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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.

Hip Hop Slam Positive Omen 2011 Japan Tour: Day 3 at Japonica In Kyoto

Friday, August 12, 2011 posted by Billy Jam 12:06 am

Thursday, August 11th was Day Three of the ongoing Hip Hop Slam presents Positive Omen 2011 Japan Tour featuring DJ Quest, Mista B, DnZ, and DJ ALF who reports from Japan that it was another good day on the tour. “We played at Japonica which is located in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto in general has the “traditional” Japanese culture displayed throughout the city. The Western influence isn’t as big as it is in Tokyo,” reports ALF. As for the unique cafe meets record store location ALF says that, “Japonica is a chill jazzy type of spot intertwined with a hip-hop feel which is displayed by the record record store which at the back of the cafe. Pretty much Mista-B started off the gig playing some laid back funk music, and some rNb. DnZ remixed some vibing hip-hop beats, including some Dilla, on his MPD for his set. I played two melodic tunes using the [Vestax] Controller 1 that are part of my original set which lead into a Q and A with DJ Quest who played some old breaks and doing what he does best with them in terms juggling and mixing.”

The set was well received reports ALF who said that afterwards, “We caught the last train back to Osaka. The trains in Japan shut down at midnight. A thing we all noticed on the train ride back to Osaka was that they have “Women Only” train cars on certain lines. The train we were on had that. DnZ told us all that Japan must have just started that because he remembers that while he was staying out there last year he remembers a lot of reports of women getting groped on the trains. One of the YouTube clips below shows us on the train ride back to Osaka and if you notice there was a guy in the “Women Only” car who continued to sit in the car after he was told not to sit in that car. Also take note that all the women sat at one end of the car. In the video clip, he’s the guy that was sitting in the other car on the side where Alex was sitting.”

In case you missed yesterday’s Hip Hop Slam Blog on Day Two of the tour, for which DnZ contributed his report, ALF weighs in on his impression of the busy day that included three gigs in one day. “We first played at an in-store at Manhattan Records in Chuo-ku in Osaka around 7pm. We all roughly played 10 minutes sets each,” recalled ALF of the Wednesday, August 10th dates. “Then from there we went to Slow Land Cafe located in Kita-ku in Osaka and opened up for a local Japanese hip-hop band called Insist . During that particular open set, we (Quest, Mista-B, DnZ, myself) freestyle party rocked, playing mostly old school hip-hop; layering scratches and samples over the top of the songs. The crowd was really digging the 30 minute set. Then after Insist we played our “Positive Omen” hour long set. From there we went to a spot called Do With Cafe and played for the after party from roughly 12am until about 3am then we crashed back at our hotel.”

There’s just another couple of days left on this tour including a special showcase performance by all the DJs on Saturday (August 13th) at the  DMC East Japan DJ battle finals. Check back here over the next few days for more reports. Thanks for reading and supporting turntablism and skratch music!