DJ AM - R.I.P

Jazzy Jeff on Future Flavas

Jazzy Jeff live on Marley Marl's Future Flavas show when it was broadcasting on Power 105.

DJ Hero presents DJ Jazzy Jeff. Going back to a previous post, I think the video game DJ Hero will be success which further propels the art of DJing into the mainstream. I don't expect to buy a game console just to be a digital DJ Hero but I would be willing to rent the game and play it on someone elses console.

To be frank; I have low expectations of the game because I can't see how three buttons on a digital turntable can compare to the real touch of spinning vinyl. I hope to be surprised though.

Italian Opera + Breakbeat 4 Real?

Going through my music library I pulled out three moody selections. Decompress.. ahhh.

Outer Body Experience - Rabbit In the Moon
BT - Memories In A Sea Of Forgetfulness
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings

Hope you enjoy!

Today's mantra; make it count!

My 29th birthday was a couple days ago so you'll have to excuse me for getting 'deep' on you.

Let me remind you- there are 365 days in a year, in 10 years there are roughly 3,650 days and in 100 years (far beyond the average lifespan) there are roughly 36,500 days. Doesn't seem like a very long time- because - it's not! My message get out there and do something with your precious time.

Shall the enclosed mix motivate you to do one thing each day that makes the day count. Today, mine was producing this mix. What's on this mix you ask?


Today's mix starts off with some chill house then crescendos into a selection of some of my favorite old school rhythm and blues and hip-hop beats. Then finishes with a sweet cherry; one final feel good house track. Enjoy!

October’s upcoming DJ Hero, Activision’s long-awaited turntablist twist on Guitar Hero

“If I’m behind this, this will be the most popular thing to do in gaming on the planet,” says legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash about October’s upcoming DJ Hero, Activision’s long-awaited turntablist twist on their multi-billion-dollar Guitar Hero franchise. Flash tells Rolling Stone that he has been involved with the game for a little over a year, contributing exclusive mixes, doing voice-overs and even advising the suits on what type of language to use. Watch the interview

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Michael Jackson... rest in peace.

London DJ's Generate Bogus Royalties in an Elaborate Scheme

A group of popular London deejays used stolen credit cards to buy their own music on iTunes in an elaborate scheme that netted about $650,000 in bogus royalties and sent the musicians skyrocketing up the "indie" charts, The Post has learned.

The deejays recorded 19 compilations of music they spun at nightclubs, uploaded them on iTunes through a Brooklyn-based service and then downloaded them an astonishing 65,000 times on accounts set up with the pilfered cards, law-enforcement sources said. Along with the profits, the performers nearly made a second killing -- they caught the attention of music industry executives curious about their newfound popularity.

Authorities in New York and London unmasked the group of "independent musicians" in recent months, and ring members are expected to be rounded up as early as this morning in Britain. The takedown caps an international Internet manhunt conducted by Brooklyn prosecutors inside DA Charles Hynes' office, NYPD computer crime experts and their counterparts and a London Metropolitan Police unit known as SCD-6. British authorities announced this morning that they had made nine arrests in connection with the scam.

The scam began in August with the DJs paying an annual $30-per-album fee to the Williamsburg company Tunecore, a music distribution service, to get their albums uploaded onto iTunes. The ring then obtained thousands of stolen credit card numbers and painstakingly opened iTunes accounts with them and began downloading their albums at $10 apiece.

In December, Apple, the parent company of iTunes, began to receive stop-payment orders from various credit card companies, saying accounts were established fraudulently. A month later, Apple contacted the NYPD, which enlisted the help of the Brooklyn district attorney.

Investigators scoured the Internet for the origins of the downloads and ultimately determined they were made on London computers. They then matched the identities of IP computer-address owners and musicians. The thieves collected about $389,000 of the loot.

Why Deejay Schools Are Thriving in a Recession

To Koma Gandy, the folks who mix her favorite tunes were always like the Wizard of Oz. "You go out to this party and the deejay is this mysterious entity behind a wall, where all this magic happened," says Gandy, 34, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "I've always wanted to see how the magic was constructed." Thanks to the recession, Gandy and many others are finally getting a chance to connect with their inner-MC. After she lost her hedge fund job in December, Gandy, a Harvard undergrad who also has an MBA from Georgetown, made a list of the things she's always wanted to do, if a lifetime of work and achievement and climbing up the corporate ladder don't get in the way. Near the top of the list: learn to rock a party with a turntable. "I figured, now is better time than any to do this,' says Gandy. "It might be my last chance. And I don't want to be one of those people, at the end of life, who says, 'I wish I had gone for it." Read the full story here.

Beardyman at the Beatbox Convention 2008

Need some inspiration? Peep this...

Need I say much more?! Awesome-

Spring Is Here, Come Out of Hibernation

It has been a long time since my last post, SORRY. Work has been a bit mad lately. This week I bring to you some music, a DJ documentary and a couple resources to find new tunes. I hope you enjoy- feedback, questions and/or requests are always welcome.

A lot of friends and visitors to my blog have asked me where I get a lot of my music. I buy half of my music from itunes.com and most if all the underground mixes/music from beatport.com and Rock N Soul records located in midtown Manhattan. If you are music enthusiast you can always sign up for a free account at djforums.com. This website has a ton of great remixes and DJ compilations.

One mix I strongly recommend you download was created by DJ Jay Free. The two hour audio montage includes hip-hop, rock and 80's mash-ups. This is a great mix to entertain people with this weekend.

In addition to some new music, I suggest you check out Scratch the feature-length documentary film about hip-hop DJing aka turntablism. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, beat-diggers, party-rockers, and producers wax poetic on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl. Lucky for you, I found a full length copy of the film on Youtube.

STAY TUNED... I'm almost done with a new mix inspired by the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire. A majority of the music on this mix contains Indian sounding instruments or vocals such as Night Rider - Jay Z ft. Punjabi MC, React - Eric Sermon and Issac - Madonna. I am super psyched to share this with you soon.

Ipod Tracks

1. DJ Jay Free - Crush Lounge Live Set - download this mash-up of 80's, rock and hip-hop beats.
2. Wale - W.A.L.E.F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (BONUS)
3. The Killers - Human
4. Busta Rhymes - Arab Money
5. A.R. Rahman - Jai Ho
6. M.I.A - Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
7. Ludacris f/ Chris Brown - What Them Girls Like
8. Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
9. Madonna - Candy Shop (Sticky And Sweet Edit)
10. Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death

Scratch is a feature-length documentary film about hip-hop DJing, otherwise known as turntablism. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to San Francisco now, the world's best scratchers, beat-diggers, party-rockers, and producers wax poetic on beats, breaks, battles, and the infinite possibilities of vinyl. Click Here to Watch.

dj marc elias - THE BEST OF COLLECTION

Here are a couple of my favorite DJ Marc Elias mixes that I've posted over the past year. I would love to receive your feedback. Those we post a comment on the blog receive a very special treat.

https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelias/

DJ Marc Elias - Amabo Hip-Hop Mix

Tune-in to hear this compilation of funk and hip-hop. Support the cause, download and share often.