This is the eight and final blog on the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Japan Tour 2011 featuring DJ Quest, Mista B, DJ ALF, and DnZ that also included Quest’s son Alex - aka DJ Train – who traveled on the tour and did one performance. Included are the two tour overview video reports (above + below) care of Mista B who also wrote the in-depth report below. I had seen Mista B in New York City, right before he flew out to Japan, where we were both judges on the US DMC Finals. Likewise I had just seen DJ ALF shortly before the tour – well a week earlier at his wedding down in Maryland.  Exactly one week after getting married the DJ, who once lived in Japan, was heading out on tour of Jpaan. Now that’s some real dedication to the art of turntablism! DJ ALF also weighs in here on this blog on the tour. “The tour overall was grand! I think we have sparked a huge interest in the main purpose of the Positive Omen tour. Although some of the venues had a small turnout due to Obon, we had a great time jamming out.. So, whatever you can please donate whatever you can to a legit organization that will enhance the tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Thanks goes out to everyone whom have been supportive throughout the tour. This is just the beginning!” summarized DJ ALF of the tour.

Mista B says: “In Japan, I took part of a tour with DJs Quest, DnZ, and ALF. The tour was called the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Tour and it was for the people of Japan who had suffered through the earthquake and it’s fallout. The tour took us from Shibuya-Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Okinawa, Rupungi, and back to Shibuya. We were doing all kinds of gigs and events ranging from in-stores, live stream shows, party rocking events, and showcasing. We also took numerous forms of transportation to get around; from taxi’s to bullet trains. You name it, we rode it.

Not only was it my first tour, but I was flying straight from New York, having just judged and showcased at the DMC USA Finals. I flew half way around the world to be in Japan. It was a good mix of DJs on the tour because we all brought something different to the table meaning some interesting music to be. Some shows had limited space, or not all the equipment like turntables that we needed. For the most part, we improvised with whatever set-up we had but I think we rocked to the most of our capabilities. It was certainly a dynamic sound that we were creating.

One day, we took the train from Shibuya-Tokyo, to Osaka, lugging all our luggage, four mixer boxes, merchandise, and other random items. On this same day, we had four sets in three different locations. We sound checked in a place called Slow Land Cafe went to do an in-store at Manhattan-West Records, went back to do two sets at Slow Land Cafe then with whatever energy we had left, went to DJ our after part at Do With Cafe. We were taking three-four cabs to each location. It was crazy to say the least. With all that being said, I enjoyed the crowd at Osaka the most. They were so receptive to the music we were performing and very welcoming. I want to go back there if I ever go back to Japan.

Another highlight is performing at the DMC Eastern Japan Finals. The system there is different. For prelims, they DJs get three minutes. For the final round, the DJs also get three minutes. I don’t know if the rule varies from country to country but it did make the night go by fast. There were a lot of dope performances and the crowd really cares about their DJs. In the United States for instance, you do a beat juggle and less than half the crowd can follow it, let alone a complex beat juggle routine. In watching some footage I took, I see that a lot of men and women are following and head nodding with the beat juggles. I really appreciated this because it shows me the respect the little nuances and intricate things the go over a lot of people’s heads in turntabilism.

Everyone in the Positive Omen tour held it down too. Like I said earlier, it was a good balance of different but talented DJs. If we had the same styles, then I think the tour would of been a bit bland. Overall, I’m pretty happy and proud to have been apart of this tour. Being able to hang with talented DJs who are good people is a blessing or a positive omen haha! I’ve gained so much experience and I hope that the people of Japan enjoyed what we’ve had to share. Thanks to Tyron Daniels, Tomokuni Nishimura, Shux Files, Earl the Pearl (Monroe), Circus DJs, Japan DMC, DJs Quest, Alf, DnZ, and Hip Hop Slam!” – Mista B

Hip Hop Slam Blog #7 of 8 on the Positive Omen Tour:     The Hip Hop Slam presents “Positive Omen” Japan Tour 2011 featuring DJ Quest, Mista B, DJ ALF, and DnZ , was six packed days that took the four US DJs via trains/planes/buses throughout Japan with stops including Osaka, Okinawa, and Tokyo where the turntablist tour came to a halt last Sunday, August 14th with a final performance by all four DJs at the East Japan DMC Finals. Also along for the tour was Quest’s son Alex – aka DJ Train – who not only worked behind the scenes with merch and sound but also got busy on the turntables at one of the venues throwing down a funk-fueld set. This blog 7 of the 8 Hip Hop Slam Blogs on the tour and include the above video of DJ Quest in an excerpt from his showcase set at the Japanese DMC battle. And below is DJ ALF’s report on that last day of the hectic tour in which the tireless DJs had no days off.

DJ ALF says: The final day of the tour started off on a well rested note. With plenty of time to spare before heading to the DMC Japan’s Eastern Regionals, I decided to venture out and about around Shibuya for a good portion of the morning. I wanted to kill some time and walk around because I was anxious to go to the huge roughly six floored Tower Records which opened around 10:30am I first hunted around to grab a bite to eat and ended up finding a Denny’s. Before I entered, I had a feeling that the menu wasn’t going to be the same as what we have here in the States. So I browsed through the menu and happened to find some French toast and sure enough, it was good.

Around 2:45pm we arrived at Game and did a sound check. We all introduced ourselves to new faces that was in attendance. One of the few familiar faces was DJ A-1 who I must point out right now played a nice old school hip-hop set. Earl Jones, who was one of our cameramen on the tour said that, “He almost had me breakdancing in here!” After soundcheck, we immediately took advantage of the time we had before our showcase and went and got something eat. We ended up stopping at the Yakiniku Restaurant to eat, which I ate at a lot while I was stationed in Okinawa. While we were eating Quest shows us some finger lights that he bought from somewhere in Shibuya, and says that he’s going to use them during the showcase. He also mentions that he has another surprise.

Later we show up back at the Game in time for our showcase. When we arrived, the place was packed; which of course is a good sign. Judging by who was on stage at the time, the final heat was going on. After the final heat was over DJ A-1 began his showcase set while we were hastily setting up our equipment on the stage. After DJ A-1 finished his set, I started off playing two songs from 15 minute set and condensed it down to 6 minutes. Mainly two songs that shows the displays the full potential of the Controller 1. Next, Mista-B went on and played an outstanding set. The set he played seemed like he was having a DMC Final flashback and performed it at a high caliber. Then, DnZ came up to bat rocked on one turntable and his MPD, remixing familiar hip-hop songs live. Finally Quest came on and played an amazing set. Remember the finger lights I mentioned about earlier? Well he placed them on his finger during the Electro part of his set and turned on his glow equalizer t-shirt and went to town. However, after roughly halfway through the electro part of his set, he does something with the finger lights as shown in the video at top.

Saturday, August 13th, was the day five of the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Japan Tour 2011. It was also the second last day of what has been a hectic intense six day tour of Japan by the touring US DJs: DJ Quest, Mista B, DJ ALF, and DnZ – who have been joined on the tour by Japan-based promoter Tomokuni Nishimura and also DJ Quest’s son Alex who recently celebrated his 18th birthday. An aspiring DJ, who goes by the name DJ Train, Alex even did a guest set on the ones and twos earlier in the week at the DoWith Cafe in Osaka spinning a bunch of funk records from his dad’s crates.

It has been non-stop for the DJs whose Saturday schedule started off with an early morning flight back from Okinawa to Tokyo via Haneda Airport. “Everybody was dead ass tired from the afterparty/session at Ottoboro. I think pretty much all of us was running on about two hours sleep. Now, I know how the recruits at Marine Corps Boot Camp must’ve felt during their final test of doing the Crucible,,” said DJ ALF adding that the DJs finally arrived at the Tokyo club Super Deluxe in Shibuya by about 5pm for the soundcheck. All were impressed with how cool looking a club it was, implying that it lives up to its name of Super Deluxe.

As for the actual performance DJ ALF reports that, “I ended doing my solo routine separate from the usual time that we did during our collective jam routine. Mista-B, Quest, and DnZ performed solo routines later as well. The collective set we performed flowed pretty nice where we did the party rocking scratched rigamarole again. The people that attended were amazed! Overall I felt really good about our set despite I was running low on fuel in terms of sleep.”

Up next is the touring DJs (after some – not a lot – sleep) is the sixth and final day which includes the final performance of the tour and in terms of turntablists in attendance – likely the most important since it will be at the East Japan DMC Finals (flyer below). Rather than doing a group routine together the four DJs will just do individual routines – edited down versions of their usual ones that will run just five minutes for each Mista B, DnZ, Quest, and ALF. Check back here over next 24 hours for a review/ update on these showcase sets and the DMC itself.

This is the fifth in a week long series of Hip Hop Slam Blogs covering the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Japan Tour 2011 featuring DJ ALF, DnZ, Mista B, and DJ Quest. It is a report courtesy of DJ ALF on Day Four of the tour which took the four visiting American DJs from Osaka to Okinawa in Japan. Coincidentally Okinawa is the very same place that ALF was based in when he lived in Japan a few years ago. The gig ALF and the other DJs played tonight (Friday, August 12th) was at a club called Salt N Pepper (no, nothing to do with the old school female rap crew Salt N Pepa) and it was followed by an after party with the DJs. “Our trip to Okinawa started off with an hour bus ride from our hotel in Osaka,” reported ALF. “The bus was very comfortable. We were checking out the different stuff that it featured. One of the highlights featured was the flip down seat which is used in case the bus gets filled up. Later we arrived at the airport and was amazed how the security check line personnel was very helpful. They help placing your bags in the bins and make sure that you’re squared away before going through the metal detector. For the most part their attitudes looked positive in terms of liking their jobs.”

“So we arrive at Naha Airport in Okinawa and traveled through very heavy traffic. The drive from Naha to Mihama, where the Salt and Pepper gig is located, normally takes about 45 minutes but this time took about an hour and a quarter to get there. Part of the reason was due to the Japanese celebrating Obon Festival. With that being said there was unfortunately a low number turnout to Salt N Pepper and the afterparty. On a positive note, our set turned out pretty good. The people that were in attendance were very pleased at our performances. Later, DnZ ripped up shop at the afterparty at Ototoro. At one point, DnZ was party rocking while Quest, Mista-B, and myself cutting over the beats. Overall, it was great for me personally to visit my second home, Okinawa. Well next we are off to Roppongi to play at Super Deluxe, Saturday.”

The video below is the four DJs on the bus (also Alex – DJ Quest’s son is on board the bus) with “flip seats” and video at top of blog is of DJ Quest at Salt N Pepper club.Check back here on the Hip Hop Slam Blog Saturday (USA time) for another report on the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Tour of Japan 2011 with a report on the Saturday night (Japan time) show in Rappongi at Super Deluxe. Then on Sunday will be a review/report of the touring DJs (Quest, Mista B, DnZ, ALF) group showcase performance at the East Japan DMC Finals. Thanks for reading and for supporting the turntable arts.

Quest + Misat B at DoWIth Cafe, Osaka, Japan – 2011

Wednesday, August 10th was day two of the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen 2011 Japan Tour with visiting US DJs DnZ, DJ Quest, Mista B, and DJ ALF and it featured three events for the hardworking DJs.

Soundcheck pic by DnZ

These included an in-store at Manhattan Records Shinsaibashi in Osaka, and club gig at Slow Land Cafe in Osaka, followed by the late Wednesday evening 11pm (to 5am) dubbed “Hip Hop Slam Positive Omen After Party”  at the DoWith Cafe – a video clip of which, featuring Mista-B and Quest getting busy on the ones and twos is featured above. Below is a quick video report on the earlier “dope party rockin’ set” at Slow Land Cafe gig by DJ ALF outside the venue with Tomokuni who is organizing this tour in Japan.

It was only Day Two of the tour and the DJs have had little time to get much rest (after a long journey over from the States) but still that didn’t stop them from enjoying every moment. “Yeah it was crazy,” agreed DnZ who broke down Wednesday in Japan as follows, “We got in from the train and right from that moment in Osaka it was go time; hit the hotel, dropped our stuff off, and then went to a place called Slow Land Cafe which was the spot we were going to rock after our in-store. It was just to setup and make sure we had enough room and good sound. After we hit up Manhattan Records West for the in-store. After it was back to Slow Land Cafe to start our actual club gigs for the night. We started off with a dope little team mix set which was all freestyled and that was fun! We only did 30 minutes to use for warm up. After this dope hip-hop band got on. They were our openers I g uess you can say? They rocked for a while and then we got back on at around 10:30 or 11pm. We turned that place out! It was packed to where no one was coming in or out of that place!!!

After our set we had to hurry and pack up so we can rock the after party which was about ten minutes away (in a taxi that is) which was dope too! Really nice spot and a lot of room! There we just rocked mix sets, and we didn’t end up leaving until 4am or 5am. At that point we were all tired,” reported DnZ from Japan where it is about a half a day ahead in time. He also said that next it is off to Kyoto to see all the temples and castles and “then rock an in-store there.” Check back here on the Hip Hop Slam Blog tomorrow for news on Day 3 and updates on the Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen 2011 Japan Tour with DnZ, DJ Quest, Mista B, and DJ ALF.

The Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen Japan Tour 2011 featuring DJ Quest, Mista B, DJ ALF, and DnZ with stops from Tokyo to Okinawa, which runs through August 15th, is officially underway and today features a concert at Dommune in Tokyo Japan. This benefit tour, to aid victims of Japan’s devastating 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami five months ago, will last a week with and include concerts, in-store appearances (including Manhattan Records in Osaka and Japonica in Kyoto), plus a showcase at the East Japan DMC Finals to be held Saturday (August 14th) in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

Today’s show at Dommune is important because it sets the tone for this Positive Omen tour whose goal is, as the participants all stated, “to help those in Japan that have suffered in their difficult times of devastation as a benefit and inspiration. It’s also a tour that is meant to send Positive Omens with a Hip Hop Slam appeal to it.” This gesture on behalf of the four participating Hip-Hop Slam DJs is one of true sincerity since each has some ties to Japan and its people; either good friends living there or else they have lived in Japan themselves. For example DJ ALF lived in Okinawa, Japan until a few years ago while DnZ was living in Tokyo earlier this year. The tour, which runs through Sunday August 15th and will no doubt (due to demand) feature some last minute appearances and showcases, has a pretty hectic schedule lined up.

Each day this week through August 16th – the day after the DJs leave Japan to fly back to the US – there will be reviews and updates on the Hip-Hop Slam Positive Omen Japan Tour 2011 with reports and quotes (and photos and videos) from such participants as DJ ALF and DnZ and Japanese tour organizer Tomokuni Nishimura. Check back on the Hip Hop Slam blog over the next twelve hours for report on today’s Dommune show (NOTE these blogs are been updated EST, NY USA time)