In honor of MLK Day, I am reposting the link for a previous blog post from a few years ago, which includes an MP3 download of the famous track that is a staple at New York’s Body & Soul party.
Category: Music
Javier…a star in the making? I think so!
When my girlfriend, Missy, and I first started dating over two and a half years ago, she knew a little about my DJ background, but had never really gone out to nightclubs. So, we didn't have much in common in that regard. In fact, the first night we talked, she'd been working at a wedding and hanging around the DJ. Now, no offense to all you wedding DJs out there, but she didn't realize I was a club DJ and had graduated from the wedding circuit many moons ago. in an attempt to connect with my musical sensibilities, she told me about this guy, Javier, her friend Pablo's brother. Missy said something like, "you've gotta hear my friend Pablo's brother...," etc...etc... I thought, yeah, I've heard this before. She told me that Javier was "awesome" and that his music is "so beautiful" and that I would just love it. Always the skeptic, I thought to myself that that it was cute she was trying to impress me by offering up some commonality she thought we might have. Of the hundreds of people who have approached me to tell me about an amazing artist they know--their brother's sister's uncle's neighbor's nephew's daughter's friend from high school--truth be told, only a very, very few have moved me. So, I just nodded my head to appease her and told her I'd take a listen.
Best New Artist: Gym Class Heroes
Where was I on this one? Funny, I’d never even really checked Gym Class Heroes. Yes, Tony Z. has been sleeping. Maybe StarStyle has gone to my head. Now I gotta go out and figure out who these guys are and why I totally missed this.
Female Artist of the Year: Fergie
Okay, so Fergie’s a now show. What’s up with that? Ah, I could care less. Let’s talk about 50 and Kanye. I really do think Kanye is the new voice of hip hop. He’s gonna take 50 out of the box on Tuesday, 9/11. The battle of the superstars is going to come down to seeing that hip hop has taken a left turn. Gangsta is over. The party in Kanye’s suite is rockin, it’s a happy vibe. Kanye is bringing it back to the days when hip hop was fun. When Nas said hip hop was dead, he may have spoken to soon. If Kanye has his way, he’s ushering in a new era of jump up and get down sounds. Kanye is the man!
Male Artist of the Year: Justin Timberlake
You go boy! Love Justin. But, let’s get real Justin. You know MTV isn’t going to play more videos on the TV channel. Music videos have gone online, Justin. Where have you been? I guess after you blow $2 Million on a video with Scarlett Johansson, you’ve got to try to recoup it somehow. That kind of money has not business being spent on music videos today, especially when most people look at them in 320×240 web videos players. Justin…just keep singing and dancing. Don’t get in the middle of the music debate.
Chris Brown and Rihanna
From lip-synching to an actual singing, Chris Brown rocked the dance moves, but I’m not sure if he was actually singing. I don’t think anyone can sing without it sounding breathy after moving across the stage like that. But that’s okay, what a show stopper! The real singing started when Rihanna made her appearance. Good for her. She’s got the voice to back it up. Okay…there’s a commercial and my girlfriend just flipped to Iron Chef America. I guess that’s better than watching Brett Michaels during the commercial break.
On set for Machete Music artist Notch
On Thursday, I headed over to Broadway Studios in Brooklyn's Greenpoint section to go on set with Machete Music recording artist, Notch (Notch on MySpace) for the shooting of "Dale Pa' Tra (Back It Up)," the first single from his forthcoming album, Raised By The People. We tracked all the styles from the shoot. The video and style info will appear in the StarStyle.com Media Player in a few weeks. I'll post to let you know when it's ready.
Ror-shak from DB and Stakka; Drum & Bass is back and better than ever!
Koch Entertainment, once thought of as a mail-order music company releasing specialty childrens compilations and other nice albums have become quite aggressive as of late with hip hop and rap releases. In March, the company released Deep by Ror-shak, the alias behind legendary drum & bass DJ and Breakbeat Science co-founder, DB and underground drum & bass remix producer Stakka. The new electronic mix leans down-tempo, drum & bass and features vocals by Morningwood’s Chantal Claret, Lisa Shaw, Julee Cruise, and Wendy Starland.
Javier tour dates with Joss Stone
What would happen if you mixed Usher and Bryan McKnight with Mark Anthony and Luis Miguel? You'd most likley get one heck of a recording artist named Javier. Already one of my all-time favorites, this budding superstar recently announced tour dates with none other than Virgin Records soulstress, Joss Stone.
More photos from SXSW 2007
When I wasn’t running around trying to check out bands, I had camera in tow and took a bunch of photos. Click on this link to check them out in this blog’s photo gallery. I’ve posted a few below to get you started.
