It’s always exciting to collaborate with Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, author the beautiful, thoughtful book Harlem Is Nowhere. This Friday, May 29, we’re staging a new work in NYC, at the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY Festival. The evening is “a performative conference in 9 acts,” ranging from dance battles to spoken word to something involving a hot air balloon; we go on promptly at 11pm. (more…)
Queridos Defeños, nos vemos este sabado! This weekend I head down to Mexico City to DJ the 5th anniversary of Pulqueria Insurgentes! (more…)
This Saturday, March 14, we are bringing the Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner to Pittsburgh! The event is being presented by the Warhol Museum, and will be held at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Tickets/info. A few years ago I DJed a party at the Warhol with Questlove; it’s great to return. Also I am a huge Andy Warhol fan, he made so many things possible, giant American genius with a great wig. (Reminding myself: I should reread The Philosophy of Warhol by Andy Warhol.) To top things off, it is the birthday of JEMD vocalist Arooj Aftab. So, come on out! Here’s a nice preview article from Pittsburgh Tribute-Review.
Socialist slow jams and commie techno in a room full of people who love lefty books: not to be missed! On Saturday February 14th I’m DJing the RED PARTY at Verso Books in DUMBO. Hope to see you there.
Join us for Verso’s inaugural celebration of Red Day.
With Special Guest Tariq Ali
Music by DJ RuptureSaturday, February 14
8:30pm – 2:00am
Verso Brooklyn: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010Beer, wine and commie books will be available to all attendees. 50% off everything for guests wearing red.
All revenue goes to the Can’t Touch This NYC Anti-Repression Committee.
♥,
Verso
This weekend Brett Kashmere’s beautifully done documentary about basketball & hiphop makes its New York City debut. I had the pleasure of doing music direction for this film. You’ll hear unreleased material from Chief Boima and Matt Shadetek, and as well as songs by Chants, Nettle, and Andy Moor & I. After Saturday’s screening I’ll be in a Q&A conversation with Brett. Union Docs is a wonderful warm spot, so please join us! Buying tickets in advance is a good idea. (more…)
I’m about to hop on a 16-hour nonstop flight to Hong Kong (via the Arctic Circle?), where, timeslipped 12 hours ahead into my sleep-deprived Eastern future I’ll step off the plane and head straight to lead a workshop with a half-dozen traditional musicians from HK and my man Chief Boima. What’s going on?!
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Come join me this Friday, November 7th, as a I present on soundsystems & audiences at Union Docs in Brooklyn. This forms part of a series on spectatorship curated by Mathilde Walker-Billaud.
written by Rupture; interview by UshkaÂ
Dutty Artz welcomes our latest member, Phillip Allen aka  ‘Selecta K7’. (more…)
This Sunday I’m presenting the Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner at the Bang On A Can Marathon in lower Manhattan. The event is free. The lineup is stellar. We go on in late afternoon right after the incredible Meredith Monk! (Eastman sang on Monk’s Dolmen Music) Other performers include Jherek Bischoff, Roomful of Teeth, So Percussion. Info.
We love Ceci! I first caught her live band playing a powerful set at the Day of the Dead festival in L.A.’s Hollywood Forever cemetery (!!) last year. It felt wrong to have that much fun on a burial ground. But I accept the Angeleno logic with its mix of sun, noir, and Mexicanidad; I did not step on any graves; and most importantly, Ceci rocked the crowd of thousands, flanked by her female-majority band. (more…)
Venezuelan student protestors, Occupy Wall St, and equal screen time given to Harvey Milk and MLK — all in the video to The-Dream’s latest anthem?! Amazing. “Classism is the New Racism” he says. Now, a montage of various images of social struggle isn’t anything new, but this is The-Dream we’re talking about. He’s one of the most gifted R&B songwriters and producers out there, a bump & grind Michelangelo; he does not usually come near anything ‘political’. I hope we continue to see more of these moments– when the pop stars use their platforms to question rather than reinforce the status quo. “Black isn’t just a race anymore”, flashes on the screen as the last note dies down, “it’s a feeling and a place from which one feels isolated by the world of the governing elite.”
Terius Nash released this massive song last night, during the LA Clippers’ first game after Sterling got his NBA ban. An incredible use of timing. People left their TVs to watch this. Music suspended between the workaday realities. Music a bridge between what we know can be better and what happens to be here right now. (more…)
I am off to Mexico City, Distrito Federal, to perform at the Vive Latino festival this weekend. DF is without a doubt one of the world’s most incredible cities (more…)
