• Menagé a Dubya Photo Contest
• Bay Area DJ Profile #004: DJ Shortkut
• Roots, Rock, Reggae, Yay Area Style
• French DJ Report by Bachir
• Upcoming Return of the DJ Vol. 5 Preview by Dave Paul (Bomb Hip Hop)
• Spearhead In Dublin plus Irish Hip Hop Report by Tall Paul Lowe
• Greetings from Glastonbury, England by DJ Trinity
• Random Record Reviews by DnZ
• New Stuff at the Hip Hop Slam Shop

PUT DUBYA IN DA PICTURE
ENTER CONTEST — WIN FREE SHIT

Inspired by the wonderfully memorable picture of America's two favorite terrorists, Saddam and Bin Laden, as lovers that we shamelessly jacked from the Weekly World News we are inviting you to enter our graphic art contest and alter this picture even more so, by replacing one of the heads (Bin or Sad) with that of George W. Bush. So you have George and Saddam for example... and don't forget a caption!

Submit your picture remix by email to bushsmom@dawgeatdawg.com ASAP. The winning artist will get a Hip Hop Slam Phat Pak plus a chance to have their art grace the liner notes of an upcoming Hip Hop Slam album.

RADIO UPDATE: On Friday August 1st WFMU will broadcast a special episode of the Hip Hop Slam produced radio show, Scratch Attack, as part of it's Re:Mixology summer series. Broadcast time is 5PM - 6PM, EST on 91.1FM and on the web at www.wfmu.org/ssaudionet.shtml

BAY AREA DJ PROFILE #004:
DJ Shortkut

DJ Name: DJ Shortkut

Trademark saying: "Without influence, there is no change."

Hometown: Daly City

DJ crews: Triple Threat, Beat Junkies, ISP (joined in '95), Just2Hype! (mobile crew that included Derrick D from 1989-1995)

What music do you spin? A little bit of everything...whatever the event calls for. My foundation is hiphop, funk, soul, and reggae.

DJ battle history: (solo&team): '94 West Coast DMC, '98 West Coast DMC, '94 NMS Superman

The first record you ever bought: "The Show"

Most influential record(s) in your life? "Rockit" because of the scratching. It's the first taste of scratching. After hearing it all the time I would try to copy it on my dad's stereo. The whole vibe of it...just what they were doing back then...what were you guys thinking...and now what it is today...it's incredible...cats can listen to that...and now cats are making money off that...making a living off of doing that.

When did you first DJ? The first time I DJ'ed in public was probably a garage party in '87. They just hired me to DJ. I brought all my home stuff.

What made you want to DJ? Just the whole Bay Area...the way it was back then...at one point everyone was a DJ...everyone was part of a DJ group/mobile crew. I had gone to a house party before and saw the DJ and the impact he had on the crowd. This girl [Bernadette] taught me how to scratch. The first time she introduced me to that, I was hooked. We used to go to her brother's room and mess with the equipment. Her brother [DJ GML-SE) found us and said, 'Hey man, before you mess around with this stuff; you got to learn how to use it.'

What is the most memorable performance of your DJ career? The '94 KMEL Def Jam battle at City Nights. I had previously put in a tape to audition for it. I didn't get picked. I was disappointed. When the battle finally came, I was with QBert. He told me to bring my records just in case somebody didn't show up. And sure enough someone didn't, and I took that guys place and ended up winning the whole battle. It was a slap in the face to the person who chose the tapes at the time. I had Mike, Q, Apollo, Disk, all these cats in my corner. Just that whole feeling to be able to prove some cats wrong because when I first started DJing a lot of cats said, 'Aw, you can't DJ...you can't be like QBert...' That was fresh out of high school. Just a couple months before that, I had just gone to New York for the first time to battle at the NMS that 8-Ball won. I was 17 years old when I started battling. Back then it was pretty young for me to leave home...I was definitely the youngest...I was the small fry in the crew. I was the young one that couldn't even get into clubs yet. Mike, Q, and Disk would be like my older brothers because they would always pick on me.

How do you transport records and/or gear to gigs? I drive my trusty Honda Civic.

Do you play CDs ever at gigs? I'll be honest with you...I still feel uncomfortable using those things in public. The reason why we used those [at the Triple Threat record release party] was we didn't have access to get test pressings for the vinyl. Apollo set it up where we have our own separate break records strictly for us. To do that on vinyl, it would just be impossible for us to coordinate that. It would just be such a hassle. [Besides that] I don't play CDs.

In your opinion, who is the best DJ of all time? I won't say the best. I never like to think anyone is the best. We all are struggling to be the best in some way. I'd give it up to Kool Herc just because if it weren't for him we wouldn't all be here. We would all never got the idea. That's why I love dancehall so much now. Kool Herc brought that whole dancehall sound system style into hiphop. I just think he was a genius to bring that to us and make it possible for a lot of people to live off of it.

Best websites or way for folks to find out more about you? www.djshortkut.com, www.beatjunkies.com, www.triplethreatdj.com

Roots, Rock, Reggae,
Yay Area Style

The Bay Area has long had a strong reggae audience and wealth of DJs with killer reggae collections from roots to dancehall and all points in between. These days two noteworthy reggae DJs are DJ Riddim (photo 1) and Jah Yzer (photo 2) who among other spots DJ weekly at Lion Rock at the Oasis in downtown Oakland each Weds. For more info on these DJs: www.royalfyahfamily.com/id20.htm

FRENCH DJ REPORT
by Bachir / translated by Slug

Over the past three years French DJs have become a landmark on the competition circuit, taking everybody by surprise as they gained more and more titles. For those who never heard of these DJs from France here is a list of the most influential:

DJ Kodh (rouen):
Coming from Rouen, Kodh was the first french turntablist to get a world title in London in 2000 at the first DMC Battle For World Supremacy. This year he added an Advancement ITF title. Ranked among the experimental DJs, Kodh is always looking for new sound, coming out of the vinyl (he releases his own breakbeats with his Audiomicid crew or by himself), or coming straight out of the gear (feedback, use of the tone arm etc ). Despise his futuristic approach of the turntable, he also knows the hiphop classics, judging from his mixtape and his radio show ("Edutainment"). Kodh is one of the best beat jugglers in France and his originality helped to forge the new school of French DJs.

DJ Crazy B (Paris):
Another famous beat-juggler, Crazy B is one of the French pioneers. He did many competitions, team and solo, and while he was often placed, he never had the supreme title. But Crazy B now use his battling experience with a new crew Birdy Nam Nam (ex-Skratch Action Heroes) which got him two world titles : ITF Team in 2000, and DMC in 2002. He was the first to record scratchtapes in France ("Frankenscratch" and "Scratchattack") and made the famous "Genious
touch" Breakbeat (with Faster Jay). He's also known to many as the DJ for Alliance Ethnik, a rap group who was very successful in the mid-90's.

DJ Pone (Paris):
A beatjuggler as well, and another member of Birdy Nam Nam, Pone is a key player in the French and international battle circuit. Despite his young age, he's seen as an old timer since he started the competition very young (alongside DJ Damage), that's where he got experience and an undeniable charisma on stage. His style is classic, but he's not afraid to experiment new techniques, as seen in his juggle with the tone arm weights. Pone is a multi talented DJ as most
of the other featured DJs here : he also does radio, production, mixtapes, and tours with various groups.

DJ Trouble (Poitiers):
One of the Djs to look up to, he just got two titles this year. He beat the defending champion DJ Dopey at the All Star Beat Down, and won the ITF Beat-Juggling category. Just like Kodh, Trouble is seeking for different sounds, hence his Prefuse 73 routine is now considered classic, his tricks are precise, and he's as comfortable in scratching as he is in juggling. He's responsible for one of the best mixed CD released this year, in which soul, funk and jazz-rock are given a new life. DJ Trouble is a member of the UK crew The Mixologists.

DJ Netik (Rennes):
Coming from Rennes, Netik was the winner of the battle for world supremacy for two years in a row (2001-2002), he also won the 2002 All Star Beatdown European finals in London. Netik is a great scratcher and his routines are efficient. His style is classic and funky, and it works judging from his two world titles. Besides that he's working with a live band, which is probably what helps him when it comes to feeling, and how to set up a routine.

Coup de cross (nantes):
We finish the roll call with a crew from Nantes made up of DJ Greem, Pfel, Atom and 20syl. They don't have any title (yet) but their influence in the French turntablist movement is obvious : new attitude, and a funky style, close to Netik. As a team or as individuals they are feared and respected by their competitors, Pfel for example just won a ITF European competition in Frankfurt. This crew is a breath of fresh air in French deejaying. France is a harbour a some very talented beatjuggler, however the scratch djs are not far behind, with DJs such as Mouss, Ahmet, Khalid and Need just to name a few who contribute to the evolution of scratch music.

The question one may be tempted to ask is : why such an improvement with the French DJs lately? It is actually hard to understand, but you can notice that most of them are coming from outside of Paris, they manage to get rid of the influence of their idols and are experimenting more. The fact that they compete with each other help them to progress every year. More and more competitions are put together all around France, outside of the regular ITF/DMC circuit : for example Coup De Cross posse just organised their own competition, TKO in Nantes on may 24th, and in april DJ Ahmet put together the Polymix battle in Besançon (DJ Xcuz won both of them). These facts must help to explain the good level of the new French DJs, let's hope it will last. The DMC on june 8th will be a good way to judge the general level. To conclude this presentation, we could regret the lack of records made by DJs. The DJ tracks are rare and it's a shame. We can mention
the Audiomicid EP in 2000 (a 3-track 12" will drop soon), the Double H DJ Crew album, "Le Diamant est Eternel" a compilation made by the legendary DJ Dee Nasty (the French Grandmaster Flash), and more recently "Hypercut" project by Logilo, a double CD with unreleased tracks by Trouble, Coup De Cross, Kodh...

Links:
www.djkodh.com
www.onandon-records.com
www.polymix.com
www.logiloprod.com
www.astrobastard.com
welove.online.fr
www.hiphopcore.net
www.90bpm.com

UPCOMING
RETURN OF THE DJ VOL 5
by Dave Paul (BOMB Hip Hop)

Response to the fifth volume in the Return of the DJ series has been overwhelming. There were so many tracks submitted that it was very difficult to decide which ones would make the album and which ones would not. It took me many days of listening to pick out the tracks for the album. The decisions were based mainly on scratching and music but I also had to consider how tracks would sound in relation to the other tracks on the album. The album will feature tracks by DJ Shortfuse (Canada), 89 Skratch Gangstas (USA), DJ JS1 (USA), DJ Hype & the Phaderheadz (Germany), The Fingerbangerz (USA), Azzurro feat. Hashim B. (Japan), Mista Ed (UK), Alien Army (Italy), DJ X-Rated (UK), DJ Astro (USA), DJ T-Rock (USA), Noisy Stylus (Germany), DJ Boom & DJ Ragz (USA), DJ Timestretch (UK), H.O.P. (USA), DJ Marvel (UK), Ales One & DJ Teeko (USA). Due to the fact that so many good turntablist tracks were received that we could not fit onto the album we also doing a special "Return of the DJ Companion CD". This cd will only be available by mail order via websites and not available in record stores. Both the Return of the DJ #5 and the Companion CD will be released in late September/early October.

SPEARHEAD IMPRESS DUBLIN AUDIENCE & IRISH HIP HOP REPORT
by Tall Paul Lowe

Spearhead at The Village in Dublin June 2003: I am not really familiar with the Spearhead sound but I was a big fan of Disposable Heroes of Hipopcrisy and this show was truly amazing. I have been two shows where the likes of J5, P.E and Breakestra have played for two and half hours. Spearhead went one better they played for 3 hours!

When Spearhead hit the stage you could see that Michael Franti was all hyped up and ready to roll so the show kicked of not with drums or guitars but with a beat box. Radio Active is the beat box for Spearhead, Razhel, Scratch and Killer Kela better watch out there is a new kid on the block who is really good. A native of the bay area as well. Michael Franti then kicked of and asked did anyone want to be free.

Radio Active is a very talented beat box and demonstrated to the crowd his skills as he imitated the sound of the turntables. To the delight of the crowd he also did Push IT by Salt n Pepa by beat boxing and rapping.

Michael Franti is also a very talented guy as well as been able to sing, rap he also plays the guitar. Through out the show there was a call and response for the crowd to make some noise by asking people to make noise. Wave the hands from side to side.

The mic stand on stage was decorated with red and white petals cascading loosely around the mic stand. Franti introduced the band and was very proud to introduce Robert on the piano who is an Irish native and had not been home in 13 years. Franti also brought up one of his children and danced on stage with them as well. Then Radio Active got busy broke it down by doing a sax break and a renendtion of the Black and White Minstrels. All of a sudden he launches into It is all because of you, you left me sad and blue. And then started to Beat Box "What's Goin On" with Michael singing it. The crowd joined in and sang acapella. After this Franti called on everyone to take a bow.

MC Dãlek was also in the house and he made a comparison between his set and the Spearhead set. He said that this set was like the love show and his was like your worst nightmare. He compared the two of them to Yin and Yang.

Then the political speech came and Franti asked the question who would like to have their house blown up? The track that followed this was Bomb the World. They also performed Everyone deserves music even your enemy. One song that went down very well with the crowd is Radio Taxi. Franti explained the concept of this song saying that they knew this guy in France who could speak a few different languages, but was having difficulty in English. So they decided that they were going to do a song together. So the idea of this song was to use the most frequent words in all languages so they came up with Radio and Taxi hence the song Radio Taxi.

At the end of show the whole band was introduced and everyone was thanked for coming out to support Spearhead and independent records. Peace, love and unity were the last words been issued to everyone in the venue and throughout the world.

IN OTHER HIP HOP NEWS FROM IRELAND: The much anticipated Common show was cancelled. At Eamonn Doran's Temple Bar was the Jam on the night with DJ Cypher and DJ Ads an MC Battle. Last month Eminen came to town and made a big impression even on the moms and dads of Ireland. Voodoo Arran Quay saw the official Emimen after party. DJ's scheduled were DJ Mek and DJ Laze.

DJ Supreme opened his recent show in Dublin with a UK set and boy was it good to hear tunes like Hijack, Katch 22, Taskforce, Blak Twang etc been played. As this represented some of the best of the UK both from today and yesterday as well.Also on the bill was Ireland's own Cool C who played the breaks plus some hard to find tracks. His mixing and scratching very smooth and his set was very well put together. The one thing that did disappoint me about his set was that the played the current Hip Hop/ Rap music as the last part of his set.

Greetings from Glastonbury, England
by DJ Trinity (Rucker Park, KFJC)

I'm just back from Glastonbury....whoa. I'd encourage anyone to go if they ever have the chance. i'm going to start off with a caveat...i don't presume to know any accurate details or facts. so whatever i say may not be right, but i don't want to hear that it's incorrect. thanks.

I guess Glastonbury started off 33 years ago as sort of a free hippie music festival. David Bowie played the first one. Michael Eavis clears out his dairy farm and allows this to take place every year. all the proceeds go to charity...and all the alcohol sales go to some non profit organization that struggles for workers' rights. nice. so as you're on your 9th or 10th pint, you can feel like you're really making a difference! so this year, the 125,000 tickets sold out in 18 hours. and this is months before the line up is even announced.

Minneapolis' own Har Mar Superstar kicked off the festival on friday and he did not disappoint but brought out some Manumission (gentlemen's club in manchester) girls to provide a little eye candy on stage. i love har mar. he's just so hilarious. swarthy, short, and decidedly unattractive, but stripping down to his little undies still is a sight to see. "give it up for me...i'm fucking awesome!" -har mar superstar

De La Soul killed it on the main stage. I managed to push my way up to the front and discovered that i love the scottish security company hired to run the festival. They're not out to ruin your good time, but they even pass out waters to the crowd. It's incredible! But back to De La...I think they were a little overwhelmed to see tens of thousands of people in the middle of the day jumping around and singing along to every word. Holy cow...the energy was great!

Krafty Kuts (finger lickin) did a very fun set that got the crowd jumping around. it was a treat to hear Skee-Lo's "I Wish" song as well as other club hits like 50 cent and House of Pain. Poo poo it all you want, but these kids wanted to dance and these djs certainly got them moving..

The headliner in the dance tent on the first night was Fatboy Slim. This is the largest tent in europe...holds about 10,000 people. I gotta give it up for old Norman since he had everyone dancing and didn't even play rockafella skank once. But opened his set with Derrick May's Strings of Life. Golden!

Apparently I've experienced a typical British summer thus far...just have to have a hail storm and it'll be complete. it went from scorching sunshine to muddy rains to humid overcast days. Jimmy Cliff's set was amazing and he managed to bring the sun out. For someone his age, he's got incredible energy and presence.

Boom Bip was part of Warp's take over of the Glade stage, and though he had some technical difficulties he did a great live set incorporating one turntable, mixer, laptop, and a host of other gizmos and doodads. Don't ask me what they do, but he managed to create an excellent live recreation of his record Seed to Sun (one of my favourites).

But the real highlights of the second day of the festival were the Flaming Lips and Radiohead. Man: playing to a crowd of at least 50,000 the Flaming Lips had their requisite furry animals on stage as well as two inflatable sun and they led the crowd in a chorus of happy birthday. I love them.

Thom Yorke and co. had the entire crowd singing along to every song. and managed not to play creep. Against my better judgement, i'm just a little bit in love with old Thom. He was even smiling. Their performance was so great that I forgot about my aching legs and feet and hangover.

And now on to the last day of the magical Glastonbury festival...Asian Dub Foundation did a great set in the afternoon. They're Rage Against The Machine meets Public Enemy meets Bollywood meets...who knows! They were great! Two mcs, a dj, guitars, drums, bass, percussion...all great! Plus it was great to hear from the crowd "big up, fateh!" when they paid tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. classic.

Bay Area favourites, Blackalicious rocked the dance tent in one of my most memorable performances by them ever. Sadly though the mighty Chief Xcel was not there but dj d sharp filled in admirably. The Gift of Gab was backed up by two singers...the lovely Omega and another fellow whose name i didn't catch. all great except for gab calling out the wrong city name for the first half of the set. (ever need to get away?...)

DJs Krust and Die performed with about 6 or 7 mcs and singers as i-kamanchi. a great drum n bass set with ragga vocals and nice harmonies. i was very excited to see the roots and the scratch perverts later that night, but they both turned in disappointing sets. only black thought made it to the show and they launched into these long drum and guitar solos. i'll admit i was at a loss as the rest of the crowd seemed to be enjoying it immensely...i'll blame the drugs. even the covers of songs they do were disappointing. this time it was a medley of nas, 50 cent, n.o.r.e., and more. but by the time you started to get into one tune...they were off to the next song.

The Scratch Perverts were basically a jukebox on speed. they were playing club hits for a couple bars and then switching to the next one. it wasn't too exciting. and it all seemed so promising when they started off with mop's ante up. oh well. then i had to get out of there before The Streets came on. if someone can explain the phenomenom that is Mike Skinner's success, the next drink is on me.

And it was off to watch Moby close the festival. Man, i don't own any Moby records, but Moby rocks! He did a nice mixture of new and old hits. His dj (whose name escapes me at the moment) was apparently the #1 dj in the world at some point in the 80's or early 90's. moby even battled him on stage. pretty hilarious. plus, he covered radiohead's creep as his encore. Fucking great!

If you ever get the chance, please do try and come to experience the magic of Glastonbury. otherwise you'll never get to exeperience the wonder of Burrow Hill Cider Bus. And even if you don't like music that much, there's plenty of art, comedy, and weird hippies to make it well worth it!

be safe. be kind. be responsible. DJ Trinity indeego32@aol.com

Random Record Reviews
by DnZ
tfsdjz@hotmail.com -or- i_did_ur_mom_last_nite@urhouse.bitch

TTC Ceci N'est Pas Un Disque (Big Dada Disques)
Now for some international type shit. From France, courtesy of Reiko Underwater, comes TTC - by far is the dopest French hip-hop group that I've heard. And even though I dont have the slightest clue what the fuck they're saying it sounds dope as fuck...I have never heard any french hip-hop before and was I pleased with what I heard. The beats on this album are fresh and emcees flow real nice and I guess that what their saying is also dope. Go check out their current album "Ceci N'est Pas Un Disque" and if you dont I'll find out where you live and take your fuckin' turntablez BEYOCH!!! 7 outta 10. (go learn french BEYOCH!) DnZ

Edd Dee Pee and Cone, two Oakland, CA based songwriters and visionaries are Blaktroniks.
They sent us a little summin' summin' to check out and it's pretty fuckin' dope! They do music that ranges from hip-hop to dance music and have been around the San Francisco music scene since like 96'. They have some dope soulfull, jazzy, and hard hittin' beats to bring you into a trance. I like the song Fois "Moi Femir (Remix)". It has this sexy soundin' lady droppin' the vocals for it and it's a good song to make babyz with!!! Also "From the First" has some powerfull words to put in your head's. N-E wayz, ya'll should take a listen to them. 7 outta 10. DnZ

DR.FINK EP3 (darren.wolbold@talk21.com)
From the UK Dr.Fink collaberate's with DJ's Marvel and Haste for his Ep3 album. Dr.Fink sent us 4 tracks and wanted feed back and since i'm da man who does the reviews around here I think i'll be doing the feed back...Bitches! Now I thought that this was more ambient than hip-hop but in a way you have to just stop and think about the art form that is scratching... Now usually you think hip-hop with scratching but with Marvel and Haste on the track they can still rip shit up and show you that it's not what kind of music but what you can do with it. I think that if you have an open mind about music then check some of this shit out, although I think there could of been more scratching it is still an ok listining. 5 outta 10. DnZ

HIP HOP SHOP

DJ CRAZE "Crazee Musick" CD (BOMB Hip Hop)
This often forgotten 1999 classic from one of the world's most acclaimed DJs, DJ Craze. Now available for only $8.98. What makes DJ Craze different from other turntablists is that he rocks a party for two hours, not just a routine of ten minutes. His dj sets feature hip-hop, breakbeat and jungle with some mesmerizing body tricks, lightning quick mixes and beat juggles that have set him apart from any other DJ. Craze is continuously traveling the world performing in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan and various other countries. Craze is the 3-time dj champion of DMC! He has been featured on DJ Faust's "Man or Myth" album, the "Fathomless" EP (with DJ's Faust and Shortee) and was featured in Time Magazine! "Crazee Musick", his debut album, was a hit with his intricate style of hip-hop, jungle, drum n bass and abstract music."

The Shiggar Fraggar Show! Vol. 4 CD (Hip Hop Slam)
Now available on this site is the fourth volume in the legendary Shiggar Fraggar series, the shows that were recorded live at Hip Hop Slam in the mid-nineties. This chapter features DJs Flare, QBert, Disk, Shortkut, and the bag headed Shiggar Fraggar on the mic as well as on the booze.