SEAL OF APPROVAL – FREE JAMES BROWN HAPPY HOUR – U STREET MUSIC HALL – 12/10/10

On December 25, 2009, the music industry lost its most influential modern legend when “Soul Brother Number One,” the “Sex Machine,” “Mr. Dynamite,” “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” “The King of Funk,” “Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk,” “Mr. Please Please Please Please Himself,” “I Feel Good,” “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” and “Godfather of Soul” James Brown passed away. There is not a genre of music that Brown did not touch or was influential in the development of. Early disco and house couldn’t exist without the funk breakdowns of his rhythm sections. Baltimore club owes a significant portion of its entire success to the breakdown of “Think,” a track by James Brownbackground vocalist turned solo artist Ann Peebles. Hip hop? Well, the entire genre is built on the vocal inflections, funk, soul and iconic nature of the voice and music of the legend. With core influences in intenrational dance styles as well and at the major point of influence of all music, James Brown is a legend worthy of an epic celebration.

In 1988, James Brown was sentenced to three years in prison and many in the hip hop community felt he was unjustly imprisoned. The response? A movement based around the concept of “FREE JAMES BROWN.” Now, 22 years later, Brown is eternally free, so we celebrate him with a FREE happy hour in honor of his life and contributions, an event which flips the lid on his darkest hour and makes it his brightest. From 5-10 PM on December 10th, DJs Harry Hotter, Jerome Baker III, and Baltimore representatives James Nasty and Johnny Blaze fete likely the most important artist in the development of dance music.

Harry Hotter is a truly dominant turntablist, blending disparate styles to create the diaspora of funk and soul in his sets, not unlike James Brown throughout his career.

Jerome Baker III is a rising hip hop centric but genuinely party rocking DJ that brings a definite aura of excitement and frenetic energy fueled by classic and current breakbeats and crowd anthems.

James Nasty is the fastest rising DJ in Baltimore Club music at the moment. Working with Bmore Original Records, his best club selections display an attention to base desire and and populist fervor, two elements core to the James Brown tradition.

Jonny Blaze is a true Baltimore club music legend. The DJ has been spinning for over twenty years and is as ribald of a personality as he is talented as a DJ. His sets are unforgettable, pulse pounding and bass rattling moments in time, His tracks also appeal to populism and take unexpected turns down musical pathways that still keep the dance floor filled with energy. He’s also the headliner. The only man that could headline. On a level of personality, creative flavor, style and talent.

Playing selections from Brown’s catalog, the catalogs of those who played with him, and also the catalogs of those who were inspired by him, this is an event where I can almost guarantee you won’t hear the same track twice and it’s a guaranteed dance party all night long.

AND now, the finest performance in the history of music. James Brown from Britain’s TAMI show in 1964. On a show with The Barbarians, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Rolling Stones and The Supremes, it was James Brown and his Famous Flames that completely were a step above the competition. Enjoy, and if in the vicinity, come to U Street Music Hall tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/v/b2nybY647F0?fs=1&hl=en_US

TGRI x Rock Creek Social’s Good Life Tuesdays Party goes down tonight!

Within the next 30 days, True Genius Requires Insanity is getting a massive overhaul to celebrate turning three. The specs for our beefed up and redesigned home are impressive, and I really believe this is going to allow us, the “Hustlers of Culture” at the site the ability to truly push things forward in an exciting new direction while maintaining our previous high standards of honesty and progressive thinking.

Tonight we’re celebrating these great times ahead with our friends at the Rock Creek Social Club and their Good Life Tuesdays signature event. DJ Jerome Baker III has had a magnificent 2010, and his confidence in his talent as a selector is at an all time high. In fact, I’d give credit to this party as well as a select few other 2010 occurrences in taking his skills to the next level and positioning him as a not just being a weeknight DC party kingpin, but a DJ if given the opportunity that can be a top tier East coast party rocker with significant access to national and international prominence.

Philly and LA’s DJ Excel is magnificent. His usual sojourns to the city occur as part of the Cmonwealth sponsored ’90s dance music flashback 95 Live event at Steve’s Bar Room, and whenever he’s in town at that party, it’s usually accompanied with gasps and screams of shock and awe from the crowd at Excel’s depth, range and scope of selections. At an open source party like Good Life Tuesdays, I’m expecting nothing short of an inspirational set of classic and current dance grooves.

Rock Creek Social, much like TGRIOnline takes an aggressive stance in making attempts and inroads in infusing expansive 21st century thinking into a 20th century city. Aware of the potential for social maturation in the city, Rock Creek Social attempts to unify race, culture and society circles of DC’s young and mobile under one roof. At the last event, which was the afterparty of our wildly successful Wale/UCB/Board Administration triple bill cosponsored with I Got It For Free, Scion and JukeboxDC at U Street Music Hall, Wale, UCB’s lead singer Tre, Phil Ade, Moombahton inventor Dave Nada, Rusko’s U Hall date opener DJ Bills, Tabi Bonney’s DJ Stereo Faith and noted local spinner Trevor Martin were ALL in the same room at the same time.

There is no dress code, and you’re likely to get “Pon de Floor,” go “Hard in the Paint,” and possibly get some alternative rock tossed in for your troubles as well. No cover at the door, and a free happy hour from 9:30-10:30. If in any way a supporter of the site, feel free to come out and enjoy yourself!

On DC, race and politics and why Rock Creek Social Club’s "Good Life Tuesdays" keeps winning.

As a prologue, If I were you, and lived in DC, I’d absolutely come out on September 14th. This party is right on time for DC.

Jerome Baker III, rapidly ascending to the top tier of nationally respected underground DJs.

In any other major city in the world, what happened at the Rock Creek Social Club’s “Good Life Tuesdays” last night would not be a melodramatic moment of great satisfaction. An opening DJ got the room going at an underground dance party in a room predominantly filled with urban black white collar professionals with Phoenix and MGMT, then bobbed and weaved through a sea of Baltimore Club classics and mainstream R & B and downtempo hip hop. The headliner then came on and spun Top 40 radio friendly, far more urban trending hip hop into a dubstep remix of Dead Prez’s “Hip Hop,” and a shout out to the Trouble and Bass crew with Little Jinder’s fantastic soul paean to vampire lust, “Youth Blood.” From there, the DJ spun into hip hop, go go, reggae, Dave Nada’s Dutch house meets reggaeton of moombahton, a little cumbia and back again. But when Jerome Baker III, fresh from tearing down LA’s infamous Do Over just two days prior opens with largely the same type of set that has proven successful in other large American cities for crowds largely comprised of young black professionals, and hands the reigns over to Harry Hotter who spun a set that remained friendly both to the dance floor but also to his highly eclectic personal tastes, in DC, on the same night, it’s news.

Harry Hotter. From DC. DJ extraordinaire.

Once again, DC by comparison to other urban locales is woefully behind in recognition of the fact that racial division has long since died and that we’re all pretty much eating the same food, listening to the same music, and speaking the same language. At this point, most black people in DC’s urban professional realm I could wager have a cousin, friend, coworker, or college roommate, or yes, the sad racial footnote, a “white friend” who is into low-fi indie rock or electronic dance music and has gotten them to like at least one song in each realm. Given that, for the most part, invisible racial lines have died, this is absolutely a possibility. However, when it comes to clubbing, it is very rare that you find a room in DC with an uneven racial mix really getting down to these sounds that is more black than white than more white than black. Good Life Tuesdays, by the end of the year won’t change that entirely. But in many ways, in acknowledging that such things can have a foothold now to one day possibly exist is a victory for the notoriously racially bizarre world of Washington, DC.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/14528606?portrait=0

Aug. 31st: The Good Life @ Recess DC. from Rock Creek Social Club. on Vimeo.
 

Good Life Tuesdays in shining spotlights in the dark corners of very important issues in the socio-political construct of Washington, DC. Feel free to disagree, but DC was in no way prepared on a social level for the cosmopolitan boom that occurred when a black man was elected President of a country where black men 50 years prior were killed with dogs and hung from trees. Old wounds don’t heal, and bad stereotypes that are erected in place of face to face discussion and honesty across ALL cultures never quite die. The new breed talented tenth, the brightest and most socially aware and forward thinking minds were aware of what DC becoming cosmopolitan like NY or LA could mean, and we and they have acted and are setting up venues, holding events and attempting to forcefully expand minds in this vacuum space in eternity that will stand the test of time.

With each passing event, Rock Creek Social Club’s Good Life Tuesdays, with the proper stewardship and leadership will become a place for social enlightenment and acceptance of a heightened sense of social awareness or an appreciation of not having to relegate a section of who you are or what you enjoy to the “dirty little secret” realm of your day. An open public embrace of being, racially, culturally and socially open minded coming from black people opening to the wealth of the universe instead of the other way around was absolutely necessary. Again, this is an important event. Attention must be paid.

The Rock Creek Social Club’s "Good Life Tuesday" is the DC underground’s most important new party. Here’s why.

A few unassailable facts about Washington, DC. There is a very real color line and social line that delineates the differences in DC nightlife. Uptown and downtown never party together. The famous U Street that’s going to be the bread and butter point for the next underground generation after hipster? Well, those people almost never party downtown with the stuffier K Street suits crowd. Also, on a larger level, black and white don’t party together. Black folks who enjoy a more urban club experience, like the jiggy glamour of Part at 14th or DJ Quicksilva’s night at Ibiza wouldn’t think of being caught dead at U Street Music Hall or DC9. Same goes for white folks as well who end up at any one of the plethora of K Street spots, Fur or the indie venues like DC9 or U Hall. Attention has been paid to these issues before, but with mixed results that were not maintained. However with the “Rock Creek Social Club’s” new “Good Life Tuesdays” biweekly party at Recess now on the scene, everything is about to change.

One of the key elements that makes this possible for DC is that it’s frankly really fucking small. If you’re an impresario of any scene in DC,and  if you choose to cross over even one line, you’ve almost made your Six Degrees of Separation game incredibly simple and cut out about four degrees in the process. For non-impresarios and revelers, this means that all of the people who inform and create your party choices these days all get along really really well now, and if everybody drops egos, stand to be extremely successful as a unit on par with how the first USA Basketball Dream Team came along and dominated.

Jerome Baker III being the lynchpin to this party is a key boon for the success and vision of uniting all of the disparate cultures of DC’s urban experience in one room, and becomes the point that Jerome goes from being the dude who says nothing and makes money in this city to being a leading identifier of DC culture and putting his theoretical money where his mouth is. Connected to all of the top impresarios of underground culture in the city from Stereo Faith to Will Eastman to working at Stussy on the infamous Cmonwealth and Stussy block on 18th and U Streets, it was a matter of if, not when something major and important as a contribution would come from him.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/14048167?portrait=0

Rock Creek Social Club Presents: Good Life Tuesdays @ Recess DC. from Rock Creek Social Club. on Vimeo.

DOWNLOAD DJ IMPULSE’s “GOOD LIFE” MIX

Next are Modele “Modi” Oyewole and Sonya Collins. A successful and internationally respected blogger with the DCtoBC.com brand, Modi is 24 and up next as a underground/blipster/urban mainstream culture creator. The recent Boston College grad is one to watch and having just finished an internship with Complex Magazine and presently a contributor for drjays.com, both based out of NYC, he brings the legitimacy of being a prodigy with entrenched NYC roots to the table. Sonya, ex of her blog the Glass House (glasshousedc.com) is the heartbeat and pulse of the streets of Washington, DC. One of your favorite people’s favorite people, Sonya is a motivator and friend to urban culture with a knack for motivating the streets. There are a plethora of other collaborators with the party who are equally important as well, those are just the ones presently on my radar.

Last night’s party debut for the Rock Creek Social Club couldn’t have gone any better. Despite a tropical climate from a now fixed air conditioner not working for the early portion of the evening, inaugural event headliner DJ Impulse’s headline set did everything it needed to to give an outline of where the party would succeed. Touching the gulliest of hip hop (Rick Ross’ “BMF”) to the top 40 mainstream (Drake’s “Fancy”) to hipster electro (Major Lazer’s “Pon de Floor” once again proved it’s one of the greatest songs of this generation) and Bmore club (DJ Booman’s “Pick Em Up” crushed the club), the parameters for the initial look of this party melding all scenes has been set. This is a DC party though, and one expecting to draw from all scenes, so the necessary expectation will be that disco, deep house, Moombahton and dubstep will have to be introduced to take this to the next level, and soon, for this not to become just another night out at the club, but just with more of a racial mix than usual.

If you support TGRIOnline.com, you are a supporter of this event, and even further, I’d expect you to swing out on August 31st to the next one. If DC is going to be the cultural leader of the next generation that I expect it to be, this event, in pulling the uptown, downtown, black, white, indie, hipster, underground dance and mainstream jiggy folks together, is the look. This event, because of the individuals involved, can be a showpiece to the world of the new energy coursing through the veins of the up and coming creative class of Washington, DC.

All respect all isn’t just an email signature I often use, but also a key phrase that is a backbone of the next generation. To be ultimately successful, and reach it’s optimal point of success, The Good Life must achieve that. To quote great DC dude DJ Dave Nada, “Lezzzzgo.”

KEEPIN’ THE FAITH an enormous success and the best DC DJ night of 2010.

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Government Issue – Plain to See (Stereo Faith Intro) Trevor Martin’s HUGE night closer!

There are indeed occasions where words cannot effectively cover how massive something was. Many say the key to journalism is to efficiently use wordplay to be able to conjure images that make actions come to life. I don’t think those words exist to describe last night. If you gave of yourself entirely, gave in to the concussive impact of the U Street Music Hall Soundsystem, and found the cause for the event right and just, then you literally felt every emotion music allows humanity to feel. In six hours, kingpin selectors ALL played sets that were ethereal, sublime and completely and undeniably the best of their kind heard in the city all year. When asking every single DJ to a man what propelled this destructive blast of soulsonic force out of them? They all had the same answer: “I had to go in for Steve.” Stone, deadfaced serious each and every time. The delirium caused by the level of excellence of these sets proved an undeniable fact to be true. Steven McPherson, aka DJ Stereo Faith is maybe one of the best dudes ever in underground music. If we harness the force of sound and human energy contained in U Street Music Hall last night, there’s no doubt that not only will Stereo Faith overcome his brain tumor, but he will come back renewed, with a vigor and excellence never before seen or heard.

All of the folks came out. Taxlo’s Simon Phoenix and Cullen Stalin. The Brick Bandits/Mad Decent afilliates Dirty South Joe, DJ Sega and Guns Garcia. Crossfaded Bacon’s Uncle Jesse. The Nouveau Riche crew. Tabi Bonney. Representatives of every major clothing brand, venue and independent record label in the Northeast. Nobody’s a celebrity on the underground, but game recognize game and all respect all. It was an event for the ages for a man of all time.

Will Eastman opened huge with some punk rock. Jerome Baker played classic house, then Scottie B started to make things serious. Scottie plays these house sets every week at the party he curates at Bmore’s Metro Gallery with Cullen Stalin that are so great that you almost want to feel depressed that you got into the party for free. Scottie’s excellence is so understated, his style so impeccable that you lose sight of how magnificent he is at what he does because it doesn’t slam you over the head, but instead causes your feet to dance for themselves.

Speaking of, I thought Dave Nada had forgotten how to punch people in the face with bass and pistol whip them with rhythm during a set. The Nadastrom combination has in many ways smoothed out Dave’s edges and taught him how to harness his never-ending desire to cause criminal and passionate energy from playing club music. Last night, homie threw down the gloves and engaged a throng of people ready to wild out in a musical battle of Survival of the Fittest that he won. It felt like being transported back to Krunk for an hour. Dave’s club edit of the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” fell into classic Blaqstarr, which headbutted KW Griff and Porkchop which piledrove DJ Class and elbowed DJ Booman and Diamond K in the face. The hardcore fanatic came back out to play last night, and, yeah. When it comes to club music, Nada’s still got it.

On any other night, that set would be the star. But Jesse Tittsworth is one of the owners of the venue, and there was absolutely no way he would be upstaged. Tittsworth cut his teeth as a DJ on drum n bass and hip hop. Therefore, it goes without saying that in going back to his roots, those would be the hallmarks of his excellence for the night. Tittsworth looked like a kid at Christmas spinning the obscenely percussive music, as always engaging in an epic battle of fisticuffs with the bass register of the U Hall soundsystem. Last night was a time for mainstream club folks who have never been to U hall to get a taste of what the room has to offer, and I think that when the sound waves from the bass began to make people’s hair stand on end and skin begin to vibrate, and nothing was lost in the quality and levels of the sound, people were shocked, amazed, and kept on dancing. When the lights hit these people in a certain manner, it appeared to be a sea of psychedelic drones descending upon the DJ booth. It was proof that the sound has a possibility of truly making converts in the musical mainstream, and was utterly amazing.

Trevor Martin and Jerome Baker III stood up and became superhuman last night. Neither did anything particularly different than what they usually do, Martin holding down the mainstream spots and Baker one of the crown princes of “jiggy” posh locales around town and cruise ships as well (so serious, he just did a tour as a DJ on a cruise ship). Given the nature of the event and the hyperkinetic energy of the room, Martin and Baker proved that mainstream club style, when delivered by spinners who know what they are doing, can read a crowd, not let the energy dip, and take risks (Baker dropped Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” AND Darude’s “Sandstorm”), can make phenomenal feats of magic overwhelm a crowd.

It’s often been said in this gestation period for U Street Music Hall that the venue can’t be everything to everyone. Well, what if you’re honoring someone who already is. I guess for one night, it’s possible to make an exception to the rule.

SEAL OF APPROVAL (DC) – U Street – FLASHING LIGHTS & ROCKERS – 7/29/10

So I’m just going to make the logical assumption here that you already know that Deadmau5 is headlining at a sold out 9:30 Club with Pleasurekraft and yes, Will Eastman tonight and tomorrow. We’ll have that review up on Friday. I saw the show last night, and as always Deadmau5 alternates between being tremendously well marketed and sonically fun, yet cliched at the exact same time. However, five of the best DJs on the east coast are within a three block span of each other tonight. And, even better, it’s possible to see them ALL IN ONE NIGHT as Stereo Faith and Jerome Baker III bring a one off called “Rockers” to new spot Dodge City from 9-2, 21+, no cover, and Nick Catchdubs, Jess Jubilee and DJ Ayres bring back Flashing Lights from NYC to DC at U Street Music Hall from 10-2, 18+, $8 at the door.

Kings reign supreme. Stereo Faith is a premier DJ of the DC scene. He’s a major traveller, routinely in Philly, NYC, VA and Bmore as well, and even greater than that, he’s Tabi Bonney’s touring DJ. Jerome Baker 3rd doesn’t make noise, he cashes checks. An island cruise liner tour? Playing the legendary Do Over in LA for a second time? Spinning the jiggiest of the bottle service spots? Being a top notch selector, turntable technician and a noted teacher and crafter of local DJ talent? That’s how Jerome Baker III rolls. Put Stereo and Jerome in the same place at the same time? And let them play whatever they want? Guaranteed win.

DJ Ayres has been holding down legendary NYC party The Rub for seven years, and is co-owner of the most important imprint in East coast underground EDM of the moment, T & A Recordings with U Hall co-owner Jesse Tittsworth. Nick Catchdubs released one of the dopest hip hop remixes of all time of Kanye West’s “Champion”, designed the Mad Decent Records logo, and is one of the founders of the ever important and always forward trending Fool’s Gold imprint. Jess Jubilee? Well, if you like copious, large, skull shattering, mind bending and soul crushing levels of bass, the Miami native is well equipped to deliver in that department, be it dubstep, grime, UK funky or two step, she goes hard. I had the opportunity before the first Flashing Lights DC in April to sit down with Catchdubs and Ayres and discuss the nature of Flashing Lights and thoughts on dance music in general.

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****BONUS****

Jerome Baker III just dropped a mix of the best of the collaborations between Snoop Dogg and The Neptunes. Cookout music.

 DOWNLOAD HERE

THE DROP: DC’s DJ Jerome Baker III is in control… (and we have the downloads to prove it…)

Simply put, Washington, DC’s DJ Jerome Baker III doesn’t make noise. He makes money.

He’s not a producer, creator or innovator of the hottest new sound, and he’s not even really a left of center personality that requires hours of press and tabloid style interest. What the Arizona native and DC transplant is, is a man who simply knows how to move crowds. If you ever wanted a primer on what is “really” hot in hip hop, top 40 or on the underground at any given moment, go listen to Jerome Baker III spin. If you want to hear what classics ALWAYS work, at the precise time when they work, go listen to this man spin. And more importantly, what keeps this man as a regular DJ with numerous residencies across the Capital City is that he always gives the crowd a great night, and everyone is ensured a wonderful time. In trending heavily top 40 and including other genres as necessary, Jerome Baker III is a populist’s populist. Straight ahead, no chaser, no shame to his game, you’re getting what you’re getting, and more than likely, you’re going to move. Equally as adept at making a room filled with hipsters or a wedding filled with businessmen and grandparents get down, a fair amount of Jerome’s top level skill and mastery is lost on the average observer. But that’s gradually beginning to change.

In not being content with just being the top DJ in a town with low national visibility, Jerome has begun to expand elsewhere. 2009 found him in Philadelphia, NYC and even this gigantic Do Over party in LA, a fantastic accomplishment that deserves praise for sure. 2010 finds Baker dropping the curiously yet straightforwardly titled “We Play Electro” mix along with DeeJay Diesel of his native Arizona, an hour long workout that shows Baker’s depth outside of being a hip hop, soul and Top 40 stalwart. In some ways it’s like Wilt Chamberlain spending an entire NBA career leading the league in scoring, then deciding to pass and leading the league in assists. The versatility shown in the mix is excellent and maybe unexpected for those not aware of the selector, but for those that know his dedication and talent, just another day at the office.

DOWNLOADS

WE PLAY ELECTRO – 60 minute electro mix w/ DeeJay Diesel, featuring remixes and original music from DJ Class, Armand van Helden, Kid Cudi and the Blooody Beetroots

BOTTLE SERVICE PLEASE – 50+ minute mix for the Bottle Service club crowd
BOTTLE SERVICE PLEASE, pt. 2 – 50 MORE mainstreamed minutes for the Bottle Service kids!

LIVE FROM THE DO OVER – Jerome Baker III goes IN in LA! Hot mix. Hip hop trending, but touces everywhere else, too!

For more information on Jerome Baker III, visit his http://betterthanyours.net/, or check him at http://www.myspace.com/jeromebaker3rd.