A Hip Hop Snapshot

Mobb Deep @ Metro

Havoc and Prodigy rapping at the Metro @ Town Hall.

I can clearly say that this is one of the worst hip hop concerts I've been to. It was an hour of performing all their new stuff from their latest albums before they finally did their classic songs like Shook Ones and Quiet Storm. Meanwhile they kept screaming out "G-Unit" every chance they could.

The Alkaholiks @ Gaelic Club

J-Ro (White hat) and Tash (Blue shirt) rocked the Gaelic Club.

The GZA @ Home

The Genius rapping til the sun came up.

Racism still alive they just be concealing it

Racism still alive they just be concealing it/

But I know they don't want me in the damn club/

They even made me show I.D to get inside of Sam's club/

It really pisses me off when I get refused entry into a bar or a nightclub. It hasn't happened to me that often (I struggle to recall the last time), but last Friday was really something. A work friend was having her farewell drinks at The Loft @ King Street Wharf.

I arrived at 7pm, rocked up to the door and said "Hi, How's it going?". The door bitch didn't sound so excited so see me there. There were two bouncers also at the door. The one carrying the "Black book" asked me if we were on the guest list. I was thinking "What? Oh, we are with A from work". I knew that our friend wouldn't have any guest list being a last minute decision. And I knew by the way that he looked at me, he wasn't going to let me in.

"You are not on the guest list and we are full tonight. Perhaps you should try next door at Bungalow 8?"

That really annoyed me, the fact that he probably didn't even check the guest list which we both knew we were not on and his excuse that it was full. Me and my two companions trudge to the sidewalk, and call up our friends inside. Their response "It's not even full!? That's BS!!"

This picture is taken from a website which orginally took it from the Loft website. How's this for publicity?

As soon as we hang up on our phones and turn around, the bouncers let in a flood of (let's be politically correct) here, a bunch of white females. Then an Australian couple rock up and they have no problem getting in. And to really top if off, one of our friends rocks up by herself. She happens to be another Australian white female. Just out of earshot, they gave her the preliminary question "are you on the guest list"? She says "No, but my friends are upstairs" and points inside. The bouncers motion at her, and again, the magic door opens for her.

I think out of all the people they let in, the last person who we knew, that really made me mad. Here we are, going to the same bar to meet the same people. She was allowed in essentially with no questions asked.

My only crime? Being an Asian male.

Crime by association? I was with another Asian male and Asian female.

Victim of fashion perhaps ? The fact that I was dressed casually but they let in a whole bunch of other people in casual clothing.

More pictures of the dungeon known as the Loft

I could have walked up to the bouncers and the door bitch and given them an earful. But I was too mad, too worked up, too embarrassed, too ashamed, too pissed off.

I could have called up some of our friends to help us get in but I guess I wasn't in the mood to go into a place where the staff are giving me attitude.

The fact is the three of us were there to farewell a good friend of ours and simply looking for a good time. And that just ruined it.

We tried our luck at Bungalow 8, and again we were refused entry. Apparently we were dressed too casual, the bouncer pointing at me and my other friend. But the funny thing was, there were other people inside that we dressed casually. I have never had a problem going there but usually I've been in work clothes.

I had enough of this attitude from the bouncers at King St Wharf and went to O'Donoghues and an Irish pub nearby. One of the few places in that part of the city that don't question what you wear or what nationality you happen to be, as long as you produce evidence that your over 18. then it was off to a high class joint like Scruffy Murphy and Pavillion, where all they want to check is if you are carrying weapons.

Charlie Murphy! Scruffy Murphy! An uber high class bar in the Chinatown precint

Hey, I'm Asian, we all must be carrying machetes, knives and guns. That's why they don't let me into places like The Loft.

I'm out like racist bouncers at the Loft,

DJ Ho.

To Live and Die A Rap Immortal

I hear the doctor standing over me/

Screamin I can make it/

Got a body full of bullet holes layin here naked/

Still I, can't breathe, somethings evil in my IV/

Cause everytime I breathe, I think they killin me /

I'm having nightmares, homicidal fantansies/

I wake up stranglin, danglin my bed sheets/

I call the nurse cause it hurts, to reminisce

How did it come to this? I wish they didn't miss/

Somebody help me, tell me where to go from here/

Cause even Thugs cry, but do the Lord care?

Only God Can Judge Me - 2pac

I didn't realise it at the time when Nate sent around this article about 2pac yesterday, but it was 10 years since the very day that 2pac passed away.

He was a great rapper - in my top 5 of all time. Admittedly all his songs aren't that great, but he's definently got some really good songs in there. I first heard 2pac on his All Eyez on Me album, he just seemed like some glorified thug. To some of us he still is. It wasn't really until I got his older album "Me Against The World" and the album released 13 days after his death "Makaveli" that I really started to appreciate his work.

He had the deep lyrical songs like "Life Goes On", "Only God Can Judge Me", "Brenda's got a baby", and "Dear Mama" which made you sit up and think. Switching it up he had the songs with the party vibe like "California Love", "How Do You Want It" and "Toss It Up". And who could forget the straight up angry Pac with "Hit'em up"?

To live and die in LA, where everyday we try to fatten our pockets/

Us niggaz hustle for the cash so it's hard to knock it/

Everybody got they own thang, currency chasin/

Worldwide through the hard times, warrior faces/

Shed tears as we bury niggaz close to heart/

What was a friend now a ghost in the dark, cold hearted bout it

- To Live and Die in LA by Tupac Shakur

Did the world change on September 11, 2001?

Today's date probably doesn't mean anything. It's September 10, 2006. In a few hours tomorrow will come and mark the anniversary of one of man kind's most tragic days. The day that the skies of New York were filled with smoke, ash and the smell of death in the air. The day that the world trade centre came crumbling down (for the second time), and with it the lives of thousands of people. The day that New York, America and the world was never the same again.

It's one of those moments in history, where we all remember where we were. Like how old folks recall when JFK was shot, when the Berlin wall came down, when DJ Kool Herc had his first block party, when Jordan hit that jumpshot in the 98 Finals.

Some of us were up late at night on September 11 watching the news before The Mother Of All Exclusive News break came on. Me? I was sound asleep! I woke up the next morning to the shock of the photograph on the front page of the morning newspaper. I still remember that image. The image that became synonmous with that date:

I come now to the crux of my post: Did the world change on September 11, 2001? Without a doubt it did. The loss of life and the destruction of one of New York's icons shook the Western world to its core. I mean it was New York that was being attacked! America's homeland became the new doorstep of terrorism activity. American lives would never be the same again.

The fact that it could and DID happen in the backyard of the world's most powerful nation. The image that was so symbolic of American capitalism and everything that it stood for had just been torn down into a pile of melted steel and ash. The land of the free lost their sense of security and their ability to move freely without intense scrutiny.

But it was more than that. It affected people in other nations. We came to the stark realisation that a terrorist attack could happen anywhere, anytime. Suddenly New York and major tourist destinations didn't become such "hot" destinations. In the back of our minds, plane travel became a lil different. We became suspicious of people of Middle Eastern appearance. Fear and hatred develped a heightened sense of racism towards anything associated with Arabic people.

September 11 created a butterfly effect. It set off a chain reaction of events. The war on terror. The attack on Afghanistan. The Madrid Bombings. Bali Bombings. London subway bombings. The invasion of Iraq. The countless bombing plots that were thwarted. And many more lives were lost along the way.

Although the world did change since that fateful day, I'm not sure if my own life really changed as a result. I didn't lose anyone due to any of the bombings. I still went to uni, work, in the same way I did pre-September 11. Maybe in Australia we were too remote from the situation, being halfway around the world from New York, New York. But I recognise that the world around me did change and it changed the lives of many people, for the worse.

I'm out like September 11,

DJ Ho.

W.O.R.K State Of Mind

Stressed Out

Over the last couple of weeks I have been overly busy. Two weeks ago was one of my busiest and most stressful I've had in my life. Dealing with uni and exam pressure was one thing but juggling multiple tasks and meeting work deadlines are another. The thing is, you have to come through. And I feel like I did. I delivered time and time again, like when Guru raps!

I was working til 10pm or 9pm each night. Other nights I took work home to do. And when the weekend came, I spent nearly all of Saturday night and sunday working on three different things. I handled my biz.

The X.O experience with the Likwit Crew

And to top if off, they had Tha Alcaholiks concert on a Thursday night! Got home at 1.30am. Can't believe on a work night, I was bumping to DJ Ticklez spinning Wu-Tang's Triumph @ Gaelic Club, then the Liks came out and the crowd went bananas. I don't know if I can handle going to concerts on a weeknight, especially when I've had such a busy week. Getting too old for this! I promise I'll stick up some photos.

The concert was good, and true to their name, J-Ro ended the concert in a drunken stupor and was kinda unconscious, and about 20 girls from the audience on the stage. Tash on the other hand, with his raspy distinctive voice was off the heezy.

Kebab Shop conversation @ Thursday 10pm

Before the Lik concerts Nate, Plunk, Kris and I hit up a kebab shop near the Gaelic club for a pre-concert snack. I'm not sure how it started but we started throwing up hip hop questions. My recollection isn't 100% (and it never would be before an ALCAHOLIKS concert and if you were under the influence like everyone else). Peep the following:

Best record label?

DJ Ho: Loud (unanimous nods).

Kris: Rawkus records

Nate: Deathrow. They got Dre, 2pac, Snoop.

Nate: Ruthless (DJ Ho laughs). Def Jam (a few nods).

DJ Ho: Sony!

Nate: BMG! Mushroom! Universal! (Group cracks up laughing)

Best Producer?

DJ Ho - DJ Premier. Dr Dre. Timbaland. Swizz Beats (I think someone mentiond them).

Best Hip hop Beat?

I went for the early answer knockout blow with "Shook Ones" by Mobb Deep. Mutual agreement. That's a mad beat. There were some other good nominations like I got 5 on it by Luniz. If I had my time, I would have also gone for some DJ Premo beats and "Guess Who's Back" by Rakim (I think that's the name of the song).

Best Wu-Tang Member?

The conversation then took a heavy slant towards one of hip-hops all star groups - the Shaolin clan. I let the others have their say, but my man Raekwon wasn't getting his due props. I argued that Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linxs was superior to any Ghostface Killah album. However, I hadn't heard Rae's followup effort which apparently flopped and the counterargument was that Ghost had two really bangin' albums. Still I went down fighting!

Rankings (Almost unanimous): Ghostface Killah, Method Man, GZA, ODB, Raekwon.

Biggie or 2pac?

Like I was on autoplay - I quickly said Biggie. Ain't no way 2pac matches his lyrical content. Nate took his time and anwered 2pac. I asked him to justify how 2pac comes close to Biggie. Hit'em UP. Changes. I was like no way, if you look at Biggie's whole body of work (Ready to Die, Life after death) which is still relatively short, its quality over quantity. Biggie out trumps Pac in every way. Lyrical flow, beats, content, etc....

The final question as we walked out the shop......

Should the Source be allowed to re-adjust their rankings for 5 mic albums?


Bit of background. The Source was the hip hop bible. The magazine for hip hop heads. Their reviews were critical and to some extent did influence sales of hip hop albums if you took them seriously. I really didn't but I read them like every one else. They ranked albums out of 5, with a mic for each rating. One mic out 5 meant it was garbage. 3.5 was average, 4 was defintnely worth a listen. 5 mics meant it was an instant classic - one of the greatest of all time.

The thing is, a while ago, The Source went back and readjusted some of their rankings including bumping up Biggie's "Ready To Die" from 4.5 mics to 5. Ready to Die is one of the greatest albums of all time and most hip hop fans would agree. Some would even say that changing the ranking to 5 mics was justified.

However, I believe that you have to judge an album at its time of release. In its context. You have to judge it against whatever is out there and in the past. You can't go back, and say, "hey that WAS a classic". Of course you can do that but to legimately review an album you have to make that call then and there. That is what makes the review good, if it can pick out an instant classic.

A lot of this is irrelevant now since The Source's standards went out the window. The founder ordered that a group which he managed, called Mademen be bumped up from 4 mics to 4.5 mics. Benzino, a rapper in the group also had ownership in the Source. Corruption I tell you. Then they gave Lil Kim 5 mics and The Source became garbage.

I'm out like 5 mic classics,

DJ Ho.

Hova comes to Sydney!

I'm makin short term goals,wonder whether foes/
Just put away the leathers and put ice on the gold/
Chilly with enough bail money to free a big willy/
High stakes, i got more at stake than philly/
Shoppin sprees, copin three, duece fever i guess its fully loaded,/

- Jay-Z on Can't Knock The Hustle

Just found out that Jay-Z is coming to Sydney on October 25th with Ne-Yo and Rhianna. Tickets go on sale soon, can't wait.