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Sunday May 9th come see myself Matt Shadetek, Jahdan Blakkamoore and Uproot Andy at Glasslands for the Drink Well Do Good tour. The goal of the event is to raise awareness about viticulture (wine making) in Africa. It will also be a great Sunday night party with the Dutty Artz fam back at Glasslands for the first time since our New York Tropical parties. For everyone who has been asking me about those, don’t worry, we’re working on a few things for summer.

The organizers ISAW say:
“All proceeds from the tour will go towards to development of a viticultural training center on the M’hudi Estate in Stellenbosch. This campaign also raises awareness for our partners M’hudi and Seven Sisters, South Africa’s only two black-owned estates. ISAW is using the tour to introduce these wines to consumers, and support South Africa’s wine industry which employs nearly 300,000 workers. Please support our campaign through purchasing tickets, going to your local retailer, and becoming ambassadors for our cause.”

Find out more at www.toastafrica.com

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Chief Boima is a Sierra Leonean-American electronic musician, DJ, writer, and outspoken advocate for the cutting-edge digital music coming out of many parts of the world today.

Currently based in NY, Boima began his international DJ career on a self-initiated travel stint to try and connect with like-minded artists in various parts of the world. From the beginning, his performances integrated a diverse array of global musical styles, inspired by the parties he knew growing up in a close knit African immigrant community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and similar communities across the United States.

Settling down in the San Francisco Bay Area, he became a resident DJ at Little Baobab nightclub, and grew to be an internationally respected figure in the promotion of various global club music styles. His travel experiences and global music expertise launched a writing career which has seen him contributing to various music and culture online and print publications (Ghetto Bassquake, Africa is a Country, WFMU Radio, and The Fader Magazine.)

As a producer, Boima has released original tracks and remixes alone, as part of the duo Banana Clipz with DJ Oro 11, and as a member of the Australian-American experimental band Beaten By Them. He’s also done collaborations with folks like DJ Orion, Lamin Fofana, DJ Rupture, Matt Shadetek, and Uproot Andy, as well as producing tracks for international artists such as Los Rakas, Black Nature of the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, and Khady Black.

Visit chiefboima.com for more information.

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artwork by Robert Trujillo

Chief Boima‘s Techno Rumba EP is available now on iTunes, at Amazon and Boomkat! Read more about it + show some class & drop some change, people!

Techno Rumba is the excellent, official debut EP from San Francisco/Bay Area producer Chief Boima. Techno Rumba, the latest in a stream of digital EPs from Dutty Artz, is a pleasantly fresh and elegant take on Afrobeat and contemporary African dance music. It features two original tracks from Chief Boima; the irresistible “Baobab Connect” and the stunning title cut “Techno Rumba,” which boasts a pair of remixes from  Dutty Artz own DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek and Uproot Andy.  /Rupture and Shadetek are fresh off remixing Gang Gang Dance and Telepathe and turn in an immersive and hallucinogenic afro-colombian flavored edit while Uproot Andy aims straight at the dance floor with his Ojalá Rumba version which has been inciting madness at Dutty Artz New York Tropical parties for months. (more…)

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhiHZB9sRkI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Once again Lil B has left me wordless. Has there ever been harder swag than this? #BASED_4EVER

Lamin and Matt kicked it with Lil B the last night of SXSW. I took the night off to make cognac and rootbeer float cocktails over 3 A.M. Nachos Supreme. I think B freestyled over Andy’s MacGyver Guacharaca. I’m starting to feel like I made the wrong decision.

I’m sure B is making some backstage moves as well- but as far as the public eye can see- he’s taken the over-saturation of digital media and marketing to the extreme. The man has no shame – he’s the Tila Tequila of indie rap- but underneath it all is a startling vision and undeniably powerful sentiment -he’s the open source Rammellzee. Eshun wrote, “In HipHop, science breaks it down in order to complexify not to clarify.” B just signed to Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em’s label Stacks on Deck. I rest my case.

Is it wrong that I cant wait to play this out? The 320 hunt begins.

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[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/Aidonia-HeartisHers.mp3]

Aidonia – Heart is Hers (feat. Aisha Davis)

I haven’t heard that many tracks from Aidonia; he’s one of those mid to late ’00s dancehall artists you hear about all the time, see his name on countless mixtapes, and probably already heard a bunch of his tunes at parties, but you never actually went out of your way and check for his tunes. That’s until I heard the title cut from Stephen “Di Genius” Mcgregor’s incredible Bad People riddim which completely shifted my view on a couple of vocalists — but more on that shortly.  “Heart Is Hers” features Aisha Davis and is produced by Equiknoxx producer/artist collective (who are also responsible producing another impressive Aidonia track titled “Negative.”) This is what dancehall sounds like in post-808s & Heartbreak/weird-emotional-electro-pop-hop era? Dancehall is going in so many different, exciting directions at the moment, and as for this particular type of sound which has been bubbling for the last few years I think it’s safe to point to  T-Wayne & Yeezy as references.  As Aidonia sings – “Song is too dead/it needs more life – Needs a faster melody/more melody/groove your body…”

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[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/empress_i_klass_with_you.mp3]

Empress I-Klass – With You (prod. by Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor)

“Amazing reggae flavored harmonies & hotness to warm up the radio & airwaves”

Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor produced the riddim for “With You” — can someone please identify that riddim? Empress I-Klass is a Boston based singer – born of Antiguan heritage. She has been around since the late 1980s performing and singing lead and background vocals in various bands here in the States and in the Caribbean Islands. She opened for Freddy McGregor in Boston in June 2006.

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When I was in San Francisco in January the internet at large was steady jockin Shlohmo. He dropped a mix for XLR8R, was getting play from MAH and even the painter whose couch I was sleeping on wanted me to take a second listen to his debut E.P.. When we finally sat down with some medical and had a listen I was blown away by Hot Boxing the Cockpit- but lumped the rest in with the Low End Theory Sound of dequantized hits and blippy emotives. Meaning that it was fucking dope. I tried to get my host to set up a meeting so I could hear more of his tracks- but it didnt pan out.  Today twitter is a flutter with a two track remix E.P. that throws some Khia and Montell Jordan on top of mans digital baroque.

The Khia holds it down for me so I upped it direct. Check the WEDIDIT COLLECTIVE for the whole E.P. Both acapellas have been played to death- but kind of like HudMo’s Ooops E.P.- when the production is this on point- whose complaining.

Khia -My N3ck My B4ck (Shlohmo Remix)[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/My%20Neck%20My%20Back%20%28Khia%20Remix%29.mp3]

(ps- and how fresh is the cover art?)

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New York Ravers, next weekend come get dutty with me on Saturday night at an underground party in Soho details here. Thanks to everyone who came out to Oceans of Blood and skanked out this past Friday, great party. Seems like I’m getting asked more and more to play at these underground jams in informal locations more and more, I’m really happy to see them happening again after many years of being verrrry bored going to regular clubs in NYC. Support these events and let’s keep ’em happening.

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Heatwave continuing to hott up the funky bashment axis. This time with a nice Natalie Storm – now crowned The Queen of Funky Bashment – over Footsteps “Worker” funky riddim. I’ve been playing this riddim a lot in my dj sets for the past few months and it always works, cool to hear Nats on it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ2twPVjj9Y[/youtube]

Natalie Storm & Footsteps – Play Di Ting (The Heatwave Refix) by GabrielHeatwave

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Next Tuesday, April 27 Dutty Artz will release Techno Rumba, official debut EP from producer/DJ-extraordinaire Chief Boima. Techno Rumba is Boima’s elegant and fresh take on Afrobeat and contemporary African dance music. Head over to XLR8R now for an exclusive stream/preview of the entire EP – which features two original tracks from Chief Boima and a pair of remixes from Dutty Artz own DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek and Uproot Andy.

You can download DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek additional refix with original vocal contribution from performance artist Kalup Linzey.  Also downloadable is the free remix EP African By The Bay – to hold you over until Tuesday when Techno Rumba drops in digital shops.

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BD1982 has been one of my favorite producers for a minute. I’ve been including his tracks on mixes and dropping them when I play for about two years now. His Spaceboots EP on Seclusiasis was one of the most banging EPs of the last 12 months- and he now has a full length out entitled “Lets Talk Math.” He laced DA with a lengthy interview, an exclusive mix for the podcast- as well as an Erykah Badu vocal version of  “Subtract”.

BD1982 – Soldier (Subtract) 320[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/Soldier_%28Subtract%29.mp3]

[display_podcast]
tracklist after the jump

T: So- we’ve been in touch for at least two years now- I first became familiar with your production through your monstrous “Water-Faucet” riddim, which shows up here as the instrumental for the gun man tune “Shotta Pon da Corner.” Lets maybe begin there. How did you come to work with Two Seven? Were you always planning on getting a vocal on that instrumental? What about “Fresh Air Ft. Syntonics” (one of my absolute favorites on the album) and “Chased by The Rain”- where the vocals take on a more instrument like role. How do you conceptualize the role of a vocalist in mainly instrumental genres? When your djing out are you playing primarily instrumental tracks as well?

B: I had been a fan of 77klash since hearing “Brooklyn Anthem” and sent a message through Myspace to see if he’d be interested in voicing a tune and luckily he was up for it! I hadn’t really planned on trying to get an original vocal for “Water Faucet” intially, maybe just because the “Blueberry Afghani” bootleg remix was making some rounds, but I’m still incredibly happy at how dope “Shotta Pon De Corner” ended up .

More Interview Under the Hood (more…)

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In which our Intrepid Soundboy shall perform in front of a mandala made from bioluminescent toothpaste…

I’m looking fwd to this gig, Pittsburgh it’s finally happening!

pburg

DJ /rupture +
James Gyre & Edgar Um
@ Garden of Earthly Delights
9PM – 2AM April 22nd @ Brillobox
4104 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA
$7 pre-sale $10 at the door

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Normally I get a lot of stupid shit in the form of press releases but today I actually got one with something cool in it. Publicists, just because I’m blogging about something I got in a release doesn’t mean you should send more! I hate them! What does this say about how we should all be promoting our music? I don’t know.

Anyway, Pursuit Grooves is a female producer/singer/rapper from BK who I’ve never heard of but has a new record out on dubstep label Tectonic although it’s not dubstep. I like what I’ve heard. Also, dubstep labels take note: you need more female energy. You are all turning (have turned) your genre into a big macho dick grabbing testosterone fest and it’s turning me off. As rising dancehall artist Professor says in one of my recent favorite songs:

“Nuff Bwaaaaaay / a gwan like dem nuh wan roll wit de gyal dem… Some bwaaaaay would rather roll out wit one bagga man fren… my yout it no look good.”
 – Professor, Roll With The Gal Dem

Pursuit Grooves “Fox Trot Mannerisms” Tectonic TECCD008 by Multiverse

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgPNLWPTESY[/youtube]

And here’s the Professor tune I was quoting. Big tune on Don Corleon’s new Gala Riddim.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBkq9VGD_DA[/youtube]