Highlife

Years ago, Monday nights at Fluid was the place to be each week. Djs Cosmo Baker and Rich Medina used to drive people into a frenzy with a mix of hiphop and funk jams. Their party, the Remedy, went on hiatus after about a five or six year run and Cosmo headed to New York. In Brooklyn, Cosmo hooked up with guys who threw The Rub at Southpaw and eventually became part of the crew.

DJ Picks 9-7-07

Summer vacation is pretty much over. Until next June, you will have to settle for enjoying the sunshine by looking out the window in your office or class room. But it doesn't mean you can't have a good time after the sun goes down. Here are some sure shots for this weekend:

Tonight is the rebirth of Sylk. Internationally known dj King Britt is bringing back his legendary Back 2 Basics party to it's orginal venue the newly revitalized Silk City(5th & Spring Garden). After taking a bit of a hiatus, Back 2 Basics will return to taking over Monday nights with King Britt and Dozia controlling the sounds.

I felt it was best to get the run down from the man himself about the history of tonight's event. So here is a little Q&A with King Britt:

DJ Ultraviolet, of Ladies Love HipHop fame, has been busy at work behind the scenes to bring some major hiphop talent to Philly. Just look at her latest event called Living Legends, were she brings some of the most influential djs and producers to Philly to show people what real hiphop is all about. The first night of this series is taking place this Friday night at Fluid Nightclub(613 Sth. 4th Street.). The first guest for the event is DJ Scratch.

B-boys and b-girls, it's about that time again! Freshout Media and Goodie Goodie are back again with year two of the Flava Fest, a series of events aimed at educating people about hiphop arts and culture. This year's festival looks like it's going to be huge. I sat down with Chris Anderson of Freshout Media to get the scoop on what to expect.

DILLA-delphia

JayDee aka J Dilla was hands down one of the best hiphop producers of the past 15 years. His beatmaking style totally revolutionized the sound of sample-based hiphop music and created the blueprint for the neo-soul sound. In addition to being skilled with an MPC, he was also a talented musician, emcee, and dj. He was the man behind classic tunes from A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, D'Angelo, The Roots, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Common, and even Janet Jackson. Lots of big name producers like Pharrell Williams and Kanye West list JayDee as one of their top influences. Even if you didn't know who he was, you most likely are familiar with his music. Yet, with as much accomplishment and adoration as he got, he never received the commercial success that he deserved.

The first time I ever even heard of Diplo was years ago at the first Beat Society event at the Five Spot. He was this skinny long haired guy playing the original samples to popular hiphop tracks early in the night. Then I saw that he was throwing this party called Hollertronix along with DJ Low Budget aka Low Bee (who at the time was the DJ for indie hiphop label Arrakis Records) at a Ukrainian community center. Next thing I know, this guy is in every magazine, releasing an album on Big Dada/Ninja Tune record, touring everywhere, producing records and just plain blowing up worldwide. Who knew?

I've gotten the chance to deejay at a lot of different events and parties throughout the years, but nothing makes me feel as good as playing at Bodyrock.