I recently had to take my Krav Maga test. Passing criteria was to survive. I would jam to this song above to get ready 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 gets kicked in that sweet spot where it begins to go 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. Like Drake said, “Live a little cause ni***s die a lot”. Maybe I have a skewed perception of living.

The last person you face is instructed to come at you hard. You have a few seconds as your previous opponent jumps off and the other one jumps in, as you are bent over desperately gasping for air. Put your hands up to your face quick, you’re unprotected. Now you’re too sluggish to stay quick on your feet. Your body is showing and vulnerable, free shots for them. 10 seconds are slowly winding down in the last round, you are barely hanging on. Last second passes and you drop your hands in sheer exhaustion. You made it, you survived the 8 rounds, but you dropped your hands a little too soon and you get caught in the solar plexus with a nasty blow. You bend over and try to stay on your feet but you can’t breath and drop to your knees. 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.

The final initiation after the conclusion of passing your test is 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 when the multi-million dollar renovations for the project will be 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.

House of Balloons Mixtape. That is all. Peep it here.

There are many stand out tracks but here is one of them.

Girl put in work.

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:

Ray Ban Vision (Mixtape Preview) by djatran

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.

Well here is RAC’s version of their other song Something Good Can Work. Enjoy
Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work (RAC Mix) by RAC

Last but not least IMKING came out with some NEW ERA caps. So check it out here at IMKING

IMKING – NEW ERAS “FOR EVERY DAY USE” from IMKING on Vimeo.

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

SXSW 2011 is here! You know what time it is! Prep your ears and your livers for some musical shenanigans. The IMKING fam is rolling through again and we are set to repeat the madness from last year. They are going to be coming in with the homies from Flud Watches.

Sorry for the late post, I have been extremely busy and I have been in the process of replacing my laptop (again). I’ll keep this post short but I have some new stuff to post for ya’ll. I have some footage from Austin Music Hall for Skrillex and Pantyraid to be uploaded. Big ups to my good friends at Score More and V-Productions.

Stay tuned, there are some massive things coming up for Austin. You definitely will not be disappointed. To all my Asia friends, I will be seeing you guys at the end of summer.  Cheers!

Justin Bieber has IMKING Fever. IMKING x Radii Sneaks

So I haven’t really been updating you guys with new music so I’m going to try my hardest to stay on top of things. Here is a remix of an older progressive track that was massive called Longest Road ft. Lissie – by Morgan Page. You probably have heard of the Deadmau5 remix of this song, well here is an up and comer from the UK named Grifta keeping that vibe alive with a dubstep remix that doesn’t try to melt your face off. Enjoy!

Here is a video for the Worlds Largest Paint Party which is invading Austin, TX. I’ll be djing the official afterparty this Saturday (Jan 29th).

Click here for tickets to Dayglow and Afterparty.

I wanted to take the time to dedicate this post to two influential hip hop artists that have had a big impact on me. I’m speaking of course about none other than Notorious BIG and Nujabes. I created a tribute to them called Aruarian Hypnosis, which you can check out below for your listening pleasures.

Aruarian Hypnosis (Mixtape Preview) by djatran

I’ll be playing a completely new sound this next show. Old school jams completely reworked with a new repertoire of beats and melodies live. I’m trying something different. Mixing, scratching, sampling, chopping, all the good stuff.

Here is an example of my interpretation of Drake’s Forever and Beach House.
Forever (Mixtape Preview) by djatran

Being back in LA and OC has been insane. I’m still trying to catch my stride. Life has been extremely fast paced but more shows planned in OC/LA and Vegas in the first week of January. We’re prepping for a wild 2011 and another international tour!

I was at AVEC (pictured above) on Monday night. It was good to see my old dj friends. Shout out to Stress, Alpha, Wrex, and Heavy Hits. Chances are I’ll be teaming up with them at Sutra in Newport Beach on New Years.

Now I know everyone has been jamming Like a G6 by FM but check out one of their other tracks featuring Ryan Teder (One Republic). I was surprised to see that a DJ I spun with back at my old residency at V20, DJ Virman (Power 106), is part of Far East Movement. What a small world! I’m glad to see them doing well and expect great things from them in the future.

Here is the track it’s called Rocketeer.

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Next up is a mash of two of the biggest albums of this year. You can check it all out it’s called The Brothers of Chico & Dusty.

Big Boi and the Black Keys – Black Bug

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DL: Here

I also finally got around to making a FB Fan Page so feel free to click here and like!