Category: Hip Hop

I am a big fan of Hip Hop and a DJ who loves to scratch. Here you will find multi-media articles on Hip Hop as well as other videos and bedroom DJ mixes.

Das EFX drawing circa 1993

Das EFX drawing 1993 pencil on paper

I drew this in high school. It was inspired by my friend Randy Mclaughlin and Das EFX. Randy was cool unlike most of the rednecks I went to high school with. He was a great artist who moved to the area from Baltimore. Super cool guy. We both loved Das Efx at the time and he did a drawing of one of them from the inside cover of the album and I thought it was so bad ass I had to do the other Andre Weston which is shown here.

Randy was a year younger than me. And the next year I heard he committed suicide. That was horrible.

Das Efx was one of my faves at the time. I listened to that tape so many times. I never quite got how Das Efx’s 2nd album didn’t do well. There were a couple songs on there that I still bump to this day. Thought those were incredible: Check it out, Underground Rappa. Those beats and rhymes hit so hard. Freak it was more popular, but pretty good too. Had those on vinyl too. The first two were my faves.

Classic 1993 hip hop. Remember bumping Tribe and Das on a long ass bus trip from NC up to NH.

Fee fi fo fum… Universal income

Here’s a new video I made. Been working on it for a few weeks.

It was fun making the beat. It was very simple. I found this online drum machine called the Sampulator. It had some cool 808 style beats.

In the past I’ve messed around with Garageband which is sort of like cutting and pasting musical tracks together. IDK. It serves a purpose but there is no drum machine.

The drum machine is cool I like the idea of touching a key and sound coming out. No, not a piano sound, a beat.

I think in the future I will play around with some of these online drum machines or it would be cool to actually get one or if I could create one???

I made the mask out of paper mache, a vacuum cleaner hose, glue and bolts I had and a couple of cheap belts I got from the dollar store here.

I have a couple of other ideas for related videos in the future.

Anyways this is a song about universal income.

But it’s not serious it’s just a goofy rhyme.

Deadbeat

I’ve had in my mind that over the next year or so I will do 12 or more creative video/music types.  And here is one that I completed recently.

Well, it’s never really completed, but it’s enough for now. I got tired of working on it. Because I had some problem with the clipping and then I would lower it and it was fine in the software (old Garageband) and then export it and then it was distorted and I went round and round with that.

And just decided it’s good enough for now considering my computer and software is like 11 years old.

Maybe be too many tracks for Garageband.

But anyways here is the slow version.

I started off with a song that was one of my favorites from when I was around 12-13 and then took a bit out of it. I changed the speed and then created a new loop and added some samples from elsewhere.

Then the video I had lying around for a long time which seemed kind of fitting and a few pics of old paintings I did. I actually have a bunch of video, kinda creative stuff lying around that I plan on using in the future.

Deadbeat.

The Crosswalk

Here’s the latest creative video that I made. I first did a little beatboxing, recorded it, looped it with my computer and then scratched over it with my turntables.

I also used a little sound sample from the crosswalk ticker and some footage around the neighborhood.

Lately I have been watching a lot of Jordan Peterson’s stuff. He is really interesting. I signed up for one of his courses online called self and future authoring.

Some of the questions that are asked in the future authoring course I added to the video. Something to think about.

He Doesn’t Pop, Lock Or Do The Robot

Here’s a video that I made that combines some of the street performing that I do as well as some dj scratching.

I came up with the idea for this show since before pushing play many people thought that I was the robot kind of guy. They assumed I did the robot or danced.

Not really, but I do beatbox and scratch. And in this video I mix the beatboxing up a bit and then scratch it.

Blu Man Fu Tells Secret Sauce Story Then Scratches It

Here’s a video I made that combines a little of the street performing I do and some of my dj scratching.
The secret sauce is a sort of joke I made that was inspired from a kung fu teacher I had in Taiwan who used to break bricks with his hands.

It was tricky matching the video to the sound. It has quite a few layers to it with the music, the scratching and the video and getting it all to sink together was a challenge.

DJ’s invented Hip Hop

Hip Hop music was invented by DJ’s. DJ’s that changed DJ’ing forever. These DJ’s did not use the turntable like it was supposed to be used. They pushed the limits and invented a new form of music and a new way of using the turntable.

Hip Hop music was invented by DJ’s such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. These DJ’s would take breaks – drum and other parts of a record and play them back. They would get double copies of a record and “juggle” the break. They would take that small bit of the record rewind it and play it forming a continuous repetitive beat. This repetitive beat evolved into Hip Hop music. They transformed the music and made a new one.

They used records and turntables just like your grandparents told you not to. Many years later Hip Hop DJ’s are still doing this, but on a whole new level. See Mix Master Mike here scratching, juggling and using the turntable like an instrument.