If I had more time I would of recorded street traffic and added it as a bonus cut “BK 4’33” on the new iphone friendly .m4r ring tone version of New York Tropical. Which now happens to be coming out on Nov. 9 – so push back your calendar a week and call it a date.
DJ Dinho, a DJ from a local sound system when interviewed, mentioned: “The music is made to promote the artists. The artists don’t use the music to sell millions of copies. It’s to give the artist attention and to get shows”.
We are dropping  a 12 track tropical compilation just in time for when things start to get cold in New York and hot in Rio. Ten unreleased TROPICAL tunes + anthemic FUNKY THAT WE HAD TO COSIGN and A HEAVYWEIGHT NEW MASTER OF NGUZUNGUZU’s EL BEBE AMBIENTE. We feel bad that we have not kept up our LEGENDARY New York Tropical parties- but we just do not have time to promote a crew club night in New York- but maybe again in the future, with some good partners we would get into it again- because NEW YORK TROPICAL WAS A FUCKING BLESSING. The first time I went was before I had really started working with DA and everything about it was perfect. From the German Belgian installation art that slowly dissolved as the dancefloor spread to all surfaces, to the perfect Sangria, the heavy weight dancehall soundsytem that we rented from SoundMan Grimm, a crowd that reflected the diversity of the music…. basically NYT was one of the dopest party series I’ve ever taken part in (although sadly I never got to play caus I was busy learning things in school and hanging out in Europe).
For the comp we hooked up with DA resident internet excavator Seacrest Cheadle  892 u mean computer mean2 computer did u mean competitor a force that has been so next level for so long that it is basically my only internet news source. We have been dreaming of doing projects with him/it/her/zee since before the first .com crash but he’s basically the zeitgeist embodied and besides pretty regular appearances at Korea Town Karaoke Bars and Neurogenetic labs in undisclosed locations- she is damn near impossible to locate. but somewhere in the #based ether we convinced it them 2 make a deadline… and magically, it worked.
Our promo machine is at about cotton gin status at this point… so we just moving FWD looking towards a more cohesive way to reach a larger audience. I dont open or listen to almost any of the promo email I get, and you dont either. But some of it will keep coming but really this whole thing is about relationships. I, for one, am working on my relationship to the ocean and fresh fruit juice in Brazil. I suggest you keep a dream journal while you ask these questions.
There are also tracks on this compilation from important and soon to be important musicians like Lamin Fofana, Kingdom (flipping RITA INDIANA OMFG!), Lido Pimienta, Matt Shadetek, DJ /Rupture, Chief Boima, DJ Orion, Sonora, Salem,  Knight Magic,  La Ola Criminal, Maga Bo.
Tracks will be sold digitally via Hulk Share and on custom GuccixDuttyArtz all-over-print USB sticks
Joyful music for an expensive, shitty city with decaying infrastructure where DUTTY ARTZ lives & loves.
We all know the “indsutry†has collapsed. Not that most interesting music was ever fucking with the major label models anyway- but everyone ate their share of the largess of the recording industry. Now everything is in disarray. We are sorting through the pieces. We want to be fulfilled human beings making a living. Like some sadistic Rube Goldberg device we are fitting together a bunch of ill fitting widgets and hoping that in the end cash will trickle down. We are not a trust fund project or anyone’s hobby. We eat off what you give us.
The big agreement initially was this- recorded audio sales are down – now CA$H will come from touring revenue, merchandise, and licensing. But what if your Shadetek and have a family to take care of and can’t be gone every other week to Europe. Or what if you dont have the capital to invest in a big merch inventory (DA branded prayer candles coming as soon as I get back from Africa on my moms). Or what if your not in with the advertising/film/video game world and havnt had the 1 in a million opportunity to be featured on a itunes spot. It’s dope to have 4k facebook friends and twitter followers- but monetizing hype and goodwill is hard, especially for electronic musicians that don’t fit the standard indy band management model. We are hustlers though. We are never gonna stop.
But I want to make sure our extended family understands what moves we are making, and why. This isnt abo’ut selling more albums then mad decent, or having hyper raves parties then trouble and bass. We are creating a sustainable business model that allows for our work to reach the world AND provide us with the resources to continue pushing beyond ourselves. Major changes are in order- and I dont want any of you- our extended DA family – to be left behind. One of the most important tenants we follow is transparency. WE ARNT TRYING TO HIDE BEHIND BIZ3RRE MARKETING AND EXPENSIVE GRAPHIC DESIGN. WE JUST DO THIS FOR OUR PEOPLE SO YOU KNOW Y’ALL CAN HAVE IT.
With that in mind we are starting a new interview series “#realtalk†– where we explore some of the dark arts and reality underpinnings of music/art worlds. Shadetek is going in on his solo blog– but expect to see the most relevant content cross posted. We are gonna pull back the curtain a bit more, but do not be scared. We want everyone to be rich. First up we are gonna explore the shady as fuck (/powerful) world of PR in the digital era (primer here). But from the perspective of one of the good guys- Leeor Brown, 1st employee of Terrorbird and founder of Friends of Friends.
We are also bringing on to the team some new voices holding things down on tips as diverse as Up 2 the times UK bashment to QR code generation and all sorts of shit we have no idea about but wish we did. So hold tight. We in this together.
(PS basically wrote this whole post to have a reason to post that image)
I’m in a S. American time warp. Everything in Rio happens slow, filtered through the humidity. No one is in a rush. Everyone wears sandals. Last night I finally made it to a baile funk. I showed up around 3 to Favela do Vidigal- in the South Zone of the city, with my friend Gabi who is researching technology + production and distribution in the Funk scene.
I felt the bass when we got out of our cab- but we still needed a five minute moto taxi up the hill, past anti-police roadblocks, to the party. The soundsystem stretched across the entirety of a T intersection- blacklights hung everywhere and the subs were mounted at head level- ensuring that chest-rattling bass could be felt even in the way back of the crowd. The blacklights accentuated the whites and neon yellows of the futbol apparel that men were rocking. Even with the hazy compressed sodium street lights- everything was glowing- it felt like a cavernous club interior. Armed men walked casually through the crowd, navigating crews of dancers bouncing to the floor and back to commands that translate to “drop it on my dick and fuck.”
What startled me most wasn’t seeing all of the tropes of baile sensationalism before me- ASS, GUNS, BASS!- but how much it reminded me of my favorite parties anywhere. Dancers who loved dancing, cute gay boys twerking it like pros, poppers battling near the speakers, footwerkers taking off their sandals and braving the cobblestone to go double time on already frenetic beats, and music that was ethereal and present, infused with all the sweet/sweat synthsations of my favorite RnB coupled with a low end urgency that has kept with funk since the latin freestyle and miami bass days. The DJ was a middle aged man in a dark grey tee and a brown zip up hoodie, he didnt sing or dance along, just looked out on the crowd with a knowing look of stoic contentment, this is his work, and he is absolutely killing it- at one point, from behind the platform that hes standing on alone about 30 yards back from the system- i glanced up at t his acer netbook and only saw Winamp running. There are no monitors, no headphones. I was already too drunk to need anything from the bars that served endless variations on fresh squeezed juices, liquor and redbull. I danced until it started to pour, the dj put a backpack on top of his laptop, a weathered tarp covered the speakers, the music kept going, but we decided to walk down the hill. Half way down the power cut out, everything went dark.
I’m still trying to get my head around the music- because it sounded different then most of the funk I had heard before. Vaguely: more European club music then 2-Live -Crew. It reminded me of NguzuNguzu- whose production I adore primarily because I have absolutely know idea what to do with it. It’s almost always too Ravey for me to want to play it out- but at the same time there is something seditious and dark beneath all the glistening synths- and that darkness and space is what keeps drawing me back. I honestly think they could of wrecked this party last night. The first track of theirs I heard was Kingdom’s remix of Hate 2 Wait- which to this day is one of my favorites to drop when its time for a radical new direction in my sets. Dutty Artz extended family Khalif MihajiLeif just killed a voicing of the original instrumental that wraps up to perfection with some Linzy-esque crooning. When homeboy graduates from college I give it two years tops until he’s a household name for 20 somethings worldwide.
NguzuNguzu have a new E.P. dropping on Silverback records early October – they did up a promo mix for it- that you can grab over at Scattermusic– (i would re-up it for u- but my internet run real slow down here)
If you already know (you know) Mariana “Meteoro” Camberos art, it’s likely through her work for ZZK. She is one of the artist’s responsible for codyfing the visual vocabulary of Zizek/ZZK branding; which is how I first became familiar with her. But that’s just one mirror-facet of her diverse output, or as she put’s it, “someone once said my work was very Zizek…. but I said, Im not zizek… zizek is all the artists.”
Meteoro Painting
Her neuva-tropical psychedelic day-glo works and styling jobs are right on the palm frond edge of the tropical communities (does that exist… maybe it does.) collective unconscious. Seriously fresh-2-death designs evoking modern day icons like Carrie Mundane, early MIA styling, NYstreet style Keith Harring/ Basquit iconography pushing up against sacred ayuwasca geometries and jungle fractals. Her custom hand painted tees, hoodies, and zapatos are being rocked by some of the dopest kids outs (check the aviary shirt she did for Uproot Andy next time you see him), and her styling and 2-d work is equally stunning. Over a couple days of endless tea, empanadas, and tasty chino delight- we discussed inane visa regulations, liminal space, our shared love of cumbia sung by little girls and a party called drum&boxx that put young contenders (rocking her custom fur-lined robes) boxing on the floor in a ring made of jungle-stepping ravers. (The interview that followz is the first of a series I’ll be upping and posting, along with photos, flipcam and musings- while I travel as a Watson fellow… it took me a while to finish this post- im now in Rio)
Fresh Shipment of Meteoro's shoes ready to go to Paris
T: Your palette is focusing alot on day-glo/neon vibes- ur using all of these crazy brazillian fabric paints…. but day-glo has been moving onto clothes since the 1930’s– so what exactly is there left to say using this palette?
M: PUES ES FLUORECENTE Y FLUORESCENTE SIGNIFICA ILUMINADO POR DENTRO ESTO YA ME LLAMA MUCHO LA ATENCION
LA COSA DE BRILLAR CON LUZ NEGRA Y EN MEXICO SE DICEN QUE SON COLORES QUE CHINGANÂ (JODEN) LA PUPILA Y AMO ESO
T: you push a psychadelic vibe- but from a distinctly latin american approach…. im seeing these sorts of fractal designs all over your apartment- but with none of the new agey shit that kills alot of western hippy psychadelic stuff- where do you see the convergence of european /american and latin approaches to these forms.
M: MMM ES INTUITIVO Y NO ES ALGO QUE VEA SALE SIMPLEMENTE SON LAS COSAS QUE ME LLAMAN LA ATENCION Y ADENTRO HAGO UNA SINTESIS, SON COSAS EN LAS QUE CREO Y OTRAS QUE ME VIENEN SOLAS COMO MUSAS.
T: youve been in Argentina for 5 years- what has it done for your work- why here- what wasnt working for you in mexicO- or why did you have to come here.
M:DESDE SIEMPRE QUISE ESTUDIARR FUERA DE MI PAIS PARA TENER OTRA PERSPECTIVA Y COMO PRETEXTO DE VIAJE, Y ARGENTINA POR QUE ALGUIEN ME CONVENCIO QUE ERA UNA BUENA OPCION Y MUY AJUSTABLE A MI PRESUPUESTO
Y ASI LO HICE.. ME DEJE LLEVAR .. AL PRINCIPIO SEGUIA SIN ENTENDER POR QUE ACA PERO LAS COSAS Y LA GENTE QUE HE CONOCIDO ME CONFIRMAN QUE ASI DEBIA SER.
T: what does tropical mean to you?
M:TOPICAL SIGNIFICA BUENA VIDA YO VIVI EN UN LUGAR TROPICAL Y ERA PURA ABUNDANCIA SOL FRUTAS MUSICA MAR ESO ES LO QUE LLEVO DENTRO Y LO QUE ME MUEVET
T:where do you see the visual intersecting with music? whats to be gained by understanding this relationship
M: POR QUE LA MUSICA NO SOLO ES UN DJ ES SU IMAGEN, LOS VISUALES EL STAGE Y LA ESCENA EN GRAL. ASI QUE UNÂ BUEN VESTUARIO ES INDISPENSABLE PARA TERMINAR DE CONCRETAR LA IDEAÂ DE LO QUE SE ESTA MOSTRANDO LO QUE SE QUIERE DECIR Y EXPRESAR. ES LLEVAR ESE RITMO A TODOS LOS NIVELES ESTETICOS Y ESCENICOS
Fresh Tour Shirt(s) for Cumbia Duo Frikstailers
T: your selling these dope handpainted shoes- but i know you really want a whole fashion and arts line/house….is there a master plan at all?
M: YEAH DO ALOT OF METEORO LUCHY CHARMS STUF LIKE OBJECTS TOYS CLOTHES,.. MORE KIND OF SHOES.. UN MURAL QUIZASÂ Y COSAS PARA GENTE QUE LO NECESITA
T: ok- top literature influences, top musical influences, top artist influences, top designer influences…
M: KANDINSKY, CHARLES BUKOWSKI, JODOROVSKY, cLOUDDEAD, M.I.A, BRAZILIAN GIRLS, ALL CUMBIA, YMA SUMAC, matt w moore, AJ Fosik, HIHO AOSHIMA, YOSHITOMO NARA, MOTOMICHI, walter van beirendonck, TSUMORI CHISATO, Vivienne Westwood.
T: i know you love chocolate, can you recomend any of your favorite chocolates?
M:CARDUBY DE YOGURTH, Y UNOS COLOMBIANOS QUE TIENEN TUCANES EN EL EMPAQUE, Y.. UNOS ALEMANES QUE TIENEN MEZCLA DE FRUTAS TROPICLAES CON PICANTE ESOS SON INCREIBLES!
T: anyything else u want a bunch of blog readers to know about?
M: SERIA QUE HAY QUE PONER MAS ATENCION A LA FUSION ENTRE MUSICOS Y DESE;ADORES POR JUNTOS PODEMOS DAR UN GRAN MESAJE
NO SUBESTIMAR LO QUE LLEVAS PUESTO YA QUE POR MAS SIMPLE QUE SEA ESTA DICIENDO ALGO Y QUIERES QUE DIGA LO QUE SEAÂ O PONERLE TU TU PROPIO MENSAJE DE BUENA ONDA
CIAfrica is a heavy crew. They have their own thing going on in Babi, Cote d’ivoire and run the sort of international basss weight productions that we live for- along with spitfire lyrics that jump between local concerns and international awareness. Basically they are dope as fuck. It is a huge honor and pleasure to finally see their DA debut up at all the usual spots and getting love from some serious heavyweight DJs, producers and friends.
Various tracks are being loaded to blogs of varying readership- but if you want a little somethin’ somethin’ straight from the elephants mouth….
Head over to bandcamp to DL a copy of the perfectly titled “Epikstar Riddim” from Babylon Residence. This is our first shot with bandcamp- and once we have your email address we’ll hit you with more free music and the occasional update.
I’m leaving America next Sunday. There’s nothing left for me here, and I’m not coming back. At least, not for a year. I’m not quite ready to leave, but I’m contractually obliged to- so this Sunday I’ll fly from JFK on a convoluted itinerary to Buenos Aires. I found out in the spring that I had received a Watson Fellowship. Wayne and Jace deserve credit as much as I do- they helped me craft my proposal. And there was some tactical chaos magic that nudged my chances just enough to matter.
So I’ll be gone for twelve months starting this august- attempting a sort of grand tour. Five months in S. America. A month in Jamaica. Six Months in Africa. Or something like that. So far only the first three months are planned. I’ll be in Argentina for a month, then Brazil for two. There’s a project behind all of this- a nebulous (now) attempt of getting a grasp of what it is that we (Dutty Artz) are engaged in from a broader prospective then I’ve previously had access to.
I’m looking for sustainable/scalable business models, new productions techniques, pirate economies, massive sound-systems, broken_links, and a bevy of things that I’m only faintly grasping at right now.
I’m taking a fancy camera and some HD recording devices and there are notions of collecting my documentation outside of the internet- creating a kind of visual/taxtual accompaniment to the Global Ghettotek fascination that I’ve been continually inoculated against but cant seem to quit. The whole project will be as open source as possible. I have no fucking idea what I’m doing, and need a lot of help. But there is powerful positive energy in the universe and I have my stars aligned and my crystals vibrating at 60 HZ just like the man at the botanica told me to do.
My email is TallyBower AAAATTTTTT GGGGMMMAAAAIILLL so if u have any suggestions, any friends anywhere along the way, beef to pick with the colonial underpinnings your reading in my mission, a favor to ask, food to try, places to surf, or anything that I need to know, or that you want to do for me, or that I can do for you. please just let me know.
It’s nearly impossible to leave New York- there’s too many people that I love, and projects that I care about- but nows as good a time as ever to get away.
Huge new single from Rita Indiana y los Misterios, “No Ta Llevando El Diablo”  b/w “Los Poderes” (translation: “The Devil’s Takin’ Us Away” and “Powers”)
Unfortunately Rita has cancelled her US dates for the summer- but have no fear- she’ll be taking over stateside hearts and minds soon enough. As this track makes it to all the right ears your going to be hearing a lot more from her.
It’s a great feeling when your friends blow the fuck up. But when they only have a few decent press shots- all of which you’ve already used- you have to get creative. H/T to the Basic Sounds for the totally unrelated but amazing image from Paco Pomet.
If your part of the growing legion of Uproot Andy supporters you should head to the Dubspot blog for an indepth interview with the man himself.
Choice quote- Andy on remix work: Â “The most important thing is that I love it. The second is that I can imagine how to make it work in the club.”
If somehow you have missed our tireless support of the Canadian phenom- hit his soundcloud.
If you didnt read the in-depth Dutty Artz feature in the Economist last month you probably missed the official announcement that we have synergized with http://urmean2computer.tumblr.com/ to bring you a more immersive content experience.
Check 1:40 for the real moment(s) of clarity here.
Dutty Artz is a book club. You might have thought we were a record label- given that we’re releasing tracks every month and constantly feeding the internet with audio files- but it goes a lot deeper then that. If you want to be part of the club, you should read Octavia Butler’s Parable of The Sower. If you’re not in the Northern Hemisphere- you might want to wait until Summer, caus this one is dark, and if read before bed, almost guaranteed to induce the vivid nightmares that lodge in your psyche for days before revealing themselves as dreams and not memories.
We’re scrambling just like everyone else right now- trying to figure out what it means to be a record label in an era where recorded digital media has no value- and the only people making money are slicing off pounds of flesh to get branded. You’ll see us move in that direction too. It’s inevitable. Hopefully we can do it without losing too much respect. Until then you can find me steady dreaming of new distribution paradigms as we pass each other printed relics.
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.
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]
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”.
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 .
Defunct Virgin MegaStore photo credit: 
It’s a great feeling when your friends blow the fuck up. But when they only have a few decent press shots- all of which you’ve already used- you have to get creative. H/T to the 
