Londoner living in Auckland. Lovin' life, my family and music. For over 20 years I've been DJing Hiphop, Funk, Soul and Bboy Breaks all over the globe, at clubs, festivals, concerts and bars from the heights of the Alps, the madness of Glastonbury, the waterways of New York, Sydney and London to the beaches of Thailand, India and Ibiza. With some sketchy tours for MTV's Dirty Sanchez thrown in along the way I've finally found home in AK with Zan and Suki.
You can check me out every Saturday on the 'Uptown Boogie' on George FM (http://www.georgefm.co.nz/) and I'll post the links to the show up on here. PLEASE NOTE the links will only be up for a short period of time so get in there quick! To contact, hit me up on hudgeti2tb@hotmail.co.uk. Peace!
Following the passing of MCA last Friday, the good people at George FM asked me to do a 20 min mix on Nick D’s Breakfast Show this morning as a tribute to the great man. Its a bit rough around the edges but hey it’s morning radio…that’s my excuse.
The world will be a quieter place without Adam Yauch…
Gone but never forgotten…
click the title link to listen to the mix
John Peel was an absolute legend in the UK. He was the longest serving DJ on BBC Radio 1 playing truly eclectic tunes from 1967 until his death in 2004. Through his love of new music and enthusiasm for music outside the mainstream he became responsible for the discovery of many a band/artist. There are a surprising amount of people who owe their careers to this Liverpool FC supporting DJ.
Throughout his life he amassed one of the most important and celebrated record collections in the world. Recently his family have given exclusive access to the collection which includes over 25,000 LPs, 40,000 singles and many thousands of CDs being made into an interactive online museum allowing a tiny glimpse into this incredible collection of music.
Each week his family will pick out the first 100 records from ‘a’ through to ‘z’ from this painstakingly organised bounty to give us an exciting insight into the man and his collection.
I want to take this opportunity to give crazy props to my homeboy Leroy Nockolds (www.ahsh!t.com) for his part in archiving and presenting this online museum. What a joy that must have been to work on…
Click the title above to link to thespace.org
A bit late on this I know, but I’ve just seen these 30th anniversary 1200’s. From the creation of the 1200 mk2’s in 1979 by Matsushita in Japan they have gone on to become the most important musical instrument in the world of Hiphop and DJing.
I think these are a tribute from a company called Next Sound. Their 30th anniversary edition looks pretty dope with its back lit platter and with the double start/stop button (like the Numark TTXUSB) in each corner, moving the 7inch record centre up towards the tone arm. It also looks like they have finally been internally grounded (I’ve had my 1200’s internally grounded for 4 years now courtesy of the Deck Doctor in London) which makes life a hell of a lot easier…no more sweating and fiddling around with the poxy grounding wire.
Unfortunately on 1 November 2010 the Technics 1200 production range was discontinued. Panasonic made the following statement on the DMC World Championships home page.
Panasonic reactive statement - Production of analogue turntables has ceased
Panasonic has confirmed that it ceased the production of its Technics-branded analogue turntables this autumn. After more than 35 years as a leading manufacturer of analogue turntables, Panasonic has regretfully taken the decision to leave this market. We are sure that retailers and consumers will understand that our product range has to reflect the accelerating transformation of the entire audio market from analogue to digital. In addition, the number of component suppliers serving the analogue market has dwindled in recent years and we brought forward the decision to leave the market rather than risk being unable to fulfill future orders because of a lack of parts.
I don’t know for sure but I feel there is a bit of a resurgence towards the tangible beauty of vinyl and a seemingly ever increasing amount of DJs are closing their laptops and going back to playing vinyl only sets. No one can argue that the feeling of owning and collecting vinyl way exceeds having a digital collection and the sound of 12inch vinyl is also arguably superior to that of its digital nemesis.
Even with over 3,000,000 Technic 1200 mk2’s sold, maybe, hopefully, with this renaissance towards vinyl there might once again be a gap in the market place that only these fantastic bits of kit can fill. Saying that, I’ve had mine for over 15 years and taken them around the world to many a party, rave, jam, show and they are still going real strong. What an investment!
Click on the link above for pictures of the 30th Anniversary Technics 1200MK2
Feed me Hiphop and I start trembling — RAKIM - ‘Microphone Fiend’ 1988
Ahead of tonight’s Boom Bap at Rakinos in Auckland (with King Kaps doing a DJ set alongside myself and Base FM’s Dylan C) I thought I’d share this great interview on ‘My World FRESH’. These guys have been involved in the game here in NZ since day dot and have been responsible for breaking boundaries, pushing limits and continuing the high standards in production and straight up skills here in New Zilla!
Full respect!
Click on the link above for the interview
My homeboy - and old primary school mate - Jonny Cuba (from Ninjatune’s Dynamic Sycanpation) and Audessey (formerly of Mass Influence) came out with this ILL album in 2009. It won album of the month from Hip Hop Connection and Juno and is just the sort of music the Hiphop scene has been missing. If you slept on it, don’t worry, it’s not too late! Its available from the bandcamp link above and on iTunes so, go forth and support good sheeeet!
Hold up there’s more…Their eagerly awaited LP ‘Formula 99’ will soon be dropping hard. With the expanded crew that includes the Herbaliser’s DJ Ollie Teeba, Emcee’s U-George & newest member Oxygen (Sputnik Brown) this is one to keep eyes and ears open for. Watch this space ya’ll…
Willie D from the Geto Boys gets a weekly say thanks to Vice…Definitely worth a check!
FILIBUSTIN’ WITH WILLIE D - AN INTRODUCTION
I had two natural gifts that I felt confidant would help me break the cycle of poverty I grew up in and allow me to provide a better life for my children: boxing and rapping. Boxing was my first love. There are few experiences that measure up to two people who climb inside of a ring and try to beat the hell out of each other. But as good as I was with boxing and as much as I enjoyed it, ultimately I chose rap. Like boxing, I discovered that I could earn a lot of money rapping and the girls loved it. But unlike boxing, I didn’t have headaches at the end of the day so I threw all the energy I had into making it as an emcee.
My big break came when a song I co-wrote called “My Mind’s Playin’ Tricks on Me” dominated the charts and radio playlists for months and made my group the Geto Boys, a household name. There had been many rap songs glorifying the dope game but not until we released “My Mind’s Playin’ Tricks On Me” was there a song that examined the dark, paranoid side of being a drug dealer. In the braggadocios testosterone-accelerated world of hip-hop, a move like that could have been career ending. But we thought it was important to tell the whole story. If we were going to talk about the glamorous side—excess cars, money, and women—then it was our responsibility to enlighten the cats who were contemplating getting into the game about the downside of being a drug dealer such as early death, lengthy prison sentences, and the paranoia associated with thinking everybody is out to get you.
It was taking bold chances with “My Mind’s Playing Trick’s On Me” and being true to myself by speaking out in my music against controversial topics like welfare fraud, gun control, police brutality, poverty, homelessness, child abuse, dead beat dads, racial profiling, and discrimination that has prepared me for the latest chapter in my life.
In my new VICE column, I will be dropping wisdom, Willie D style, every Monday on current events and issues that matter to me (hopefully you will dig them too). If you’re not familiar with my name, Google me. I am the voice of the voiceless. I’m not a politician, but the people are my constituents. I work for the underserved. Those who have been abused and neglected are safe with me. I don’t like bullies. I am not afraid. I will exercise great measures to protect children and the elderly. I am a lover of knowledge and a research geek. I am not a boot licker or a sucka. I am a one hundred percent pure, stand-up, love the company of a classy woman, red-blooded man.
Don’t expect me to cater to a specific base or to straddle the fence on issues. I am clear and decisive about my convictions. But if proven wrong, I have no problem admitting it. Most of the articles I write will have a serious overtone. But my humorous side will also be on display from time to time. So tell Chris Rock I said, “Any time, anywhere.”
If you’re looking for mindless or divisive, mean spirited stories to fuel your appetite for hate, I’m not your man. I’m interested in unity through community. The primary focus here is to deliver passionate, informative stories that will make you think and become more objective when judging people and the issues that affect them. But don’t get it twisted, if I have a problem with a public figure or anyone else you will be the first to know because I am going to use my platform here at VICE to tear a new hole in their ass. If you can appreciate candid commentary on real issues from a cat that don’t scratch where he don’t itch, I’m your man.
So grab your drink, your smoke, or whatever your vice is (I had to go there at least once) and check me out on Monday’s. In the microwave society we live in, with one too many weirdoes, breaking news happens by the minute. There are thousands of stories with an equal amount of hosts, analyst, pundits, and bloggers eager to chime in on the discussion to offer up their opinion. I encourage you to give them all a listen. When you’re done, holler at cha boy. Because until Willie D speaks on it, it hasn’t been spoken on. Bam!
Willie D is a founding member of the legendary rap group the Geto Boys.
Check out the first installment of Filibustin’ with Willie D:
Servicing the Secret Service
