DJBRIGIDOPE

record show coming up.

2010-04-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

1000's of records of all genres ( rock, independent bay area labels, soul, funk, sound library records, hip-hop, obscure, jazz and more) ... FREE Admission, bring cash to buy.

Upcoming sale dates:

Thursday, May 13th from 5:30p - 8:30p
Thursday, July 15th from 5:30p - 8:30p
Thursday, September 16th from 5:30p - 8:30p

No early birds please.

Regular sellers include: Geraldine of FMG, DJ Smokestack, DJ Riddm, Johnny Red and more to be announced...

Spice Monkey Loft
1628 Webster Street @ 17th
Oakland, CA 94612
(2 Blocks from 19th Street BART)

Interested in selling? Send an email to: spicemonkeycafe@gmail.com

i had to respond

2010-03-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

in response
i am not targeting the author if this blog post... and i'm not talking about mainstream hip hop vs underground hip hop... im talking about mass media's ability to exploit specific aspects of hip hop, repeat specific images, and redefine the pop culture understanding of what is "real" and what is "hip hop".

this is my perspective...

in an attempt to maintain audience attention... i think mass media fixates way too much on interpersonal drama... pop gossip. if you were watching "MTV's The Real World" from it's start... right around real world SF... i think mass media realized it could capitalize on certain aspects of "reality tv" : the crazy dude who just starts shit, homosexual relationships, inter ethnicity drama, and generally drama created by people living together.

then... much later, Survivor adds a spin to "reality TV" by putting competition in "reality".

is anyone going to debate me when i say that competition brings out the worst in humanity?

*** i am not judging specific people at this point.... i am merely stating my observations of what pop culture is presenting to us as "reality" at this point

right after the first airing of Survivor, MTV added competition to it's other "reality tv" show Road Rules. and if you follow road rules and later, real world... those shows begin to focus on the drama between people... and keeps repeating images and scenes of people in competition and conflict with each other.

admittedly around this time i stopped actively watching mtv/bet/and vh1.

however i did keep tabs.

and my tabs on this growing genre of "reality" tv just show a growing interest in "alliances" and deceit, and how people arguing with other people are at the forefront of pop culture.

so now we have a pop culture stage where the limelight is a boxing arena...
and "music television" is no longer about music... they are about this diffused and obscured perspective of "reality". and music highlight shows like 106 and park and that show on mtv with carson dailey don't even play entire music videos.

so what happened to the music and it's audience... the pop culture audience is primed for drama... they seek it out... and they no longer have the attention span to digest a full music video.

additionally artists are under pressure... to meet certain sales goals, to sell x amt of albums, to generate hype and publicity to sell music. to compete for an audience's attention which has been inundated with the idea that "reality" is an ikea furnished home where people drink and get into fights and sleep around and party and do things that really happen in "real life"... just not to the extent as it is portrayed on television.

and i am not going to say that Rappers and people in "hip hop" are saints... i'm not trying to say that "real hip hop" is all wholesome and pure and non competitive and all inclusive... nothing is. but in my opinion... mass media has done nothing to help hip hop. mass media exploits drama between people and sells it to us. and now drama is a marketing tool to sell books and cds. and i believe that pop culture/mass media/reality tv has twisted artists minds so much... that they play into it and become the roles publicized on tv.

don't believe me? how about flava flav and ray j?

*** this is not a personal attack on flava flav or ray j... this is only my interpretation of how they are presented to us as artists and people. additionally, if i were in a position to get paid and be on tv in a reality show... i probably fucking would. because people gotta eat and light bills don't pay themselves.

but what did the reality tv shows of flava flav and ray j present us? did they represent flava flav and ray j as artists at all?
ray j has been making music since the late 90s. and really... from my perspective he has been a struggling artist until his sex tape came out. and how many people know flava flav in his musical capacity as opposed to his tv personality?

hip hop has always had this aspect of image. really. for anyone to participate in hip hop... you gotta have the image down. whether you were a b-boy in shell tops in the early 80s or rocking the 1st grant hill's and a helly hansen jacket in the 90s... from cybertek to stunna shades... "hip hop" has always had this notion of image and presentation attached to it. it is embodied in a graff writer's pieces and robots next to a djs turntables. you gotta look the part somewhat if you wanna play the game... that is a component of "real hip hop".

so in my opinion... when artists are presented with these images of what "reality" is on tv, it gets assimilated into their image.

and im sure that rappers would be having sex with "groupies" if they weren't pervasively portrayed on tv... but would some of those groupies be groupies if those people (im sure there are male groupies out there too) weren't bombarded with images of groupie behavior (via reality tv) on tv?

as a dj who considers himself a contributing member of this "hip hop culture" i have to admit that i am offended by " Kat Stacks’ Confessions. Don’t Be Mad, Hip-Hoppers, You Created This." because i didn't do that shit BET... you did.

the last ipad post

2010-01-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

*this article is not based on any real research... it's just the product of observations, sweeping generalizations, and toilet seat pontificating.

What id like to see of the ipad.
I hope this is the last I speak of the ipad. I d hate to rant without purpose. But then again, the internet is my soap box; I have the talking stick; so someone has to listen.

Yeah… im a bit underwhelmed by it’s actual execution. No multitasking. No camera. Brushes? Eh. No flash. For people with a netbook or an e-reader, this probably won’t improve your life unless you really hate running windows os on a netbook (though the iphone os on the ipad doesn’t seem much better) or you really want a color ereader.

If you don’t have an ebook, an ereader, an ipod touch, or were looking to spend money on a top of the line ipod and find an ipad more useful, you will probably be happy buying an ipad. Personally, if steve jobs sent me one, I’d happily use it as my café internettin device and for reading gizmodo on the toilet. Plus the glass screen seems easier to keep clean than keys that trap… well, crap. (I’m talking about eating sandwiches and getting crumbs everywhere… not wiping up spooge. But that’s a reality as well.)

But for the creative community, and more specifically djs on a digital setup, I think the ipad has potential far larger than apple’s seemingly mundane intent.

What is an ipad? It’s a fairly large wireless touchscreen with a 1ghz processor and min 16gb sshd, I can’t remember if it has Bluetooth. But it also has some form of usb connection to sync with your computer. ( I can’t remember if it’s in the form of an actual usb port or a cable that is a dock terminal on one side and a usb port on the other… but you know,.. that white apple cable)

First off the bat, you may think im proposing some sort of serato app that allows you to have two virtual decks and spin right on the ipad. BAD IDEA. Sorry. But from the point of view of a working dj with real club and crowd experience, there is no way you could cram the necessary info into that screen size and come close to creating an environment that resembles mixing with decks or cdjs. You’d end up turning the thing into one of those stupid plastic toy turntables that have a “realistic scratch sample” play when you thumb a 2in plastic disc.

But what some fancypants and capable company (with experience in digital djing and has a successful solid digital dj program under their belt already) could do, is write an ipad app that allows you to control extra parameters on that digital dj rig. Liiiiiike: an x/y axis area for efx decay/sustain. A tap tempo area. You could have maybe an array of buttons/sliders/virtual pads to trigger loops (and adjust loop in and end), hotcues, and samples. Or how about a side screen that allows you to look through and select music in cover flow style and allows you to keep your music selection away from the eyes of prying other djs (djing in am(rip) mode feels kinda pretentious in some settings). Now this may be a stretch. But what if serato had a plug in that allowed you to display the full wavelength of a song on the ipad. Add loops by highlighting a section of the song (concurrent/multiple loops.), then add hot cues to that song and then trigger the loop/hotcues by tapping the screen. In real time. On the fly. In fact, the ipad has a headphone jack. Let me cue samples and hotcues off the ipad(in internal mode on the ipad) too.

Of course all this depends on apple’s ability/willingness to use their hardware in that fashion. If the hardware can’t handle it, then it can’t. but I’m convinced that if it can handle internet browsing, word processing, and music/movie playback, it working in conjuction with the laptop’s processor should be able to handle something as simple as file navigation and editing id3 tags right? Additionally I don’t know if the ipad touchscreen is intended for the extra milage a dj’s setup would incur. But why not try it.

I think however is it depends on how much “access” apple allows to the actual hardware. Multitasking? (multiple spaces for diff efx and serato controls? WINNING.) Is it not able to multitask because it’s not capable of running multiple programs? Im not sure. But I’d bet against that. Im guessing it has to do with the limitations of the iphone os. Now if for some reason apple’s fascination with control dictates that they won’t open the os up and allow for more desktop environment, (I can’t dl a zip, decompress and then put it in it’s right folder on an ipad? You can do that on a netbook) then that would be the Achilles heel for this product. In reality, I’d say scrap the app process and let people just make programs for the ipad. or keep it. But give people some room to do what we want with it.

Just don’t nerf the product because you have some sort of drm keystoned moral system. Because otherwise, the ipad is just kinda cool. But not as functional as it could be.

Realistically I should be asking serato to create a similar plugin/app for one of those windows based tablets cnet talked about during ces. But as someone who is working on a mac, I’d rather not. I like osx. And I can only imagine waves of complication in trying to input a windows/ubuntu/non osx governed peripheral into my current computer. But if I felt it would be successful I would. If buying a windows tablet would expand my dj setup that much. Hells to the yes. (and yes I know I could achieve what I am describing using traktor and a midi controller. But the format of a set controller isn’t as flexible as designing a GUI)

And serato. If any of this reached you, sounded like a good idea, and want to know more… hollerate at cho boy.

…now back to our scheduled programming…..
-brigidope

you know i had to post about it... the ipad

2010-01-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

the internet has swelled in the past few months around the idea of a tablet/slate device coming from apple. and now. finally it's here.

well not there.. but that artist rendering was pretty bang on.... but here:

sooooo whooopdydo. what's it mean? apple now has a 499 computing price point into people's lives.
im not gonna talk about what the ipad does. all the blog recounts of the presentation say that ipod/iphone users already know how to use the ipad. so if that implies the current ipad experience... we all already know.

but here is what i want the ipad to be able to do.

kaosIPAD. hook this up to your laptop and get an efx controller w/ x/y axis control.

tenorIPAD music creator/controller with this "app".

actually any sort of music creator/controller would be ill. people already have those drum/guitar/keyboard apps on their iphones. but this would allow for us to take advantage of the larger screen and space for more functions. i dont know how powerful this 1ghz a4 processor is... but someone put it to the test.
-brigideezy

apple 2010 predictions...

2010-01-02T13:39:00.001-08:00

(*this article isn't based on any real research it's just mental diarrhea sparked by an article and fueled by personal experiences, conversations, observations, alcohol, stunts, cocaine blunts, hip hop, and toad bunghole licking)

i read this interesting article on why apple WILL put out a tablet in 2010 and it got me thinking... apple's growing personal computing market share and domination of the mp3 player, and iphone success has little to do with their capacity as a company that makes computers. i'm not saying apple is not a capable computer manufacturer... because they are... but rather the fact that apple has succeeded since almost folding in the 90s is because apple has grown into a bit of a computing lifestyle company.

at the heart of this "computing lifestyle" is itunes.

itunes software and it's content really positioned apple to succeed in the mp3 market. with the popularity of the ipod, interest in apple notebooks and desktops followed. and really... the strongest force behind the iphone is itunes and the apps store. sure the UI and design of the phone is toad lickingly magical (at it's debut)... but without itunes to deliver content... the iphone would have been a pretty external harddrive with a screen on it that you could make calls on.

so where am i going with this? ah yes... company growth and direction...

so how does itunes and "computing lifestyle" fit into the development of a apple tablet?

well if we think about the popularity of the iphone, net books, and kindle readers, it implies the interest and usefullness of a non laptop(touchscreen) computing device that provides internet access and media access and control (itunes).

some people might indicate a pointlessness/frivolousness to a device that seems redundant to the iphone...

but if you place it within the context of an apple "computing lifestyle", you have a device that is a clean integration to your current itunes media, large enough to read ebooks comfortably, small enough to be considered "portable"; and allows for internet access sufficient for most web browsing and email needs.

lets expand this "apple computing lifestyle universe" and place the apple tablet in your living room as a media hub giving it control of your apple tv. now you have a fairly large apple touch display keyboard for navigating your itunes library streaming to your tv/audio center (apple tv/hulu/roku funtions navigated by a tablet? ...good bye cable box). download an ebook, and take this tablet/hub with you to read email web browse when you are out and about. set the tablet on a stand and the screensaver makes it a digital photo frame. bluetooth connect a headset and voip over your wifi network...

maybe im getting ahead of everything... but i think apple is going to take over your world.

the point of this article? im just setting up a pre 2010 prediction of what might happen this year.

happy new years yall and inspect all your toads before licking them.
-brigideezy/brigidope/brigibankai/beee jaaeeee if you're nasty

music post

2009-12-28T13:33:00.001-08:00

i got hip to tokimonsta after she did a remix for shing02's big city lights. and after more digi digging i became a tokifan. toki's style is pretty random and diverse... however not styleless. she ranges from breakbeat sampley loop sounds to grimey syth glitch slap (i don't describe genres. i invent them) without sounding random or unfocused.
she has a mix up for takeflightclub. it's a free download so peep the linkage and cop some new music.
(via tokimonsta's blog)

brigidope nu faves

2009-12-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

so before the end of the year i just wanted to highlight some musics/artists that i have been listening to.

suzi analogue. she keeps it pumpin. a lot of her music definitely has that grimey electronic dilla infused sound. but on the other side of the coin it's panty droppin music to F* to.

ive been listening to a lot of devonwho instrumentals and remixes. he did nice little remix of the suzi analogue track i posted. you can peep the remix here

a fellow dj from the LA put me up to MeLo-x's album Mustafa's Renaissance. Then after Maxwell but out Blacksummer's night, i heard about MeLo-X's remix treatment to that album. i keep it in one itunes playlist with Blacksummer's night. MeLo managed to flip songs off the album and make em different while keeping the original vibe and/or emphasizing certain emotions off the song he flipped. in anycase, ive been knocking his maxwell remix project for a minute

hello? anybody there?

2009-11-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

heh. just wanted to let peoples know that i will be djing this friday (yeah i know im supposed to be on a break)... but its with the homies who always bring it. new spot. new vibe. yii.

serial though, i got some ish im working on. so stay tuned. yadida.

really though. sorry this blog is so neglected

2009-11-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

yeah, i been a flake, but yer boy found a jobby job and i need the cash to fund some of my other endeavors. please to stay tuned though, i got a couple mixes in the works for you guys and working on some much needed re direction for el bloggo.

speaking of el bloggo, peep penelope trunk's post about social media, how and how not to use it. she points out some interesting facts about how large companies use social media... and if you know how they use it, then you can engage them on the same level for hopefully your benefit.

one thing though, she mentions that twitter is for conversations... but in my experience... if you have too many "@replies" your twitter feed will not be interesting to anyone who doesn't know you personally... additionally your twitter feed will eventually dissolve into 2nd hand intertron gossip reading. so unless that's your intention... try be original, have some substance... and use aim/text/skype/carrier pigeon to talk to people directly.

BTSA.

2009-07-16T14:35:00.001-07:00

so before i get to the mix, i gotta let you know about two events you can come check me out at. friday, i will be rocking a super early 8pm but all vinyl set at otis. this will be the last of The Clearing parties so it's starting the freshness extra early with me, dj mighty, and dj oza spinning an illy all 45 disco/soul set from 8-10. then from 10-2 we have be brown, bluz, and frank(e) all the way from LA holding down the party bizness.
otis 25 maiden lane SF

and saturday i get to hold down the ez lounge all night for the homey neo geo and the rest of the electric relaxation djs. i love playing in oakland, and getting to hold down a whole night really is going to be a fun one. trust im going to work around all my crates for that one.
ez lounge 3255 Lakeshore Ave (between Lake Park Ave & Trestle Glen Rd) oakland

if you need any more info about either event hollerifyouhearmeunhhhhhgh.

onward to tha show yall:

click the pic for the dl link and you can save the image for album art on your mp3 player/ipod/spank tank

a few weeks back my homie p. picked me and cal up to roll around the 'town in his 87 grand nash(that thing is a beast). it was a pretty warm day and the ttops were off. the ride kinda made me want to make a summer bumps mix. random shit that had some knock to it. and as im going though songs, it kinda reminded me of back in the day when i used to make tapes. start stop style. just recording random shit...

for some reason, when i could afford em, i was always using these headphones:

but i always fell asleep with em on and they'd break. after rocking taped up headphones for a week, those little red and blue earbuds that came with your gameboy was the safe hold-me-down till i could save up another 20 bucks for new headphones. the broken joints i'd completely break up so the little speakers would lie under my pillow till they got totally broken. (broke kids are resourceful fuckers) this was like junior high till pretty much end of highschool. yeah, i had a portable cd player... but tapes were my first entry to bootlegging (riaa *wooooooooo). honestly, being into music is fucking expensive. back in the day just saying "expensive" was painful. in anycase, tapes allowed me to record shit from other people and the radio. yeah, i used to wait and try to catch songs off the radio... and then rewind/ffwd the fuck outta that one spot till the tape snapped. (hey you guys remember freezing batteries to make em last longer OR just ride them batteries till listening to tapes draggin hella slow just got unbearable? ((usually the kids at bart with sour ass lookin faces were pissed cause their batteries were draggin))) ... oh and tapes dont skip. i had digi shock on the cd player and it really couldn't
hang skipless when running to catch a bart train.

SIDETRACKED. sorry.

but the reason me and a bunch other cohorts rocked those headphones so hard, was because of the fact that they produced bass pretty well. so we could fuck off our eardrums in bassheavy bliss.

while recording mixes and shit from other people, i'd try to reserve certain tapes to make bass tapes. basically they were tapes with just bass heavy songs i'd have in rotation while i could afford those headphones.

so i decided to do what i hope will be a series of bass tapes. and to start off the series i decided to included a bunch of stuff that was on the tapes of my youth.
i put some stuff that is more recent, but i thought it went aight and kept it kinda movin.

so inspired by sun in the 'town, grand nationals, bay area adolescence and sony headphones... it's BTSA. if this were 93 it'd would stand for Bass Tape Side A. but this is 09 and everything is a frikin acronym. so yeah. its just btsa.

shout out to do dat i used his song paper chase on this mix.

soundslike:
outkast- rturn of the g
dre dog- fillmoe
do dat- paperchase
drake- november 18th
big boi- ghettomusik
celly cel- its goin down
do or die- playa like me and you
bone thugs n harmony- moe cheese
cee lo- basshead jazz
funk mobb n***as- time to mobb
marvaless- n***as and hoes
marvaless- ghetto blues
eazy e- real muthaphukkin gs
young bleed- how you do dat
scarface- homies n thugs
scarface- fuck faces
devin tha dude- she used to be
luniz- pimps playz n hustlas
richie rich- real pimp
2pac- ambitionz az a ridah
snoop- gz and hustlas
rbl-bounce to this
too short- im a player
messy marv and san quinn- golden state ft 4-tay and sky skers

2009-06-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

rest in power michael jackson.

cupcakes and bodyrolls.

2009-06-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

i guess this is another gig post. but it's a little different. cuz i dont think this is yer normal type gig.

ever been to a party, and at the end or towards the end of the night, a slow jam comes on and it just hella puts that vibe out... like you and this girl you been gigging with all night are hitting bacon wrapped hot dogs outside of Levende cuz you need to be sorta a little bit sober for a few more hours together... all because the dj threw on R Kelly-Sex Me...

or you stepped out to the club with your S.O. and you knew when you were getting freaky to bobby brown - i wanna rock witcha that you was finna rock with someone when you got home...

or even if you just wanna sit up with yer special somebody and feel each other up while the dj is spinning some sade...

this is the night for you. the whole night of it...

you might have seen me, dj wh0?, or the world famous cutso on an award tour waving gucci rags in the air turning our swag on the flipside, grindin money in the ghetto... (musicnerdramble)
... but this night we are taking you back to late nights like 4am listening to slow jamz on the radio with yer boy/girlfriend for 5 hours not sayin shit except "are you tired yet" while you weave in and out of consciousness, eyes heavy but you dont wanna get off the phone yet... or when your mom came home, and you were blasting keith sweat and she accused your room of smelling like budissy... smelling like sin... or some of that music that your parents were playing while their bedroom door lock was "broken"... sorry for that last one. but you catch my drift.

cupcake up in a booth or body roll on the dance floor... or in some dark corner of the club i dont care...

Saturday June 13th
CUPCAKES AND BODYROLLS
@ the monkey club
2730 21st st SF

i hate to these types of posts... but yer boy got gigs.

2009-04-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

first up... every thursday... at otis (one of my favorite spots) you can see me, shawndubbs and dj tactics hold down your thursday kickinit spot. what do we play? ONLY HEAT.

then this saturday, im at azul with them dudes, boogie brown and dj sake uno. them dudes are the duders von duderests so make your next move your best move... plus WE SHOWIN THE PAQCUIAO FIGHT FO FREE BEFORE. get there early before someone's tito boy drinks up all the beer at the bar.

and may 15th see me at ROE in the 'sco. im rockin with the homey dsharp upstairs and i think im holding down your downstairs ALL NIGHT. you know how i do.

posting from venice.

2009-04-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

so ill be back soon. but i wanted to put the word out about the next clearing. we got kissey asplund coming out. at 2 euro every 15 min of internet access i cant give you the bullies wit fullies on it right now. but peep the essentials: BUY A PRESALE. OR YOUR NEIGHBOR WILL STEAL ALL YOUR TOILET PAPER FOR BEING AN HERB ASS ELSEV.

Limited Pre-Sale tickets are now available for "The Clearing" featuring Kissey Asplund and Hen Boogie this coming Friday.

You can purchase them by visiting our website ( http://theclearing.aidogroup.com - scroll down click the "Buy Now" button). It is HIGHLY recommended that you act fast as space is limited and we will sell out!

Fri, April 17th, '09

"The Clearing" feat. Kissey Asplund
hosted by: nake & realism*

brigidope : amazing zoo crew
bluz : the clearing
be brown: the people
that girl : groove suite
hen boogie : low self discipline/nobody beats the boog

$8 pre-sale tix
$10 Cover // 21 and up
doors open at 9pm

Citizen Space
425 2nd Street, #100
(Between Bryant & Howard)
San Francisco, CA

http://theclearing.aidogroup.com

"the clearing" april press release

The fine ladies and gents of The Clearing, implore you to erase all thoughts of what you think an event should be and embrace a new standard of excellence and exclusivity. The Clearing is bringing together an international cast of characters to present a new type of event, as it officially presents the first of its “Perfect Limited" nights…

Friday, April 17th, join us as we present the historical first ever meeting between two comrades in music: Hen Boogie & Kissey Asplund.

The musical backbone of the night will be provided by the stalwart cast and crew of musical conductors that The Clearing has been known for: That Girl (Groove Suite), Be Brown (The People), Bluz (The Clearing), and Brigidope (The Amazing Zoo Crew).

Members of the Limited Standard Mixologist Crew will be on hand, live and direct from New York and Parts Unknown to bring together a libations menu unseen in the Bay Area. Led by nightly host, nakeISM, the LSMC will be providing a special set of cocktails through the night: including the mimosa red (a perfect mimosa served over chilled blood orange infused simple syrup) and the dark and stormy night (dark moonshine rum served in ratio over bundaburg ginger beer and a dash of secret essence).

A variety of never mixed in cocktails will be unveiled in celebration of this special night. Expect dope music, dope vibes, and dope people.

This is a limited engagement. Reserve your space and a chance at charging up you groove and liquid palate by securing presale tickets at: http://theclearing.aidogroup.com

shing02 and zaion vid.

2009-03-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

so the homey shing02 is making a video with zaion. wanna be a part of it? peep below.
via tokimonsta

Organ Trip

download mpfree
(192kbps / 7.7MB /5:36 )
pc: right click & save / mac: option-click
composed by Zaion
from debut album: Nomadic Journals coming soon
written by Shing02

Instead of asking somebody inspired to make a whole video,
we're asking people to "chip in parts" to make the video.
Download and listen to the song (lyrics: http://www.e22.com/organtrip),
and please send us your original drawing, graphics, photos of artwork that
you think will fit the story line of the the song.

any little part is welcome, street cars, trees, interior decoration, nature...
please feel free to pass the link around as well.

submissions should be copyright-free graphic files (jpg, tiff). no videos!
size: about 720 x 480 pixels, no larger than 2MB.
the work does not have to be in full color. black and white drawings welcome.

you can send all material to organtrip@gmail.com
(or you can upload on your server and send link)

the first deadline (or lifeline) is April 15.
thereafter when we receive enough material, and upon completion of the project.

the project is not intended for any kind of commercial use.
the finished project will be released on the internet.

although this is an open project, the director reserves the right
to alter images as he sees fit to make the animation work.
if there's more than enough submissions, the material will be selected at the director's discretion.

the video will be directed & animated by Andy Care.
Luv(sic) Part2 feat. Shing02 produced by Nujabes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq-BnuBf65Y

in peace,
shing02

the clearing

2009-03-18T13:34:00.001-07:00

the clearing will be at otis(one of my favorite venues to go and spin) this week. we have some really ill talent and it would be in your interest to roll through!

Mar 20, '09

"The Clearing"

all soul. all night.

hosted by: nake & realism*

march dj line up...

that girl : groove suite
bluz : the clearing
dj oza : japan
baron zen : stones throw
brigidope : amazing zoo crew

25 Maiden Lane, SF, CA

$6 cover charge : 21 and up

http://theclearing.aidogroup.com

dj advice?

2009-02-18T00:37:00.000-08:00

so a homey on facebook hit me up asking about how to get booked. and my reply ended up looking like a cool blog post. his question was about trying to get booked. and so here is what i said. disclaimer: i am not booked as much as i would like. so i hope im not comin preachy or sideways. this is just what i think i have learned thus far and if it helps people out... werdemup. if someone got more input or a different way that gets them booked globally... HOOK ME UP DUNNY

ah the dj game. it's a difficult one. but not impossible! as with a lot of things, part of it is who you know. sounds kinda wack... but in all things, people book who they know. the good thing is that most people who book are really cool. some people think that this might imply ass kissing or other forms of wack politiking... but its not like that. if i had to structure a method for getting it booked, it might look like this:

a) find out what events are events you would like to play for. get to know people. talk to promoters. try working with the ones you get along with. give out mix cds. (demos should always be live and editing to a minimum. separating tracks is a must.

b) be honest, and figure out if you think you would be right for this type of party. sounds weird, but i see djs have hard times getting booked because they arent rocking the crowd. it's kinda a case of the wrong dj for the wrong crowd.

c) be patient. in the time that you arent getting booked, maybe start a website/blog. get people knowing your name. i put up free mixes on my blog: djbrigidope.blogspot.com
it kinda helps people booking if they hear of you in other ways than at the club. drinking + loud music = lousy memory.

if you start a blog, dont just talk about gigs. infact, try to talk about normal people stuff or stuff thats interesting to you.. rare records, favortie producers, what you cooked for dinner. people on the internet who seem like they are always selling something get annoying. giving people information and making yourself valuable to people means people are paying attention.

d) network with djs you know that you like spinning with/get along with and try getting on places. dont be pushy... this is where a demo mix works... because you can pick up some last min gigs and/or if a dj you know is booking for something, it helps them know that you are a dj they feel confident in to book.

when all else fails...

book yourself.

im serious. find a spot that will let you play. being the bay area you cant swing a freaking pair of headphones around without hitting another dj. but if you come across a place that fits your vibe... do it. vinroc always says "if you build it they will come" yeah he took that from a movie... but its kinda true. throwing parties are a whole nother beast. but feel free to holler if you got questions about that.

damn this is a pretty long message. heh. i think ill use it as a blog post. but yeah man, holler if you got more questions. i dont mind answering them if i know the answer.

peace.
-bj,

the clearing.

2009-02-09T18:29:00.001-08:00

come hang out in a new spizot in the town

***an intimate post valentines edition of...
"the clearing" // FRIDAY, 20th FEB 09 // 9pm - 1am

this month @ spice monkey - 1628 webster street @ 17th street, oakland, ca.

hosted by: nake & realism*

with djs...

be brown : the people
brigidope : amazing zoo crew
baron zen : stones throw
presto : spikeypillows.com

$4 ALL NIGHT

dope cuts. sangria specials. prom style photo booth.

http://theclearing.aidogroup.com

early arrival is suggested, space is limited.

street parking. free lot to the right of the venue.

find out more about the venue - www.spicemonkeycafe.com

its interesting what happens when you turn off the tv.

2009-02-04T04:40:00.001-08:00

im listening to my wintersoulstice mix. its kinda the business.
i cant sleep. big suprise yay.
like when im lying down my head wont shut up.
but suprisingly not in a way that i really mind.

earlier today, the sis n i went over to kona club to hang out with taka. picked up some cybelles slices over by MB and then on to kona.

pizza. alcohol. kickinitisms at 230. not bad for a tuesday.

started the round off with an averno and ginger beer. so killin it. sounds weird huh. but its really good. after exchanging "whadduppers" we started talking about relationsships and stuff. (yeah we just dive right in to things don't we). i don't think i need to beat that horse any deader so we will say that "it happens". at this point i think i had finished a "stormy waters", it's somekindarum and ginger beer. it was cool, but im not really a rum person. then we had a shot called a "sneaky tiki".

it was sneaky. what a sneaky little tiki.

i think at this time we were talking about jobs and school and religion... you know, typical pre happy hour conversation fare. honestly i dont know if i can really remember completely how the conversation went because the tiki snuck in pretty well at that point. cigarettes were dessert.

kinda gross.

oh well.

the next drink was a shot called a "kiss of death." im serious. i tasted death. and then death told me to stop tasting her.

i took her advice. i dont think i drank after the kiss of death. you kinda want to end your pre happy hour happy hour when you start drinking things with "death" in the name.

it was close to 6 when we left. go yay hi team fun explosion.

home. text. passout. phonecall at like 7. passout. ring. wtf. it's 9? shit. up. hi. end phone call.
productive. now its 4:36 am.

im gonna do more work till i go back to kona.

dinner date with azc

2009-01-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

whats that? you need some place great for a date? your favorite dj crew is holdin it down. MONDAY. jan 19th. 09.

Mua is a nice new spot in Oakland (where tha town at) and we will be settin that date vibe from 8pm-12am. you can trust we will be playing slow jamz every hour... so go ahead, order another drink, a bottle of wine, and get yer dinner date on. (fer reals if they showed up that's half the battle won!)

vibin with:
brigidope
taka
dnz
wh0?
8-12
mua oakland
2442 Webster St Oakland
(510) 238-1100
no cover er anything... but you know... dinner/drinks aint free.
it's your date. so dress how you feel.

and if you need something to set that date vibe on the way to MUA... brigidope got you covered on ALL angles.

searchin searchin.

2009-01-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

so if you listened to my 5k 08 mix... the 2nd to the last song is a remix of roy ayers- searchin. vinroc produced that house mix and it's pretty freaking dope. the vibe is nice, danceable for sure but retains the feeling of the original. peep his post about it and dl the full trizack.

5k08 yall.

2008-12-30T14:10:00.001-08:00

its been a long time... i shouldn'ta left you.. with out a dope beat to step to.....

whaddup yall. yeah i been kinda boring lately. but i been out of it kinda. feelin kinda odd. i was actually gonna post a "moody mix" but the new year is coming, so i kinda felt like "fuck it..." in the immortal words of erykah badu: "shake ya load off" and lemme keep steppin. so this mix is my uptempo welcome for the new year with some happyish beats... you know, to get the spirits up for the ne year. the music on here is stuff i rarely get to play out... and there are a bunch of remixes that the local homies have made and some music that other people have passed me that ive been really feelin. so this mix is for everyone. shout out to all the homies that made the good times of 08 happen. we audi500 2008. 09 hollerate. peace yall.

/b.

post edit. i decided to throw up a soundslikelist.

sounds like:

common go jazz remix- similak chyld via vin

amerie one thing remix- vinroc/sophomore via vin

mj i cant help it- tangoterje rmx via saker uno

stevie all i do

midnight star midas touch

bossa eye peas yes yall- similak chyld via dj apollo

them masters at work via rodniz

trizonna mcclendon via rinarina

omar its so via stark

unklejam what am i fighting for stizeph

stevie's love is on fire- spinna rmx

ski oakenfull ft amp fiddler- let me be

vikter duplaix a life worth living

roy ayers be searchin vinroc heat rock remix

unklejam love ya herve remix

daaaaaamn. i been a boring piece

2008-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

but i got a new hard drive. its got lights on it. yayers.

WINTERSOULSTICE MIX.

2008-12-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

it's cold outside. and im pretty sure it's gonna get colder. this is the season where everyone gets all booed up and people bust out the yule log to cupcake up on a bear skin rug with a glass of red wine, keith sweat, maybe some rubber sheets. baby oil. a feather duster. candles. some good heavy rope. maybe some gravy from thanksgiving. hotsauce. leather chaps and a cowboy hat...

ok. so brigidope aint booed up and maybe my memory is getting foggy but i kinda remember that that's how it's done... oh well.

but the point of the mix is that while people spend more time inside... they may as well have something to bump for that special "i just got off work and im trying to kick it with you" vibe.

on a side note... i made the recent observation that at some point in some people's relationships... people stop talking. you know what i mean? like both of you are in the room and you just kinda move around each other? it happens right? like at some point in time, your significant other just ends up being that person blocking your sunlight or making the remote control all warm. you kinda stop discussing things that are important, things that matter, and things that are interesting and end up just fighting over stupid shit.

so whether you been with someone for a minute or you are still in the "cupcake-we-still-hump-like-highschool-freshman-when-moms-is-outta-town" phase... this is for you...

brigidope luh da keeids so im hoping this mix helps some people go "half on a baby" in the words of the King of Freak R Kelly

sounds like:
sade- all about our love
maxwell- w/as my girl
lauryn hill- turn your lights down low ft bob marley
lauryn hill- tell him
aaliyah- at your best stepper's ball rmx
sade- ordinary love
d angelo- lady just the beat rmx
raphael saadiq- you should be here
jill scott- bedda at home
raphael saddiq- still ray
d angelo- smooth
d angelo- feel like makin love
shai- i don't wanna be in love rmx ft jayz

2nd half: it's the truth half. im not going to post a track list because i want certain songs to be on some "ohshitthisisreallythetruth" status. let's just say that if you make it this far, it's time to DO WORK.

ps. i think everyone can appreciate this mix... but my 25 and over folks will probably be "get it" a little more.

2008-12-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

my good friend natalie (soulgypsies whattup) just got back from HK and brought me back a neat little gift.

muji is a japanese brand that makes well designed practical things for daily use. from clothing to housewares. imagine if ikea and target had sex, made a kid who grew up to surpass the coolness of their parents. that would probably muji.
in case you hadn't figured out yet, it's a portable mini ashtray.
it's kinda weird and people might not think to keep an ashtray on them. but it definitely helps maintain your smokers mess instead of tossing butts everywhere. and i kinda think it makes a random cig session more of an event. a social meeting. people may think what they want about cigarettes, but you can't deny that well designed thoughtful things are just cool.

gack.

2008-12-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

it's 6:36am pacific standard time. i havent gone to sleep yet. today might prove to be a little difficult. but ive actually been really productive, made some headway into some work that needed to catching up on, and prepared for a gig i got thursday.

but trust i did a tiny bit of lollygagging. i mean it's me... i procrastinate. i procrastinate almost as well as i dj. and i aint sayin im the best dj... but for damn sure i aint a pushover. i aint little dude status.

and while i was procrastinating i came across this: kanye on conan it was kinda awesome. i dug it. then somewhere in the twitter world i find this:
808s and Heartbreak review at the village voice:

"...And he's become about the millionth post-T-Pain abuser of AutoTune..."

it's just odd. people act like just because what kanye's doing is popular, then it's insincere. additionally people seem to be suprised at the popularity of the autotuner. IT'S BEEN GOING IN THAT DIRECTION FOR YEARS.
while somewhat retaining it's sample roots, hip hop has been progressing towards more electronicaish methods of production. timbaland... neptunes... are we forgetting the videogame bassline of NORE-SUPERTHUG? or "get you bling like that neptunes sound... BOOOP BOOOP."... not to mention Tim' with the signature asr and triton sound... lil jon and the rave synths... all the hyphy shit was all keyboards amd 808 plug ins and most recently the dream and tpain both use predominantly house music methods of production. doesn't it make sense that those methods of production would get applied to vocals eventually? its just a trend. that's the nature of the beast that is hip hop. it adapts and changes. im just wondering when people will figure that out and stop all this whining and mouth running over whats real, who is jumping on what bandwagon, and whether or not they like this "new trend" or not. its fucking music people... if you like it yay. if you don't... then you aint gotta come to the party.

do i really need to point out how hip hop takes pieces of regional hip hop and adopts it into it's own sort of mainstream hip hop lexicon. so it sounds different pretty much every 4 years. THATS WHY WE LIKE IT RIGHT? like the slow "screwed" line punctuations that are pretty common now all come from dj screw (rip) outta texas.

aights. it's 742. time to get ready. point of this rant? none. but basically i was complaining about people complaining...

at least i can admit when im being short sighted.

but just so your efforts in reading this aren't wasted... go here and cop this:

*post edit. village voice doesnt like hyper linking. making me dl the pic and the upload it to photobucket. while i understand it... i am completely annoyed by it. eat poop guys.

oh jeeeze.

2008-11-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

i know it. ive been lagging in the worst way. sorry chall. i got a gang of shit and some hd issues. but this is a set me and my boy, dj wh0? did on The Bridge on livemixshow.com. shouts to erock707, dj 360, and dose for having us on. unfortunately i had to chop the show to just me and wh0? because of mediafire’s 100mb limit to file uploads. but you guys should check out www.livemixshow.com to peep them dudes out.

typical zoo soulishness. complete with wh0/brigidope microphone nonsense.

ive got one more mix i need to finish up with drops and art... you know this process might go easier if one of my female readers could do a couple drops for me.... please????? im just getting tired of the female robot voice. inanycase stanky purple hollerate if you would like to do a drop or two for me... all it means is you just email me an mp3 of my name/crew... a/s/l...

jk on a/s/l

greasy peas yall.

sorry.

2008-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:00

but this song is killin it.

and sorry. but fuck all that goldenageoldschoolnonsensicalnonsense. the nu nu shit is killin it. im playing tpain and autotuned 'yeezy fer real. keepin it real be keepin it real boring sometimes.

2008-11-18T01:05:00.001-08:00

twitter is down for maintenance. i feel disconnected.

and screw facebook. i hope it goes the way of friendster.

beauty and the geek?

2008-11-18T01:04:00.001-08:00

In case you didn't know, Chris Pirillo is like the Yoda of online tech-buddha personalities. he pretty much has the tech/web game on lock and his insights on building a blog/website/online personality are enlightening to say the least. A self proclaimed geek, he even has his own geek community @ geeks.pirillo.com.

i hope you can tell i don't mean geek as a derogatory term by now.

just recently, chris posted on twitter about the reality show Beauty and the Geek doing a casting call and inviting members of geeks.pirillo.com to try out. and i must say that im halfway entertaining the notion of trying out. like why not? i mean i pretty much consider myself a geek. i took this okcupid test and scored a "Pure Geek"... and being a dj requires geek tendencies i suppose... so why not do it? at the very least i can represent and maybe cop a gig off it if i go far enough. but yeah... in geek fashion im kinda shy so im not positive on how i feel about being on camera.

well if i dont do it... maybe you should.

TONIGHT IF YOU LOVE SOUL MUSIC

2008-11-14T15:05:00.001-08:00

Step @ Otis.

neo. hip hop. soul. that's the theme for this month. typically it all gets mixed in, but for november we are digging deep in the crates and dedicating the night to all the soul flavas you know and some you don't. but if you love erykah badu, lauryn hill, sade, maxwell, musiq, and all related musics... this night is for you. come one come all, it's for all my soul heads out there.

Resident Step Inducers

GUEST DJ: DNZ

DnZ has been steady making moves in the dj community as a member of the prolific Amazing Zoo Crew (AZC) and as a member of Hip Hop Slam along side Billy Jam, DJ Pone, Dawgisht, Alf1, Shing02 and others. You may have heard his cuts on Shing02's release : Big City LIghts or mixing on a number of Billy Jam's radio shows on KALX. Catch DnZ as he makes a Step a movement at otis.

Otis is perfect for birthdays, bachelor/bachelorette parties, or any event where you want to hear some good music, have good drinks, but want to avoid the super huge/packedness of larger clubs.

Why not have it in a place where you won't spend all your time looking for your friends? Celebrate with us in Otis' fun yet intimate atmosphere!

For group parties/birthdays/info, email us at stepguestlist@gmail.com

....

....
Get your own widget....

SATURDAY. im playing with the homey neil armstrong.

2008-11-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

and in case you didn't know, he puts out serial heat mixtapes. and he is jay z's tour dj. so come out. have fun. glist is kinda full but if you wanna be my date hollerate.

GET LIVE PRESENTS

*****

GET EM HIGH

*****

DJ Neil Armstrong. Maybe you remember him battling as a member of the Almighty 5th Platoon during the heyday of turntablism. Or maybe you’ve picked up one of his numerous legendary mixtapes. Perhaps you read about him in Rolling Stone or Vibe Magazine. Or better yet, maybe you recognize him as the man backing up the Jigga Man himself during Jay-Z and Mary J Blige’s “Heart of the City” tour. Regardless of where you recognize him from, we are truly excited to bring him to you live and in the flesh.

Saturday, November 9th

111 Minna Gallery

111 Minna St, San Francisco

Doors open @ 10pm

Room 1 :: Hip Hop * Dancehall * Classics

:: DJ NEIL ARMSTRONG ::

5th Platoon, NYC :: Jay-Z’s Heart of the City Tour DJ

:: BOOGIE BROWN ::

The Formula

:: DJ DELROKZ ::

I Dig Breaks :: Urban Era

Room 2 :: Soul * Funk * R&B

:: DJ BRIGIDOPE ::

Amazing Zoo Crew

:: SHAWN DUB ::

Deux Process

Hosted by

:: RUSH ONE ::

Event coverage by

To celebrate your birthday email getlivesf@gmail. com

Sign up for the discounted guestlist at going. com/getemhigh

yeah. im voting tomorrow.

2008-11-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

a guy i know recently posted on myspace :
"If You're Not Fucking With Obama I Don't Need To Know You. Straight the fuck up, I don't even want to know you on the fucking internet. Just delete me from your bullshit friends because if you think voting for McCain is a good idea you are a fucking jackass that I don't need in any aspect of my fucking life.
This also goes for anyone in California who thinks prop 8 is a wise move. As if gay marriage will have any impact on your shitty life."
and yes.

the fresh dudes are adding incentive to voters:

additionally twitter and facebook messages imply a huge interest in voting this time around.

so i guess this is me also saying vote tomorrow. no mater how you think obama already has this state, or how prop 8 has an anemic percentage of voters... it isnt decided till the last of the polls close. make it count kiddies. and no i dont have anything to give you... besides a swift kick to the face from the homey miss Tash-n-dash-yo-azz aka tashaluina if you don't vote.

obama 08. no on 8. and if you are in berkeley. yes on JJ.
-5k

2008-10-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

pretty damned funny. LJer Somehedgehog narrating the elections as a D&D party. via notcot

2008-10-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

seriously? it's 2008. and there are people who really think they are too good to deal with "homeless people on the way to bikram"? so much in fact, that they need a website to help them navigate around undesirables?

WTF?????

and why are cannabis clubs on there... what kind of bougie yuppy stoner are you, that you want to know where a cannabis club is, but need a gentrification website to tell you where your precious beamer wont get scratched.

seriously people i'm appalled. say what you will about bringing in money to help the city and all that. but if you think you are better than the less-fortunate you can keep your happy j-cat ass in dublin or whatever far removed gated community you come from.

i need to update a lot more. dont worry. im on it.

2008-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

ive been pretty busy actually. too busy infact. ive pretty much been neglecting all my online presences... blogger, twitter, LJ, myspace, facebook...

you know what? screw facebook. it's pretty much an example of something new taking over... but it isnt really any better. i really could care less about who wrote what on who's wall, the apps dont make sense to me. i have about 89 notifications about people throwing sheep or taking some movie quiz... i really could care less about how i compare to someone's movie tastes. the only thing i liked about facebook was the fact that i only had friends on there... i could keep all my business and industry contacts and all that to myspace... but noooooo now my personal space has been invaded by johnny cock rocket and a bunch of other people i dont know who want to add me as a friend now. and my inbox? i got like 204 messages in my inbox about crap i could care less about. wasn't that what the myspace bulletins were for? like if you wanted to pay attention you could, but other wise, your inbox was for messages that from people you knew. but now that it's all thrown together, i don't even look in my inbox... people who want to talk to me can email me.

while im into this whole social media thing... i just don't get the complete banality of 85% of facebook's function. i'm just a functional boy living in a functionless facebook world.

tonight. if you want something to do...

2008-10-10T13:42:00.001-07:00

Step @ Otis.

Step is intended for the music loving, forward thinking individual. Just when you thought it was the same djs bringing you the same music... DJ heavyweights Vinroc, Shortkut, and Brigidope shed the typical party formula and bring you something a little different. Stuff you know mixed with more stuff you don't know... from soul to house to hip hop... downtempo ambient to reggae... all tastemakingly mixed in a way only veteran DJs can.

Resident Step Inducers

Otis is perfect for birthdays, bachelor/bachelorette parties, or any event where you want to hear some good music, have good drinks, but want to avoid the super huge/packedness of larger clubs.

Why not have it in a place where you won't spend all your time looking for your friends? Celebrate with us in Otis' fun yet intimate atmosphere!

For group parties/birthdays/info, email us at stepguestlist@gmail.com

wacksauce.

2008-10-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

somehow my post with my farewell summer mix got deleted. will repost soon. wanna dl it without reading my banal crapwriting? peep the mixes list to the right.

raDIoHeAd

2008-10-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

so awesome. the song really means a lot to me. animation is on point.

2008-10-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

if you hadnt seen it yet... and really, i kinda don't like it when people use the term terrorism, only because i think it gets used to blanket name a shitload of things that are of no relation to each other... but sarah silverman is in it. i'll follow her to hell riding on her handle bars if i have to.

so maybe you like what you have heard so far

2008-10-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

or maybe you want to tell me i need to step my game up. well you have two opportunities.

friday at radio:

or next friday at otis:

oh and if you like the graphics on my page.. (mix covers, flyers, header) hire me. i did em all. if you dont... well that happens too.

anudda won.

2008-09-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

thinkahher. it was kinda a motivated exercise in mixpression. i was feeling some songs and decided to hit record while practicing. that said, this mix is a little less cleaner than some of my other mixes. it's kinda rough but it's good enough. i just wanted to get some stuff out.
thinkahher. is pretty mellow. some might call it melancholy. i just think it represents one of the many facets of emotion. still dope music regardless.
it's only 14 tracks, but it's 46mins long. i let a bunch of stuff ride out.
so if you are waxing nostalgic about someone, got some stuff to think about, or just need a vibe for a long ride/blunt... this is for you

soundslike:
rjd2- here's whats left
massive attack- protection
sade- somebody already broke my heart
nujabes- peaceland
soulstice- not alone
res- ice king
groove theory- come home
jay dee- ghetto love feat truth hurts
erykah badu- telephone
goapele- back to you
d' angelo- shit damn mutherfucker
handsomeboy modeling school- sunshine
everything but the girl- corcovado
soulstice- tenderly

2008-09-27T15:08:00.001-07:00

had fellini's on university for brunch. it was the road to awesome town. torched now. post later.
it happens.