There are so many people calling themselves DJs and aren’t willing to do any work?

Last week I received a call from someone saying a well known DJ in Philly cancelled a gig on them last minute with no explanation and they wanted to know if I could pick up the pieces. Today my brother called me and said a local cat was hired to do an outdoor jam today in Darby right outside of Philly and cancelled this morning. Again, the ball, dropped and folks wanted to know if I can pick it up and run with it. This has happened pretty often over the years.
Furthermore, I’ve asked a number of up and coming DJs to work with me on some projects and events and although they’ve come through here and there, excuses have entered the picture a lot after comfortability set in. “Oh well, my ride flaked so I can’t do it.” “Um, me and my girl are going through something…” and the list goes on.
Do you DJs not want money and opportunities?
I hear so many of these same people complaining that they get no shine in Philly and want to be traveling like me and bla bla bla. However, when the opportunities for work present themselves, there are so many excuses. Well I got news for you folks. EXCUSES DON’T GET THINGS ACCOMPLISHED. If you’re choosing not to do events, there’s nothing wrong that, but know the impact of your choices… Also, nobody, and I mean NOBODY in this business cares about excuses so cut it out, or else, I’ll just continue to get offered your gigs. I don’t mind taking them but I don’t want to hear you complaining that you’re not getting offered any work. What you really mean is that you’re not getting offered to open up for Kanye when he comes to town.
Face it, you’re unreliable and a pain in the ass to deal with. Reliability and ease is far more important than your talent and quite frankly, most of the folks I have in mind aren’t even that incredibility talented to begin with. My advice to you, although you’re so important that you’d never be caught dead taking my suggestions, is to treat all opportunities like it’s the championship game. You never know what could open up from doing a small event at a hole in the wall club in a random part of the city. After all, a scenario like that got me booked for the X Games a few years ago.
But what do I know… I just happen to keep working because I’m lucky right? Maybe I kiss a lot of ass. Yeah that’s it…

Now that that rant is out, check this…

DJ Shortee will be taking my place DJing for Bahamadia in September in Europe as it is an all female tour. It’s gon be nuts, so if you’re in any of the areas the tour is landing, don’t miss my homegirls tearing it down.

Other DJs, get your weight up and stop pretending you’re too busy to practice.
To everyone else, more mixtapes are on the way next week so sit tight.
Peace

S

Real quick, an update on upcoming gigs.
The Oakland booking I had with Bahamadia on August 3rd has been cancelled. I know it’s like the 3rd cancellation for us in the Bay area. I want to get back out there so bad too. I will, however be in Vermont with Mr. Lif August 2nd so if any of my readers are in that area or you have friends in that area, tell em cause it’s gon be a hot show.

Alright, so there are two brand new radio shows as well as two archives from back in the day available for download at The Difference and Sure Shot links to the left. Feel free to download them and make your iTunes happy.
The Sure Shot archive features an interview with Mr. Len (previously of Company Flow) and Jean Grae who released the Jeanius album this week on Black Smith Music.

The Difference Archive is the 2nd episode ever and me and Lil’ Dave take you all over with the hottest joints of 2003.

Speaking of archives, let’s see…
I’ve given y’all a couple hip hop situations over the past week. Time for something different. Afterall, Illvibe is about providing a sound for everyone right?

About 3 or 4 years ago, Stacey from Squarebiz decided to start a string of parties at Fluid working with different promoters and DJs around Philly and she approached me and Lil’ Dave about doing a monthly event in that series. We all agreed that there weren’t enough events happening here where the musical focus was that african/latin drum sound. There have always been house events here and there, Rich even did his Jump N Funk afrobeat jam here a few times and so on but nothing that really took it from Bossa Nova to House back down to Afrobeat, Reggae, and Salsa, etc., in a way that really made you feel it inside your soul. The party unfortunately was short lived and I can’t remember why. Maybe the support was simply lacking. All I know is eventually Stacey pulled out of the promotion and we moved onto something else. All that’s left is a couple fliers hanging in my studio and this mixtape. Want it?

:::CLICK BELOW:

I remember the exact moment when I first decided I was going to take music serious and do it full time.

I was doing some things here and there at a couple clubs in Philly but really still just looking at it like a hobby. I had DJ’d with a band for Disciples of Discipline and had my feet wet on the road a couple of times but nothing outside of the normal East Coast U.S. dates with groups like 5 Points of Logic, Children of Babylon, Schoolz of Thought, and Electric City. So me, Panek, and Phillee Blunt were slinging mixtapes and trying to get artists to be featured that we were fans of. In walks Grand Agent. I remember how excited we were that he was going to record a verse for Panek’s mixtape. We had just officially formed Illvibe Collective and was planning a series of Illvibe Mixtapes so people could really get a true idea of what where we were trying to go musically. He came through and cut the song and we became friends almost immediately. I think he was surprised at how grassroots our operation was but how professional we treated it. Back then, we were surprised that a dude who was legendary in his own right with his crew NAME and on records with DJ Hi-Tek, Lord Finesse, and DJ Revolution (our heroes) was mad humble and funny. So he had a couple shows lined up and was looking to work with a new DJ since he was now doing his thing separate from Mr. Cisum and the NAME crew. So he asked me to get down and we rocked well together.

One day he called me at like 9am before a rehearsal and asked me if I wanted to do a European tour with him. I had never travelled anywhere off the East Coast so I was souped. Got my passport and jumped on the plane. That summer (2001), we rocked shows with Common, Lootpack, Beck, Coldplay, Alanis Morissette, and more. It was the defining turning point in my life. I learned so much from all those people night after night but mostly, I learned the hustle from GA. Therefore, when he asked me to do a discography mix for his now defunct website grandagent.net, I was honored and ready to get it poppin. I also brought my man Skipmode on board and made it the first project we worked on together after bringing him into the Illvibe fold. That made it special to me as well.

Sadly, I don’t remember the mix ever getting used but now you can add it to your collection of Illvibeness…

:::Click Below:::

Enjoy and look for more coming soon…

Yeah y’all.

I’m back from VA and I must say, as much as my son hyped it up as “vacation,” it was pretty damn short lived. We hit the road early Saturday morning, made it to the family BBQ to kick it for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hotel to get in a swim and some well needed rest. (Sleep these days is like Muslims eating pork. I know it’s around here somewhere but I can’t seem to find it. Jokes.) Then we hit the road again early yesterday morning to fight traffic. Moms had to get to work because her boss is a tool who gave her a hard time getting off. It was good to catch up with some family I haven’t seen in forever while eating some good food. Had some interesting discussions about lil wayne which led me to believe there is an ultra tiny group of folks who doesn’t worship the ground he walks on and I seem to be the f*cking leader. I didn’t elect myself but it appears that I’m consistently heading up the battle so go figure. Whatever folks, you’ll never convince me he’s dope. Sorry. If I get desperate enough to listen to morons and enjoy it, just shoot me because all credibility is lost at that point.

Peep some good shit RIGHT ABOUT HERE

And some old but goodness below…

And not to worry…

More mixtapes coming later.

S