Northeast Kingdom Festival This Weekend

Writing by Sonny James on Thursday, 31 of July , 2008 at 5:46 pm

I had to take a few days to breathe and get myself together after the past week. After rocking APT, DJing my man Fred’s 30th Birthday Soiree, holding down Bahamadia at the Rock Steady Crew’s 31st Anniversary, taking my kid to the beach on Monday, taking my mom to the Conan show at NBC on Tuesday, then heading over to play with Lil’ Dave in Brooklyn at our Faded party at Frank White’s, I haven’t had time to update. Just finished up a rehearsal session with Bahamadia for part 2 of our Africa tour in which we leave for in a few days. Now I’m packing to leave with Mr. Lif in the morning for Vermont. We will be playing at the Northeast Kingdom Festival in East Albany on Saturday. I used to love the Summer because of all the trips to amusement parks, pools, and beaches. Now I love it because of all the big stages at the festivals we get to play.

I’ll update y’all with a mixtape tomorrow. For now, I need to get myself together. But first, let me just mention how honored I was to be at the Rock Steady Crew Anniversary on Sunday. Being surrounded by cats like KRS-ONE, DJ Premier, The Reunited Artifacts, Tony Touch, Crazy Legs, Greg Nice, Smif-N-Wessun, Eric. B, A.G., and Fat Joe, I felt like I was inside an episode of Yo! MTV Raps for a minute. It was dope to go on stage after Marly Marl and to see how much love Bahamadia still gets. I’m still high from that day. And one love to Crazy Legs for the invite. We hope we will be in the house again next year.

Here’s a clip from the closing cypher which included everyone I mentioned above and more.
It doesn’t do any justice to the energy that was in the park that day but you get an idea from seeing it.

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Category: Travel

One Love to 215hiphop.com

Writing by Sonny James on Thursday, 24 of July , 2008 at 9:16 pm

What’s up folks?

First off, I must give a big big up to New York City for the love yesterday and last night. The day was eventful as hell but every bit worth the trip. The Bahamadia performance went well as did Lil’ Ricky’s with Rich Medina at APT.

First of all, our Amtrak train came an hour late. Then it took another hour for an electrical issue to get sorted out before we could even leave Philadelphia. We were pulling our hair out. The show was so close to being cancelled. Thankfully, some friends from BK met us at Penn Station and got us to the park in time for the show to still happen. But not without some old fashion getaway-style driving through Manhattan during rush hour.

Then after the show, while we were rushing to drive from BK to Manhattan for APT on time, the traffic was crawling because of the terrible thunderstorm that decided to take place at the moment. Finally, every possible technical problem made its way into the booth at APT. I mean, everything from needle problems to a broken turntable to a mini computer crash nearly gave me an aneurysm in the booth. When these things happen, I feel blessed to have experience with every circumstance around equipment breakdowns and technical malfunctions. Therefore I’ve learned the hard way not to freak out. Therefore the music was still rocking and the crowd was happy at the end of the night. Amazing energy in that room constantly. And thanks Rich and Tracy for the regular invitations!

Below you will find the latest interview with me and my crew on 215hiphop.com.
It’s been a while since we’ve all been interviewed together at length so be sure to check it out. One love to Justin over there for being determined to make it happen as well.

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Category: Press

Mixtape Archive Post #5

Writing by Sonny James on Monday, 21 of July , 2008 at 10:03 am

I hope everyone had a good weekend. For the most part, my weekend was uneventful. I stayed in and worked in the studio. Made some new beats and archived some more mixes. Saturday night, I went to Fluid to hear some tunes and celebrate with my man Cab who just turned 27. One love and happy birthday to him. Then last night I went to check out my homies, Skeme Richards & DJ Cash Money at Silk City throwing down with an all Funk 45 set. Great music all weekend.

Back to the grustle.

We can’t deny that although Philly has lots of musically talented people, pretty much all of the “industry” itself exists outside of Philly. Something Philly also has a lot of is dope fashion designers. Afterall, I went to a fashion design University.

One of those designers I met about 10 years ago is my mellow Kariem. We worked at Kenneth Cole together and since became real tight friends. He used to have a clothing line called Entity back in the day which was sophisticated, way ahead of it’s time, and worn by everyone from Black Eyed Peas to Wyclef Jean. I rocked it nonstop when he was grinding, putting mad energy into each piece of fabric. Therefore when he hit me up last year and said he was working on ideas for a brand new line, I got excited. The new line, FREEKugly, is a lot more playful, colorful, and streetwear oriented. Click Here for more on FREEKugly.

As a way to thank the accounts, boutiques, and customers who jumped on board early to support the new line, we decided to put together an eclectic mix of music as a free giveaway at shops and events. This is not just a hip hop mix. There is something funky on here for everyone. Download it below.

:::Click it, before you kick it:::

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Category: Clothing, Mixtapes

Oops…

Writing by Sonny James on Sunday, 20 of July , 2008 at 5:39 pm

Folks, I goofed and deleted the design of this blog. I had to rebuild (hence the new powder blue color) and in the process I figured, why not just add a couple of extras. One of the things I added below is my schedule so now you can get an idea of what I’m up to and where I’ll be in the next month or so. Enjoy and keep reading.

Thanks and peace

S

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Category: Uncategorized