Tag Archives: dancehall

GUEST COLUMN | POPASUDA WITH DJ SAL

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thatchicken
Remember when DJ Sal the global mystic, AKA Skinny Brown, dropped that guest column about pop music in China a few weeks ago? He’s got his monthly party Popasuda this Saturday at Dada Shanghai and at Dada Beijing on May 31s, both with yrs truly, so I asked him to share a bit of the night’s vibe. Here’s five tunes from the man who speaks at least five languages
- 热狼
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Some dope dancehall Bass Remix 
Popasuda is literally the Brazilian Portuguese word for “phat booty,” so a bit of hard bass driven digital dancehall is certainly in order. Don’t expect the clichés, we’ll definitely try to keep it classy with some cool remixes much like this one, as well as some trappier-bassy shit that you can wind something proper to. After all we don’t want girls to rock up in a pair of short shorts for nothing. Let it drop…trust me!

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Toca Pra Mim (Deize Tigrona-Brazil):

This track’s from one of my favorite Brazilian Baile MC’s Dieze Tigrona. It exudes the Popasuda motif, with a driving Brazilian percussion line that bangs hard alongside a rugged female Portuguese vocal, exclaiming with attitude the need to fucking Get Down! Pretty raw, nothing fancy – just a bad-ass piece of Brazil.

Jesse Rose – Toca Pra Mim

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Some Indian Flavor: (Daniel Haaksman Remix of Todha Rashem Lagan. Germany-India) 

There’s nothing I love more than a well-sampled Indian Vocal. This track right here’s set on a nice BPM, it’s got that international vibe that I’m trying to increase in Popasuda, and it’s cut from one of my favorite (and probably the most famous) Indian classical singers Lata Mangeshkar. Hopefully you won’t be hearing too many English vocals from the Popasuda sets, unless it’s really worth it. I’m really trying to keep shit as foreign and diverse as possible.

Latah Mangeshkar – Todha Rashem Lagan Hai (Daniel Haaksman Remix)

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Old School Acid Gems:

This is one of my favorite acid-trance tunes from way back in 1995. It was one of my first records, given to me by a fellow DJ back when I was in high school. While making me feel old as shit, it’s undeniably one of the dopest classic acid tunes reminiscent of that early Daft Punk sound that was just beginning to emerge back in the mid-nineties. It actually predates Homework, but certainly draws along the same line. Wicked 303 line about halfway in (1:53). I’m so happy that acid is making a mild resurgence, so I can finally have a chance to play this oldschool shit now that I’m a “seasoned DJ”. There definitely won’t be a full acid set (or a full set of anything for that matter), but when you least expect it, 303 lines will be tweaked.

Snitzer vs. Humate - Oh My Darling I Love You (Heavy Mix Cut)

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You Go Kill Me (Sarkodie and EL-Ghana)

If you haven’t already seen some Youtube footage of Asonto from West Africa, it’s a weird little dance on it’s way to being a flavor of the month. For all those cats out there who are all “whaaaat, that’s shit’s last year”, stop frontin it’s not like you were in the back allies of Lagos railing lines and getting low… dick!  Either way, though it’s most likely a passing fad, the movement did produce a few very dope, grimy, ass-to-the-floor dance tunes, like this one.

Sarkodie and EL-Ghana – You Go Kill Me

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I’m really trying to take the night in an international direction. There will be no hour of straight anything, it’ll be easy on the English vocals, we’ll be fucking with BPM with very selecta style drops and quick transitions. Rewinds, horns, a fucking amazing MC from Ghana (The Mighty Junior Revelation), and shit ton of different languages. Expect reggae, dancehall edits and bassy shit, vocal inspired Trap shit in Spanish to Jamaican or Swahili, Crazy digital Soca, a little bit of cool old-school Acid, perhaps a few underground reggaeton bangers from our favorite rapper Tego Calderon, some moobah inspired African stuff, Crazilian Shit (see what I did there), Indian vocal shit salt & peppered in, and just generally dirty vibes built for some community-center dancehall in some third-world country with rhythm.

Words by DJ Sal aka Skinny Brown

 

hitchhiking down a mountain in a walnut van, in hangzhou

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Went to Hangzhou a few weeks ago. This small city of six million peeps an hour from Shanghai boasts West Lake, a feichang piaoliang // majestically beautiful place. True, but you can’t swim there. Growing up forty-five minutes away from Lake Michigan at South Haven, I can’t understand this. Like, if I just had to walk along the beach at Lake Michigan (basically like the ocean/差不多) but not go in the water…that’d be fucked up.

But Hangzhou does have mountains, something you won’t find in Shanghai, not counting mountains of 发票s/fapiaos or cash. On a Sunday walking around mountains and blue ponds. Don’t know why this pond is blue.

And met a lovable dog with a crooked face at a 农家乐 restaurant. 农家乐 = nong jia le, country home happiness restaurant/possibly hotel, in the owner’s house.

These restaurants are dank and affordable, like RMB100 – 200 ($14 – 28) for two – three people to eat really well on some home cooked Chinese food. Especially eggs, always try the eggs at country home happiness restaurants. So fresh. Chill owners too.

As daylight was packing up we still had an hour walk back down the mountain. Luckily an old grey sliding-door van crept down the hill by our outoor table, blasting an advertisement for 核桃 (hetao – walnuts). We negotiated a kilo of walnuts and a ride down the mountain for RMB60 (about $10). No seats in the back, just sacks of nuts and digital scales. I shouted out the window “赶快来买世界上最好的核桃,” but no one bought any. The uncle driving the van got out and patted me on the back when we reached the bottom.

Some songs for hitchhiking down a mountain in a walnut truck -

(1984) Horace Ferguson – Sensi addict

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(1996) Redman – Pick It Up

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