I was working on something a few years ago and I had completely forgotten about it until now. I was just listening to my itunes on random and it popped up. It reminded me of my tendency to start things and not finish them.
Here it is:
Here is another one that I haven’t quite finished with none other than Mr. Notorious B.I.G
PS if you haven’t heard it a million times on the airwaves already, you will soon. Far East Movement ft. Justin Bieber – Live My Life
My fellow DJs prepare for the insurmountable song requests coming your way.
Nothing against Justin Bieber, I think he is a great success story..
Grammy weekend lived up to its name, it was a pretty wild weekend. I had a good friend, a nightclub mogul in Asia, visiting from out of town and it served to remind me why he runs nightclubs. When I was out on tour in Asia, one would think it would be like a vacation, but it was the most grueling exhausting experience ever. I know everyone used to brag about how hard they or their crew partied, well I would gladly give those bragging rights away. Asia was its own separate partying monster. I guess I know why Godzilla came from over there. A night out would easily be 4-5 bottles and or Magnum bottles of your Moët, Belvedere, Grey Goose, or other premium liquor of your choice. Playing in Asia for the first time, I thought that the States handled their business in this subject, but was I in for a rude awakening. I should probably give credit to the insane amount of sleep deprivation from constant nights of playing out and the jet lag from the 16 hour flight, but I was eventually tapped out during the trip and my body could not handle any more. I could easily see how they say a man can die without sleep for 5 days. Long story short, my friend seems to be immune from these effects. We ended up at Greystone Manor in Hollywood, also where Drake nearly shut down La Cienega boulevard by hosting his official Grammy afterparty there.
So back to the weekend, we had an amazing dinner at Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. I would highly recommend the Tapas inspired restaurant. The Caipirinha is excellent, they make it table-side with liquid nitrogen. Pictured below. I wish I would of taken more pictures but I was too busy scarfing down food.
As I’m sure you’re aware Whitney Houston passed away. Her contribution to music is unquantifiable, may she rest in peace. She was one of my mother’s inspirations who is also a professional singer in the Vietnamese community. I remember growing up I would hear her practicing Whitney Houston’s – I will always love you, still gives me the chills. Her range was pretty amazing, powerful stuff.
Below are two very hot tracks right now. Both these artists will be at Coachella this year where I’ll also be at. Hope to see you all there.
I’m going to dedicate this post to J. Dilla aka James Dewitt Yancey. Considered one of the most prolific hip-hop producers of all time, J. Dilla passed away at a very young age of 32. Any REAL hip hop act can in some form be connected with J. Dilla. He was such a huge influential movement for the hip hop scene and it is a shame he passed away so young. Here is an interview of him shortly before he passed away. “Dilla is not only the foundation of Detroit Hip Hop but Hip Hop as a whole.”
R.I.P J. Dilla.. you will be missed.
Below is a track J Dilla produced sampling Bobby Caldwell. Common can teach Drake a thing or two about writing a hip hop ballad.
Speaking of Bobby Caldwell, here is one of my favorite tracks by him:
I recently had to take my Krav Maga test. Passing criteria is to survive until the test is over. I would bump this song above to get pumped for my test. It’s a new track off Drake’s new album. Hate him if you want, but he’s making moves and I can respect that.
The last part of my test was fighting 8 people consecutively, one by one, 1 minute each for a total of 8 minutes, no break in between, full contact. After you’re desperately gasping for air by the 5th round and your left leg is dead, you dig deeper than you could ever imagine. Did I mention you are not allowed to block? People ask me why I do this to myself. I can’t sit in a chair and waste my life in front of a TV. I need to push myself as far as I can go, and in this case it’s physically and mentally. Like Drake said, “Live a little cause ni***s die a lot”. Maybe I have a skewed perception of living.
You have a few seconds to try and suck in some air as your bent over waiting for your previous opponent to jump out and the other one to jump in. Put your hands up to your face quick, you’re unprotected. Now you’re too sluggish to stay quick on your feet and protecting yourself. Your body is showing and vulnerable, free shots for them. The last 10 seconds are winding down painfully slow, you are barely hanging on. Finally the last second passes as your muscles are screaming at your brain and you drop your hands in sheer exhaustion. You made it, you survived the 8 rounds, but you dropped your hands and get caught late with a blow to the solar plexus. If you don’t know it is one of the many weak spots in your body, not including: eyes, nose, throat, ears, temple, jaw, etc. You bend over and try to stay on your feet but you can’t breath and drop to your knees. You are really dizzy from lack of oxygen to the brain. You hear screams to get up, but you are too busy trying to in vain to suck oxygen into your lungs.
You’re on the ground face in your hands, elbows holding you up while you’re on your knees. You have to stand up. The test is about surviving. You still haven’t caught a breath and you slowly dig deep from somewhere you didn’t know existed and steady yourself on your knees. You manage to pick yourself up when you’ve fallen. Life is about challenges, they say no pain, no gain for a reason.
After passing your test, you have to hold your hands above your head, and take a punch from your Sensei to the body with no gloves. Hey, after what you’ve been through, what’s another punch to the stomach? Like all the other challenges that come at you, they are nothing you can’t conquer.
For the people who want to know who my Sensei is, see the video below. He is currently the only two-time Israeli (Army) Krav Maga National Champion, and has served as the top Krav Maga instructor for the Special Forces/Air Forces/Israeli Marines/Paratroopers.
2012 is going to be about conquering bigger challenges. Stay tuned because a lot of exciting things are happening. I have been asked to collaborate with the opening of a new club in Orange County. The new club is slated to open Summer 2012 after its multi-million dollar renovations are finished. More LA/OC/ATX shows coming up, as well as the Asia Tour. It’s going to be a busy year.
Off plane, on plane, off plane, on plane.. it seems I’ve spent more time on a plane than I could have ever imagined. I always loved flying and growing up I always dreamed of jet-setting to new places, and being able to share my passion wherever I went. When I arrived at my dream, I found it was pretty exhausting flying to your residency 500+ miles away, hopping off the plane, rocking a crowd with everything you got, hop back on the plane, rinse and repeat. Sometimes I ask myself if it is indeed about the destination and not the path taken to get there, considering today’s destination includes one of my favorite spots in the world.
I’m getting ready to fly out to the Live Music Capital of the World in a few hours. You can probably catch me at the Elephant Room listening to some amazing jazz musicians or some irie reggae bands at the Flamingo Cantina. Maybe grab something to eat at South Congress Cafe. Who knows? Either way, I believe it is the culmination of the road traveled and the destination that creates the experience, and what is life without experiences?
The song I posted sampled Claude Debussy’s Claire De Lune. He is one of the many favorite Romantic Composers from my Classical Piano younger years.
And while were on the classical subject another piece I like by Franz Liszt.
I don’t think I will be able to post about everything that I’ve been meaning to (ACL/Kanye West/Skrillex/Pretty Lights/Nas & Damian Marley//45 KING) but I’m hoping things will slow down soon. I am focusing on heading out to do another Asia Tour. The last time I went was such an unbelievable experience. I’m not going to give any further details until everything has been finalized, but I am thrilled about the future. I feel like I have gotten a good feel for how music has transpired in the last decade in the US and it is always fascinating to see how music has traveled half way across the world.
Stuntin’ like my Daddy by djatran
Here tribute to my Dad, cause without him I would not be stuntin’
Having worked with Scion Music and seeing where they have been taking music, I put together my little interpretation of this trend. It reminds me of the Metal/Hardcore days… makes me nostalgic, like this old photo of Me and Noah from Chiddy Bang I found. Cracks me up.
Peep this video of Lebron James making his decision to join the WNBA after a horrible NBA Finals performance.
But I digress… “the Prince” aka Cyhi the Prince is a new hip hop artist that I have been following for a while now. Pictured above with Kanye West, Cyhi has been the first hip hop artist besides J.Cole that I have been pumped about. He just released a solid mixtape called the Royal Flush 2 which you can cop here. I can listen to the whole mixtape all the way through without wanting to curse the rap genre for existing, so if that’s any indicator go check it out.
Here is a standout track:
Cyhi the Prince – Cold As Ice
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I also put my own touches on one of his tracks called Ray Ban Vision:
I haven’t posted in a while because I have been ridiculously busy (just my excuse for being lazy) but I’m back in the City of Angels. I am going to be doing some shows out here starting with a show at Heat Ultra Lounge in Anaheim this Thursday, August 4th for the club’s 3 year anniversary party, as well as the U.S Open Afterparty. I am going to be playing from 12-2 so I better see all my OC people there! More details to be added later.
I’m going to have to continue this post with a Pt. 2 because I have a lot more to post but I’ll start with a recent “riot” that happened while I was in Hollywood.
It’s crazy to think that someone whom I’ve had the opportunity to play with caused the madness in the picture on the left: street closures on Hollywood Blvd and Highland Avenue, 5 helicopters, at least 100 cop cars, metro station closure, ridiculous traffic. If this does not demonstrate the power of music, I don’t know what will.
When I played with Kaskade I also got to play with Francis Preve, who was my sound design, and remixing teacher. Check him out if you guys are in Austin. He runs a hot weekly at Lanai on Wednesdays and has collaborated with the likes of Wolfgang Gartner, Gabriel & Dresden, as well as releasing many of his original tracks. I still can’t believe that was 3 years ago. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess?
Pictured here is a hip hop group that has been taking the world by storm. You probably know them best through their song Opposite of Adults sampling the song MGMT – Kids.
Chiddy Bang comprising of MC Chiddy and producer Xaphoon Jones hailing from Philadelphia, known for their clever sampling of pop music and adding their own hip hop feel. As of late they have been busy touring major festivals around the world including the prestigious Glastonbury festival in the UK. Chidera “Chiddy” Anemage just recently made news for setting the world record for the longest freestyle according to the Guinness World Book of Records.
I’ll be playing with Xaphoon Jones from Chiddy Bang this Saturday 5/21/11 @ Republic Live thrown by my good friends at Score More. Be sure to RSVP – Here To all my Texas people Oleuxdoit!
Now I promised that I would stay on top of introducing new music and true to my words I have a gem for you. Remix Artist Collective aka RAC are a collective of musicians, producers, singers, and songwriters who have been known for making huge remixes for a plethora of different artists. True to their form they did a remix of Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work that did not disappoint. You have probably heard of Ireland natives Two Door Cinema Club through their song What You Know.
In our sordid times of chaos and destruction it is always heart-warming to see compassion, charity, and selflessness arise from its terrible wake. I believe in the idea of passing it forward and I have contributed through Network for Good, a website created specifically to aid in the distribution of charity funds. IMKING has also teamed up with American Red Cross for a special sticker (pictured above) with ALL proceeds going to those affected by the earthquake in Japan. Click here for more info. I am not urging you to donate, I only ask for you to consider the situation of those affected and how you might like others to act if you were in their shoes. My best wishes go out to those affected by the disaster in Japan and I hope that they will be able to quickly overcome this tragedy and see the beauty in life once again.
The band formerly known as the Jakes are now called Young the Giant and present you with the song Cough Syrup.
“Cause life is too short….”
Here is another beautiful song to add to your collection. The DL Link is attached on the soundcloud. Click on the down arrow. Apparat – Ash/Black Veil by Mute UK
