from there..
Download: Hilltop Hoods – Testimonial Year // Buy Me
Most of the first Aussie stuff I heard was pretty raw too and I loved it ha.. my early music was some straight up raw stuff..It was a great avenue for me to get that teen angst out haha.. I’d heard a couple of Hoods’ tracks before ‘The Calling’ dropped,and was a big fan of ‘1979’. I remember going into HMV I think and playing ‘The Calling’ on one of those CD players where you could preview CD’s haha it was one of those ‘Muuuuuummmmm!!!! Come here!!’ moments hahahaha… I played the first track on the album Testimonial Year’ and again, it did something to me.. The beat was soo chilled out and Suffa’s flow was just so laid back and melodic. I ended up finding Mum and found a way to get her to buy it for me 😉 Haha again, it made me see things in a different way and inspired me to make music just like it from there. Most Aussie MC’s from my generation will more than likely pinpoint this album as the most influential of their careers. It changed everything.
Sydney’s Spookiest Djs are getting together with their ouija boards and you’re invited to get turnt up with some ghosts for one night only at Ghoulgod Small Club.
Bad Ezzy x Shantan Wantan Ichiban x Levins x An Army of Reanimated Corpses x U?
Listen: Dr Dre & Ice Cube – Natural Born Killaz
Listen: Snoop Doggy Dogg – Serial Kila ft D.O.C., RBX and Tha Dogg Pound
Japanese DJs are really on something else. I am too used to playing parties where people don’t care about your mixing, and just want to hear something they recognise and can get unruly too. It is the opposite in Japan. The audience hovers around the booth analysing your skills and selection, and in effect has created a different breed of DJ.
Partly raised in New York and Tokyo, Sarasa is a DJ that is the best of both worlds. She popped by the show to give us a really jazzy, soulful set of easy going hip hop. To balance it out we played some rowdy shit from the likes of T.I., Smoke DZA and Madlib.
Playlist
Smoke DZA – Kenny Powers
Maxsta – I Wanna Rock
Iggy Azalea – Iggy Azalea ft. T.I. – Murda Bizness
T.I. – Ball ft Lil Wayne
Redman – Sourdeezal ft. Ready Roc (No Church In The Wild Freestyle)
Action Bronson – Thug Love Story 2012
Fever Tree – Ninety-Nine And One Half
Madvillain – America’s Most Blunted
Lootpack – Return of the B-Boy
Murs and 9th wonder – It’s Over
Robert Glasper – Afro Blue (9th Wonder’s Blue Light Basement Remix) [feat. Erykah Badu and Phonte]
AlunaGeorge – You Know You Like It
Kero One – In Time (feat. Clara C & Dumbfoundead)
Spit Syndicate – Beauty In The Bricks
Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You (Ryan Hemsworth Bootleg)
SARASA DJ MIX
Zaki Ibrahim – Connected
Low Budget Soul – Into You
The Foreign Exchange feat. Muhsinah – Daykeeper
Mia Doi Todd – My Room Is White (Flying Lotus Remix)
Shem – Genie in the Sky
DULO – All Things
asa feat. Ken-One – Fab
Prefuse 73 – Perverted Undertone
Nujabes – Final View
Algorythm – Make Way
The Foreign Exchange – The Answer
The Missing Theory – Black Bear Project
J Dilla – Won’t Do
Deux Process – The Process
Black Milk feat. AB – Take Control
The Get By feat. Saukrates – Brown Eyes
Freestyle Fellowship feat. Jimi James – Candy
Highplace Drive ft J. Kaya – Daygo Evenings
Masia One feat. Tanika Charles – Saturday
Paola Jean feat. Mobius Collective – Relativity
Hi-Tek feat. Dion, Q-Tip, Kurupt – Keep It Moving
Danny! – Misunderstood
ASAP Rocky – Purple Swag (Jim-E Stack Bootleg)
Urthboy ft Jane Tyrell – Glimpses
Listen: Zaki Ibrahim – Connected
Listen: Mia Doi Todd – My Room Is White (Flying Lotus Remix)
I wanted to leave this mix to post towards the end of the year to have some sort of grand finale or retrospective mix of the year post, but i got impatient and wanted to share with anyone who hasn’t checked it yet. Soul Sisters Stand Up, is a mind blowing mix put together over the course of two years by two of the most legit dj’s worldwide, The Gaff and Skratch Bastid. These two dons of the turntables pay tribute to the female soul, funk and Rnb vocalists of the 60’s nd 70’s the right way. This mixtape is done proper, real mixing, tight blends, tidy cuts, tasteful doubles and littered with original sample sources. There isn’t really much more i can say to get you to download this mix, easily one of the most hyped tapes of the year and with due respect. Download, share with crew, kiss me later.
Janini Panini
STOLEN RECORDS 