• Kool Keith's Peeps Return money to club (update on Slims no-show)
• SF DJs to gather for peace rally "There's not enough love in the world"
• "Ignorant American" El-P booed in Ireland

No-show Concert Money Returned/Kool Keith Not Arrested by SFPD

After Kool Keith's peeps (inc. Tim Dog & Jacky Jasper) fled Slims nightclub in San Francisco late Weds night (11/20) with the club receipts: as reported here yesterday they ran off after Kool Keith never showed up to join his crew in concert onstage. That was about 11:40PM after announcing onstage that "Kool Keith was arrested… on Mission Street." Reportedly a few hours later, at approximately 2:30AM, Keith's manager came by the club, returned the money in full and apologized. Apparently he was prompted to do so upon learning that the club had called the cops on the rappers who wouldn't have been too hard for the SFPD to find in their big marked tour bus. And what about Kool Keith getting arrested by the cops on Mission? Or the story that he later managed to bail himself out and then take a cab to the getaway bus? Well, the SFPD have no record of any arrest of a Keith Thornton. To Kool Keith and his management's credit however he did offer to do a free show at Slims. Stay tuned for details. Meanwhile press folkers for the official word contact Dawn at Slims.

"There's Not Enough Love in the World" — DJ EFX
DJ's organize Nov. 27th Peace Rally @ SF Civic Center

"It's a very simple but true statement: There's not enough love in the world," said DJ EFX about the idea behind the There's Not Enough Love in the World event, scheduled for next Wednesday, November 27th from noon to 5PM at San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza, that he and other San Francisco DJs, including 2Fresh and DJ Quest, are organizing. "We just got the sound permits today for music so we are all set," DJ EFX told Hip Hop Slam News on Thursday evening. "It's not a protest. It's a peace rally with DJ's of all types of music, percussionists, dancers, and other performers all coming together for a nonviolent showing of our feelings about what's currently going on in the world," said the longtime Bay Area DJ/producer (older brother of DJ Mind Motion) who since the early eighties has been DJ'ing/producing everything from hip hop to tribal house. EFX said there is no hotline or website for more details at this time but we will update you here.

EL-P BOOED ONSTAGE IN DUBLIN: DEF JUX CONCERT REVIEW

The Def Jux tour came to Ireland November 16, when Mr. Lif, El-P, DJ RJD2 all performed at the Pod in Dublin: price 15euros/$15 approx. Aesop Rock was also meant to perform but apparently he was sick so didn't show up. The night started with homegrown hip hop talent Relvance and Exile Eye (who used to live in San Jose, CA) belting out rhymes as Irish DJ talent Kool C was busy on the decks. And all I can say is that Irish Hip Hop is getting better by the day. These guys were really good and the club's capacity crowd (usually reluctant to appreciate Irish hip hop) was really digging them. Next up was DJ RJD2 who played for a good 3/4 of an hour set; utilizing not two but four turntables and dropping unbelievable beats and grooves: really funky and quirky but great head nodding shit. Next up was Boston emcee Mr. Lif who has been here in Europe before and whose stage presence has improved greatly. The man was tight and showed he really knows how to rock a crowd and is a better MC than EL-P who after several songs joined Lif onstage, much to the crowd's delight. But as the show progressed from there it had a mixed feel to it. I didn't know whether to like it or not and the atmosphere of the crowd seemed much the same. It lacked that electric hip hop energy from a week earlier when Blackalicious were here and really had the place rocking. What myself and those I talked to afterwards didn't like about the Def Jux show wasn't the music but the long pauses between the songs and the preachy political speeches that we were subjected to. Plus EL-P made a huge geographical error when he said "Dublin is one of the livest cities in the UK" (akin to "Toronto is the livest city in the USA" but only worse because of the age-old Irish/English political conflict). Obviously this blunder didn't go down too well with the Dublin crowd whatsoever who were loudly booing and screaming in protest. El-P then apologized, calling himself "an ignorant American." But that didn't stop him and Mr. Lif from ranting on about American politics, saying basically that since George Bush had come to power that September 11th was more or less all planned and that, basically, we are all doomed. I know what is going on in the world. I don't need it rammed down my throat at a hip hop concert. I am not in school anymore. But all that aside when they stuck to what they do best, their music, the Def Jux crew were really good.

(reported by Paul Lowe in Ireland)