Peace to The Lockers for possibly being the first to present the combination of the two arts in this form for others to follow suit. #GOAT

THE LOCKERS

KRS ONE

BIONIC

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

For me personally, the first time I thought about what I was putting into my body was when I first got down with Universal Zulu Nation in the mid 90s. With the Infinity lessons I received they had a break down and image of a pig that bugged me out. I was a teenager reading the lessons like damn, pork is NOT the biz. Off the bat I had stopped pork meat in the house and at school. Fam was like you’re trippin, but I had stuck to my guns even when pork was on the table. Mind you, google (there was no google lol) and web access on this info was extremely limited so we took these lessons very seriously. This was a starting point in how I would pay attention to what I would be putting in my body.

At times, I look back on old flicks back in the 90s and today in 2013 and im thankful that I still have the same appearance (with a few grey hairs of course lol) thanks to conscious eating habits and training lifestyle habits I picked up from veterans in Hip Hop that blessed me with solid game throughout the years directly and indirectly. Salute to you all!

1996 photo: JoJo

2013 photo: @Rawkbeez

“The first way to eat healthy is to think healthy…All foods are moods.” -KRS ONE

“The closest thing you’re gonna ever get to the fountain of youth is fruits, veggies and working out. ” -Styles P

“My longevity is definitely attributed to eating healthy.” -Mr. Wiggles

“When I learned about energy and whatever you eat, you transfer that energy into yourself.” -Qbert

“You are what you eat…I became a vegetarian for nine years at one time, I felt that its what made me care about people more, care about animals and being connected with everything.” -Kmel

“I had to really educate myself  on how to eat because thats more than half the battle.” -Fat Joe

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

“Every DJ had to have a microphone…In the beginning we were introducing new music to people so we had to kind of coach them…For me the mic is just as important as the turntables when youre DJing, it’ll save you a lot of times too.” -Grand Master Caz

Caught this fresh clip with Grand Master Caz on microphone turntable call and response skills. Most of the time when I travel to jams around the world I run into mic shy DJs that have the hardest time picking up a mic to turn the party out the way it should be done. I’ve also personally seen some DJs grow from being mic shy in the past to seeing them later down the road pick up the mic and tear it down (props to those heads). Showmanship as a DJ definitely goes beyond just spinning the vinyl so younger (and older DJs) who havent caught on yet please get accustomed to utilizing the microphone.

Few more clips with greats DJ Scratch, Mix Master Mike Rocking it like no other on the tables and microphone crowd control skills.

#DJin

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

“I want you to know that im more than just an artist, a man that sings and dance or screams or something on the stage, I want you to know that im a man, a black man, a soul brother…”

When you’re able to utilize the art form/craft you practice to help empower and uplift the people within your circle or community by inspiring them to do the same is when you should reflect and appreciate that you’re steady on the right path. Make anything you do be more than just about you -it’ll go a long way in your career.

Happy Bornday & Thank you James Brown. RIP

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

Peace to DJ Qbert for continuously inspiring and elevating within his art form. Maintaining that mind state of great consistency is extremely hard to do as one grows up with other priorities be it family, work etc. The basic idea of consistency within an art form or whatever you do in life is how well you manage to maintain keeping a student like approach -as the way DJ Qbert expresses his thoughts within the clip.

The second you stop appreciating the fact you could always learn more from more sources of elders, teachers, mentors etc is the moment that you will be blind sided and slapped in the face by your own ego. Dont stop the Rock, but definitely dont stop the wisdom seeking -there is always someone that’s been there and done that, learn from their positive and negative traits to secure your own future.

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

Peace to Kmel & Storyboard reppin Real street dance battle biz. Overstand and appreciate the funky evolution…

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

Recently watched the latest GI JOE flick with my son Paulskee and its always a great feeling to have him experience some of my child hood favorite things together. It was fresh to catch RZA (Wu Tang Clan) in the film as a blind master of Ninjutsu. Growing up in the early 80s if you werent into these 80s cartoons you def must have been in a different world. As with most youth I was heavy into Snake Eyes and Stormshadow for the martial arts appeal.

Something that GI JOE cartoons that always stuck with me growing up was the fact that there would be instances where they would kick cultural game that would eventually open my mind up to the world in terms of world history and geography.  I would literally stare at maps like these (addicted) when I had any world history classes in school day dreaming of how wars etc. used to be:

This particular episode from the original GI JOE cartoon had inspired me early on to gain an interest in wanting to see the world and learn about historic leaders/conquerers -literally remember it like yesterday. @2:05 the scientist drops names like Napoleon, Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible etc.

Little did i know that I would eventually go on to visit these places around the world through Hip Hop culture thanks to some of these early child hood inspirations. Blessed and Thankful I get to share some of my experiences growing up with my own son in hopes that he will also be inspired to travel the globe and live out some of his Dreams the same.

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

Was in Hawai’i last week and caught these mixes by DJs Funkmaster Flex & Legendary Red Alert from via the bro DJ UNE. A def sure shot that you gotta check out as the two go in HEAVY on classics from the 70s – late 80s era of what was poppin on the streets of New York City at the time. Extremely relevant for any student of the game as both Flex and Red drop their perspectives on the history of the tracks being played on a social as well as political level when the tracks were being played. EDUtainment to the fullest to say the least.

Flex had mentioned the fly part of the duo droppin history on the show was that Red Alerts’s perspective came from a DJ perspective on stage as to where Flex’s perspective was coming from a person in the crowd  in the earlier days so it was fresh to see Flex pay respect to those before him and catching both perspectives. Hopefully you can pick up gems that apply and Rock the hell outta these mixes for your enjoyment, I know I did!

#HIPHOP

2012 part 1-4: http://www.hot97.com/funkmaster-flex/2012/12/26/just-incase-you-missed-it-funkmaster-flex-red-alert-on-christmas-eve-audio

2011 1-4 via http://classicmixtapes.blogspot.com

2011 part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?3fuqorpbff2vqar

2011 part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?c8aqrq0nbyu8cw7

2011 part 3: http://www.mediafire.com/?ls7lwfrkef7vsf2

2011 part 4: http://www.mediafire.com/?yxvu5751457fddv

Love what you do!

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee

When someone brings up the Beat Lounge, the first thing that comes to my mind is a smoked out basement and the rawest form of Hip Hop culture you could ever come into contact with. Peace to Profo 1 for introducing me to Derrick D., and Derrick for letting us get a chance to be involved with Beat Lounge even thoe we were young -not too many elders gave us those shots to be apart of something great growing up in Hip Hop.

The best memory about Beat Lounge was that if there was only 5 people or a packed room, you could always count on Derrick and Shortkut (as well as the rest of DJ lineup and guests who were given a chance to shine) to give their 110%. I learned from these two in particular to be mindful to do your job and rock you skills hard at all times whether its a slow or great night -your rep is everything. The random guest ghetto superstar DJ visits was crazy, seen so many of the peeps we looked up to from around the world get up and rep on the strength out of the love for music -and it was FREE. Realest shit I ever witnessed growing up, glad I was able to witness it with my friends for real (blessed).

In this clip was what went down on many of the countless nights where Derrick and Short would be on that Dynamic Duo tip, record for record just playing fire for the night. Teaching us about samples, diff musical genres, and most importantly what it means to acquire TRUE DJ SKILLS -not being sloppy. SO MUCH MORE went on in terms of Turntabling skills and other wild happenings at Beat Lounge throughout the years but I wanted to just post this aspect of what went on down stairs when Derrick and Shortkut would take us to school.

Shout out to everybody that held it down upstairs as well. I think just about everybody that came out of this era who attended Beat Lounge eventually blew up doing their own things to this day and can credit Beat Lounge as a defining moment in their career -MAGICAL energy that lives on today to those who lived it.

Here is in Derrick’s own words some info on the Beat Lounge history from a Mighty4 interview I did with him back in 2001:

Tell us about The Beat Lounge and its creation.

Beat Lounge started at Club Deco in SF and it originally spawned from dj Apollo’s original Tuesday nights called ‘Many Styles’ back in 95′-96′. In his night, the resident djs were, Q-bert, Shortkut, and himself. His guest djs included Mix Master Mike, Disc, Myke One, Flare, and little ole me. Not a lot of people came to check it out but for those who did show up, they witnessed some of the dopest dj shit ever. For those who missed out, Club Deco had two floors, a main dancefloor for party animals and an underground basement downstairs for djs to flex their skills. On any given night, not only can you see Q-bert scratch his ass off in the basement, but you can also see him go upstairs and rock a crowd. Seeing those guys just inspired me to reachfor newer heights. Then one day, it all ended. Apollo had to go on tour and Q-bert wanted to focus his attention on his newly formed group called the ‘Invisible Scratch Piklz.’ Apollo asked me to continue the legacy. Without knowing much about running a club, I took it. In order to run a successful club, I knew I needed dope djs and a promoter who understood djs. Short helped me out in assembling the djs and I got dj Tonga kid to promote the night. We also took on a new name, The Beat Lounge, as suggested by Justin Torres. I took the strong aspects from Apollo’s night and implemented some of my own, like the ‘open-turntable-format.’ The open turntable format basically gave the dj a chance to flex his/her skills. I gave everyone a chance, even Paulskee. Yea I said it, Paulskee, Mr. Mighty4 himself. I wanted to create a forum where djs could learn from one another in a fun, relaxed, dj-friendly environment. I knew every dj had skills in their own right and I wanted to give them a chance to express themselves. Eventually, their skills transformed the club from a sparse, 10-person crowd, to an all out, standing-room-only, event. Fools from all over the world came. It was one thing to hear a fool say h! e was from Utah but it tripped me out even more to hear a fool say he came from Russia, Japan, England and Denmark just to see us perform. Even djs from different cities came by to say hi. Most notably, the Beat Junkies, the X-Men, A-trak and of course the Piklz. And they all peformed for free! Where else can you see all these superstars for $5? I think the night was also successful because of the pure hip hop aspect it offered. Besides the superstar djs, there were also B.boys, MCs and graf artists. When these folks started to come in, they not only heard the usual hip hop sounds, but they also witnessed live scratching, juggling and break beats from different djs. I had so many djs down to spin for me, that I had to schedule them on different nights just to keep everyone happy. But that only meant a better variety of skills for the fans to watch and enjoy.

How have things changed for the Beat Lounge since its move from Club Deco to Storyville?

The changes were unbelieveable. First off, Deco was like a small, dirty garage and it was the perfect atmosphere for underground djs. Storyville, on the other hand, was a nice, rich jazz club that was perfect for a live band, not for djs. Second, most of the dope djs had either moved away or went on tour. Only party/commercial djs remained to do the show. Third, the crowd changed too. No longer did they come to see the scratching and beat juggling, they actually came to dance. As much as I tried to keep the tradition going, I couldn’t stop the club from being commercialized. Sadly, on July 4, 2000, I decided to pass on the torch to my promoter, Tonga Kid. I wanna say thanks to all the djs who help supported Beat Lounge throughout the past 4 years and I hope they got as much out of it as I did. Beat Lounge was founded on fundamental dj skills and all though it may not be present these days, it still lives on for the people who witnessed it.

for the full Derrick D. Mighty4 interview (FEATURES – Derrick D):

http://web.archive.org/web/20020124142914/http://www.mighty4.com/

with Derrick D 2013. Look out for a future Master Culture/Derrick D. mix coming soon! =)

Aspire to Master Culture,

@Paulskeee