Digger's Delight, DJ Muro in Harlem (My hip hop summer pt.5)

DJ Muro; Lord Finesse in the crowd

I've been listening to DJ Muro's mixtapes for a while so I planned my New York excursion to make sure I wasn't going to miss this "Digger's Delight" jam in Harlem, hosted by Tools of War.

Muro is a big man in the breaks world, so much so that Lord Finesse (D.I.T.C.) introduced Muro and validated him as the "king of diggin'!"



When I arrived in the park, Rockin Rob was spinning breaks. I don't know much about his (and Chuck City's) band "The Original Mean Machine" (not the same band released on Sugar Hill in 1981.)



Legacy Muro has been on the hip hop scene for over 20 years with a heap of recordings and mixtapes released. Since most of his music is inspired by overseas he has had many collaborations, despite being based in Tokyo. Lord Finesse, Amir & Kon, Gilles Peterson to name a few.

His latest collaborations include a dope 7" vinyl bag with Porter and a cool coffee table book of 7" single sleeve designs.

Here's Muro rocking O/D club in Tokyo in 2008.




Tools of War Each park jam has a different vibe and St. Nick's is my favorite park so far, although Crotona Park is where real hip hop lives. When you exit the B train subway station you can hear the beats thumping down above you. It's insane! Like the turntables and speakers are going to collapse on top of you!

Something for your iPod This recording from Old School Radio Hour gives you a front row seat at a Tools of War jam a couple of weeks earlier with Rockin Rob on the decks. Feel the vibe! Check out 7 mins into the recording...a crackly "The Original Mean Machine" tune! Dope!

THE BEST OF THE OLD SCHOOL RADIO HOUR-CROTONA PARK JAM 2010 by Tg_Gainey_Productions on Mixcloud

Crotona Park...DJ Cash Money live! (My hip hop summer pt 1)

I arrived on the LAX red-eye to be greeted by light New York rainstorms on the day a legendary DJ would spin. Would the Tools of War park jam be canceled? No fear...the day dried out and the jam started (an hour late,) but what a event! Compared to St. Mary's Park in the Bronx, this Crotona Park jam had more love from the old skool hip hop crowd.

Cash Money was the reason I was excited to be in New York. Ironically, he's from Philadelphia. Like many, I started following DJ Cash Money after hearing his "Scratchin' to the Funk" record in 1987. I was blown away. I didn't know the DJ, but I knew the record (Trouble Funk's Go-Go music classic "Pump Me Up".)

What was this DJ doing? Did it involve effects or multiple tracks? In '87, the year before I went to my first New Music Seminar, Cash Money won the New Music Seminar Supermen DJ Battle. A year later he added the DMC World DJ Championship to his titles. How good was - and still is - Cash Money? DMC banned him from competing for the DMC World DJ Championships again to give others a chance of winning?! A decade later in 1998, DJ Cash Money was the first inductee into the Technics' DJ Hall of Fame.

On the wheels of steel Cash Money tore up the set, frequently upsetting the power generator with the intense cutting and scratching. Cash Money pulled out the classic rap jams of the 80s and 90s and a handful of breaks and "transformed" them. Literally. The excitement was too much for the soundsystem which peaked out twice.

Multimedia Check out the audio interviews with Cash Money, Christie Z. Pabon and fans (courtesy of WNYC radio) and the great video of Cash Money from that evening! Priceless and rare!






Here's the playlist The crowd rocked to Cash Money's selection. Part 1: Grover Washington Jnr., The Jackson Five, Joeski Love, Audio Two, EPMD, Fearless Four, Schooly D, T La Rock, Doug E Fresh, Whistle, The Fatboys, Treacherous Three. Part 2: LL Cool J. Part 3: Herman Kelly, Trouble Funk, Soul Sonic Force and Al Naafiysh.

Going waaaaay back! I saw Cash Money once in the UK. He was live in east London in the late 80s. And up on stage filming with his video8 was DJ Milo from the Wild Bunch crew from Bristol, UK. So, it didn't seem that odd to see Milo this week in the Bronx at this Cash Money jam. But, wait... this is 20 years later and we're in New York. It was a crazy moment! And I have the picture to prove it! 

DJ Cash Money and DJ Milo (Grand Wizard Rasheen, far left)

New York...the home of hip hop These park jams have been organized and promoted by Christie at Tools of War for eight years now. The parties are co-hosted by her husband Fabel of the Rock Steady Crew and Cold Crush M.C., Grandmaster Caz. With the Cold Crush Brothers' anniversary party the next day the crowd got a treat with a bit of a history lesson and performance from Easy AD, JDL and Caz.

Easy AD, JDL and Grandmaster Caz

Peace to Christie, Fabel and everyone at Tools of War.