Weekend Wrap Up (Fashionably Late) PART ONE

I have been waiting my entire life for a weekend like this. I'd been hoping against hope that one day my fair city would be able to support events of this magnitude.

My Friday started early, I had a pickup of my best friend and Zulu 206 representative, DJ Gumbeaux, at the airport. I needed some help on stage, and he seemed like a perfect fit. We were also having a Zulu outreach meeting on Sunday, so it was dual purpose. Well it seems that the two hours I had between first pick up and drop off was the only down time I would have all day. I wish I would've savored it.

Well, next were I-dee, Steel, Rugged. I ended up picking up Concept too because he was on the plane with I-dee. I had a full car load on the way back to the city, and everyone was pretty hungry. So we went to Crabby Jacks for some poboys. Then we went to check I-dee in to his hotel room, well... pre-checked in. From then on there were people who were posted up on my couch and on my turntables until 7:30 when I had to pack up for the Howlin' Wolf.

Lesson #1 : Never book people in separate hotel rooms. I spent far too much time in the car on the night of the battle picking people up when my time would've been better served in the venue getting everything ready.

Well after picking up Christie Z, Teeko and I-dee, I scrambled to get everything set up so that the battle could start. Originally we had around 20 djs set up for the battle. Only 10 showed up on the night so let the prelims begin...

Truth Universal was the perfect host for the evening. He kept the crowd involved throughout the night even when some of the delays lasted a little longer than the regulation 2 minutes.

Of the three representatives from Louisiana, Jermaine Quiz, Know Respect, and Beverly Skillz, only one looked as if to have ever put a routine together prior to that day. That simple fact made me wish I could've entered the battle even more, and that the rest of my crew would've entered also. I remember the days of Raj Smoove, Hektic and HC when coming to New Orleans to battle would make you want to step your game up. I guess since battles began to dwindle years ago, so did everyone's desire to battle. Well, of the three from Louisiana, Beverly Skillz advanced to the 6 minute round.

I got an interesting insight in the judging that night. I got to see exactly how each competitor is scored and I got to see each judges score sheet. Well, without going into detail the top six scorers were as follows:

1. Steel
2. Concept
3. Rugged One
4. Beverly Skillz
5. Axis Powers
6. The Don Santos

Shortkut did a little party rocking interlude, and we were in to the final.

The Don Santos went up first, his routine was pretty solid, but not loaded with any real high degree of difficulty. He did do a blindfolded beat-chase, which was cool albeit gimmicky.

Axis Powers has his showmanship turned all the way up. His strength lied in his cutting but his beat juggles weren't where they needed to be for a top three and we all knew it. He ended his routine by breaking a record on the turntable, which for the crowd was entertaining the display IS a little overdone.

Beverly Skillz was the fan favorite. As she stepped up, the crowed roared and she basically had them eating out of her hand the entire routine. She did really well except for some skipping on one of her juggles. When she began cutting to the Triggerman beat everyone went nuts in the crowd. She really knew how to play for a room of fans.

Rugged One from Boston, had the only flawless routine out of the three in my opinion. His routine was comprised of combo juggles (juggles using two different records) scratching, and just plain funk... It was a stark contrast from the next competitor...

Concept from Boca Raton, Florida was up next and his routine was uptempo and in your face. His routine reminded me a lot of what Netik and Rafik are doing in Europe with Le Jad records. His set was almost flawless and it seemed the crowd was pretty in to it. All Concept would've needed to take first was a little more showmanship and another juggle. Which brings me to...

Steel representing New Jersey was the highest scorer from round one, and he performed last in this round. Steel had his 1st place game on. Everything was right on, his juggles, his scratching, his transitions, and he didn't miss a beat when I mis-read the timer and shorted him one minute. He resumed his juggle like nothing had happened. His difficulty level was the highest of all the competitors. The fact that he made it look effortless only added to his set.

Well once the finals wrapped it was showcase time. I-dee went first. He unleashed a barrage of scratches first, and then went into juggles of maddening proportions. As the routine progressed he seemed to get better and better and more and more into the crowd. He might as well have entered. He could've given Steel, Concept and Rugged a run for their money. I-dee finished to uproarious applause.

Next up was Teeko. Admittedly, I was looking forward to Teeko's set most of all. He'd brought a synthesizer, a Vestax Controller One, and an MPC 1000. He began by tapping out a beat on the MPC, and building the melodies using the Controller One and the synth. He continued with a C1 cover of Billie Jean, and he ended with a unbelievably hot cover of Herbie Handcock's Rock It. Teeko was a huge hit with the crowd also and he wrapped up to an uproar from the crowd.

I expect to be seeing Teeko and I-dee a lot more in New Orleans.

Well it was time to announce the places. After deliberating with Christie Z, it had to have been the shortest decision of the night. The scorecards were identical and, Truth Universal strolled out to give the crowd the results.

3rd Place was Rugged One
2nd Place was Concept
1st Place was Steel

That was exactly what I had decided also. Had I been a judge, the results would've been the same.

Next up was the ICU to close out the night. I couldn't stay around for their set because I had to wrap up all the lose ends on stage, pack everything up, and make sure everyone was taken care of and everyone got to where they were going in time.

Well at this point I was pretty frantic, trying to get people to Handsome Willy's for the afterparty, even though the battle ran waaaaay late. Well, I got there and a few people followed, not as many as I'd liked. But nonetheless, it was a good party. I could finally wind down, have a beer and relax.

Well time passed pretty quickly and it was time for us to leave. We all decided to go eat at Deja Vu on Conti. By that time we were all pretty delirious, and by the time we walked out of Deja Vu, the sun was coming up. No rest for the weary, because I had to bring Steel to the airport at 10. The weekend goes on...

The Inkwell Press does ink well!

Inkwell Press is on it's grind. Gabe Flores started his business with a dream and confidence that he could break away from the 9 to 5 life and make something that truly belonged to him. I've been a fan of his art and music for well over ten years. In fact Gabe is one of my oldest friends in New Orleans. He's always treated me and my people with the utmost hospitality and respect anytime we came to New Orleans. So in turn we supported him both by buying his shirts and traveling to see him perform as Soapbox. He was one of the first people I looked up when I first moved to the city, and I'm incredibly happy to see Inkwell taking off.

Gabe was the very first sponsor of DMC New Orleans, and I'm proud to feature this interview here.

T5: So what got you started with designing, and more specifically t-shirts??

GF: When I was 16 i got caught spraypainting my high school. As punishment my principal suspended me and made me submit to an art contest that Coke was having for a new soft drink called "surge". I ended up winning the contest and getting exploited, (I think that was the first time my art was on a billboard though) and afterwards a local screenprinting company hit me up to see if I would come to learn to do the graphics at their shop. That's how I got my start back in 96'...I even had my own streetwear company called Evrywear back then, R.I.P.

T5: Hahahahah, yeah it 96 was the first time you art was on a billboard, but most certainly wasn't the last. I remember EVRYWEAR, I still have two old Evrywear shirts. So back to spraypainting... How'd that contribute to your development as a recognized artist/designer??

GF: Contribute? Im not sure. I guess I got a little street fame from painting. God Awful Krewe painted the entire upstairs Jungle room of the State Palace back in '98-'99, and I used to design flyers for Children of Bass and Family of Light as well as our Gray Area shows. I think that spraypainting taught me alot about technique, style, and rendering. I didnt go to art school so most of what I know about design came from graff and street styles.



T5: Who are some of your biggest influences in and out of the art world?

GF: My main influence is Hip Hop. The mentality of making something from nothing. Plus the culture encourages keeping your game up so that your skills are sharp, because life is really just a battle with yourself. I learn about a new person killing it in their artform everyday, and thats what inspires me. Whether it be someone from my krewe or somebody I never met...I like the underdogs and the unappreciated masters of their craft.

T5: DOPE!! I like that... The underdogs, the unappreciated masters... Well, I've always known that you've had a passion for making badass t-shirts. So how'd that translate into Inkwell Press?

GF: Well, like I said, i basically learned the graphic side of printing by working for other people. In the late 90's I was pushing my line called Evrywear. I had about a dozen or so designs out, some are still in circulation. This was before Sean John and Roca Wear and all that. I think Wutang had a clothing company around that time though. Anyways I was pushing my gear on Decatur in front of a Redman/Methodman show at HOB and I met their tour manager Seven, who claimed he would get me in the show and get Meth and Red to wear my shirts. After I was done hustling I went to get in and they told me I wasnt on the list, so I thought I got beat. Next thing I know the owner of Urban Trends (A streetwear chainstore that used to have spots all over New Orleans) calls me up yelling about how Method Man and Redman were wearing my shirts on stage! After that dude tried to buy into my company and wanted to mass produce and take it to China and all that, but I wanted to make sure the trademark was in my name. It never panned out b/c he didnt want me to have that kind of control so I walked away. Unfortunately the whole affair left a bad taste in my mouth so I quit fooling with t-shirts for awhile. I was 18 back then. After that I worked a bunch of odd jobs and then I started working at a print shop in Metairie. I worked from the bottom up and eventually learned to print and everything else about the production side. Couple years later I Micheal J. Foxed my way into owning my own business...



T5: What are you working on now??

GF: Right now i am running the bizz and printing for a lot of local artists, as well as doing DVD and CD duplication for cats who are trying to put music and videos out. Im still painting canvas and permission walls. You can see my work on Desire and St. Claude and also Press + Dauphine. Im looking into buying a house real soon and making sure my 7yr old has what he needs. Some of ya'll might know me from my days on stage as Soapbox, I played shows allover the city and went on tour with Galactic and Media Darling records. I have put the music aside for the time being to get my business in order but I plan on releasing some new and old unreleased material soon, in collaboration with the Able Chris and Prospek of GPC. So stay tuned. Big ups to the God Awful Krewe, Guerilla Publishing Company, Private Pile, Impulss, and all the DJ's keepin the wax spinnin'...R.I.P Bionic Brown & Money Mike...you are missed.

Of course you can catch up with Gabe in the various ways. He's got a Facebook page, also checkout myspace.com/soapbox2012 which I'm sure he put up for his 2012 Presidential Run. Lastly check out THEINKWELLPRESS.COM

So hit him up for all your printing needs. Spread the word because INKWELL, does ink well.

It's hotter than hot here in NOLA

Not sure what that shade of pink is, but it's not good.

D.O.N. Commercial-Free Broadcast

Don Purvis is the dictionary definition of unsung. I met him for the first time a couple of years ago when I bought The Basics. Not really knowing what to expect, I was struck by the cover art which featured an MPC and a Playstation.

"What?? He's making beats on MTV music generator!? How interesting! This could either be really great or really awful."

Well, it seems neither held true because, The Basics was phenomenal. It stayed in my car CD player for over a month. The Basics was completely written and produced by D.O.N. I became captivated by D.O.N.'s wordiness, the clarity of his diction, and his positive messages. I re-visit the Basics about once every couple of weeks and I can still listen to the entire album from start to finish, not daring to skip ahead.



Well, when I heard about the new EP I had to get a copy of it. My first attempt to listen was twarted by someone sitting on the brand new CD and cracking it in half... Blast!!! Well, when I went to visit Aaron at Dubla Studios, he gave me another copy. I immediately put it into the CD player, afraid to have this copy meet the same fate.

Well... It seems he's left Dubla, to the production duties on this one, and Sqratchmo is always solid on the cuts. Of course I'm looking forward to hearing more from D.O.N. So here goes...

As the intro sounds off... "This is a commercial free broadcast..."

The first track "Brand New Day" is an upbeat jam laced with horns, and the curious sound of vinyl crackle throughout. D.O.N. starts us off with the happiest jam first. The song's message is more about maintaining your cool and staying positive amongst a world of stress and the evils of the everyday world. The track ends with D.O.N. still rapping as the music fades out. I've always loved this technique, it adds a sense of mystery and frivolity to a track.

From this point on, the tracks seamlessly blend together underneath strong drums that are at times tribal. Dubla pulls samples from the most obscure sources, and from song to song it's a mix of jazz, African, psychedelic, hip hop, spoken word and odd samples. His production reminds me of Madlib/Metal Fingers.

D.O.N. marches through every track like he's on some sort of mission. He poses moral questions, throws himself back to the early era of Hip Hop, demonstrates his mastery of the english language and in other words he's being himself.

After about ten listens now, I'm still discovering certain subtleties in his presentation. What I like about this album is the fact that it's just him (as was The Basics except for a brief Paul Barman bit in the intro), no cameos. Also the length of the tracks are exactly where they need to be. Only two tracks on the EP clock in over three minutes. This is the kind of album that is perfect for a trip across town. While it's listed as an EP, eleven tracks used to be an LP not too long ago. Now people want to put twenty-five tracks on a CD, which completely dilutes any greatness that the album may contain. Finally someone is getting it right.

This is music for the thinking man. D.O.N. isn't for everyone, that's for sure. But if you're tired of the status quo and are longing for the days when rap music made a difference, D.O.N. will satisfy.

I know Don Purvis. He's a new father. He's a regular working Joe. He's got problems. He gets discouraged. He's a Christian. His struggle, is our struggle. This is his endearing quality. For a man who goes to work every day just to put food his family's table, he's still got the time to write and record some of the best Hip Hop in the world today. He's not rich. He doesn't live off of his music, he works to live! The defining quality of his music is the fact that the more you listen, the more it opens itself up. After a while, new words seem to spring forth like water from a fountain. Wordplay that previously went unheard peeks around a corner like a playful child. D.O.N.'s music isn't happy. It's brooding and contemplative, and at the core it's honest. It reflects one man's struggle to maintain a rap career, whilst all around him are lesser caliber rappers garnering more acclaim for dumbed down music that promotes ignorance. D.O.N.'s music will never be pop. Nor will he ever win a Grammy, not in this world at least. I can only hope that he begins to sell more records. I hope that in this world, he can tap into the audience of lost souls searching for a more meaningful listening experience. D.O.N. will not disappoint. He makes the kind of music that invites you cleanse your mind. He's a underdog that you always want to root for. He's just a regular guy, who just happens to be one of my favorite rappers.

You can find D.O.N. on myspace at myspace.com/dontheworker504 . You can follow him on twitter @dontheworker and he's also got a Facebook. His albums are available through cdbaby.com.

So how'd this all happen??

Well truthfully it really began with Geo's message board at www.turntablistnetwork.com



I first signed up circa 2005 looking for new battles to enter and hoping to network with good deejays all over the country in hopes that I could step my game up. At first I was intimidated and I lurked for a couple of months while I worked up the courage to post. There were all sorts of crazy discussions going on, comedy, weird videos, original music, random events, and general good-natured shit talking.

"Who were these 'Trooperz'?"

"Who was this 'Fat Fingaz' with his giant red letters?"

Eventually I began posting and I became involved in all sorts of crazy, off color discussions with topics ranging from pop culture to intense political dialogue. What tied us all together was the common thread of deejay battles. Over the years, battles began to die out... ITF (International Turntablist Federation), thanks Alex Aquino, Guitar Center's Spin Off, Vinyl Kombat, The All-Star Beatdown, Kool Mixx, etc... all disappeared. POOF!

The discussions became more and more a reflection of what was currently happening to Hip Hop and there was the lingering question,

"Is hip hop dead/dying??"

Re-enter Christie Z-Pabon...(you may recognize Christie, as she had a cameo in the Doug Pray documentary film, Scratch)



Christie Z-Pabon was the head of DMC USA for a time in the late 90's through 2000, argueably some of the best years of American Competition. Christie left her post to work on Tools of War a Grassroots Hip Hop PR/A&R company. She began resurrecting the Park Jams of the 70's and 80's via FREE ALL AGES summer events at parks all over New York City. Well, Christie came back in 2007 to attempt to revive DMC USA which frankly hadn't done so hot in her absence.

I digress.

Christie Z is also a moderator of Dj Geometrix's message board, and I asked if there was anything I could do to help. The seed had been planted... We messaged each other back and forth and eventually exchanged phone numbers, and I began to make my dream of bringing this battle to New Orleans a reality. After a failed attempt in 2008, I began work shortly after the January 1st 2009. With the help of Grassroots New Orleans, Truth Universal, Soundclash, Lyrikill, Dj Soul Sister, the GoDjs, Louisiana DNB, and my friends who really believed in me, I proceeded to walk a path that no one has walked.

I want to thank all my family on Geo's board:

Christie Z, Sally Mclintock, I-Dee, Quix, Geometrix, Dj Supreme, Marcus Pinn, Image, Eddy the Dj, Dini, AS One, Dj Revel, Fatfingaz, Manils, Gizmo, Loop Skywalker, Steel, Solo, Precision, Rob Swift, Roc Raida, Ty Handswell, Marilyn Sasha, Esquire, Rugged One, Etronik, Mr. B, Teeko, Swan... Glad to know y'all. Can't wait until the US Finals!!!

I want to thank my New Orleans family:

Beverly Skillz, EF Cuttin, Dj Soul Sister, Lyrikill, Truth Universal, my Handsome Willy's family, Supercool Dj Kazu, Brice Nice, Prospek, the GPC, D.O.N., Impulss, Know One, Able Chris, Soapbox, Dj Real, Sqratchmo, Private Pile, Twen Bums, Dubla Music, Tygah Woods, ARAjay, Doomsday Device, Mercure, Dj Spin, Dj BlacknMild, Force Feed Radio, Damion Yancey, Edward Maximillion, Rik Ducci, Hektik, 3d Na'tee, Bomshell Boogie, Raj Smoove, Dj Hollaback, all my GoDj fam, Proppa Bear, Resin, Yellow Frank, C-Bass, Bones, El Williams, Mike Swift, Poochy Rivera, Da U Boys, ICU, Ben Brubaker, Holly Hobbs, Jeff B, Rob Brunet, Jay Skillz, Ally Bea, Tia Dame and anyone else I forgot... I couldn't have done this without y'all.

Thus it begins...

You can check Christie Z out at Tools Of War and DMC USA Drop her a line. Check out her FREE PARK JAMS happening every weekend in NYC. She's on Facebook also...

You can check out www.turntablistnetwork.com, follow @djgeometrix @dj_i_dee on twitter... Check out the message board for all random goings on in the world of deejaying.

Also check out my friend Gizmo across the ocean in the UK at www.skratchworx.com and www.skratchlounge.com

Also follow @dmcchamps and @sallyDMC on twitter, and while you're at it follow me too @tony5kratchere

Don't forget to add our myspace... DMC NOLA



www.neworleansdmc.com

Peace y'all... More later!