This week’s Big Ups takes us to the Left Coast with DJ Platurn. The 45 Sessions and Oakland Faders DJ and producer has been rocking the Bay Area for more than a minute. It is our pleasure to have him in this installment of the Big Ups series.
Check out more information about DJ Platurn on his site.
A decade old mix Flea Market Treats by Spair and DJ Platurn that still bangs!
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Stay Tuned to House Shoes on Podomatic
Follow House Shoes on Twitter
Interview with HouseShoes [Elevator HipHop] from Elevator Hip Hop on Vimeo.
Photo courtesy of Mr. Mass/ manipulated by FMF
Check out J-Zone’s Guilty Pleasures here.
Check out J-Zone on egotrip land
More info on J-Zone Music on his website.
Follow J-Zone on Twitter
What Inspires J-Zone: I Smell Bullshit!
J-Zone’s new book: Root for the Villain: Rap, Bullsh*t, and a Celebration of Failure comes out in October. More information about this stellar publication here.
DJ Cutler, Hip Hop’s best kept secret has a new mix: Newer Sounds For Older Souls Vol. 1. Get it, it’s no joke.
DJ Cutler over at Mixcrate.
Buffalo’s finest, keepin’ it funky all day every day.
Check out Lack of Afro’s website.
Visit Lack of Afro on Facebook.
Get Lack of Afro’s new single “A Time For” from the Freestyle record store online.
Supreme La Rock has been one of the premier DJ’s/Diggers/Record Collectors for as long as I can remember. It’s an honor and a pleasure to have him in the Big Ups series. ‘Preme has been down since day one and has the resume to prove it. Check out what’s up in the world of Supreme La Rock in the links below.
Check out Supreme La Rock’s blog.
Follow Supreme La Rock on Twitter.
Check out Supreme La Rock’s website.
Listen or Download Supreme La Rock’s Flea Market Funk all 45 Guest Mix
Many Thanks ‘Preme!
Mxolisi Makhubo a.k.a Nok is a DJ, collector, Graff Artist, and architect who resides in Soweto,Johannesburg-South Africa. His talent shows through his music and art, and I’m happy to showcase him this week in the Big Ups series. Keep Diggin’!
Cultures of Soul chief Deano Sounds has been doing his thing for more than a minute. The Beantown area resident has been re-issuing some of the coolest records around, cultivating some of the best 45 nights, and, well doing big things . With releases from artists like Stanton Davis and the Ghetto Mysticism Band, the Cosmos Universal Band, and the Fabulous Fugitives among others, this label is definitely one to keep your eye on. Salute! and Big Ups to a guy enjoying life doing what he loves. Looking forward to seeing Cultures of Soul here in BK sometime soon.
Check out Cultures of Soul here.
Follow Cultures of Soul on Twitter.
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Jim Thompson aka Das Booty is a drummer, label boss, and vinyl maniac. His label, devotion to all kinds of music, and eclectic music tastes make Electric Cowbell stand out in the sea of labels out there. Congrats to Jim Thompson for winning the Village Voice Award for the Best Spearheaders of the Vinyl Revival 2011. Check out the story here.
Check out Electric Cowbell on the web.
Jim’s band CSC Funk Band has a few gigs upcoming:
Friday, Oct. 28th
Zebulon Cafe with Cheick Hamala Diabate (Electric Cowbell Record Release!!!) and a squad of all female Dj’s Gizmo, Sweet V & Natasha Diggs (Us Girls) rocking 45′s!!!
Saturday Oct 29th
Hallofunkenween VII 846 Myrtle Ave (basement)
with Ellis Ashbrook, CSC Funk Band, Madame Beak, Tropic of Pisces, DJ Unclejazz
Projections: Steven Grisé
Live Painting: Anthony P. Cerretani
Brooklyn, NY
admin $5
doors @ 8
cheap dranks
Sunday Oct. 30th
WFMU Record Fair at The Metropolitan Pavilion
1PM
The Metropolitan Pavilionis located at 125 West 18th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues in New York City.
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Starla Records label boss Craig Reece has been putting out good music from Glasgow few years. FMF is happy to have this UK mover and shaker in this week’s Big Ups series.
Check out Starla on the here web.
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Soul Jazz Records has been one of the most successful and respected record labels of our time, releasing everything from Reggae to Funk to Soul to Jazz to Ragga and beyond. Always searching for something new, obscure, and of course good, Soul Jazz is well known for reissuing and putting out some of the world’s best music that needs to be preserved. It is with great pleasure that I bring you this interview with label boss Stuart Baker.
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UK selector DJ Wax On has been holding it down in Derby for a minute, spreading the good word of good music through his live shows, home made beats, and mixes. It’s with great pleasure we welcome him to the Big Ups series.
Check out DJ Wax On on the web.
Nydia Ines aka The Honeydripper has been an NYC 45 staple for a minute. I remember sharing the booth with her back in the hey day of The Lucky Cat when The Budos Bad would pack the small club and all 45 DJs would drop gems to sweaty dancers dancing until the wee hours. We’re happy to have her here in Big Ups, and if you see her playing in your town, make sure you don’t miss it because she packs heat!
Check her out at the The Daptone 10th Anniversary Party this December.
For all you Finland Funk and Soul heads, she will be DJing in Helsinki on Christmas Day along the Soul Sides Crew.
Here’s a few mixes The Honeydripper has out, they’re FREE!
Guest Spot on A Downtown Affair
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Richmond, VA via Germany, DJ Pari is an all around Funk and Soul machine. Touring with James Brown, making records with Marva Whitney, and DJing every corner of the world spreading the gospel of 45 music is all in a day’s work. Here’s another person making a difference doing what he loves. Big Ups.
Check out DJ Pari on Facebook.
Representing Detroit (and doing it well I may add), Tall Black Guy is a producer who fits right in here at Flea Market Funk. With a penchant for smooth beats and heavy digging, it’s a wonder he placed high in the Red Bull Big Tune Championships in the past. A humble cat, who goes by the motto of just getting it done rather than bragging about what he is going to do, TBG is one to watch.
Check out more on Tall Black Guy Productions here.
Tall Black Guy on Soundcloud
TBG Reworking Fela’s “Water Get No Enemy”
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What I have today is a real treat. Kon is a DJ/ producer who I have the utmost respect for. A humble cat who really just not just talks the talk, but walks the walk with style while unearthing some of the best records ever. It is with great pleasure that I bring one of the Kings of Diggin’, Kon to the Big Ups series. I still remember digging up a copy of Skip Jackson and the Natural Experience’s “Microwave Boogie” on Catamount thinking: I wonder how Kon felt when he found this? Like I said, an honor to have him. Respect.
Check out Kon’s blog Playin’For Keeps.
Follow Kon on Twitter.
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Today’s Big Ups is a special one, as I get 10 questions answered from Brooklyn’s own DJ Akalepse. Lepse has been holding down NYC for a long time, throwing proper DJ parties with real music, while also producing and putting out some of the best Funk and Soul music with the acclaimed record label Truth and Soul. His weekly Wednesday night at LPR alongside Rich Medina has had heavyweight guests that included J-Rocc, DJ Spinna, Crazy Legs, Dwele, Easy Mo Bee, and many more, if you thought you could take the night lightly. It is my distinct pleasure to be able to bring him to the pages of Big Ups.
Check Out Akalepse on Facebook.
Read more about Props and Akalepse here.
Follow Akalepse on Twitter.
Respect to Akalepse for taking part in this series. Keep Diggin’!
As I close out 2011 with the last Big Ups of the year, I saved a special one for you. DJ Un-G, my DJ potna’ since the late 90′s, has been one of the biggest influences on me as a DJ. As a DJ duo we taught each other about different music, but simultaneously made each other better. Un-G , a talented musician and turntablist showed me the finer side of mixing, and talked me into using Serato as a professional DJ when I wanted to stay carrying tons of record boxes every week. This didn’t stop me at digging for vinyl, don’t get it twisted, but rather Gary showed me how to mature as a DJ. We have played countless parties and nights, opened for our heroes (Bad Brains), rocked unrehearsed 4 turntable parties where people gave up the dance floor to climb on bars and tables to shake it, ducked bottles, glass ash trays, and whatever else was hurled our direction in a basement bar in the LES, and spent countless hours mixing different genres and holding it down while mean mugging thugs stood an inch away from our turntables while we were doing our thing. He’s an accomplished MC, musician (drummer, guitar, ukelele), producer, film and graphics whiz. A member of the 10+ year old band/crew known as P.I.C., he now holds it down in Los Angeles, CA, rocking the 1′s and 2′s weekly on the Left Coast. I am proud to call him my homie.
Check Out P.I.C. here.
Hear some mixes, blends, and more on Un-G’s My Space page.
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Bristol, UK Selector Tim Partridge aka DJ Teepee has been holding down court with DJ Andy Smith with the Jam Up Twist series of nights around the UK, as well as his Bop & Soul night, spinning everything from Ska to Northern Soul to Jump Blues. FMF is happy to have Tee Pee in our Big Ups series, a veteran of the Bristol scene, and a guy with a very good taste in music.
Check out Tim when he and Andy educate the youngins at Bristol’s Jam Up Twist here .
Also check out Tim’s night at Cosies if you’re in the Bristol area.
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Ph(iladelph)ia Producer Small Professor has been consistently putting out some great production over the last few years. We’re happy to have him as a Big Ups interview this year. Keep your eyes and ears out for Small Pro. His live gigs are sparse, but when he performs, you are in for a show.
Follow Small Pro on Twitter
Check out Small Pro’s gigs, beats, etc. on his facebook page.
Get beats here.
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Check out DJ Gu mixes every Wednesday from 10pm til midnight (cet) over here.
More info about DJ Gu here.
DJ Gu co-owns Our Label Records. Don’t Sleep!
This week we have a special treat. Our Big Ups is none other than Jefferson Mao, aka Chairman Mao, co-founder of ego trip. If you have been living under a rock for the last 18 years, ego trip was the go to Hip Hop culture magazine in the 90′s. I think I may have shed a tear the day they stopped publishing it. Luckily, there is egotripland, your daily fix of the best Hip Hop music culture you will read, and I back that up 100%. Chairman Mao is a well known DJ, crate digger, writer, and all around good guy who knows his shit. We’re happy to have him aboard on FMF and Big Ups.
Check Out Chairmqan Mao’s radio show Across 135th St. on RBMA Radio.
Check out egotripland.
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Of all of the Big Up interviews (which btw have all been great in my opinion), this has been the most anticipated. Jazzman Gerald is a guy who does things the way he wants. In other words, he is the guy who set the bar for reissues and bringing the underdog artist to the public’s eyes and ears. He has been doing it well, taking care of the artists he reissues, all the while running a record label dynasty that is quite impressive. When not DJing rare music all over the world, he’s keeping all the record collectors, DJs, producers and artists scrambling to get his latest releases and compilations. Heard he’s a football supporter, but no mention of it in the interview. Gerald get at me on that! It is an honor for us to have Gerald in this latest installment of Big Ups. Enjoy!
Jazzman Records on the web.
TheJazzman Gerald Blog. See what he’s up to.
Follow Jazzman on twitter.
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I told you I was upping the ante this year, and if you thought last week’s Big Ups was dope, then you’re in for another treat. This week we have one of the hardest working DJs/ producers out there, Uncle NU, aka DJ Nu-Mark. Uncle Nu is known for not just being a dope DJ, but a producer and solo artist who pushes the envelope in his live shows. His last tour experimented with toys and toy instruments, and he constructed a live set around these toys. Always innovating and forging new trails as a DJ, we’re stoked to have DJ Nu-Mark in this week’s Big Ups.
More on Uncle Nu here.
Follow DJ Nu-Mark on twitter.
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If you are not familiar with DJ Format’s CV, then you should be. This guy is a true artist, who is promoting Hip Hop music and proper lifestyle, keeping the torch of the founding fathers of this genre alive. From his Music For the Mature B-Boy release to the video for “We Know Something You Don’t Know” to The Simonsound (with a ton of records and DJ gigs in between), Format has established himself firmly as a solid producer, DJ, and artist. We’re excited to have him this week on Big Ups.
More info on DJ Format here.
His new record, Statement of Intent, will be available on Feb. 27th at better record stores world wide.
Statement of Intent Sampler Video
DJ Format feat. Sureshot La Rock Dope Pusher
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By the time this post is up, there will be a new addition to the FMF family. I’m talking about the birth of my son. It’s crazy when I think about it, a little version of me running around. A son to pass all these records and this music on to. There is not one artist I can think of that has had such a profound influence on my music taste than Curtis Mayfield. As a child hearing him through my dad’s records, to digging in the dust and piles of junk to unearth his beautiful records, Curtis has always been a staple in my households. Now it’s time for me to pass on the torch to this young buck once he gets tall enough to reach the turntables. Rest assured I’ll be passing on the knowledge to the kid (as well as the record collection), so he can pass it on to the next generation. I may be taking a few days off from
writing to get the future digger/ DJ situated, but best believe I’ll be back with more. Thanks for the support people. Salute!
Download or Listen to Curtis Mayfield – The Makings of You from the Curtom Lp Curtis
Not much more to say except: YES. THANK YOU. LONG OVERDUE. While everyone was mourning the loss of a Soul legend Whitney Houston this past weekend, Charles Bradley was busy trying to live his hard life the last 60 plus years. He was the break out Soul star in 2011 with his release No Time For Dreaming on Daptone, and his interesting story has been documented on film. This documentary will premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March, and FMF can not wait to check it out. If you are a fan of Soul music, this is a film that should not be missed. This man’s music is incredible, and while releasing his debut record at 62, he has to be the oldest rookie since Satchel Paige took the mound. This is Soul music people: the good, the bad, the sad, and truly incredible.
Charles Bradley: Soul In America Documentary Trailer
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It’s here! Flea Market Funk has partnered up with the vinyl photo blog Dust & Grooves for Wax On Film: A Photo Contest. We want to see creative photos of your vinyl collections. We have an exclusive, expert panel of judges to help determine the winners. We’re talking not just Eilon from Dust & Grooves and myself, but people like acclaimed DJ, Rich Medina, Brian Ho from Dreams in Audio, and Brian Cross aka B+ from Mochilla, all vinyl experts in their own right. The chosen winners will receive Wax On Film gift packages from Nixon, Tucker & Bloom, Rare Byrds, Listen Clothing, 101 Apparel, Tropicalia In Furs, Cultures of Soul, Hot Peas & Butta, and more!
Go here for more details.
Get creative people!
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This record was a good score for $3. It was an even better come up that it was a promo and mint, with a blank back cover. I heard it can go for a little cash, but who cares? This track smokes. Here’s Patrice Rushen with “Kickin’ Back” on Prestige Records from 1975.
Patrice Rushen is one of the world’s top Jazz pianists. From her early Jazz beginnings as a side player and solo artist to moving through the world of film and television scoring with ease, as well as Pop, Soul, Disco, and R & B, Patrice Rushen has played with and along side and recorded with most of the industry’s most well known players. With over 14 solo releases on such labels as Prestige, Arista, and GRP among others, her talent has kept her quite busy for most of her career. Her commercial success has made her name known outside DJ and record collector circles. However, it’s these early recordings like “Kickin’ Back” that speak to me.
This single (purported to be one of the first 12″ released in a batch of original 12″s) is Rushen moving away from the straight forward Jazz she exhibited on Prelusion and moving into Jazz Fusion. This is some lazy day music people, smooth and cool. Rushen (on the clavinet, piano, and synthesizer) stacked her backing band with vet players like Hubert Laws (flute), Lee Ritenour (guitar), Harvey Mason (drums), the horn section of Bohanon, Brashear, Caliman, Dumas and Nash, and finally Charles Meeks (bass). She plays the piano to a similar style of Herbie Hancock (close your eyes this tune has a Headhunters feel), and has kept it even closer to Hancock with Mason who was in the Headhunters, and Meeks who has been a Jazz journeyman in the Blue Note world as well. Patrice moves along at her pace, keeping it cool junior, real cool. This is a great find, a great record, and for me, a period in music I wish never went away. Patrice Rushen announced her exit from the Jazz world with this record, and did it with a bang. She then went on to conquer the music world in many other ways, but to me when she was kickin’ back, she was at her best.
Download or Listen to Patrice Rushen – Kickin’ Back from the Prestige Records 12″
Keep Diggin’!
I used be a partner in a way before it’s time store called Soul Sauce. I’ve spoken about it from time to time. We sold clothing, graff supplies, skateboards, records, magazines, books and anything else we were into. Skaters, DJs, writers, rappers, musicians and tons of others rolled through. We had turntables in the back of the store where everyone who spun could get on. One young buck who was a regular was this white cat named Double L (LL). He was a young dude, and on any day he’d show up wearing a leather eight ball jacket, doo rag, Tims, whatever was hot at the time (Mecca, Ecko, Girbaud, etc.), straight thuggin’ and all business. He would also bring records and a mic. He would get on the turntables and just kill it while rapping over instrumentals (my man had a stutter but still had a silky flow). He just played underground Hip Hop, and repped it all day every day. My dude would also make mixtapes to sell (complete with home made xeroxed covers). He’d put together nonstop mixes of The Best of OC, plus The Best of Double L (complete with his own raps)! It was a great time in music and just a great time in general in my life. I wish I had saved the photos When Double L wasn’t cutting up two copies of OC, he would work in groups like Rawkotics, and of course one of his favorites, Lamont Coleman aka Big L and the DITC crew. At the time, Big L was still alive, and his music was a topic that people would talk about in our lounge while listening to others DJ. I always dug Big L’s flow, and when news came through that he had been killed, it was a sad day at the Sauce. It especially hit Double L hard. Good things really never last, and by 2003 we had shut down the store, I moved on to touring nationally as a DJ, and I never heard from Double L again. I do remember though, Double L bringing in cassettes, specifically home made Stretch and Bobbito tapes that we would all listen to during store hours. Here’s one that I can remember LL bringing in, and one that was revisited by Chairman Mao, Stretch, and Bobbito a few weeks ago in San Francisco at a Red Bull Music Academy Lecture.
If Biggie didn’t die, would fast rapping Jay Z aka Jaz been as big as he is now? That’s for another post, but in 1995, Big L straight killed this freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito show. Jay’s flow is quick, and nice, but it’s Big L that steals the show. Rest in Power Big L, who knows where you would have been if you were still alive? Probably competing as one of the greatest rappers of all time (no disrespect to Big Daddy Kane on this one).
Big L Freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito Show 02.23.95
My fave line is still: “I’m so ahead of my time, my parents haven’t met yet…….”
Keep Diggin’!
A while back I put out the 45 shirt design, but just couldn’t get a collaboration that was quite right. However, as like minded individuals seem to always get together, the collaboration between Flea Market Funk and Listen Clothing begins. I have been a fan and supporting this company since their inception, and when I was on tour a few years back, my man Renz sent me a box of Listen stuff that has been worn on countless gigs, tours, and the like. Listen Clothing has been preserving the music, culture, and quality artists for over 10 years through their clothing and accessory lines. I am proud to announce the first (of many hopefully) Limited Edition tee shirt collaborations between Flea Market Funk and Listen: The 45 shirt.
Here’s a shirt that all you 45 heads have been fiending for: a nod to graphic design and typography combined with some great Funk and Soul 45 bands. There are some easy finds on here as well as some Holy Grails. We all have some of them, we all want some of them, but the bottom line is that these records are appreciated. I wanted to help preserve these artists in one of the most creative ways I could think of, the tee. We’re also working on some limited edition prints as well. After all, it’s “The Way We Live”.
Stay tuned for more details about buying this design in shirt and print form.
Click here to enlarge the graphic.
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