Streetlab - Rat Racer (tha 1 who Trevs Remix feat. K-0TiC Couture)

YOOO I haven't posted here in tiiiiiime! I might start doin' stuff more often once I get this HD camera, but until then I'm gettin' more active on Twitter so follow me over there.

ANYWAY reason I'm here today is to tell whoever reads this to go over to Salacious Sound right now and vote for my remix in their latest competition! It features my homie K-0TiC Couture who you should definitely check out if you haven't already. I've got a bit to say about this track but I might wait until polls close to say it! and I'll also be posting it on SoundCloud and YouTube eventually but for now you hafta go over here to listen to it and vote!

PS lots of people seem to be having trouble voting; if you don't see any checkboxes then just try refreshing until you do!

Thanks everyone, and let's hope I start posting more often too!

Oh and that shortlink one more time (as if you didn't catch it) is http://su.pr/1bBNq3 !!!

Or, long link = http://salacioussound.com/2010/04/have-your-say-about-the-streetlab-remix-competition/

It's Bigger Than...

A little while ago I had a bit of a conversation with Brandon Soderberg over on his blog 41yo. The actual post and all the comments are gone now, but the main issue was this album cover:

Brandon (from Baltimore) took offense to DJ Sega (from Philly) using signifiers from Baltimore Club culture - Nino "Doo Dew" Brown is a triple-reference to the character Nino Brown from the movie New Jack City, the Baltimore club group Doo Dew Kidz, and the first national club hit "Doo Doo Brown."

I myself saw his post as having a similar attitude as a certain infamous piece by Tom Breihan. Sega is one of my favourite DJ's out right now, and I didn't think he was at all deserving of the charges Brandon was laying on him (I mean look, his shirt even says he's paid his dues).

Our discussion was heated, but I think it stopped just short of a flamewar; and by the end of it I think we both saw eachother's sides of the argument more clearly.

So that brings us up to now, and Brandon's got a great new article in Baltimore's City Paper that he apparently interviewed DJ Sega for. It's all about Baltimore club music's offshoots in other cities, but is very measured and evenhanded, unlike a lot of articles touching that area.

Wale in Toronto vs Wale in Baltimore

So a little over a month ago I got to see Wale & UCB Go-Go Band play in Toronto. Mainly I wanted to go support since we were born in the same area (Montgomery County, Maryland). I'll admit I hadn't really followed the dude's hype, and I'll also admit that I never heard go-go until a Lil Jon / DJ Flexx collabo on Crunk Juice that I actually mistook for Bhangra influence at first. Anyway, the show was great, rather mindblowing actually. But I was not happy with Toronto's reception at all, so when I was back home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for Memorial Day weekend, and saw he was playing in Baltimore...

Here's a point-by-point comparison of those two concerts:

VENUE

Toronto: The Mod Club, capacity 600

Baltimore: Sonar (Club Room), capacity 300

I thought Sonar's location was pretty cool (a rather run-down looking area underneath a bunch of overpasses) and the inside was a lot more intimate. However, that also made it harder to get a good view  of the stage, and The Mod Club had better sound.

WINNER: Draw

OPENING ACTS

Toronto: Colin Munroe, DJ Mensa

Baltimore: Greenspan, Get 'Em Mamis with DJ Booman, Big Sean

Probably since it was a Sunday show, Toronto didn't get to have a ton of openers. Now I know everbody loves Colin Munroe and I'll agree that he looked like he was good at what he was doing on stage, I just personally wasn't excited to hear it, and went to get some food instead. DJ Mensa played a good set (as always) from what I can remember, but it was weird cuz I think he was tucked in that corner DJ booth or maybe somewhere else where you couldn't even see him.

Baltimore definitely had the better opening set, with locals Greenspan, G.E.M. and Booman. There was one dude wearing Underarmor that I heard hatin on the Get 'Em Mamis, but forget him. The other act, Big Sean, also performed really well considering they couldn't get the music working for most of his set - he ended up giving a mic to someone in the crowd to beatbox, and almost got random audience members to come up and play UCB's instruments until someone backstage brought out a laptop that worked.

WINNER: Baltimore

WALE'S ON-STAGE TWITTER USAGE

Toronto: seeing if Drake was around

Baltimore: fielding song requests

WINNER: Draw, just cuz I dunno if anybody wins with Twitter...

THE CROWD

This is what really made the difference. Toronto's crowd, which was about 80% white hipsters, had just a very strange way about them. I mean, it seemed like they were enjoying it, I guess. There was a good amount of applause and cheering in between songs, but during... Most everyone was just standing with their arms folded and watching. Maybe this is just me but if that's how you wanna go to a show, man just buy a DVD of the concert. Tell me how there's a go-go band up there, a band that specializes in playing one of the most inherently danceable forms of music, and there are what, six people in all of The Mod Club even noddin' their heads? There was a small group of a few people that were into it though, so props to them. But out of everybody else, the most reaction he got out of them was when he covered Justice, which I don't even think that was the best song he played by far. Not that this strange spectatorish crowd appeared to phase Wale or UCB that much - they still put on a great show, albeit making a "blunt, encore-less exit" as Exclaim put it. For a more full review though, checkout The Gunsmoke Mafia.

The Baltimore demographic was completely different, with whitey only making up like 20% of the room, and most of them fitting the stereotype of "college kid" rather than "hipster." Not that that's much better, I mean there were a couple people that were embarassingly drunk...it was kind of a problem. It was clear that the room was full of real Wale fans though, being within 50 miles of his hometown and all. There was even a point where the band took a break and the whole front row just sang one of his songs in its entirety. It was definitely a friendlier atmosphere, with a lot more conversation, and they played for at least an hour and half.

WINNER: Baltimore

Main Difference: Toronto had to be told when to put it's hands up; Baltimore knew.