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• D-Styles’ Phantazmagorea,
Bowling for Columbine, Scratch movie/DVD, and Mr.
Lif among top mentions in Hip Hop Slam’s Best of 2002 list
of lists from such contributors as Doug Pray, Steinski, Jeff Chang,
Todd Inoue, 25percenter, Chris LaSalle, Billy Jam, DJ Pone, DJ
Jester, and DJ Munkifunk.
D-Styles’ album Phantazmagorea and
Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine
got numerous mentions in the following best of 2002 list of lists.
The contributions from Hip Hop Slam staffers and friends of Hip
Hop Slam is not just about hip hop or even music but rather a
lists of “things that meant something in 2002” to the
individual contributors (these range from albums to weddings).
Each list maker was invited to do anywhere from five to ten things,
or even eighteen if they wanted, and to write as little as a word
and as much as a paragraph on each item.
Hip Hop Slammers who contributed include Timi D…,
DJ Pone, DJ Platurn, Bas-1, Rocky Hanes,
Stevie K, Billy Jam, DJ Stoic, Geoff Rantala,
DJ Munkifunk, Kate Wolfson, and two new Hip Hop
Slam members Timer and DnZ. (for more info on
these individuals, visit the Staff
page).
Friends of Hip Hop Slam who contributed include legendary New
York artist Steinski (whose critically acclaimed Nothing
to Fear mix dropped in 2002), journalist Todd Inoue
(who saw his hip hop editor gig at Pulse! disappear when
Tower Records shut down their magazine operation in 2002), author/activist
Jeff Chang (who moved back to the Bay from NYC in 2002),
musician/activist/recent author Tim’m (AKA 25percenter)
of the revolutionary Oakland queer-hip hop crew Deep Dickollective,
San Antonio, Texas’ DJ Jester the Filipino Fist (destined
to blow up bigtime in 2003 especially after he tours with Kid
Koala), Karen Dere of top quality indie hip hop clothing/music
site www.thegiantpeach.com
who said that, “In 2002 I read a lot of books… nothing
i can really recommend. listened to a lot of music, most of it
not from 2002. sigh. i think i’m getting old or something.”
Other contributors include Italy’s DJ Skizo of Alien
Army who spent a good deal of 2002 in Australia, Allan
from the cool-ass Aquarius Records in San Francisco, Chris
LaSalle from Hellcat Records (who used to work with Hollywood
Basic back in the day), and documentary movie/music-video director
Doug Pray of Hype! and Scratch fame. As Scratch
was still in theaters and coming out on DVD in 2002 Doug was already
busy onto numerous new projects. These included him getting started
on Big Rig his “trucking film” documentary, making
music videos, and doing a performance film of Bay Area monologue-writer/actor
Josh Kornbluth’s Red Diaper Baby (shot in September
at Fort Mason for the Sundance channel).
Thanks to all who contributed their lists and to you for reading.
Feel free to copy and forward any of these lists to others. And
if you want to be included in the next Hip Hop Slam News email
when the topic will be PREDICTIONS FOR 2003 then write
down anywhere from 1 to 5 predictions for 2003. These can be about
music, the music biz, politics, economics, hip hop culture, censorship,
or anything that matters a damn to you. They can be anywhere from
a word to a paragraph. Email to billyjam@hiphopslam.com
Doug Pray’s Ten Tops for 2002 (in no
particular order)
1) Biggest directorial challenge: trying to keep the large,
wasted, and completely out of control Jeff “the Dude”
Dowd from physically tackling a diminutive and naked porn
star on the set of my music video for Serial P.O.P. (a
great new band from the UK). Jeff IS “The Big Lebowski”
played him in that movie), and he is in the music video.
2) Favorite production: shooting the Z-Trip “How
to Rock a Party” lesson (featured on the SCRATCH DVD)
on my little DV camera over at his house. No budget, no planning,
no crew, one light… it took only a couple of hours, it was
fun, he rocked, and it’s gotten as much attention on the
DVD as the film itself, which took thousands of hours to put together.
A good lesson indeed!
3) Best meal: one of the few things that keeps me living
in LA is the 1960s style pizza at a place called Casa Bianca
Pizza Pie, on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. It’s so good
that I’ve moved within a mile of the place and I’ve
placed an early order on a coffin and a graveyard plot because
I know I’m just gonna die eating it one day.
4) Favorite SCRATCH screening: 2002 was filled
with memorable showings (especially the Bay Area premieres), but
my favorite was at a church in LA on 8th street for J.U.I.C.E.
(an after-school, hip-hop oriented youth program). When there
was dialog, all the kids were bored, but when the music started
blaring, they all started breaking like crazy on the church floor.
5) Best consumer decision: giving my son a subscription
to Mad magazine.
6) Most popular thing I’ve never seen: The
Osbornes on MTV.
7) Most depressing image: miles of mini-mansions, a
mega-mall, and millions of manic holiday shoppers needlessly
consuming the world’s last resources in what used to be beautiful
fields and a few farms, near where I grew up in Madison,
Wisconsin. Reminded me of the cover of that old Bad Religion LP:
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
8) Favorite documentary: How to Draw a Bunny
by John Walter. A simple and very well-conceived documentary
about the troubled life and brilliant work of artist Ray Johnson.
9) Most memorable live performance: Public Enemy and Blackalicious.
I’d never seen either group live and the sound system was
so loud that I heard nothing but a high pitched squeal for the
following 72 hours.
10) Favorite music: hard to decide, but N.E.R.D.,
Flaming Lips, and all the old Cheap Trick records
that I finally bought on CD. Best new scratch-related records
were D-Styles Phantazmagorea, Steinski’s
Nothing to Fear, and, OF COURSE, Volumes 1,
2, and 3 of the History of the Hip-Hop DJ
by DJ History! (which should have been the soundtrack for
SCRATCH).
Bas-One’s Ten Best of 2002 (in no particular
order)
1) Motion Man’s album (best rap album)
2) Def Jux (best hip hop label)
3) Lords of the Floor (best b-boy/breakin event)
4) ICP (best Bay Area Graff Crew)
5) 23rd Ave. Yard (best lookin’ yard in the Bay)
6) Head Hunters (best breakin crew)
7) Teeko (formerly Tico) (best new scratch DJ in the Bay:
robbed at da DMC)
8) Scratch Attack I Want My Battle Record Back You Bastard!
(best radio show)
9) Amoeba Music (best record store)
10) History of Funk with Ricky Vincent (my favorite)
Billy Jam’s Top Ten Things of Note in 2002
1) D-Styles’ absolutely brilliant long awaited debut
Phantazmagorea - best album of 2002 out of all genres
of music. Truly an inspiration to listen to! Runners up included
DJ Shadow’s The Private Press, DJ Jester’s
Heavily Booted (originally broadcast on WFMU), Steinski’s
Nothing to Fear, DJ Dank’s Biggest Bong
Hits, the Scratch DVD, Jazzbo’s Constant
Elevation compilation, and (in my biased opinion) Hip
Hop Slam’s best compilation yet, Scratch Attack
Vol. 2
2) Those successful artists who didn’t change with fame
or forget where they came from: Included: DJ Shadow
who invited his longtime heroes Double Dee and Steinski
to open for him in New York. Z-Trip who despite all the
publicity and accolades he received in 2002 is still a down to
earth, hella cool guy. And E40 who is still the same guy
he was waaaay back in the day: he even has a picture of his childhood
V’town street on the back cover of his 2002 album The
Ballatician/Grit & Grind.
3) Coffee, Dank, and quality Newspapers: For me relaxing
in coffeeshops like Caffe Trieste in San Francisco reading
the New York Times, or Bewleys in Dublin
reading the Irish Times is just heaven. I love it!
Only thing better is being in an Amsterdam coffeeshop smoking
a fat hash’n’skunk joint and reading the
Wire magazine. Each one of these I did in 2002 and
hopefully will do again in 2003.
4) Touring UK & Eire with QBert: The two summer weeks
I went on tour of England, Scotland, Ireland,
and Wales with DJ QBert was both an education and
a pleasure. I never knew how grueling a tight tour schedule can
be on artists nor how appreciative the British and Irish are of
skratch music. I also learnt that QBert, while one of greatest
people I know and easily the best DJ, has the nastiest farts I’ve
ever smelt (it was a small tour bus).
5) Going to Las Vegas for first time: twice within a month
for two Hip Hop Slammers’ weddings (Rocky Hane’s
& Geoff Rantala’s) and witnessing each’s
deserved happiness. It was also my introduction to Sin City:
a truly fascinating place that I simultaneously loved and hated
but def. plan on returning to in 2003, maybe accompanying DJ
Pone to the next AVN Convention.
6) Living in the Bay Area: Thanks to seeing the enthusiasm
through the eyes of such visiting DJs as DJ Flip (Ireland)
and DJ Sniper (Holland) who came on pilgrimage to their
Mecca, San Francisco, in 2002 I fully appreciated just
how incredible a place the Bay Area is if you are into
DJ/skratch music: best record stores, best and friendliest DJs,
best clubs & DJ battles/events and most supportive environment
for DJs.
7) The Economy, File Sharing, & Lame Distributors:
2002 was a shitty year for the economy, especially in the Bay
Area, and the poor economic climate provided record distributors
ample excuses for poor sales (“no ones buying this scratch
music anymore” “compilations don’t sell” “40%
returns is normal” “everyone’s downloading music
now”). Yes CD sales were down 10% in 2002 and file sharing/digital
music burning was way up. But all of these negatives made me wake
up and realize that it was the music business, as we know it,
that is in trouble and not the music. And that it was time for
me to radically refocus how I run a label so as to survive into
2003 and beyond, beyoooootch!
8) Classic Hip Hop: For years I have been accumulating
a huge library of music and filing it away as I constantly listened
to new music, but in 2002 I put aside the new and went digging
into the “classic” hip hop from the eighties and the
nineties. And how refreshing and educational it was to notice
how much more scratching was heard in eighties hip hop or, as
I noticed while listening to early nineties hip hop, the abundance
of revolutionary references to Rodney King. Comparing this with
the virtual lack of references to the Inglewood Police beating
of 16 year old Donovan Jackson in 2002 was most noteworthy. Also
noticeably absent was anti-war/anti President Bush rhetoric in
hip hop and in music in general in 2002. Go back two decades and
witness the abundance of anti-Reagan punk albums or a decade ago
and check for all the anti-Bush rock and hip hop music (remember
Paris’s “Bush Killa”?). But 2002 seemed (with some
few exceptions) the year of apathy and fear in art. Fear of being
seen as a “terrorist” who endorsed Sept. 11th and risked
being arrested or monitored by the FBI. Maybe if/when the latest
War of Mass Distraction kicks in artists will overcome their fears
and risk speaking out again.
9) Scratch Attack Sessions that we did throughout the year
at KPFA (until getting kicked off the air in February), at the
Vulcan, at Talk of The Town, and at Hip Hop Slam (back on Pirate
Fuckin' Radio) and for WFMU and Turntable Radio. It all comes
down to providing a space for artists to gather and showcase their
art and all of this you can do DIY style. I predict DIY to be
the biggest musical movement of 2003.
10) The passion displayed by the all the DJs/producers and
graphic/visual artists that I was fortunate enough to work with
in 2002 gave me more inspiration and drive than I can ever
describe in words: Too many to name check but an honorable mention
goes to DJ T-Rock whose scratch mix he mailed me late in
the year just gave me goose bumps its so good.
Chris LaSalle’s (Hellcat Records) Top 5
of 2002
1. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - 1 week of shows
at St Anns Wherehouse In Brooklyn
2. DMC’s tribute to Jam Master Jay at Jay’s
Memorial service in Hollis Queens
3. Transplants/Distillers/Pressure Point Tour
4. The Transplants giving me a shout out on their song
“Tall Cans In The Air”
5. Wild Style DVD & Back In The Day
photo book
DJ Pone’s Personal 10 Most Significant
Hop-Hop Related Happenings for 2002
10) Return of the DJ (Pone), 2002. I sort of simmered
down after 1999, after 3 years of entering every DJ battle I could
enter. In 2002, I went back to my old ways. Though I didn’t
do as well as I wanted to, I got reacquainted with the battle
scene, and became acquainted with a whole new generation of DJs
- Antriks, Fatal, Ales One, Teeko, Mikey Bear - too many to name
here. Everyone’s been great - except for that crowd at DMC
Seattle who didn’t bother to catch me after a stage dive.
Ouch.
9) DJ Pone goes digital, December 2002. I took that holiday
money and got a Pioneer CD Turntable. The vinyl/cd debate rages
on. But hey, if DJ Jazzy Jeff, Shadow, Swamp, Biz Markie, and
Apollo think the Pioneer CD Turntable is ok, then why shouldn’t
I? I think it’s ultimately about the music, no matter what
format.
8) Scratch Attack gets the axe, February 2002. Amidst
accusations of debauchery while DJing, one of the few scratch
music radio shows was cancelled. Get the Scratch Attack CDs for
the full story. But this being a top 10 list, this should be something
good, right? It’s all in how you handle things - getting
the show back on the air - be it a live stage show, an internet
webcast, or a pirate radio broadcast - has been quite a fun and
educational experience. Scratch Attack will live on.
7) Reggae on the River, August 2002. More than just a
shameless plug for my band, Dub FX (www.dubfx.com).
It was exciting to play the largest reggae event in the U.S.,
playing the same stage as Sean Paul, the Marleys, Burning Spear,
and Steel Pulse, among others.
6) The Holy Grail (record shopping in 2002), December 2002.
All diggers have a Holy Grail (or several of them). One of mine
was “Pretty Brown Eyes (Breakin’ My Heart)”. A
typical R&B love song produced by Jimmy Jam in the early 90s,
complete with trite lyrics. The 12” single had eluded my
grasp for 10 years. I’ve wanted it ever since I started DJing
- it evoked memories of high school dances and Theo Mitzuhara
on KMEL’s Love Lines. I finally found it amongst a huge lot
of unwanted records at Twelves Record Emporium in Sacramento.
For a quarter, no less. I am truly a sorry sack of crap. Please
don’t laugh at me.
5) Take the pillow from your head (appearance on Wake Up Show),
February 2002. After years of listening to the Wake Up Show,
starting from early in my djing career, I finally got to go to
the Wake Up Show - as a guest no less. My appearance was short
and sweet - a 6 minute battle routine and quick interview. But
more importantly, I got to jock famous people. I met DJ Quik,
and these two unknown producers named Pharrell Williams and Chad
Hugo. They were pretty friendly guys, but I don’t think I’ve
ever heard of them.
4) AVN Awards/Convention, January 2002. Some of you may
have seen the Porn Star DJ Battle on www.89skratch.com.
Some of you may have read my Porn Report on the Scratch Attack
Vol. 1 CD. All of that material came from our visit to the
AVN convention in Las Vegas - the annual porn star mecca. I not
only met Peter North and Jenna Jameson (amongst dozens of stars),
but I showed them how to scratch.
3) Return of the DJ (Canned Beats), 2002. Back to my roots.
While most people reading this are more familiar with the ‘89
Skratch Gangstaz, not many people know about my mobile dj crew,
Canned Beats. Many of us DJs, especially in the Bay Area, started
out as djs mixing for mobile dj crews (see the “Beats
To Go” article written by Munkifunk). 2002 brought about
a revitalization of my mobile crew, Canned Beats (www.cannedbeats.com).
DJ Neogeo and DJ Pone are out in full force around the Bay Area,
spinning the jiggy stuff. And watch out for Neogeo’s crew,
The Formula.
2) Phantazmagorea, October 2002. In 1998, Qbert’s
Wave Twisters was revolutionary - a full-length all scratch
music album. No other scratch music album seemed to approach its
greatness for years. One of the best tracks on the album was “Alcohol
Razorblade Slide”, a song by D-styles - the enigmatic skratch
mystery, and perhaps one of the most underacknowledged scratch
djs (back in ‘98). His album had been highly anticipated
for years, and was finally unleashed on Halloween 2002. It takes
scratch compositions to new musical and conceptual heights - it
is the “next level” scratch music album that we’ve
been waiting years for.
1) Tragedy and reevaluation of DJing, hip hop and life (R.I.P.
Jam Master Jay), October 2002. Every now and then, a wake
up slap in the face is necessary. Hip hop music in 2002 was desperately
in need of one. It’s unfortunate that a wake up call almost
always comes in the form of a great tragedy. At least for me,
I’ve had to stop and think about the reasons I’ve been
djing, what it means to me, as well reconsider how MY actions
are affecting the world - the most obvious thing was what kind
of music I was spinning. I’m still not finished thinking
this through. In regard to impact on my life, this was one of
the most significant events this year, hip hop related or otherwise.
R.I.P Jam Master Jay.
Jeff Chang’s Top 10 Stuff of 2002
10) Solomon turns 1, learns to sing “Oh Boy”
9) The The - Mind Bomb is re-released
8) Trent Lott apologizes and apologizes and…
7) Mr. Lif rocks the world
6) Keith Hudson - Rasta Communication is re-released
5) Blackalicious rocks the world
4) Record-shopping with Afrika Bambaataa
3) DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born, Z-Trip, Jack Dangers and Tino Corp
rock the Warfield in November
2) Hip-hop activism gets its props
1) The future is Yao Ming
RIP Jam Master Jay and Joe Strummer.
Timi D…’s Top Ten Things That Moved
Him in 2002
10) Coffee & Dank
9) My eBay Baby… ”Back up off my bid beyooootch!”
8) Rollei, Pentax, Nikon
7) My 49er’s season ticket new seat in Sec.25 Row.4 Seat.12
6) Scratch the film released on DVD
5) Ham Hock Hill. ”Never again! Never forget!”
4) Halloween Wedding in Vegas… Rocky & Kim
3) Guinness & Dank
2) Rolling reels and shaking cans
1) Over a decade with Hip Hop Slam & Billy Jam, My Man!!!
Karen Dere’s Ten Significant Events in 2002
1) Bowling for Columbine. I admit
to being a stupid American, but at least I don’t have a gun.
2) Having both a legend & a friend killed by senseless
gun violence. RIP JMJ & Freddie.
3) Seeing Earth Wind & Fire AND Rufus with Chaka Khan
live (thanks Sylvia) Whoa, all performers have to take a page
out of their performance book.
4) The old school flashback sequence in Brown Sugar.
Don’t deport Slick Rick!
5) John Mayer solo acoustic encore of “Comfortable”
at the Fillmore. Hadn’t heard his music, took my sister
to see him, was thoroughly impressed.
6) Bamuthi’s spoken word pieces during No Man’s
Land, the Quilt Project, the Living Word Festival… the
brother has things to say, and says them well.
7) Pharoah Sanders performing with Lines Ballet.
8) Huckabay McAllister Dance’s performance at ODC,
particularly “Three Conversations on the Same Subject”
.
9) California Soul & Black Renaissance on
Luv N Haight. I’ve always loved this label, and these
releases prove why.
10) The phenomena that is Definitive Jux & Rhymesayers.
Both labels had great years… their mics sound nice.
Geoff Rantala’s Top Stuff in 2002
(in no order… except the first two, dammit!)
01. Getting Married (FINALLY!)
02. Mrs. Nell's Graduation from SFSU (FINALLY!)
03. Trader Joe’s
04. D-Styles / Phantazmagorea
05. The Ten-Year Psycle… Returning to the Beginning
(?!?)
06. Scratch Attack @ The Vulcan Compound
07. D.I.Y.
08. The Young Ones / Every Stoopid Episode (DVD)
09. Alternate News Sources
10. Zero 7 @ The Fillmore
11. Learning the Bass
12. Vice City (100%)
13. Hip Hop Slam B-B-Qs
14. Having a Job
15. DJ Dank’s Biggest (bong) Hits
16. Bush is a Terrorist
17. Mr. Show / Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD)
… and the (third) BEST thing about 2002…
18. it’s finally fucking OVER!
DJ Jester The Filipino Fist’s
Ten Things That Moved Him in 2002
10)my band/studio project Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine
finally released our cd
9)played South By Southwest Music Festival again
8)saw Kid Koala live in Austin twice
7)got Back to the Future Trilogy on DVD for Christmas
6)was the Trojan condom booth manager during summer concert
series
5)became a freelancer for URB
4)played a gig with and was the promoter for MC Paul Barman
gig in San Antonio
3)got my mojo back
2)watched Bowling for Columbine
1)was on Scratch Attack Volume two compilation
Rocky Hanes’ Top Five Events of 2002
1) Travel—my second trip to Thailand cuz there ain’t
nutt’in like Bangkok: insane and spiritually enlightening
all in one, as well as the islands,like Kho Samui, Kho Toa - breathtaking
and hard to leave. My trip to Hawaii, the big island, the destination
of my new home, and place of my true calling.
2) Scuba diving—my true calling and massive influence
in my life, cuz night diving with 15ft manarays {15 @ same time}
or bus size whale sharks in a foreign ocean was the pinnacle of
my life at the time to show me that removing man made drugs {speed}
from my rotation and stick’in only to buddha buds would only
continue my path to enlightenment.
3) My accident—in the quest to give props to the
spirit of my old man {buddha bless him} and impress my friends,
the building of “the swing”,which hung from a tree with
pop’s ashes in it, after several successful runs, it was
the fateful last one, which fatigue took over and rather then
sit on it, i hung from it and lost my grip, only to fly thru the
air and land on my left foot, tearing it off to the point that
my toes were facing behind me and the bone stuck out of my leg.
BY the grace of Buddha my friends drug me out of the woods, to
an ambulance, were they said amputation would be necessary! Thanks
to a great surgeon I kept my foot and with lots of therapy I can
walk!
4) My wedding—the fact that I was able to” walk
“down the isle, in Las Vegas with my man BILLY JAM do’in
the ceremony and DJ PAUSE do’in the vows and marry my beautiful
& lov’in wife KIM, with all my peoples in the house to
show love, OH SHIT! That was an emotional ass event, the most
influential part of 2002!
5) Having to leave THE SUCKA FREE, FRISCO—due to
my injury, not working, the cost of living, I had to bounce out
to ST.louis, MO but it well give me time to recovery, so I can
move to HAWAII,beaaatchh! Big shout to my bay area heads!
DJ Skizo’s Top 8
1)the day i finish the new alien army lp the end
2)training at night with Tayone in our old studios
3)my old skool ford fairlane 500
4)what color is love from Terry Callier
5)the day i bought my first 1200… the beginning of the
nightmare
6)my original poly moog…
7)sharing deep toughts with my karate master after several
years of practice.
8)running hard core in front of Australian ocean in the morning
and feel ready for the 2003!!
www.alienarmy.net
alienskizo@hotmail.com
Timer’s Top Six (Japanese Translator &
Dank Tester)
1) Getting to meet DJ Dank & hearing his CD DJ Dank’s
Biggest Bong Hits
2) Scratch Attack Vol. 2
3) KJMJ - the four hour pirate radio show at Hip
Hop Slam in honor of Jam Master Jay organized by DJ Platurn, Billy
Jam, and Mac Ran (D’z Nutts) with highlights that included
Pone on the cuts and Bas-1 on the mic and all the call-ins including
the hip hop history dropping Cory Robbins who back in those early
days of hip hop signed Run DMC to his Profile Records.
4) Bas-One’s song “Highly Effective People”
5) A free reggae show in Golden Gate Park during the summer.
Sunshine. Dank. And good music!
6) A show that DJ Krush did back in January, 2002 in Tokyo
with a bunch of other Japanese hip hop and drum’nbass DJs
and emcees.
DNZ Top Ten Moments of 2002
(Hip Hop Slam Publicity & Production Assistant)
1) Going to San Francsico DMC Regionals for first time….and
it was free!
2) Graduating from Pinole Valley High….it had been
a struggle with credits.
3) Jumping fences and doing the “Fifty Meter Dash”
at 2002 Metropolis at 3Com Park (our name wasn’t on the
guest list as promised so we had to jump several fences to get
in….successfully).
4) Been a regular hip hop and house DJ at the “Underground
Spot” in Point Richmond.
5) Getting my DJ crew, TFS DJ’s, into full production
(shows and recordings).
6) D-Styles’ Phantazmagorea. The whole thing
is amazing.
7) Opening my friends up to the art of scratching. Once
they saw how it was done, after taking them to a couple of battles,
they really appreciated it.
8) Interviewing Rob Swift for Youth Radio.
9) Having a stable place at Youth Radio to teach youth how
to DJ. It is important to teach young people how to DJ
10) When we finally able to put our mix-tapes onto CD’s,
thanks in part to using Pro-Tools.
Kate Wolfson’s Top Five Hip Hop Albums
1 J Live / Get Live
2 RJD2
3 Scratch Attack Vol. 1 & 2
4 Jean Grae / Attack of the Attacking Things
5 Dilated Peoples / Expansion Team
DJ Munkifunk’s Essential Five
1. PHANTAZMAGOREA What it all boils down to is
the goddamn music. D-Styles drops his full-length solo debut on
Beat Junkie Sound causing heads to pop off a load and vomit simultaneously.
2. REVENGE OF THE ROBOTS This show tore the roof off the
Great American Music Hall. Featuring a killer lineup (El-P, Mr.
Lif, RJD2, Fakts-1, Cage, and Copywrite) of DJs and MCs, this
east coast family fully wrecked shop in Cali.
3. SCRATCH ATTACK KICKED OFF KPFA Only Hip Hop Slam could
manage to get kicked off Berkeley’s own Free Speech Radio.
For 13 months we molested the airwaves and glued ears shut. Now
we’re back in the North-O eating nachos at Billy Jam’s
crib doing it Pirate Radio style!
4. GRAND WIZARD THEODORE The creator of the scratch rocked
Storyville and the Scratch Attack DJs were there to support. Word
up to BombHipHop for the opportunity to play some records and
drink beer with one of hiphop’s legendary pioneers.
5. SCRATCH This documentary film brings the history
of the hip hop DJ to the big screen and blows it up. Sure they
left out some pioneers, but they also included the Bullet Proof
Space Travelers talking hella shit!
*BONUS: The Dubya chokes on a pretzel and passes out,
raising the pot of stupidity his Daddy started when he puked on
the Japanese. Where the fuck is Jodie Foster’s Army when
you need them?!!
DJ Platurns’s Top 10
1) No gigs specifically moved me this year but i’d have
to say i’m happy that a small handful of people in the
Bay Area actually still give a shit about quality music, are
willing to support it in any way they can and don’t look
at hip-hop as a job or the scene as some wack-ass popularity contest
2) My girlfriend Megan
3) Buying a big ass box of 45s from some dude at the Coliseum
flea market for 25 bucks (my biggest come-up all year)
4) Couch surfing for 2 months and fully realizing how incredibly
supportive my community of friends and family are
5) My family going to Iceland and bringing me back a bunch
of shit
6) Bowling for Columbine and Standing in
the Shadows of Motown
7) A little funky dance now b/w a-list b-boy on Slept On Records
(much respect to my man EdaBoss)
8) The warmest November in years
9) Teaching a seminar on deejaying for kids at the Exploratorium
in S.F.
10) Acetate Prophets (Cut Chemist & Nu-Mark) & MunkiFunk’s
birthday song by DJ Pone, Skills (Gang Starr)
DJ Stoic’s Top Ten Hip Hop Things (in
no particular order)
1 UC Berkeley’s hip-hop conference
2 Bomb Hip-Hop’s Real Deal at Storyville
3 Blackalicious, Blazing Arrow
4 Beatbox: A Raparareta at Theater Artaud
5 Jam Master Jay tributes
6 Scratch Attack from The Vulcan and The Vault
7 DJ Shadow, The Private Press
8 Scratch Attack Vol. 1 & 2
9 DJs Daze & Culture Shizaaam’s 30th
10 D-Styles, Phantazmagorea
Stevie K’s Top Ten Thangs of 2002 (in
countdown order)
10. SF Giants
9. Bowling for Columbine
8. The Osbournes
7. Yahoo Mail
6. Sopranos
5. Scratch (the Movie)
4. Corporate corruption (Enron, PG&E, etc.)
3. India Arie
2. Yvette Pylant (Stevie K. produced Dity Daty Dae)
wins “John
Lennon Songwriting Contest”
1. Joke of the decade: Bush’s “War on Terrorism”
Steinski’s Top Seven of 2002 (www.steinski.com)
1) Finally, finally, finally playing live with my long time
partner (and shrinking violet) Double Dee, opening for DJ
Shadow at Roseland NYC. After 19 years, being able to put my arm
around him while 2000 people applauded—well, that was worth
waiting for.
2) Finishing (after 2 years) the Solid Steel mix Nothing
To Fear. Damn, that felt good.
3) My wife and I committing to the adoption process, getting
our background checks, fingerprints, home visits, recommendation
letters, health checks, blah blah, etc. etc. We’re almost
parents. Hang in there, kid, we’re on the way.
4) “Red Light, Green Light” by Charizma and Peanut
Butter Wolf on a Stone’s Throw white label EP. Truly
heartfelt hiphop, without no doubt.
5) “Hear No Evil” by DJ Ivory of the P Brothers.
Dropping serious mix science all over the damn place.
6) People Under The Stairs / Live At The Fishbucket.
Here’s to everybody over forty ‘n sh*t…
7) Littleton, New Hampshire at the peak of the Fall foliage
season. God is in the house.
Tim’m’s (AKA 25percenter of Deep Dickollective)
Top 10
1. MeShell Ndegeocello: The Anthropological Mixtape
2. The Ring
3. Blackalicious: Blazing Arrow
4. Hanifah Walidah’s Straight Black Folks Guide to
Gay Black Folks at Black Box (www.trustlife.net)
5. Osunlade: Paradigm (Yoruba inspired house music
for true souls)
6. Common’s Electric Circus
7. Red Hot & Riot (Honoring the Music and Spirit of
Fela Kuti)
8. 2002 Peace Out Int’l Homohop Festival at East
Bay Pride
9. Publication of my first book, solo EP, and site: www.reddirt.biz
10. Donnie’s Colored Section
Todd Inoue’s Top 10 (Music Editor—Metro/Freelance
Writer, & hip hop editor with now defunct Pulse)
1) World Cup 2002, especially Korea’s ascendence
as a soccer power
2) The Private Press - DJ Shadow. Best live show,
too.
3) The Sopranos fifth season
4) Heavily Booted - DJ Jester the Filipino Fist
5) Instant Vintage - Raphael Saadiq
6) The Jam Live at the BBC boxset
7) “Moi Moi” saimin at Sam Choy’s
8) Def Jux
9) Jake Shimabukuro: the Q-Bert or Yngwie of the ukulele
10) Tower Pulse 1983-2002
Allan @ Aquarius Records’ Top 10 of 2002
(in no order other than alphabetical)
Bohren & Der Club of Gore / Black Earth
Boris / Heavy Rocks
Loren Chasse / Hedge Of Nerves
Circle / Sunrise
Gandalf / s/t (reissue)
Immortal / Sons Of Northern Darkness
Public Nuisance / Gotta Survive
Ruins / Tzomborgha
Tony, Caro & John / All On The First Day (reissue)
Wishbone Ash / Argus (reissue)
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