PHOTOS FROM 2005's "Survival Of The Illest DJ Battle"

What's upper? Last Saturday night was HBO boxing night over at the NASTY household as Chill Will from Ann Arbor's WCBN highschool homie, James Toney became the new heavyweight champ by beating John Ruiz! Great fight night...

Sunday night's "Survival Of The Illest" DJ battle in Tarzana's Venetian Palace was just that! Ill & in a dope way. The final three finalists in the dj battle were dj's Myron, Eejay & Tech Threat with Bay Area's Tech Threat winning the battle. All three were very impressive displaying some real tight skills on the one's & two's. Rockin' the mic were some of Oxnard's "805" finest emcees & keepin' ish rockin' live on stage were Med, Percee P & Wild Child, NY's Dujeous, Dirty Byrdie from the I.E., Strange Fruit, Chino XL & the Pharcyde. J-Scratch (KCAQ-Oxnard) & my homegirl, K-Sly (100.3 The Beat-L.A. & Dance 360) both kept the crowd under control & the show hyped as our hosts. Yours truly had a blast as a guest judge & the following judges added much flava to this event; King Tech (Wake Up Show), Davey-D (KPFA-Oakland), DJ Buddhabong (SolOfHipHop.com), Mega-Man (KCAQ-Oxnard), Stil Wil (KCAQ-Oxnard), Truly OdD (Power 106-L.A.), Presto-One (Rocksteady-Las Vegas) & D-Tragic (805HipHop.com). Props to Soundwave & Stephanie Ojeda (Bungalo Records) for throwin' down with a real tight show & thank you for the special b'day cake & greeting that night too! The entire night was da ish...

Something too Ponder: No More Bad Shows - By Davey D

I have been doing this Hip Hop thing for over 20 years, and I finally had enough. For now on my motto is ‘No More Bad Shows’. I’m not sure what’s going on. Nor am I sure as to why, but with Hip Hop being more than 30 years old, there is no excuse for continuous bad shows and I’m sick of it…Over the years there have been more than enough examples of stellar artists who deliver tip top performances. KRS-One, Naughty by Nature, Outkast, Public Enemy, Kool Moe Dee, The Roots, Hiero and Run DMC are among those who get busy on stage.

 In a previous column, I mentioned my conversation with rap pioneer Mele-Mel who broke it down and stressed the importance of being able to do live performances. His point was if an emcee can rock a party and have his performance felt then we really need to re-evaluate his emcee status.

Grandmaster Flash also spoke to this a couple of years ago when I interviewed him. He bragged about how back in the groups hey days they would pride themselves on going out on stage as an opening act for top tier groups at the time like the Barkays or Confunkshun, and rip their performances so hard that the crowd would be left exhausted. Flash noted that it wasn’t always a good thing to have them open up a show, because they would take advantage and win the crowd over. He talked about how the group would do their set and then knock on the dressing room doors of the next performer and wish them good luck while laughing because they knew it was hopeless for anyone who followed them.

 Nowadays, I’m not sure if artists don’t pay attention or have a false sense of reality, but I been to one too many shows where I finally had to say enough is enough… No More Bad Shows. In 2005 there is no excuse to see a group on stage that hasn’t mastered holding the mic correctly. I’m tired of hearing a cat yell 15 times for the soundman to turn up his sound. I’m tired of seeing the artists on stage with 55 homeboys from his neighborhood who all wanna shout into the mic at the same time…

Gone are the days when people would actually rehearse for their shows and work on well timed routines. Far too often it feels like the acts I’m watching got word several minutes before they came on stage that they are performing. The word ‘Rehearsal’ seems like a foreign concept and unfortunately no one has been honest enough to let cats know that getting high or getting drunk before you hit the stage will improve your performance. But hey, we live and learn-so today I’m gonna pass along a few gems.Below are some 5 hard and fast rules that I want everyone to pass along to up and coming artists so you don’t have to pay hard earned money to see a popular act that can’t hold his weight.

1-DON’T TELL THE SOUNDMAN TO TURN YOU UP- If you’re not the headlining act you will only be given so much sound… The problem here is a lot of acts don’t show up for sound check and they basically wind up working things out on stage in front of a live audience.

The other mishap is that they have not recruited their own trained, professional sound guy who can take over the boards while they are performing and make sure everything is just right… Acts like KRS or PE always have their own qualified people working the boards during a show.

Last, make sure to get some good monitors or make sure the ones you have been provided with are good. What usually happens is a guy is on stage yelling “turn it up” because he can’t hear or feel himself in the monitors. By the time the house sound is turned up we the audience are subjected to distorted speakers.

2-ALWAYS LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE-This applies to new groups. Look let’s be honest, if you new to the scene, do 2 or 3 songs and bounce. Don’t do an entire album worth of material. Don’t do your old demo songs before you got signed. Trust me, no one wants to hear all that. They are waiting for the headliners. Come in do a couple of songs. Do them well and leave the crowd saying ‘Damn they were good I WISH they did more’. Don’t leave the crowd saying ‘Damn I WISH he hurry up and get off the stage.’

3-ALWAYS HAVE PLAN A, PLAN B AND PLAN C- Look we all been to enough shows to know the sound is always messing up or that the turntables are gonna skip or the CD player isn’t working correctly. This has occurred enough times for us to know that a prudent rapper will have back up plans ready to go in case of a malfunction.

I know a lot of artists who pride themselves on carrying a set of choice battle rhymes in the back of their heads just in case they are called out. They clearly understand the importance of anticipating and being prepared. With that in mind, I’m confused as to why that same artists does not have a few stage shows prepared for those ‘just in case’ moments.

If the sound is bad I suggest an act cut his set short and tell the crowd the sound is bad so while the house gets it fixed up, he’ll rock it accappella. A really good artist will have a nice accappella show prepared as back up. By doing this the artists keeps the crowd entertained and sympathetic to his plight. He puts the house on note that it’s their fault, not his for the messed up sound.

The other thing is for an artist to shorten his songs. If the sound is bad a good act should have a music medley set ready that contains shortened versions of his hit song the worse thing one can do is try and rock an entire song when the sound is faulty. Keep it moving is the name of the game.

4-DON’T BRING 50 PEOPLE ON STAGE UNLESS THEY ARE INVOLVED IN A CHOREOGRAPHED ROUTINE.-This has got to be the biggest complaint folks have about rap shows. You have a guy who is either insecure in his showmanship abilities or he feels like he owes his homeboys a thing or two, so he invites everyone on stage who in turn decide that they wanna be a big a star like the act we paid to see. This is extremely wack.

What I suggest is that if you really must bring the entire posse on stage make sure they 1-Aren’t holding any mics. 2-Ask them to make like Fat Joe and ‘Lean Back’ so that the performing artist is the center of attention.  If one must bring a whole bunch of folks on stage try and put them to work. Have them all dress the same or have them do some sort of choreographed routine. Good examples of this might be Public Enemy’s S1W soldiers or Bay Area artist Paris who during a recent show had his homies all wearing black hoodies while they held up signs emphasizing the points Paris was making in his songs. At the very least have them develop some sort of synchronized routine or walk through the audience carrying banners but by all means get them off the stage.

Rhymefest who I feel is one of the dopest freestyle artist out there is back in effect & now signed to J Records. Make sure you show my dawg some love on your wheels with his new joint "These Days." Our Rap Attack panel will be getting laced with the vinyl. Stay tuned... On a similar note, Chicago's Juice has a phat new album with "All Bets Off" (Conglomerate). His new single is "What Up." Peep it... Welcome back to Afu-Ra now signed to Life Force Records and sounding even better with his new cut "Poisonous Taoist." Our homeboy has not lost his touch at all after being on the low low these past couple of years. You're gonna feel his new joint. If you still need to get laced, holla at Jessica Weber over at Spectre Music at (213) 368-1600:extension 17 or online at: jessica@spectremusic.com...

Rasco has got some serious heat with "What Happened To The GAME" b/w "Back Down" featuring Planet Asai (Pockets Linted Ent)... Mixtape dj's lookout to be the first & break this ish off first in your mix! The artist is BooBlades with "Gangsta" featuring Cion & 730 (Brainwave Records). These kats are from Brooklyn & they come correct with the real BK ish!... My dawg One Be Lo aka One Man Army has got some new fiya for your wheels with "Sleepwalking" (Fat Beats). Make sure you peep his new joint out. For copies hit up Ethan at: ethan@fatbeats.com or call him at (718) 875-8191...

You will soon be hearing a lot about an upcoming Bay area emcee by the name of Flii Stylz. This kat is gonna kill it on the mic. His debut joint will be "Rize" (Social Capitol) & it's also off the soundtrack of this years hottest new motion picture "Rize." "Rize" reveals a groundbreaking dance phenomenon that’s exploding on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Taking advantage of unprecedented access, this documentary film brings to first light a revolutionary form of artistic expression borne from oppression. The aggressive and visually stunning dance modernizes moves indigenous to African tribal rituals and features mind-blowing, athletic movement sped up to impossible speeds. “Rize” tracks the fascinating evolution of the dance: we meet Tommy Johnson (Tommy the Clown), who first created the style as a response to the 1992 Rodney King riots and named it “Clowning”, as well as the kids who developed the movement into what they now call Krumping. The kids use dance as an alternative to gangs and hustling: they form their own troupes and paint their faces like warriors, meeting to outperform rival gangs of dancers or just to hone their skills. For the dancers, Krumping becomes a way of life - and, because it’s authentic expression (in complete opposition to the bling-bling Hip-Hop culture), the dance becomes a vital part of who they are. Like “Paris is Burning” or “Style Wars” before it, “Rize” illuminates an entire community by focusing on an artform as a movement that the disenfranchised have created. But the true stars of the film are the dancers themselves: surrounded by drug addiction, gang activity, and impoverishment, they have managed to somehow rise above. The film offers an intimate, completely fresh portrayal of kids in South Central as they reveal their spirit and creativity. These kids have created art - and often family - where before there was none...

St Louis is gonna be the place to be on May 14th for The All Stars album release party goin' down at "The Spot." I'm gonna be there & scheduled to be in the house will be Rap Attacks', DJ Chill Will (WCBN-MI), DJ Imperial (KSMU-MO) & DJ Kiz-One (WickedKarma.com). The All Stars are about to release their remix of "DoWhatChaDo" featuring Chingy (BOBQP)... As Rap Attack predicted, Reggaeton is blowing up everywhere now. Yo, on that tip, get ready for this HOT reggae jam by Faze featuring Busta Rhymes & Elephant Man "Yipi Yadi O" (DangaZone Ent.). This is an instant radio & club hit & our Rap Attack panel will get serviced with the exclusive vinyl this week. Everyone else stay tuned as we continue to break new Hip-Hop first! Also thanks to our mixtape reporter from da Bay, DJ Icewater, I got hipped to this phat new Hip-Hop banger by Messy Marv "Get On My Hype" (Sumday Ent.). This track brings back some of that old school funk & west coast Hip-Hop flava missing in a bunch of the rhymes that are out these days. I'm really feelin' this Bay Area artist. To get laced, holla at my homegirl, Veronica Mendez over at Sumday Ent. online at: vmendez@agumusic.com or call her at (415) 282-4466...

Here is our new address for 2005 to send material for review, etc (vinyl & cd's)! Same address, just a new Ste. number:

 RapAttackLives.com

4750 Kester Avenue, Ste. 11

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Attn: Nasty-Nes

Rap Attack takes a "WHAT'S UPPER" look this week with:

DJ Buddhabong (SolOfHipHop.com): " It's our 2nd Annual Titan Radio (www.titanradio.org) benefit. All proceeds will be going towards getting the station some turntables and a mixer. SO.. show your support and come thru for a wonderful night of mixxed genres... alittle bit of everything for everyone! Here's the 411:

Performing LIVE::

The Gris Gris (Psychedelic Garage Rock/Oakland, Ca.)
edIT (Experimental/Hip Hop/Los Angeles)
This Song is A Mess But So Am I (Experimental Carthisis)
Dirty Little Secret (Indie Rock/Los Angeles)

 Outside DJs playing your favorite (hip hop,breaks, reggae, funk, old school classics, experimental and downtempo) :: (SOL of HIPHOP Radio) - www.solofhiphop.com

-The Earl  -DJ Naga  -DJ Buddhabong (TOC)

 (Cornerstore Radio) - www.cornerstoreradio.com-DJ Frank-E

 (Tables of Content DJs) -DJ K6 -DJ Nu -(Dick Nose Monkies)  -DJ Source @ El Cid 4212 W. Sunset Blvd. Silverlake, Ca. - $7 cover

 (18+ to enter 21+ to drink) 9pm doors open
 

DJ Stereotype (WHUS-CT): "What going on people? Spring weekend is over now and all the college heads are in finals mode here in CT. Spring weekend was kind of mild this year. No flipped cars, no fires, very few ambulances. I guess that’s good from a keeping-the-peace perspective, but there’s a part of me that loves to see shit get out of hand. Nas was performing at UCONN last Saturday and I got the chance to go back stage and meet him. That was the shit right there. On the home front, I got a new car yesterday. I bought it from a private owner down in Stamford. Everything seems legit, but you all should wish me luck. Anyways, I know summer on the way, but WHUS is still here. Keep that music coming, and we’ll keep blasting it"...

Jason-D (KHDC # 2-CA): "Not sure I can top the entertainment value of Kazzeo's chart intro this week. He somehow weaved Nasty Nes's birthday, Maggots, G-Unit, Girlfights, and Wookie's into the same message. I'm sure it will make www.rapattacklives.com if you missed. If you weren't sure he had issues before, you'll be convinced now. I've actually completely lost my train of thought as a result. So.Shouts to: Nasty Nes for a happy bday, Rebecca Altman for giving me a shout each week, Jessica Weber for the good convo last week and DJ Paper for the shout and MP3's"...

Kazzeo (KHDC-CA): " First and foremost, I must say happy birthday to Nasty Nes. He's turned 35 last week. Now he is finally eligible to be a U.S. congressman. So happy birthday brother. Next time I'm in LA, I got you on some Dim Sum.

GIRLFIGHT! GIRLFIGHT! Jackie O and Foxy Brown had some problems with each other in Florida this past week. I wish I couold have seen it. Nothing better than seeing a foul mouthed southern female brawl with a prissy ghetto chick. Ah the beauty of it all.

Okay Alex, I'll take "Overrated rappers who have A & R dilusions" for $800. The answer is "in 2005, this overrated rapper who orchestrated a publicity stunt by beefing with then kissing & making up with 50 Cent decided to pursue the industries two most talented female mc's, Charli Baltimore & Vita." That would be "who is The Game" Alex. While we're on the topic of G Unit, 50 better step in and help his latest protege find a new name. Spider Loc is just not gonna fly.

So over this past weekend, the largest Star Wars convention in history took place in Indiana. 30,000 fanatics attended the event which was highlighted by an appearance by director George Lucas. Now, I am as big a Star Wars fans as most people, but you are not gonna catch me hanging out with 30,000 nerds dressed in Stormtrooper suits or Wookie outfits and waving their Light Sabers.

Lastly, I have finally found out how Ying Yang Twins, Baby Bash, Ja Rule, Nelly and Lil Jon keep people listening to their music. Check this.
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Doctors found around 50 maggots in the ears of an 84-year-old Thai man after he went to hospital complaining of an itch.
Wednesday's Nation newspaper said Anan Temtan, who lives in the tsunami-hit southern resort island of Phuket, had used cotton buds to relieve the itching, but had scratched so hard his eardrums ruptured and started bleeding.

"We believe flies might have gone inside his ears to lay eggs, which hatched into larvae and caused the itching," said Somsak Nonthasri, the doctor who treated him.

Somsak, who used tweezers and a small suction device to remove the maggots, said Anan would be kept in for observation for a while to make sure no more eggs hatched.

Max Brown (WMHB-ME): "What's up guys! I hope everyone is doing well. I've returned from the picturesque Finger Lakes in New York, where we took second place at the annual Woodsman Spring meet. Yeah, Colby Woodsmen! Unfortunately my school work had not magically disappeared in the meantime, and it's back to work for Max...  "Diggin' In The Crates" News:
Dre Robinson called in on Monday night and gave a great interview. The man has some rhymes! He also had some inspiring words and good advice for anyone struggling to overcome obstacles. Big shout out to Dre for being such a cool dude! DJ Mekalek of Time Machine will be calling in this week to chat and shoot the breeze, so I suggest you check it out! ("Diggin' In The Crates, Monday 10pm-12am, www.colby.edu/wmhb)
P.S. Ok, I'm sorry, but I had to mention how messed up this fillibuster business this. First the Terry Schiavo issue and now this, aren't there more important issues and problems facing our country today? Come on guys, I know it's difficult to confront the real problems, but avoiding the issues is only hurting the people. I'm no politician and I may not understand how things work up there on the hill, but I'm just sayin'"...

Edgie Kokoski (WUNH-NH):"I’ve pretty much decided that Chinese restaurants are the best restaurants in the world. I came to this epiphany this past Saturday as I celebrated my older brother’s birthday with the fam at the local Asian spot. Aside from the fact that you can mix and match whatever the hell you want for dinner, they also have the best list of drinks that you can imagine. Whether it be a Banana Cow, Dr. Funk, or Suffering Bastard (the drink that bears my namesake), you can always get properly bent up. Where else on earth can you get a giant bowl of booze with a volcano of 151 in the middle? Now that is heaven. Plus, the dessert predicts the future! My cookie usually says something like “You will perish in a vinyl cave in”. (In Bed).

 With an ex-Nazi as the new pope, the Catholic church should have no problem getting all those sexual-abused deserters back. Congrats Cardinals of Rome, you are P.R. wizards.

 I heard that The Game is being sued for $280 million dollars for kicking someone’s ass. Now don’t get me wrong, but first off, does Game even have $280 million dollars? Secondly, what does a $280 million dollar ass whooping look like? Because I figure that you would probably be beat to death somewhere around $75 million dollars. Rodney King got $50 million in his lawsuit, so The Game should consider using police next time he needs to snuff someone. It would be a lot cheaper for him.

 If you are looking for a real screen-scroller, I suggest taking a look at the article this week on www.hiphopdx.com. It is a lengthy and detailed 3 part interview with one of the former Source staff members who spills all the beans about Dave Mays and Benzino. It helped me feel justified in my pledge to never again purchase a copy of The Source magazine. I may consider wiping my ass with one though. (It’s cheaper than toilet paper)"...

Brian "Z" Zishook (WZND-IL): "What's up FAM? This upcoming Saturday night, MAY 7TH 2005, from 7-10pm CST is the FINAL Saturday Night Party show EVER. It started three years ago, and now since Suave is graduating in May, WZND is retiring the show. Over the course of its long run it has been nominated and recognized by College Broadcasters Inc. in the category of "Best Weekly Entertainment Program". CBI choose our show as a top four nominee from submissions by over 250 college and university radio submissions. The Saturday Night Party has given away over $1000 in ticket trades to send listeners to see Ludacris, Chingy, Nelly, Dave Chappelle, Bizzy Bone, Lil' Wayne, G-Unit & more! We've held interviews on the show with the Nappy Roots, Royce Da 5'9, Comp, Mr. Magic, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Loon, Black Child, Do or Die, U-God, Stat Quo, Slum Village & Bone Thug N' Harmony and many many more! This Saturday Night, we are literally throwing a party at the WZND studios and everyone is invited as always to LISTEN IN live online at www.wznd.com  and enjoy a live interview with Chingy. Please call in at anytime during the show and spit a line. The request line number is 309.438.2171 (if busy, 5040). Thanks to everyone that made the show the success it has been over the past three years. Stay tuned next year for "The Pre Game" the new Saturday night show featuring DJ's Arcen & Malibu"...
 

EQ (WBCR-Brooklyn): "What's good people?  I had to take a hiatus for a hot minute. Big up to everyone who shot me an email concerned about my whereabouts. The emails ranged from "where the fuck have you been" to the "you still in jail?" kind. It was only for a few hours - thats a whole other story. Straight up, after my two weeks in Miami - I've been in a haze. By now you would think I would've shaken it off, but another day or two of straight up bumming around and I'll be as good as new. Anyway, been working on finishing up the whole college/ academic chapter of my life. Glad to say, I finally did it. Just another 4 more weeks and I'm sitting in a beach in Miami. No worries though, I got the lifetime pass over at BC so I'll still be doing my thing over there on the radio tip. To those of you that I havent' caught up w/ yet...aside from the school tip, I've been making some moves on the manager hustle. Just recently I locked down a few endorsement deals for i Emerge w/ Yahoo.com and Jamster.com - you know those ringtone commercials. Well, next week we will be shooting a commercial for these i Emerge ringtones that will be coming out in the Spring. On the show tip Hustle. Here are the dates to mark down your calendar:
May 17th @ Brooklyn College - 2nd Annual CUNY-Wide MC Challenge.
June 8th @ Opaline, NYC - DMC NY Regional & ????
I'm still working out a few kinks for the events above, but regardless both should be off the hook. As a matter of fact, I'm still looking for a few acts to hit the stage after the DJ Battle- so get at me ASAP if you know of anyone that might want to get down. On another note, I've been working on a gang of other projects w/ a few other djs ya'll are definitely familiar with. We'll be leaking a few details all throughout the coming months and summer. So STAY TUNED for BIG THINGS."...

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SHOUT OUT TIZIME: Happy Birthday this week to Ashley Mendiola celebrating on May 2nd (I miss & love you very much)... To all my peeps who was a part of last weekends' Illvibes "Survival Of The Illest" dj battle (see photos above)... Joanne Ticsay reppin' Universal Records' World Travel(Na saan si Kuya Mon Mon?)...  To everyone at RAP ATTACK who remembered me on my b'day last week including my sister Ann, Baby Bon-Bon in Seattle, Baby-C & my lady & mahal of my life, Jen Jen (IE's finest pinay!!!)...

PEACE, LOVE & HIP-HOP UNITY (God Bless & Isa Mahal),

Nasty-Nes

(Pinoy Pride4Life / John 3:16)