Just saw the homie Drunk Monk’s top ten list over at Sub-Culture and had to do one of my own.  Will do the top ten EPs in the next few days.  Hope u hv a VPN.

Continue reading ‘dat heatwolves top ten albums of 2011, in no order.’

posted up in the Chicago Hilton lobby cause I don’t wanna drop $12.99 for interwebs in ma room. ate so much turkey and beef wellington + pumpkin pie/pecan pie/chocolate mousse at The Drake. Hilton needs to step their toothbrush game up though.. I almost swallowed like seven bristles.

saw beautiful black girls on the direct flight from Shanghai and remembered what ass is. forgot my new neck pillow on said plane. got a really awkward look and “no…” response from the stewardess when i asked for gum like yo that isn’t really an unusual request, it helps combat the ear pressure issues. she jokingly offered me nicotine gum. got a ride to downtown Chicago from an eccentric, mid-50s Croatian female cabbie who drove a white Scion filled with Felix The Cat toys. we talked about women, mostly. she convinced me that i definitely need to fire my maid, who curses at me and is set in her ways. great convo.

back to kalamazoo tmmr, and for the first time i won’t meet my main homie Ziggy Stardust, cause he died of cancer in May..

u had a good run mang. almost ten years and u was always a tru motherfucking g. this track goes out to u dogg.

David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust

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also, do what you can to kill the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) – if this law passes, blogs like this will no longer exist, and wolves like me might go to jail 4 copyright violation.  google SOPA, do some research, and contact your local lawmakers. seriously fuck this bill.

Attended my first Chinese wedding on Sunday night. Haven’t been to an American wedding since like 1991 but i know it’s different.

This Shanghai wedding happened in a restaurant instead of a church, at 6PM on a cold Sunday on The 5th floor of a skyscraper in the Ba Bai Ban section of Pudong (east side of the river/modern buildings, many without residents/ghost town at night/where i work during the day). I really needed to use the bathroom when I got there and the first floor had a confusing sign that said “to lift” in a really tight font.

Smoking is allowed and somewhat encouraged at Chinese weddings. In fact, two expensive packs of cigs (changhua, limited hong shuang xi) waited at every table, next to wine, beer, sprite, and cold appetizers. In many ways, a wedding is as much about the union of two souls as it is showing/giving face. More expensive cigs and better food for wedding guests = more face.

Aside from the sound problems inherent in almost any event in China involving microphones (talent show, wedding, commencement), the show ran smoothly. Started at 6:00PM and the bride and groom walked down the aisle at 6:15.

Before the marriage ceremony, the video-controller lady streamed a 5-minute cartoon about wedding etiquette from Youku, the Chinese YouTube. The animation starred the Kung Fu Panda characters, who told us to shut up when important stuff was happening, clap after it happens, eat in a civilized manner, etc.

After this, the bride and groom came down the asile. I did not recognize the bride, though she’s my colleague and I see her every day, It’s amazing what makeup can do, and wayyyy better to see a girl who never really wears makeup suddenly put some on than the other way around.

Instead of a priest, their souls were bound together by..some dude who didn’t know how to hold a microphone. At some points in his speech, mothers covered the still-developing ears of their children; not for content, just sheer volume due to unfortunate speaker placement/EQing/aforementioned mic-holding struggles.

I was the only white person there, and thank god these people were super respectful and didn’t ask me to do any dumb white people shit. Nor did they try to get me drunk on baijiu, or make me smoke cigs..no drunk older men tried to convince me to go to the hooker spot after. I did join in one group game on stage, gave hi-fives to the youth, gave a short speech but used some English because I was slightly drunk and I always confuse the Chinese word for wedding (hun li) with the word for divorce (li hun), and won a Haibao-blue neck pillow, a gift I’ll really appreciate on my 14-hour flight to chicago today. Good fucking call on giving gifts that guests will actually use but likely wouldn’t have bought on their own.

As for gifts TO the newlyweds, it’s straight cash, in a hongbao (red envelope). That’s the same red envelope that corrupt officials get their bribes in. Fuck a coffeemaker, sheets, etc. No trips to bed bath & beyond, just a quick stop at the ATM.

I didn’t know how much to give, so I asked the lao bai xing (common folk) who responded anywhere bwtwem RMB200 – 1000. I decided RMB300 was reasonable. Hopefully this covers the cost of the food, which was BOMB.

Unlimited lobster and steak, crabs of all sizes, hongshao yarou (something like thick cuts of soft duck bacon), giant fish, cold chicken, vegetables, tripe..didn’t touch the cake though. Looked like shaving cream.

No rice.

Chinese people don’t eat rice at banquets. It’s too filling. Gotta save room for all that tripe. Chinese in China don’t eat fortune cookies either – ever. That blew my mind when I found out.

Here’s a song about weddings by someone I’ve been listening to constantly lately – The Dream

Terrius Nash – Wedding Crasher

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Been a minute since the last update; been preparing to go back to the land of gold this Saturday.

First off, wanna thank everyone who came to Love Bang #12 last Saturday @Dada. Was by far our biggest night ever and it wouldn’t be possible without the great crowd who came out, so big up yourself. I remember looking up at midnight like “huh, not that many people here..” then ten minutes later it was so packed it took five minutes to get from the door to the dance floor, then dropping “All Nite” by Rustie.

And special thanks to ESHIN from Trouble Audio, who absolutely murdered it. Was the first time anyone played Drum & Bass at Love Bang and god damn…Brooklyn dem don’t play.

Looking forward to 2012, we got Love Bang #13 on Jan. 21st at Dada with DJ Caution, MC One Con, and myself, then Love Bang #14 Super Valentine’s Edition on Feb. 11th with special guest DjMrWhite plus other super-friends.

And for March, we got something extra special –  on the opening night of Split Works‘ JUE festival, we’re doing Love Bang @ The Shelter with special guest BICEP. Don’t get it confused, we love Dada and will continue doing Love Bang there, but we need a bigger venue for this one, and what’s better than The Shelter?

Bicep – Say You Wanna

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Lady Gaga – Alejandro (bicep Italo flex)

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sorry, no DLs on these. dem are my friends and they quit their dayjobs to do this full-time, so dem gots to get paid.

check out their site feelmybicep.com – i can’t recommend it enough. hundreds of entries and songs, from rare italo-disco and chicago-house to horror soundtracks and hip hop.

stayed out way too late last night thanks to the ROM crew and my main homeboy Colonel Sanders.  about to be a big weekend..love bang #12 tmmr and my first chinese wedding on sunday evening.

i need serato – burning CDs is ruining my social life. hate turning friends down for dinner and house parties because i “have to make CDs.” it’s also ruining my diet cause i just holler at my boy THA COLONEL.

and this sunday..basically a young Colonel Sanders cause he spreads so much love – Xiao Zhong from PAIRS, one of my favorite Shanghai rock bands, is throwing an AFTERNOON show at Yuyintang from 2PM – 5PM. it’s only RMB20, which is like, not even a Spicy Chicken Breast Combo.

plus, all the bands are made of at least 50% university students. peep the whole article with MP3s over at SmartShanghai

so if you love live music, get up out of your sunday love nest and get down to YYT. shit’s important for the scene.

these are some rap tracks, because Xiao “Extra-Crispy” Zhong sometimes sings Tupac’s “Ambitionz of a Ridah.”

G-Side - Im Sorry (feat. P.H.)

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G-Side - Came Up (feat. S.L.A.S.H.)

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and as i vented on Harvard Connection.. Shanghai Fun – please stop sending me texts or I’m finna have THA COLONEL go holler @ u, and no one wants that. not interested in your cleverly-themed parties at Bar Rouge. actually i’m offended.

happy friday ya’ll.

when i was eight, my parents wouldn’t let me hang out at the arcade by myself because of all the pedophiles hanging around there. seems like back then, people could smoke cigs in the arcade (they still can in china). one day, someone stole all my tickets, which i had stuffed into an empty ant-farm container. that’s when i realized there are bad people in the world.

also, after standing in line for Killer Instinct for forty minutes, I realized and accepted that I would never be great at video games.

when i was twelve, my parents wouldn’t let me go to the skatepark because of all the derelicts hanging around smoking cigs there. later that year, my assistant basketball coach gave me a pack of Marlboro Reds. still can’t figure out why.. either he was a pedophile or he just wanted to get me addicted so he could sell cigs to me.

this is the second cig/stuffed animal claw-game i’ve encountered here. this one was just chillin on the corner up in north jing an. bringing families together?

here’s some songs from my “BLURRRRRRD” folder that remind me of the arcade

Hayzee – Press Start

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Samiyam – Where Am I

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Slugabed – Sun Too Bright Turn It Off

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we’re so lucky that both Samiyam and Slugabed have played at Shelter in the last two months. 2012 gwan be huge.

From 1986.

put on by the Sub-Culture fam. I’ve never seen this but looking forward to it.

free entry, free popcorn – starts at 9PM, get down early to get a spot!

been drawing all night to meet the January press deadline..hollered at boi ronald to hit me off with some double cheese and coffee bout midnight plus my colored pencil game is so on point. tried to listen to BasedGodVelli but i’m really starting to suspect Lil B is schizophrenic. He’s the L. Ron Hubbard of rap.

@Kinko’s – I expected more. So much more..why would you make a 24/7 store but then close it randomly on some nights? unacceptable. how would Juicy J handle that?

Fucking love this mixtape, I can’t wait to be home in two weeks and drive around the countryside listening to rap music.

Juicy J – Stoners Night pt. 2 ft. Wiz Khalifa

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Juicy J – Get Higher

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it’s going down this saturday. last love bang of the year – let’s make it huge.

so much <3 to everyone who’s been out to Love Bang this year. we’ve got big plans for 2012..

Outkast – ATLiens

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we’ve got a Eshin from New York this month  - expect a lot of dubstep.

happy monday to all. great weekend that started with Das EFX and a full band trying to come through Mao Live’s soundsystem (sound was fucking AWFUL..i just kept thinking “THIS is cacophony”)..really though I can’t imagine trying to manage eleven live instruments, two soul mamas on the mic, two extremely fucked-up rappers, and a DJ. that’s a fucking task. but still, i couldn’t understand a single lyric, and i’m a native English-speaker..

also, warm-up act Back To The Golden Age has now claimed the highest spot on my “acts in Shanghai that claim to be hip hop but are actually the anthesis of hip hop.” jesus christ you are so bad. you would think that with thirty people in your crew (including a few that looked like 8th graders), some of them would maybe like, not suck. but no.

also, in general, shouting “we represent the real hip hop!” 100+ time does not actually = representing the real hip hop.

still though i give this show points for being extremely entertaining and Das EFX not holding anything back or censoring themselves. also because Ceezy and MC One Con killed it with their early set. too bad they didn’t rock after..

if you were @ Shelter before 10PM on Saturday, you know some magic happened. a one-hour, all-Burial set by Kode9 on a well-tuned soundsystem. bass in the chest.

came back to Shelter at 2AM to catch the last 1/3 of Kode9′s set…juke music and jungle mixed impeccably. seriously the classiest mixing i’ve ever seen, on three CDJs no less. I was a bit nervous to play afterwards but i’m happy with the set, which was mostly rap (three 6/drake/etc) then booty music mixed with techno.

went to get my bike back from Lune yesterday afternoon and ran into this crazy uncle slanging chickens on the street. he wanted 17RMB for half a key, but i was like fuck that’s expensive and he got really mad. crazy uncle did not want me to take these pictures. love the juxtaposition of hypermodern architecture with scenes like this.

really feeling this new James Blake EP on R&S.

James Blake – Love What Happened Here

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spent a couple hours digging through the CD market yesterday. used to dig for records a lot more but at this point i’d rather have WAV files of older tracks made with analogue equipment, e.g. “Push It,” “Poison,” Motown jams. still got love for vinyl but it’s a bitch to lug around, and more and more clubs have CDJs with a USB slot, so I can easily just throw like 1,000 songs on a thumb drive and just turn up with that and my headphones…so much easier than burning CDs.

came with the intention of grabbing some soul compilations but walked away with a lot of R&B for my “Take It Home” playlist (D’angelo, The Dream) plus a few Motown comps, a Doo-Wop box set, a Trax Records comp, and one of my favorite hip hop albums ever - Black Bastards by KMD.

all for RMB 5 each!!

didn’t find this one at the market, but as I mentioned yesterday, Kode9 is coming back to The Shelter this Saturday. DO NOT SLEEP on this. and make sure you get down EARLY, like before 10PM. something wild happening around 10PM but doors will be locked from 10PM – 11PM so get your spot. Here’s the first of some Kode9 tracks I’ll post throughout the week, this one with the one and only Cha Cha. Sorry no DL on this – people gots to eat.

Kode9 featuring Cha Cha – Love Is The Drug

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busy week. dungeons and dragons tonight..

tuesday = FIST OF THE NORTH STAR @ Dada (seriously one of the most violent feature-length animes ever…exploding heads galore). 9PM with the Sub-culture fam.

wednesday @ mao livehouse w/French Horn Rebellion and Rainbow Danger Club

French Horn Rebellion – Beaches and Friends [edit: fuck these dudes]

friday @ mao livehouse w/MC One Consciousness, Ceezy, and Das EFX

saturday @ Lune for Pop Party then Shelter w/Kode9 (!!!!!!!)

will post some tracks soon, but you need to cop that new Juicy J mixtape “Blue Dream & Lean.” Shit is epic.

ate some soup last night cause i’m sick. i couldn’t afford the double boiled deer penis with ten treasures but was assured that it would “enhance masculinity,” i.e. it’s “good for man.” But honestly I ate some “good for man” soup one time (cow balls…) and I had sex like four times that night so I don’t necessarily doubt this.

some Friday tunes for you.

Das EFX – The Real Hip Hop (Pete Rock Remix)

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Sepalcure – Breezin (this track gets so good like four minutes in)

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Das EFX are coming to Shanghai next Friday (Mao Livehouse), supported by an 11-piece orchestra (!!) led by Theo Croker and my good friends MC One Consciousness and Ceezy. More info here.

People love to fuck in Shanghai. Sometimes people act like condoms aren’t necessary and that’s fucked up. Think about all the people who come in and out of Shanghai everyday on planes and trains from who the fuck knows where, and with what history. Think of the bros who fuck hookers in Cambodia then come back here and sleep with their girlfriends like it’s all good. And the girls who let random dudes bust in them cause they’re on the pill or plan on taking some day-after meds. And all the mutual friends and how interconnected this place is.

You prlly know someone in Shanghai with an STD, even if they don’t know it. AIDS is on the rise in Shanghai, where it’s on the decline in other parts of the world. Not just AIDS but Hep-C and lots of other viruses that will kill you or at the least make it so you can’t have sex anymore or have to take lots of medicine every day.

I’m lucky that my mom worked at an AIDS clinic when I was four or five. I met a lot of her patients and saw them die, and my parents told me why. A lot of office ladies have bowls of choco on their desk – my mom always had a big bowl of condoms. Not everyone’s lucky enough to go to a school with good sex-ed.

So use condoms, and don’t sleep with people who don’t think they’re important cause they prlly do that on the reg. It’s like Snoop Doggy Dogg said, “ain’t no pussy good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it.” I would love to quote a female rapper who said something similar but nothing comes to mind..

Here’s some songs about STDs.

Javelin – STD Fury

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Lil B – I Got AIDS

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Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf – Jack The Mack

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yo. remember Logo? parties with bands and DJs together?? elderly women busting through the door at 4am, wielding hammers and ready to smash the DJ mixer??? BEAT BUFFET gwan come back from d dead at some point i promise, but until then…

it’s going down this Saturday. really excited about this as these are my friends’ bands. it’s only RMB30, not bad for three bands and one DJ (I’m playing four sets…one Motown, one Dubstep…don’t know about the others).

but fuck DJs, there’s actually people playing music – come down at get messy on Saturday; you know there’s street beers on every corner…

flyer by Ivan from Death to Giants -