BO SELECTAAA!

There's this bar a five-minute walk from my house, where they play reggae, from roots to bangin' dancehall, but basically they are down with 'black music' that is straight from the heart.

I discovered this little gem last week, and that Saturday night I went for the first time. I didn't have my camera with me, so it felt too bland to write about it, but the party was poppin'! I met a lot of new people that night, including Ati, a Spanish guy that works for a Japanese tea company. Everybody was supernice, including the owner, Gin-san, who went to Jamaica 7 times because of his love for reggae. He had great stories about his travels.

Gin-san:



last night's DJ (7" 45 RPM all night!):



Last night I strolled down there again. It wasn't as hype as last week, but I was basically hangin' out with the locals, the vibe is real mellow, I like that a lot. I passed Gin-san a mix-cd of mine, because I would love to get my DJ on there sometimes. My main thing is hiphop, but I got tons of reggae as well, so I think he'll hook me up with a gig soon.

He introduced me to Hibi AKA Hibikilla, a reggae artist. We had really nice conversation, about Japanese and Western culture, our mutual feelings about globalization...all kinds of stuff.

He told me he went on a honeymoon with the Mrs. to L.A. and Jamaica in 2007. He hooked up with a guy in L.A. from Japanese descent and did a collabo track with, and we talked about how Japanese people in the US were treated after WOII. I already knew what was up with that, which he appreciated a lot, but a lot of people have no idea, since it's not really covered in school. Man, that stuff is bad news. Racism towards Japanese people was really really bad, people were convicted of basically being Japanese, and there were CONCENTRATION CAMPS (!!!!) in the US where they were thrown into to rot. That track I mentioned earlier is about that forgotten part in history, it's called 'Go for Broke':

dammit what up with these embedded Mp3 players. gonna fix it ASAP. sorry.

Then they went to Jamaica, and my man lost his wallet at LAX!! So they basically had no money over there. They were worried at first, but the fact that they were broke over there made it an awesome experience, gettin to feel the genuine warmth and hospitality from the locals, that helped him out with everything. Of course, his love for reggae music opened a lot doors. When they got back to LAX, to go home to Japan, it turned out his wallet was found and dropped at the lost&found. Jah Bless!!

Another thing we talked about was ganja in Japan, and how strict the laws are. Hibi had a buddy that went to jail for 2 years for carrying 10 grams of weed, with no intent to distribute. I knew it was strict over here, but not that strict!! Hibi told me that he could have had his sentence reduced if he apologized in court, but he didn't. He said he felt he had done nothing wrong and rather serve the full bid than to apologize. Some serious 'no loss of face' ish right there. Another thing people don't realize is that the strict regulation is a heritage from the US occupation after WOII. The use of hemp (大麻, meaning the great hemp plant), smoking it during Buddhist rituals but also using it to manufacture clothing etc., has been an important part of Japanese culture in the olden days.

so yeah, I had a really great time last night, with some wholesome conversations, which I don't really get to have a lot in Japan. Hibi also hooked me up with his demo CD, which includes instrumentals and acapellas, so I'll get my reeeeemix on!

Hibikilla & Hassle:

this blog is slow...

Reason for that is that the main thing why I am in Japan is developing my own business and exploring the market over here. Things are going really well in that department, so please forgive me for not posting anything up on a more frequent basis. I could do all these 'philosophical' rants about how I feel about certain stuff, but who the fuck cares anyway. I know I don't. That's not what this blog is about.

I will be partying tonight at a soul/reggae bar really close to my house. I'll bring my camera this time around. I am gonna get my DJ on over there soon!

For the sake of posting up something....these pics from Consequence's blog made me laugh.

Mortal Kombat:



Castlevania:

Neckface and new kicks

While I'm at it, today I was in the city for some business, and on the prowl for some new sneakers. I brought one pair of Nikes, that I've been using for my daily running routine as well, making them look kinda busted already. It was hard coppin' a size 12 over here, but I did it!



Then I stumbled up on this piece by Neckface, the 'incognito' artist with real macabre artwork. I love his style and this is the first time ever that I saw a piece of his in real life.

It's been a minute...

since my last post. I got a lotta stuff goin on here, and I've been slackin' off on the blog. My boy El Pres said I should have more respect for my readers, haha.

Well, last Thursday was pretty epic, when I went to the Percee P show, which was in at a real dope venue called Heavy Sick Zero. It consisted of 2 rooms, the main one and the basement. Both rooms had real dope DJs spinning, and this turntable group called Groundwork Djs really caught my attention. I made some vids with my camera, but the sound is completely garbage, I guess it can't handle club systems that well. Either way, check these dudes out at www.myspace.com/groundworkdjs (the link generator is effin with me!)

The basement had some DJs spinnin instrumentals, and anybody who wanted to have a go could spit something. I was pretty impressed by most them actually. One guy was working this Pioneer FX box with the instrumentals, sounded real dope! The vibe of the whole night was something I hadn't felt in a long time. Good times, everybody was in a real good mood, gettin their party on, instead of tryin to look hard on the sideline. Hiphop just basically felt alive!

Dude workin the FX:



Then I went to the bathroom for a quick pitstop, but some dude was blocking the way, sayin' to me:'hold up fam, we busy in there'. I laughed a lil bit and just waited, then he asked me if I smoked. I was like:'cigarettes?' and he said:'naah man, trees'.
When I told him I was from The Netherlands he invited me to join them to have a lil puff off their pipe. I was pretty stoked and afterwards feelin the music even more! We hung out a lil bit more that night and found out they were skateboarders, just like me. I've been dyin' to get my sesh on over here, and as soon as I got some time I'll be rollinnnnn! Check out the pic we did in the bathroom, 'eyes a lil' low' haha



The Percee P show was real nice too, eventho I thought it was a shame the promoter was pressin' play on the beats, and he messed up a couple of times. I really love it when there is interaction between an MC and a DJ, too bad but oh well, can't win 'em all. The room was absolutely packed to the max, but since my 6'2" is a lil bit above average over here I got a good view of the show.




Thanks to Percee P for showin me a lotta love, and to my new friends hookin me up with my first taste of Japanese ganja, who's names I can't remember no more. 'I'm not good with names, but I remember faces' - Evan Dandoe

vinyl stores and meeting a legend

Alrightyyyy, time for another post!

I went to Shibuya again, cuz I heard its got some great record stores, and damn that's an understatement!

First I went to this little joint (forgot the name...), and I was really really impressed with what they were carryin'. Especially the hiphop selection was real dope:



Guess they don't really like Serato DJs over there tho haha:



Next up I went to RecoFan....damn this has to be the biggest recordstore I've ever been to. Massive collection of all genres, and even tho I hardly mess with vinyl anymore, I felt the money burning in my pockets. I did get some second-hand CDs, which I can rip easily for my Serato Scratch Life thingy. 9th Wonder's Dream Merchant 2, for 1100 yen, thats like 8 euros haha. And the 'Life and Dept' soundtrack, a movie about Jamaica's financial problems for 700 yen. Cheapo Cheapo! Cop that documentary by the way, if corporate power and globalization didn't make you sick to your stomach before, this one will:

Check out 'Life and Dept' here

anyways, check out the vinyl up in that bitch:




Then I went to Manhattan Records, really dope and clean lookin' store with all the latest club bangers on 12". I got 2 CDs tho, Ghostdeini the Great and 88 Keys - Death of Adam (I downloaded it before, but I don't really roll like that as a DJ....support the artists!!!)

Then 2 Japanese dudes walked in with somebody I've seen before, the man the myth, the legend Percee P! He was doin a couple of shows in Japan, and since I know his boy Creature from NYC really well (I DJ-ed on his Dutch tour last year) that broke the ice quite nicely. I'm stoked people are still feelin that real NYC hiphop and he's still able to tour the world! In true Percee P style, he sold me a CD. We exchanged math in case he needs some help around Japan. Imma cop his show this Thursday...hyped! Of course we took a pic. I know, I'm tryin to look real hard, throwin up the Scissor Gang Mafia sign!



This is my favorite track from his last album Perseverance, 2 Brothers from the Gutter feat. Diamond D. 'The handbag on your girl is not Prada!'

Scratch sessions @ Vestax Headquarters

My man DJ KEN-ONE, who I met on Myspace to try and help him with gigs in Euroland, invited me to come and join the 1st Scratch Session on January 6th at PACO, which is at Vestax Headquarters in Tokyo.

Man, it was sooo fun. I'm not that nice on the cuts, but sessioning with these guys, 5 different set-ups hooked-up at the same time, it was my funnest day here so far. These dudes got skills! That session room had the complete Vestax history there displayed on a wall. I copped a nice set of blue Serato control vinyl as well! Afterwards, we went for some grub at Denny's! I gotta tell ya, Denny's over here is nothing like in the US, where I would only go after a night of heavy drinking.

They videod the whole thing, and I found this one on Youtube, I'm not in this one, but that don't really matter.









Then we went to Power DJs, a store in Shibuya, where KEN-ONE used to work. Really dope store! I met this dude DJ Shu-G, who invited me to come party this Saturday.



Thanks go out to all my new friends DJ LAN, DJ Shintaro, DJ Yone, DJ Hakane, DJ Shu-G and the other guys, who's name I don't remember now (sorry bout that)

WTF?!

Notice: I seriously do not condone this, it freaked me the ef out! But still, the food at that place was amazing, and I told my friends that I had a little trouble dealing with it. This is Japan!!! and I am still lovin it.

moved into my new appartment!

Today I got the keys to my appartment, which is located in the Minami-Asagaya district, about 20 minutes from Shinjuku, a well-known district.

It's big enough, and it's in a really quiet neighborhood, which I like. Free superfast internet, and a washing machine. I'm all set!
I'm pretty stoked I've been able to get my own place within 5 days.

check out the pics:

the street:



my building:








Sean P!!!!!

FYI

In the Shibuya district. Normally shoplifting is fine over here I guess. And what the the hell is 'No Tout?'

Lost in Translation

I bet Tommy was too.

ohayo gozaimasu!!!

that's 'good morning'

I'm going into my 3rd day here, and I am almost over my jetlag, even tho getting up at 8 in the morning isn't something I would normally do when I don't have any place to be that 'early'. I'm a night person.

Still lovin it here. I deliberately chose to stay in a hotel the first week, I am kind of a loner and this is the best way for me to get used to my new surroundings.
I'm gonna check out the town a little bit today, Shinjuku and Akihabara, imma try and get a cellphone.

quote of the day: 'the easiest way to predict the future is to invent it'

I read that one in a Japanese mag over a cup of coffee.

product of the day: warm green tea from vending machines!!!