B-Boy Classics

I've been spending a far-more-than-is-actually-healthy-for-me time on a Facebook group called B-Boy Classics.
Set up by my man Jaz Ford, an ex radio dj and  outta Wellington, New Zealand this is certainly a FB group actually worth checking (as opposed to all hundreds of plain idiotic ones such as "Sucking a cup to your face and then panicking cos it won't come of"*).
The sheer amount of photos on there (619 at this present time) is a delight for the hip hop heads. From record covers to fan photos of artists, there's a lot of good stuff on there.

As well as this, Jaz runs the coldrockdaspot blog, too with some well-written and detailed articles. Again well worth checking out.

This man knows his stuff and as such I'm tentatively considering christening him the NZ version of Waxer. It's all good in the hood.




*This IS a real FB group.

The Bottomless Crates Show

Just a little shoutout to a radio station that might be of interest to you.
The Bottomless Crates Show is broadcast from the NE1 area of Newcastle, UK and features new and old hip hop, funky breaks and other good stuff.
Once you can get into their accents, being that they're Newky Brown drinkers an' all you'll have a blast! ;-)
You can catch the show live in you're in the city on NE1 FM on a Monday night between 10 and 12. Otherwise you can get the show from the blog usually the next few days after in 2 parts.





The Blog

The Website

Thankyou

Just want to say a big shout to everyone who tuned in to my man Waxer's Disco Scratch Radio last night on which I was his guest.
It was broadcast as the complete chat we had a couple of days before. Yes. Unedited! Including my choice of tracks throughout the show it all added up to a hoo-mungous 2 hours and 50 minutes.
I think it should have included a subtitle stating 'Special Trainspotter Edition' as we got nerdy on an unparalleled level. Fortunately as the chatroom rolled on we saw that there was a common geekiness amongst ageing b-boys. Yes, I am not alone.
To those in the chat such as Dan Flan, Ridla, Scenes, Biz-Martski, Eclectro, Monk, CrimesForMinds, Random I hope you enjoyed it. And to anyone wanting to cop it you can find it over here at Waxer's Disco Scratch.

Massive props to the one and only Waxer for organising it.
Your Thursday evenings are now found at Freestyle FM at 9pm. There's tons of guests lined up for upcoming shows from superstars to those behind the scene and fans. Next week, unconfirmed reports of Overlord X in interview.  SCENES14 sooncome.

It rolls like this:

1.Disco Scratch Radio Intro
2. Russell Brothers – Party Scene (Instrumental)

3.Gang Starr – Manifest

4. Gang Starr – GotchU

5. Captain Rock – Cosmic Glide (instrumental)
6. Pieces Of A Dream – Mount Airy Groove (Instrumental)
7. T Ski Valley – Catch The Groove (Instrumental)
8. Disco 4 – Let It Whip (Instrumental)

9. Trouble Funk – Pump Me Up

10. Jonzun Crew – Pac Jam (Look Out For The OVC)
11. Warp 9 – Nunk (Instrumental)
12. C Bank – One More Shot (Instrumental)

13. The VHB – Beethoven’s 5th Street Symphony (Short Version)

14. Fantasy 3 – Biters In The City (Scratch Version)
15. Bobby Broom – Beat Freak (Dub Version)

16. B Boys – Girls Part 2 (Snippet)

17. Fantasy 3 – The Buck Stops Here (Instrumental)
18. Great Peso & Mr Nasty – It’s Time To Rock (Instrumental)
19. Newcleus – Jam On It (Instrumental)
20. Byron Davis – My Hands Are Quicker Than The Eye (Instrumental)
21. Eric B & Rakim – Eric B is President (Dub)
22. Justice – Put That Record Back On (Instrumental)

23. Kid Frost – Terminator

24. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Price – A Touch Of Jazz
25. Kid n Play – Last Night (Dub)
26. Kool G Rap & Polo – Rikers Island (Instrumental)
27. Hijack – The Contract (Instrumental)

28. Hijack – The Badman Is Robbin

29. SL Troopers – Knowledge (remix instrumental)
30. K Solo – Letterman (Instrumental)
31. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Ill Street Blues (Instrumental)
32. A Tribe Called Quest – Award Tour (Instrumental)
33. Beatnuts – No Equal (Instrumental)
34. Diamond D – Sally (Instrumental)
35. Onyx – Throw Ya Gunz (Instrumental)
36. Run DMC – Down With The King (Instrumental)

37. Word Of Mouth & DJ Cheese – King Kut

Those in white are background tracks.

Those in gold are played in full.

Reminder

THURSDAY....9PM....FREESTYLE FM....DISCO SCRATCH RADIO....

Don't forget that the interview with myself and Waxer of Disco Scratch is being broadcast tomorrow on the interwebs at 9pm.

1.  Click this link which will take you to the front page of Freestyle FM.

2.  Choose your preferred audio player.

3.  Join the chatroom - just hit enter - no password needed - change your username once you're in.

If you can't make it the link will be posted-up on this site afterward.

Guru Passes

Today we have lost a true legend of the mic. Keith Elam aka Guru from Gang Starr has passed away from cancer.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding his death and as such I will reserve judgment and not comment further as there is some seriously grimey behaviour going on by someone in particular.

Please read this statement apparently written by Guru on his deathbed.

I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world. I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options.

I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself. He has been with me by my side on my many hospital stays, operations, doctors visits and stayed with me at my home and cared for me when I could not care for myself. Solar and his family is my family and I love them dearly and I expect my family, friends, and fans to respect that, regardless to anybody's feelings on the matter. It is my wish that counts. This being said I am survived by the love of my life, my sun KC, who I trust will be looked after by Solar and his family as their own. Any awards or tributes should be accepted, organized approved by Solar on behalf myself and my son until he is of age to except on his own.

I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ. As the sole founder of GangStarr, I am very proud of what GangStarr has meant to the music world and fans. I equally am proud of my Jazzmatazz series and as the father of Hip-Hop/Jazz. I am most proud of my leadership and pioneering efforts on Jazzmatazz 4 for reinvigorating the Hip-Hop/Jazz genre in a time when music quality has reached an all time low. Solar and I have toured in places that I have never been before with GangStarr or Jazzmatatazz and we gained a reputation for being the best on the planet at Hip-Hop/Jazz, as well as the biggest and most influential Hip-Hop/Jazz record with Jazzmatazz 4 of the decade to now. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time. And we as a team were not afraid to push the envelope. To me this is what true artists do! As men of honor we stood tall in the face of small mindedness, greed, and ignorance. As we fought for music and integrity at the cost of not earning millions and for this I will always be happy and proud, and would like to thank the million fans who have seen us perform over the years from all over the world. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.

RIP Guru July 17, 1966 - April 19, 2010


EDIT: Sorry but this is REALLY niggling me. I've read this statement a few times since I posted it and the more I read it the more angry I become.
This does not sound like it came from the mouth of Guru. Not at all. I mean, look at the wording in the last paragraph about he and Solar's work being  "my most creative to date" and "it is some of the best work I have done".
What absolute BOLLOCKS.
Gang Starr's work in the early 90's was the "best" and "most creative". Even my 8-year old daughter knows that.
No. This is that cnut Solar trying to get his name up in the most appalling way possible.
This is so incomprehensibly disrespectful that we, as the hip hop nation need to find this pathetic piece of turd and show him what Guru means to us, the fans.
Up until a month ago I hadn't even heard of Sonar (whatever) so what huge balls he must have to insult the Gang Starr fanbase with such a ludicrous and wholly irrational announcement.

KRS ONE, we need you now.

ABBU! Live in conversation

Make a date in your diary folks. This Thursday (22nd) April at 9pm I will be chatting to the one and only Waxer on Disco Scratch Radio.
Last week in case you missed it was a special guest, namely Blade. So who would be the obvious choice to follow such a UK legend of the hip hop scene......?
Yep. Westwood is 'busy' so you'll have to make do with yours truly.
It's guaranteed to be off the hook, off the chain and more, so tune in at Freestyle FM.
Make sure you join in the fun in the chatroom, too.
As Mike used to say (well for a couple of weeks in 1985 at least) it's gonna be laaaarrrge!

New York, New York, big city of dreams.....

The legendary New York City Hall Of Fame can be found at northwestern corner of E. 106th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem.
Apparently it is not an available place for just any writer to hit. You have to be good. You have to be a legend to get up here.
The outside wall is usually reserved for the Tats Cru Inc with the inside being given to TC5 (The Cool 5) mainly. Other crews can have whats left.
There is an annual jam with many legendary writers congregating and rocking the walls.




View Larger Map

More Links:

Bridge & Tunnel Club website - Nice hi-res pics from inside the court.

Google Maps link - Explore the area yourself.

graffiti2blogger - graffiti2blogger's website with a short piece on his discovery of the area.

TATS CRU - who they?

TC5 - who they??

Some Westwood Vocals

Been listening to some old tapes and found some Westwood Capital Rap Shows from 88.
Here's some original Westwood vocals so that you hear how he used to sound 22 years ago. Hear the rawness as he splutters his way through sentences and kicks the slang around the place.
Witness the original clunky jingles that we knew so well. Enjoy

DMCA Warning. Oh yes.

It had to come sooner or later.
Some loudmouth has gone bleating to the cyber-cops and as such some of my Mike Allen links have had to be taken down (sorry RUSE ONE).
Is this the beginning of the end of Ageing B-Boys Unite! as we know it? Well, obviously hopefully not as there is two years of hard work invested here.

My man SCENES over at The Underground Strikes Back blog has the same problem as some of you may know, so this is not an isolated incident.

That's all they are. LINKS.
Links to the files.
They are not directly found here on this website so I am not breaking any laws. I'm not HOSTING the files, just telling where you can find them if you so wish.

Got to go now, my mouth is hurting as I am biting my tongue with much force.


**ADDITIONAL**

Just to mention that there are other ways to obtain these links if you really want them. But I have to know who you are (friend, regular or 'Follower'...etc)  rather than just some chancer. Got to be careful now.

Al-Naafiysh - Hashim - Old London Footage

Found this on Youtube. It's quite short but has some interesting footage of the Tube in old London town and some mid-80's b-boys.
I found the Yuppy bloke's look just priceless at 1min18s. Watch those disapproving eyebrows go!

Words of Wisdom

Blastmaster KRS-ONE.