Mis-spent British/Bristol youth

Ian Dark hit me up about a new book called "The Art and Sound of the Bristol Underground" on the Bristol club scene of the late-80s and early 90s. He's a pioneer of the scene that helped make Bristol what it is today...nothing to sniff at!

The book features flyers, pics and interviews with my '85-'88 crew, Plus One. The cover (above) is a pic of Krissy Kriss and Nick Walker aka Ego aka Apish Angel.

Amazon says: "Chris Burton and Gary Thompson have compiled a fascinating collection of flyers advertising secret parties on the Bristol circuit in the 80s and conducted a series of interviews with the people behind the leading hip hop crews of the day. The result is a book that covers an area in Bristol's (and the UK's) musical development that has never before been documented.

Nothing seemed to daunting for the young DJs, MCs and rappers as they took over abandoned buildings, moved in the sound systems and partied al night long. The only publicity was word of mouth and flyers. Many of the artists behind the flyers such as FLX, Inkie and Nick Walker have gone on to gain national and international recognition while many of the crews have become music superstars."

Big up to Chris and Gary...Cop yourself a copy - only 10 (s)quid!

RIP DJ Roc Raida...World Champ

Another hip-hop leader has past away. D.J. Roc Raida was a DJ magician who was best known as founding member of the X-Men D.J. crew (later the X-Ecutioners) and holder of the DMC World Champion D.J. title (1995.)



For all us mixtape heads Unkut.com has brought together tribute mixes (by DJ Premier and DJ Eclipse) and RocktheDub.com has shared some of his mixtapes. Rather than just take, may be we should all contribute something to his his family. Tools of War shared a Paypal details (send donation to ladietye@yahoo.com.)

October 22nd Tribute show DJ A-Trak will be one of several DJs performing in celebration of Roc Raida at B. B. King’s Blues Bar & Grill in New York.

will.i.am's crib

I spotted this interesting article on will.i.am, one of hip hop's most popular producer/artists. Until reading it I actually didn't know Black Eyed Peas was an LA band. And so I also didn't know Los Feliz was where will.i.am has his studio inside his three-story 1920s Spanish house.

The L.A. Times's article talks with will.i.am and his designer, Liana Reid, about the vision and influences that led to the ecletic, rich, textured studio interior design complete with customized furniture and sound architecture. will.i.am calls it "California No-style"

Collector Of course will.i.am has collects art, but until now I've not seen what he's into and the article gives you a glimpse inside his collection. It also answered the question "who buys Ron English's work that keep his prices so high?" ;)

The man behind the B-Boy classic: "Planet Rock"

When the opportunity comes you have to be prepared. This occasion was in the form of Arthur Baker coming to LA and spinning a few tunes alongside A-Trak at a Downtown Records party for Kid Sister at Zune LA.

I had a pic from Winter Music Conference in 2004 when I bumped into Arthur at a club. A quick turnaround at Walgreens got me a 5x8" print for Arthur to sign for me. Hip hop history. This is the man who sat in the studio with Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force (aka Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, G.l.o.b.e. and Jazzy Jay!)

RIP Mr. Magic - WBLS 107.5FM

The legendary rap DJ Mr Magic passed away this week. The stacks of cassette tapes I have in Bristol that bear his name and the WBLS radio station that he rocked along with DJ Marley Marl are the history of modern hip hop.

Even I didn't know the full history until I listened to DJ Bee's show which shares the knowledge about the man Mr. Magic, his crew and the rivalries that made up New York City radio in the mid-80s. Check out the downloads and hear the clips, interviews and stories that show you how influential Mr. Magic was.