Monday 31 January 2011

KOOL HERC HOSPITALISED: APPEAL LAUNCHED














From Black Sheep Magazine news:

Kool Herc, the Jamaican DJ generally regarded as having been the founder of hip-hop culture, has reportedly been hospitalised with an undisclosed illness. His condition is apparently worsening, and he does not have medical insurance. As a result, an appeal is underway to the hip-hop community to help cover his hospital costs.

The news was first broken by DJ Premier on his popular Live From Headqcourtez XM Radio show. On it, Premo stated:

"Kool Herc is very sick. For those that know about Hip-Hop, who we call the father of Hip-Hop, Kool Herc, is not doing well. It's funny how we have a father of a culture that still lives, where as in some cultures they are dead and gone even though they may still be worshipped or reflected on in some kind of way."

"Since he's very sick and has no insurance, he uses a Metro card to get around, he needs to pay his bills so he can get out of the hospital, it's ill... If you don't know about it, now you know about it. ...We spoke today, and he needs some help to pay his bills for the hospital because he can't hold it down. And being that he is the man who set this whole culture off, ya'll should be wanting to do it any type of way that you can. People know how to reach us."

Anyone interested in helping can e-mail the following address: gim@djpremierblog.com . Apparently, you can also send donations to Kool Herc Production, PO Box 20472, Huntington Station, NY, 11746.

MD'S CLUB DATES, FEBRUARY/ MARCH '11





























Friday 4th February
Connections, Club Illusion, Tartu, ESTONIA

Saturday 5th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Thursday 10th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Friday 11th February
SOUNDSATIONAL @
The Cherrywood Lounge, Farnborough

Saturday 12th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Friday 18th February
Tramps, Worcester, (with Soul City Ibiza's DJ Mister I)

Saturday 19th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Thursday 24th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Friday 25th February
Mirage, Aylesbury

Saturday 26th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 5th March
TBC @
Warsaw, POLAND

Saturday 12th March
The Living Room, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

Sunday 13th March
SUNDAY SHAKEDOWN @
Espionage, Aberdeen, SCOTLAND

Thursday 17th March
ST. PATRICK'S NIGHT @
Cafe Ceol, Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND

Saturday 19th March
Mirage, Aylesbury

Saturday 26th March
THE VAULTS @
The Second Bridge, Bath

MD AT CLUB ILLUSION, TARTU, ESTONIA, THIS FRIDAY

Sunday 30 January 2011

WOMAN ATTEMPTS TO SUE P DIDDY FOR $1 TRILLION


















Gotta love this one! Taken from Black Sheep Magazine news.

Al Qaeda didn't knock down the World Trade Centre on 11th September 2001. Neither did the US or Israeli governments. in Fact, it was Sean 'P Diddy Combs', working in conjunction with his girlfriend Kim Porter, alongside victim of the 1991 LA riots, Rodney King. At least that's according to claims from a woman named Valerie Joyce Wilson Turks, who is quite possibly mentally deranged, but is nevertheless attempting to sue Combs to the tune of $1 trillion (£635 billion).

Among Turks' various other claims against Diddy are the allegations that he put her son in hospital and sold a poker chip belonging to her, which she says was worth "100 zillions of dollars". Despite the clearly outlandish nature of the claims, she has nevertheless been granted a date for the case to be heard in court.

In papers she has submitted to the court, Turks wrote: "[Diddy] went through Kim Porter and Rodney King and knocked down the World Trade Center and then they all came and knocked my children down. Set me up to be on disability and disabled my baby. He put my baby in a wheelchair."

Turks also alleges that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, caused the 9/11 attacks,
According to court papers seen by Radaronline.com Turks is asking for $900 billion (£571.5 billion) in child support and $100 billion (£63.5 billion) in lost income.

Turks claims that her and Diddy have a son together, Cornelius Wilson, who is now 23, even though she herself is only 31.

She added: "I won a lot of money at the casino in Mississippi and Sean P Diddy Combs has my chip to my money. I want my chip please help me. It's well worth over 100 zillions of dollars."

Turks has applied for a restraining order against Diddy, which a judge has denied.

Rather surprisingly, the case continues.

Saturday 29 January 2011

THREE TIMES DOPE: FUNKY DIVIDENDS (1989)

The story of gold-digging females is an oft-told one in the world of hip-hop, and few have done it better than the much forgotten Three Times Dope. This Philadelphia crew would have slotted nicely into the Native Tongues community that was flavour of the month at the time (De La Soul, Tribe, Monie Love, etc.) They largely slipped into obscurity as the 90s dawned, but this mellow head-nodder from 1989 is nothing short of classic. A great storytelling video, too, that was way ahead of its time, complete with Byron Stingily-esque hairstyles.

Friday 28 January 2011

BLUNTED TO REALITY


















The light bulb's on and something's starting to happen
It's tough to comprehend when your belief system shatters
The world's not like we thought it was Reality's not what it seems
What we've been conditioned to perceive It's like a dream
But the world is waking up People are actually starting to notice
And understand that everyone alive's a part of this whole process
Politicians don't run the world, bankers do
The situation's obvious but we never think it through
The BBC, CNN all the daily papers
Just propaganda tools for the real decision-makers
The presidents, prime ministers and chancellors are puppets
And Obama's no different, people Some say the biggest muppet
They keep up the illusion that we're free and play their role
Spouting what they're told to say as the teleprompter rolls
The New World Order, bankers enslave and rape us
But it's Jordan's tits and Rooney 's fee that makes the front page of the papers

(Ever noticed how everything about society is structured in favour of the corporations, and never the individual? People say 'that's just the way it is' But when 99 per cent of the human race are being controlled and enslaved by the one per cent, it's time for that 99 per cent to change 'the way it is' Tax Just think about that We all meekly pay it because 'thats just the way it is' But tax is nothing short of legalised robbery How the hell did we ever fall for that?)

The biggest scam inflicted on humanity is money
It rules our lives, but it doesn't even exist It's kinda funny
You'd have to laugh, it's kinda tragic Figures appear on a screen by magic
And your bank gives you a loan As you become another drone
But there's no money in their coffers, so it's illusory what they offer
Imaginary credit Nice work if you can get it
And so the debt goes down the line, with more and more applied
And when the rent gets late, because of what the banks create
They just create more credit And the public never get it
You're not supposed to win You're only supposed to lose
And doze and snooze And doze and snooze

(If all the money lining the pockets of the soulless devils pulling the strings of this world stage day in day out were re-distributed fairly throughout the world, and if governments issued money directly rather than being slaves to these same cartels of private bankers masquerading behind the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, poverty, starvation and squalour could be completely eradicated
Still, don't worry about it The X Factor's on and, OMG, what is Cheryl wearing??!)

The elephant's in the room and it's shocking what your mind edits
What's been right in front of our eyes our whole lives, but we still don't get it
It's not like the subtle reminders aren't everywhere you look
You got to hand it to the masons, man, they've got their game on lock
Why the depictions of the occult aimed at kids in films from Disney?
Why's a Babylonian goddess featured on the Statue of "Liberty"?
Far too many all-seeing-eyes in the videos of Rihanna
Jay's a puppet too, an Illuminati tool like Lady GaGa
When rastas talk of Babylon, you've got to question what they mean
Because it's more significant than a locked-down mind can glean
The land between two rivers is what we call Iraq today
And it's from here that the plan for world control began to play
But the evidence and artifacts are being destroyed forever
While the cover story tells you that it's all a War on Terror
The Church of Babylon upped its roots and set up shop in Rome
Renamed itself the Catholic Church and drove its doctrines home
Christianity and Islam followed, manipulated mentalities
To keep the masses frightened, meek and blunted to reality
The most effective way to control the masses? Feed them fear of Hell
And that we're all just sheep And edit whatever else you tell
But if the truth's too inconvenient and guys like me are nutters
Hey, just keep the blinkers on and batten down the shutters

(Does anyone ever stop for a second to question the insanity of war? Let's break it down - you don't agree with me and I don't agree with you, so let's kill each other That'll make everything OK again The wholesale slaughter of human life - whether in the armed forces or not - is tolerated on a daily basis because 'war is peace' Funny thing though Notice how it's never the sons of presidents and government ministers who go out to get their limbs blown off on the frontline Wonder why?)

OK, children Gather round and get your bedtime story
With Saddam Hussein as the big bad wolf while the US basks in glory
Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, Henri Paul was drunk
September 11th was planned from a cave and McVeigh was just some punk
President Bush got voted in all good and fair and square
He's really just a regular kind of guy like Tony Blair
Yeah, I know I've lost my mind I've lost the fucking plot
That's OK You don't have to listen You can be happy with your lot
I just saw some stuff on MTV Hot girls and champs on tap
Now, who needs harsh reality when you can fill your mind with that?
lol

You never get the truth in all the lies the media hands to us
But connect the dots, and it's clear that's nothing's random or by accident
Speed cameras, chips in pets, unfettered immigration
Electromagnetic soups from phones and micro radiation
Doctors paid by Big Pharma to dish out all those pills
If swine flu doesn't get you, damn sure the vaccine will
The zeitgeist's changing rapidly and the elites are getting primed
To dish out everything they got, cos they're running out of time
To keep us in a five-sense state, and oblivious to truth
Of who we really are and what we're on our way back to
The awakening is happening, the process is underway
And a higher level of all of us chose to be living here today
To be a part of bringing in the process of mutation
The system can't go on if we change the frequency of vibration
It's time to face the facts that we're actually the last generation
That stands a chance of stopping the move towards a global nation
George Orwell's 1984 is what's waiting for our families
Unless we refuse to co-operate with this agenda of insanity
The few control the many only because we've let it happen
Remove the base from the pyramid and the whole damn structure's flattened

It's on

Monday 24 January 2011

SOUNDSATIONAL @ THE CHERRYWOOD LOUNGE, FARNBOROUGH














With unimaginative town centre venues thrashing it out for custom by peddling the same tried-and-tested commercial fare, specialist black music nights are becoming all the more rare. Happily, there's a quality a new session kicking off this month in Farnborough by the name of Soundsational that promises to buck the trend.

The night happens at The Cherrywood Lounge in Cherrywood Road, every Friday night from 4th February. Musically, it pledges to fuse 80s classic soul, funk and disco, with R&B classics, soul weekender anthems, and the odd upfront selection. Quality control is assured by the fact that the man behind it is DJ Mr. Jay, who for many years has staged musically impeccable soulful sessions across London and the Home Counties, and shows no signs of slowing down. Black Sheep Mag's getting in on the act, too; Mark Devlin will be guesting on the 11th February instalment.

For all further details, please click on the flyer for all the relevant info.

Monday 17 January 2011

AKUA NARU: THE WORLD IS LISTENING

Phat, flava-some 90s-style head-nodder, and a great tribute to all the female MCs in the game. As I trawl through the endless glut of download links and mp3 attachments, I often find myself panicking that I've lost the ablity to spot a hot tune, as an unfeasible amount of new music just sounds mediocre at best. Then, a joint like this jumps out and knocks me between the eyes, and I'm reassured that the quality control is still there. The second single from this promising artist's second album, 'The Journey Aflame', produced by JR & PH7.

NEW ORDER: BLUE MONDAY (1983)

Today is 'Blue Monday', dubbed officially the most depressing day of the year. So this one's kinda appropriate. I played this out on Saturday, too, to mixed response.

Sunday 16 January 2011

MD'S CLUB DATES. JANUARY/ FEBRUARY '11































Thursday 20th January
Cafe Ceol, Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND

Friday 21st January
FABULOUSO @
Mono, Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND

Saturday 22nd January
THE VAULTS @
The Second Bridge, Bath

Saturday 29th January
Mirage, Aylesbury, (with Soul City Ibiza's DJ Mister I)

Friday 4th February
Club Illusion, Tartu, ESTONIA

Saturday 5th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Friday 11th February
SOUNDSATIONAL @
The Cherrywood Lounge, Farnborough

Saturday 12th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 19th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Friday 25th February
Mirage, Aylesbury

Saturday 26th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Wednesday 5 January 2011

2010 BANGERS

















MD's 2010 Bangers are here! All the biggest club tracks of the year across four mixes. Check the R&B and Hip Hop episodes for all the big commercial smashes. For a more heavy excursion, meanwhile, the Reggae Dancehall and UK Grime/ Funky mixes will give you some hard-hitting flaves.

Download and enjoy.


2010 BANGERS R&B MIX

TREY SONGZ Featuring USHER: I INVENTED SEX
CIARA Featuring LUDACRIS: RIDE
KERI HILSON: TURN MY SWAG ON
CHRIS BROWN Featuring KANYE WEST & FABOLOUS: DEUCES (REMIX)
USHER Featuring NICKI MINAJ: LITTLE FREAK
TREY SONGZ Featuring NICKI MINAJ: BOTTOMS UP
NICKI MINAJ: YOUR LOVE
RIHANNA: RUDE BOY
LIL WAYNE/ YOUNG MONEY: BEDROCK
KERI HILSON: PRETTY GIRL ROCK
CEE LO GREEN: FORGET YOU
LUDACRIS: HOW LOW
RIHANNA Featuring YOUNG JEEZY: HARD
DIDDY DIRTY MONEY Featuring TINCHY STRYDER: HELLO GOOD MORNING
CHIMA ANYA: HELLO GOOD MORNING (DIDDY DISS)
TIMBALAND Featuring JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: CARRY OUT
ESTELLE Featuring KARDINALL OFFISHALL: FREAK


2010 BANGERS HIP HOP MIX

RICK ROSS: BMF
SKEPTA: BMF FREESTYLE
CHIMA ANYA: I LOVE RAP
J COLE: WHO DAT
LLOYD BANKS ET AL: START IT UP
LLOYD BANKS Featuring JUELZ SANTANA: BIMA BENZ OR BENTLEY
DRAKE Featuring SWIZZ BEATS: FANCY
LIL WAYNE Featuring DRAKE: RIGHT ABOVE IT
DEVLIN: RUNAWAY
DRAKE: FIND YOUR LOVE
FAR EAST MOVEMENT Featuring 50 CENT: LIKE A G6
DJ KHALED Featuring LUDACRIS: ALL I DO IS WIN
CHERRI V: OVER
DRAKE: OVER
DEAD PREZ: OVER
KANYE WEST Featuring RICK ROSS & NICKI MINAJ: MONSTER
KANYE WEST: POWER
KANYE WEST Featuring SWIZZ BEATS: POWER REMIX


2010 BANGERS REGGAE DANCEHALL MIX

GAPPY RANKS: PUT THE STEREO ON
TOK: CHAMPION
GYPTIAN Featuring NICKI MINAJ: HOLD YUH
SEAN PAUL: WINE IT
ALISON HINDS Featuring SHAGGY: CAN'T LET MY LUV GO
GAPPY RANKS: STINKIN' RICH
VYBZ CARTEL: CLARKS
VYBZ CARTEL Featuring BILLY BLUE & PLUS GIVENS: CLARKS REMIX
MR VEGAS: I AM BLESSED
GYPTIAN: HOLD YUH (SOCA REFIX)
AIDONIA: BUBBLE & TURN
VYBZ CARTEL Featuring GAZA SLIM: LIKE A JOCKEY
MAJOR LAZER: PON DE FLOOR (REFIX)


2010 BANGERS UK FUNKY/ GRIME MIX

PRINCESS NYAH: BUTTERFLIES
KATIE PEARL: BREAKAWAY
SASHA BROWN: ATTRACTION
SWINDLE Featuring NADIA SULLIMAN: NO MORE
MELEKA: MISS ME (PALEFACE REMIX)
PLATINUM: FIRE IN MY EYES
RUSH THE DJ: IF YOU LIKE THE FUNKY
JP TRONIK: JUNGLE SKANK
MR M: DASH DOWN
STORM: WHO'S THAT LIGHTEE?
SKEPTA: BAD BOY
CHERRI V: PASS OUT
TINIE TEMPAH: PASS OUT
CAPLETON: PASS OUT MEDLEY
TINIE TEMPAH: FRISKY

MD'S CLUB DATES, JANUARY/ FEBRUARY '11


















Friday 7th January
Mirage, Aylesbury

Saturday 8th January
The Living Room, Oxford

Saturday 15th January
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Thursday 20th January
Cafe Ceol, Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND

Friday 21st January
FABULOUSO @
Mono, Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND

Saturday 22nd January
THE VAULTS @
The Second Bridge, Bath

Saturday 29th January
Mirage, Aylesbury, (with Soul City Ibiza's DJ Mister I)

Friday 4th February
Club Illusion, Tartu, ESTONIA

Saturday 5th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Friday 11th February
SOUNDSATIONAL @
The Cherrywood Lounge, Farnborough

Saturday 12th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Friday 18th February
Mirage, Aylesbury

Saturday 19th February
The Living Room, Oxford

Saturday 26th February
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Monday 3 January 2011

SKILLZ: 2010 WRAP UP

We now have the Skillz...

MYSTRO: 2010 WRAP-UP

Still waiting for Skillz' traditional year-end wrap-up, but in the meantime, here's the first airing of Mystro's UK take on the happenings of 2010. Pure jokes!

Sunday 2 January 2011

JUST BUGGIN BEST OF 2010 PODCAST PART 2














The spirit of Just Buggin' lives on. Hope everyone caught part one. Now, here's the second of our two special Podcasts, reliving many of the incredible tunes that were broadcast on the show during 2010, along with a few that weren't.

This is the sound of REAL music in 2010, and it's encouraging to know it's still being made. As ever, you've just got to dig deep to find it.

Download, bug out and go into a zone.



MARK DEVLIN. JUST BUGGIN’
2010 YEAR-END PODCAST, PART 2



GAME: SLANGIN' ROCKS

NEFEW: ANTIHERO BEGINS

ETERNIA & MOSS: THE HALF

TY Featuring SARINA LEAH & SHAUN ESCOFREY: EMOTIONS

CHIMA ANYA: DEATH

EMINEM: GOING THROUGH CHANGES

DEAD PREZ: FAR FROM OVA

KINETIK Featuring MICALL PARKNSUN: RUN DEM OUT

KLASHNEKOFF: KLASH ANTHEM

M DOT Featuring MASTA ACE/ DJ JEAN MARON: YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT

LAURYN HILL: REPERCUSSIONS

FASHAWN: LIFE'S A BITCH

BIG L: NO ENDZ, NO SKINZ

9TH WONDER Featuring HEATHER VICTORIA & RAPSODY: I WILL ALWAYS BE DOWN

CELPH TITLED & BUCKWILD: MISS THOSE DAYS

FAT JOE: I'M GONE

GROUP HOME Featuring LORD JAMAR & MC ACE: UP AGAINST THE WALL

BLACK MILK Featuring ROYCE DA 5'9 & ELZHI: DEADLY MEDLEY

LIL CEASE Featuring CAPONE N NOREAGA & IMAM THUG: HUSTLE

CHIMA ANYA: LIVE EXCLUSIVE FREESTYLE

Saturday 1 January 2011

MD'S DIARY, DECEMBER '10


















































































By early December the UK was feeling the force of a bitter Arctic grip, (adding further ammunition to the idea that 'global warming' is yet another scam cynically invented to control the masses and extort even more taxes ... but don't get me started on that!) It was a bleak start to the month with a death in the family preventing a planned family break in the Lake District. I ended up going by myself on Thursday 2nd for a matter of hours. On the agenda was the 150th instalment of The Block Party at The Wheelhouse in Windermere, one of my favourite UK events which couldn't be missed. The night was a blast, as anticipated, not least because I got to dig deep into the reggae/ bashment selection for an appreciative crowd. There's a video snippet of how Beenie Man's track on the Joyride riddim went down right here:

It was straight back on the M6 in the morning, thankfully avoiding the snow that had engulfed other regions of the North. Later that night I headed to The Living Room in Milton Keynes, a restaurant that takes on the persona of a jumping club as the diners finish up around 10pm. I was playing next to a huge window, and over the course of my set I watched a fresh fall of snow leave about 2-3 inches on the roads. By closing time it had mostly turned to slush, however, enabling another drama-free journey home. A stint at TLR's Oxford venue completed things on Saturday.

During the week, my batch of 2010 Bangers mixes got unleashed. Bangers is a year-end tradition that involves me blending the year's biggest club tunes into a series of quickfire mixes. This year there are four. The R&B and Hip Hop instalments cover all the mainstream hits, (an unfeasibly high proportion of appearances from Nicki Minaj,) while the Reggae Dancehall and UK Funky/ Grime mixes go a little harder. All are available for listening or download from my Soundcloud page on the following links, where you'll also find the track listings:

2010 BANGERS R&B MIX

2010 BANGERS HIP HOP MIX

2010 BANGERS REGGAE DANCEHALL MIX

2010 BANGERS UK FUNKY/ GRIME MIX

With Parveen due to give birth to our second child around the turn of the year, Wednesday 8th was the latest point at which it was safe for me to be out of the country, as I headed to Berlin on a brief business trip. While the ice had thawed at home, in the German capital - as with most of mainland Europe - the snow was inches deep. It was bitterly cold at around minus five, and I cranked up the heating in my hotel room as soon as I'd trudged in from the street. There's a few pics of the frozen landscapes here:

Back at Schonefeld airport, it was a grim scenario. Every flight on the board had been either cancelled or delayed indefinitely, and folk were taking up every available inch of floor space. Just as I was resolving myself to the idea of being stranded for another night, the board announced that my Ryanair back to Stansted was 'boarding now' It ended up the only flight of the day to leave Schonefeld - albeit three hours' late. Considering my flight is usually the only one on any given board to be delayed, on this occasion I counted myself very fortunate. A further Living Room double bill was on the cards for the weekend - MK on Friday 10th, and up to Nottingham for Saturday 11th.

The following week saw the appearance of two Best Of 2010 Just Buggin' podcasts, marking the heaviest tunes that I busted on the radio this year, along with a few others that had appeared since. In yet another year where what passes for mainstream 'urban' music has left me cold, going through the selection for these podcasts offered further encouragement that there IS still timeless quality hip hop being made if only you look in the right places. You can listen back to the JB instalments on the following links:

PODCAST PART 1

PODCAST PART 2

With more heavy snow forecast for the following weekend, I was lucky to make it into London and back on Friday 17th to spin for an after-work crowd at Cape in EC2. I woke up the following morning to at least eight inches of snow which didn't let up for the rest of the day. Facebook and Twitter were replete with other DJs complaining about cancelled flights, (including a flued-up Shortee Blitz getting stranded in Dubai) and general travel chaos.

The snow had largely thawed by my next outing on Thursday 23rd. This was to my old stomping ground of Bar OC in Devizes, (which frequently begs the question 'where the hell is that?' It's in Wiltshire.) It's a venue I used to pay frequently back in the day. The gig was billed as an Old School RnB Academy jam, and it was great to meet a few heads that remembered my Swing Shift show from Galaxy 101 in Bristol back in the 90s, (don't see many out these days!) and to link with long-standing resident Dick Stacey and proprietor Jim. A few pics from that night are here:

My penultimate gig of the year was the following night back at the Oxford Living Room. Christmas Eve is truly unpredictable; I've had some great clubbing experiences, as well as some washouts. With three-foot icicles hanging from buildings this year was quiet, so I was finished and home by midnight. With a particularly demanding two-year-old to entertain throughout Christmas Day, that suited me fine.