This is a blog used to help promote DJ Kool Emdee and dedicated to GOOD music and those
who love good music, be it old or new school. Any music or links posted are for SAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY. We wish that you would support all artists by purchasing their bodies of work.
As the saying goes...."the early bird catches the worm". In my case, I keep vampire hours. Anywho, I say that to say Atlanta based Iman Williams has uploaded her Stupid Human Tricks album (of sorts) on her Bandcamp page just a couple of hours ago. Some of you may have heard me spin her "Ordinary Love" tune she dropped at the end of last year. This project contains a few bangers, as well as some mellow grooves, all produced by BusCrates 16-Bit Ensemble. Support Iman by purchasing this project. Enjoy!
Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970)
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix is widely considered the greatest electric guitarist in the history of rock music, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. After initial success in Europe, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.
Hendrix often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. He popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends and use of legato. He was influenced by Blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King and Elmore James, Rhythm and Blues and Soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper, as well as by Funk and some modern Jazz. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic phasing effects for rock recording.
Maximus Parthas
It's a great honor to personally know and befriend Maximus Parthas, who dubs himself as a "word warrior". Seeing him in action makes it more understandable why he calls himself that because he's an outstanding poet and activist. Out of the tremendous respect I have for him and his wife Tribal Raine, who's also an incredible poet, I can't use the "and the rest is history" statement because they both continue to make history. As a team, they both head Maximum Impact Poetry and Prysmatic Dreams, which are outlets for both established and upcoming poets, musicians, singers and MC's who work hand and hand with them to help spread messages of change, social issues, love and spirituality.
From their website MaximumImpactPoetry.com you can catch The Session Live!, a live video stream of the whole Prysmatic Dreams crew performing at the Art Bar in Columbus, SC. You can also hear streaming music and poetry, as well as purchase various projects. Here's another chance for you to support indie artists and help with a huge movement that supports us. Here are a couple of my favorite pieces from Max. The second video is when he and Tribal came to visit Houston. Enjoy!
I have been spinning Colonel Red's music for years. Especially his collab with Mustang titled "Help Me", that was a huge hit at my former residency that I did weekly. This is one of the main reasons why I love UK artists. They keep pouring out the SOUL. Here's Red's spin on a Marvin Gaye classic. Simply put...TIMELESS MUSIC.
You like? Well....get it HERE for FREE! Be sure to say thanks.
Composer/pianist Scott Joplin achieved fame for his unique ragtime compositions, and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag.
Joplin's music was rediscovered and returned to popularity in the early 1970s with the release of a million-selling album of Joplin's rags recorded by Joshua Rifkin, followed by the Academy award–winning movie The Sting which featured several of his compositions, such as "The Entertainer".
Coleman Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969)
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was a Jazz tenor saxophonist who was the first important Jazz musician to use the instrument. Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s. After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a big band, he led a combo at Kelly's Stables on Manhattan's 52nd Street with Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen. He was leader on what is generally considered the first ever bebop recording session with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach in 1944.
On October 11, 1939 he recorded a two chorus performance of the pop standard "Body and Soul", which he had been performing at Kelly's Stables. A landmark recording of the Swing Era, recorded as an afterthought at the session, it is notable in that Hawkins ignores almost all of the melody, only the first four bars are stated in a recognizable fashion. In its exploration of harmonic structure it is considered by many to be the next evolutionary step in Jazz recording from where Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" in 1928 left off.
I came across Swede:art by someone sending a link to another mix that was online. After viewing the tracklisting of his mix, it raised an eyebrow and I gave him a listen. Pure dopeness with his selections and transitions of funky soulful grooves. After doing a little research, I found out he dropped his Emotional Colors album during the summer on Tokyo Dawn. More recently, he released the remixes of that album with production credits from TOKiMONSTA, B. Bravo, KidKanevil and other RBMA alumni, which makes this a heater to add to your collection. Enjoy!
In this vast universe of music and the constant flooding of garbage through TV and radio, most think that there's not much good music out there. For that matter, some tend to think that there's a huge lack of talent to match. As I always say, if you look for what it is you want, you will eventually find it....especially if you use the internet. And thanks be to the almighty internet I met a cool classy singer/songwriter by the name of Lola Bleu on Twitter. She hails originally from Michigan, but now resides in Alabama. After visiting her website to listen to her tracks, I laughed at her. Why you ask? It's because her tag on Twitter read, "Up and coming R&B singer". I say that she has arrived.
According to her bio, it looks like she has put in plenty of work to reach a point of maturity. After listening to her silky vocals on her debut CD, Love Will Find A Way, I can only imagine for now where she will go in the future. My favorite track off the album is her song about finding love titled "I Found You". It's reminiscent of a fusion between 80's soft rock laced over funky R&B with a 90's twist added. "Journey" is also an attention grabber that's a good tune to ride to in your car while making that getaway with that special someone. Most of the album was produced by David Sanders II, except for "Deep Pain", which was produced by Matic Lee.
Now we get to the good part. You actually listening to her songs, then show your love and support by purchasing this talented young lady's debut project via her website at LolaBleu.com. We all know that good music makes great gifts. Enjoy!
Hello guys! I know I haven't been posting as much and for that I apologize. I have been preparing for the arrival of my son to come into the world, helping to organize events, production, writing and doing quite a few gigs. There are a few posts I already started from days ago that I need to publish...so i'll get to them a.s.a.p. and will be posting more goodies soon. I've come across some great artists who have some excellent material. You know I post the good shit anyway....LOL!
If you don't mind....spread the word about this blog. Thanks!
Here's a dope kat i've been knowing for quite a few years who rips it every time in true Hip-Hop fashion. In all the years of seeing him spin, he reminds me of the words Rakim said...."No mistakes allowed". That's because I have never seen this guy have a bad set or mess up anywhere.
Along with CG's amazing DJ skills, he's also coined his universal style of spinning as "Jazztronica", most notable via his "Chicken Soup" series of mixes he's done over time. Outside of trading his mic for turntables in his former Hip-Hop group Bass Tribe/Wasted Youth, CG also is credited with being the first non-Swedish talent signed on Swedish Brandy. As a result, his Swed.U.S.H. Connection 1 & 2 compilations were released featuring the sounds of Take, Hydroponic Sound System, Nick Nack, J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science and others. Be sure to log on to his site and purchase some goodies. You won't be disappointed.
Special birthday shout out to one of my best friends...DJ Noyz. This is one incredible DJ who I used to do 2 x 4 sets with back in the day before it was the thing to do, as well as rock cookouts and other gatherings with friends. Before there were what is now called "mash ups", he did what he called "flip-flop" mixes back in the early 90's. He was also the original DJ for EK Sqwad with my other friends Elliott Ness (RealNess) and 3Shot.
At the time of this post, he's currently on another tour of duty to "help save the world"....as he put it. The prayers of friends are with him in his travels. BLESS!
One week ago today, I was tuned in to Beatminerz Radio and caught DJ Evil Dee of Black Moon doing his thing by blending some classic breaks and throwing in a few acapellas to blend in as well. Next up on the decks was DJ Wayne-Ski with his lovely hostess Jessica, who both do a weekly called Independent's Day where Wayne-Ski spins a good selection of indie artists. An extra added bonus to the show was to see the legendary DJ/Producer/MC Pete Rock take over the wheels for about 3 hours and spin many of his classics like he had a vengeance to bring the art of true Hip-Hop back. All four displayed to all who tuned in that Hip-Hop is far from dead, especially with the art of the Hip-Hop DJ. I, for one, can lead by example from the countless hours of digging for records, practicing my craft, creating my own style of spinning and to get good enough to participate in DJ battles and tour with many Hip-Hop and Dancehall acts.
In my previous post, Technology Kills...Sometimes, I wrote about how new technology is taking away from the artform of DJing by those who are closet "DJ's" that don't take the time and to practice as many veterans do. This flood of non-professionals are nothing more than like a jukebox you pop a few dollars into. They have no personality to hype the crowd, poor selection and barely know how to use the cheap gadgets or software they bought (or downloaded) to attempt to do the job of a pro.
Lately there's a new trend happening that's a newer threat to professionals. It's the "celebrity DJ". These well known folks are no better than the non-professionals who buy the gadgets and software. Seems to me that they call up the real DJ's who are already well known (from hard work to get where they are on merit and skill) to get a few tips or just watch a tutorial video to get the basics of using a mixer, go buy equipment, then you have the managers of these celebs calling clubs to book them. In many cases this trend helps to phase out those who have been doing it for so long and have paid dues. One young lady who just started spinning a couple of months ago is the subject of quite a few people on other blogs who are asking if she can really DJ. Of course, there's gonna be one die hard fan of this celeb who will say that they have seen them and they did the job well. Is it just the person commenting is star struck or can they actually grade a DJ on skill? The pics I saw on this young lady had not one pic of her actually touching the Serato control records. All she did was touch the cue buttons on both the laptop and mixer, load up a few songs and looked confused. Those same blogs mentioned how she kept going back to Aaliyah tunes as if she had no direction to really go or attempt to take the people listening. The crowd also looked to not be paying attention to her, nor did it look like the spot was packed, even with her celeb status.
Curiosity Killed The Cat & The DJ
I was browsing YouTube for a series of videos produced and written by DJ Ali:On The Air and stumbled upon some joke of a video of this chick claiming to be the first "iPad DJ". I nearly puked after watching about 3 minutes of this 17 minute video of some dim light going on about the equipment she has and genres of electronic music, when she clearly has no clue as to what she was talking about. Then for her to go on as if a real DJ is crazy to spend money on CD players or turntables and other gear to help execute your craft more effectively. Her set up was 2 iPads, a $100 mixer and an interface connected to a laptop. The tracks she played were preloaded demo loops in some type of low end production programs. Naturally, I humored myself to see what her reasoning is to do what she's doing, and it turns out that it's all an experiment...of some sort. What I thought was more of a joke is to see her site called "Destroy The Silence" and all the media coverage she seems to be attracting. Then again, train wrecks do get mentioned in news.
Some may argue that i'm hating, as well as many other DJ's who have the same feelings and opinions. Those who accuse another of hating have to look at this like you would any other art or even how an everyday job is done. You wouldn't want a person working in your restaurant or in your own kitchen attempting to cook something when they don't know how, right? Furthermore, if they did try to make something, would you want to eat it? A couple of comments on Youtube under the train wreck video read..."No tables...no DJ" and "D.J. MEANS: DISC JOCKEY!!! IF YOU AIN'T JOCKIN' DISCS YOU AIN'T A DJ.... IT IS LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT BE JOCKIN' DISCS AND BE A D.J." On the other hand, there are some who use discs that do this thing called "slamming". Slamming is where a person who's attempting to DJ starts the next record from the downbeat without blending it with the previous song. Sort of the same effect you see in movies when they change to the next scene. Some don't match the tempos or BPM, some may get close.
As mentioned earlier, there is a series of videos who are talking about these people who try to call themselves DJ's. The concept is on point and pretty hilarious. If you're still not sure of how a DJ feels, just check out the videos below to see where we're coming from.
*Note* After posting this, I ran across a few short videos of several "celeb DJ's" who can't cut the mustard with a razor sharp samurai sword. And the celeb I was referring to does the slamming thing.
The rumors about Michael Jackson releasing a posthumous have been confirmed to be true. Michael is set for release on December 14th. For now, check out the teaser for "Breaking News". There's suppose to be a huge surprise tomorrow. Enjoy!
To be perfectly honest, I almost passed J. Gunn's music off as another rap about alcohol, getting drunk and smashing some chick. As I do with most who send music to my inbox, I give everyone a chance. To check his latest video and the concept, I raised an eyebrow and was impressed. Dude's got something. And to do a little research, I see he's gained the attention of Terminator X of Public Enemy fame, who signed him to a management deal and to have recorded a single with his idol Big Daddy Kane.
Peep the "Pinot Noir" video he released a couple of weeks ago and check out his flow. His Stay Home CD that contains this single is available on Amazon and iTunes. Visit his site for links to download the album, features and other material.
The Hueston Independent Spit District (H.I.S.D.) has landed with another blazing track and album to help heat up a cool fall day. This is the official video of their first single "Rockin' aka Space Up" from The Weakend which dropped on October 29th. For booking and other inquiries, log on to PeaceUvMine.com.
No, this is not a control panel ripped from a fighter jet. This is what I would think is Pioneer's answer to the Rane 68. This nifty mixer is loaded with many audio effects, tweaks and even sports a MIDI output. With the Pro DJ Link you can plug in up to four Pioneer CDJ's (the mixer is compatible with other CD players) AND two laptops ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
Features:
* Industry-first 5.8" full color multi-touch display
* Internal USB audio interface
* Pro DJ link that connects up to four CDJ-2000/900s
* Manipulate frequencies and alter sounds with EVOLVED BEAT EFFECTS
* INST FX (Instant Instrument Effect) allows effects to be applied intuitively with a turn of the knob
* MIDI: Assign various DJM-2000 buttons to trigger other devices
Much respect is due on this day (and any other day)to a lovely lady who is a very talented artist. Follow her on Twitter and show her some love: @SydneeJane. Now check out her first single, "Ready To Go". Enjoy!
This is a brand new HOT track from a kool guy from London who brings it like he's a solid military vehicle. He's says the track is unfinished, but I wonder what you guys will think after peeling back your ears to get a good listen. Be sure to hit Bobby Tank on Facebook to let him know what you think. Enjoy!
As the saying goes...."the early bird catches the worm". In my case, I keep vampire hours. Anywho, I say that to say Atlanta based Iman Williams has uploaded her Stupid Human Tricks album (of sorts) on her Bandcamp page just a couple of hours ago. Some of you may have heard me spin her "Ordinary Love" tune she dropped at the end of last year. This project contains a few bangers, as well as some mellow grooves, all produced by BusCrates 16-Bit Ensemble. Support Iman by purchasing this project. Enjoy!
