A beautiful problem.
That’s a bad photo of Pow Wow’s after party flyer, but what’s worse is that I’m leaving town before the festivities begin. I’m pretty sour about it, especially because I just chatted with Honolulu’s nightlife queen about Anton Glamb deejaying the blowout. Bombs keep getting dropped on the kid, so it’s only right I drop one of my own: the remix Anton Glamb cooked up for my homie Jade<3 (aka Blind Benny). Enjoy, it's alls I got, for now.
Filed under Nightlife
If you knew Blind Benny the way I know Blind Benny, you outta know that everything they do gets better with time. The release of “No Honor,” from BB’s forthcoming EP is their watershed moment. Their future is now, and it just shifted into emo-hyperdrive.
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In HAWAII, you’ll meet characters you’ll never forget—Amelia Whipple, the missionary; the sea captain who founded a dynasty of sugar barons; the Chinese concubine who became a great banker; the gigolo beach boy who might have been king, and hundreds—literally hundreds—more!
The excerpt from a review above appears on the inside sleeve of HAWAII, a novel I’m currently reading that tells the island’s history through a motley crew of characters. Unconventional as the story’s cast is, the author, James Michener portrays them as the figures who came to live in Hawaii during World War II. During those critical times, Hawaii was a promising place (and still is!) that attracted people from all walks of life.
Kind of like the optimistic characters mentioned in the book, I’ve converged upon Hawaii with family and friends—the ones in my circle of media professionals. We’re attending the Pow Wow festival in Honolulu this week, a five-day gathering where press will observe and document visual artists painting new pieces throughout the community. Already the fabric of Hawaii is weaved together by ethnicities of Polynesian, Japanese and Filipino, so imagine what Honolulu will look like when the artwork matches the city’s blanket of diversity.
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Just me and my dumb luck landing me in the company of DJ greats. Last night’s gig with my homie Sex Factory earned me the opportunity to cover for the world renowned Greg Poole. Next up, this Saturday I’ll be sharing the stage with DJ Getlive! and DJ Goldfinger. Me and Getlive! go back to his party at Bob bar a few years back. But Goldfinger, if you don’t know, was one of the resident deejays that worked at Beat Street (RIP) in Brooklyn. Talk about OG status. He and fellow employee DJ June had the duty of spinning in the store, giving customers a live, free performance. By day, my man DJ Dreamer and I could catch Goldfinger’s unique signature style of cutting and scratching with one finger. By night, Goldfinger manned the upstairs room of Club NV (RIP), while DJ Self was fine-tuning his skills downstairs, before he became the Prince of New York on Power 105.1 FM.
This Saturday, Goldfinger will be on the set, showcasing his skills at a family-friendly fundraiser at Free Candy, a new gallery space in Brooklyn. Hit the jump below for details from Alice in Wonderland, the event’s organizer. See you Saturday!
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Massive Attack
I could be wrong here, but Hype Williams might have filmed Nicki Minaj atop one of Robert Therrien’s sculptures. It’s kinda hard to tell from this wide shot of Nicki from her “Stupid Hoe” video. But I’d make a Super Bowl sized bet that it is in fact one of Therrien’s. I really don’t want to believe that it is computer generated either. Hype has done his fair share of special effects like in N.E.R.D.’s “Everyone Nose” (Remix), shot entirely on green screen. But having seen Therrien’s “Smoke Signals” exhibit at the Tate Modern in 2009, this scene instantly brought back my goosebumps from walking underneath the monstrous chair and table. I dunno, it would be hard to convince me otherwise.
Hype put the pieces together, connecting Nicki’s childlike demeanor and Strawberry Shortcake styling with the innocence Therrien is known to tap into. “Smoke Signals” is about the perspective of size. You’re reminded of how small you are when you are confronted by a thing you normally take for granted because it weighs less or appears smaller. Respect the architect here for turning the tables. It even looks like Nicki humbles herself too. She took off her pointy heels in the closeup shots. Why would she pose in her frilly socks if the chair was a fake? Therrien’s delicate art could probably buy 888 pairs of those shoes. You know he’s got room for them.
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On Monday January 30th, DJ Greg Poole, my homie Danny Miller and I are spinning at VON. This gig will be fun, promise! It’s kind of a big deal because I’m sharing the flyer’s marquee with an O-Gee of deejaying. Basically, if I didn’t bump the Suite903 mixtape he did with DJ Qool Marv, I wouldn’t have repped the Suite903 brand in 2010. Monday, it’s on!
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You could’ve had a V8. But you don’t really want V8. You want V&A, better known as Vodka and Ayahuasca. Hey Jackie Chan, this-shit-right-here?! Sha-boom!
Tuesday V&A hit the streets and you were welcome to break the seal on the audio/visual manifestation of the potent elixir. Vodka & Ayahuasca is the latest project from Gangrene, who is the triumvirate of The Alchemist, Oh No and Jason Goldwatch. Their sophomore album on Decon Records is 15 tracks (on iTunes) of a mind trip into a realm more twisted than The Twilight Zone. Read more about V&A on Okayplayer.com. Through talking to director Jason Goldwatch about the concept of the album, there were some valid points that were left on the cutting room floor. MESSAGE!
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