NEW YORK CITY NIGHTS
My second time in NYC was SO different from the first, which was about 7 years ago. The locals say it was a much better place back then, but for me it was incredible now, more friends and great contacts there, and traveling alone is totally the way to go – no offense to my amazing ex-boyfriend!
I spent the first few days in Queens, hanging with a lovely crew and experiencing a different side of NYC…a salsa party and a bar mitzvah – that kind of flipped me out, literally on a par with any culture shock i’ve ever experienced!
I took the Queens crew to see my kiwi girl Hollie Smith perform at Rockwood Music Hall, so great to hear her music again, with Marika on bass, it was a beautiful show.
The next night we headed down to Eli Soulclap’s joint Black Flamingo in Brooklyn, to see broken beat maestro Daz-i-Kue on the ones and twos, great spot down the stairs, low lighting, big vibes and wicked crowd – great to catch up with Daz and see some Bali crew.
Matt Recloose invited me to a Serato workshop Monday night, he hooked me up with Serato DJ, which i’d never investigated, and i got to meet some super nice NYC djs who are killing it out there, shouts to MWill and Run-P. Big ups Matt!! Turns out we had the same idea about going out that night, it was Mobile Mondays at The Bowery Electric, and Questlove was in the house. So we all rocked down there, it was Just Blaze’s birthday and there was a female dj killing it on the 45s – still not sure who this was?? Questlove gets on the drums, Smif n Wessun hop up for a freestyle, and Kool Herc walks in the club. This was my first night out in Manhattan. The DJ i was chatting to knew Herc and said ‘do you wanna meet him?’, i was like ‘hell yes’ but then could literally not think of one thing to say except “ummm…i love you”. Idiot. We did have a nice conversation after my brain began functioning. Total gentleman.
Next up was Bilal live at the City Winery – holy crap, this was an amazing show, esoteric and eccentric soul jazz, completely wild and out there, ridiculous musicianship from all the performers and stage presence from Bilal. Love him even more now. 4 out of 5 flicks, even. Great to finally meet Deva Mahal, and discover she was performing the next night. For afters we visited a couple of, ahem ‘celeb/musician’ hangouts that were filled with approximately zero of the aforementioned clan. I wasn’t too bothered as i’d literally bumped into Big from Sex and the City walking through East Village earlier that day 😉
Deva Mahal was the first act in a showcase of three at Highline Ballroom, it was an early show but she played to a full house. I’d heard her name many times through my NZ peeps, but never really heard her music. It’s a beautiful thing – rich and soulful, emotive and uplifting, and what a sublime presence she is. So brilliant to see brother Imon Starr up there too, still one of the superflyest MCs out there! 4/5 flicks!
AWESOME to see that Awesome Tapes from Africa was the ‘in between the bands’ DJ, quality as usual, but it was a band gig and they didn’t give him the volume he deserved.
The second act was a complete surprise, I’d never heard of Young Paris. Dayum, blown away! His show is unique, combining intense futuristic beats with traditional afro rhythms and Young Paris rapping, freaky tribal dancers with great costumes and strobe effect lighting, i was pretty damn impressed. 4/5 flicks.
Last up was Monsieur Perine from Colombia, they were super fun, colorful, happy, upbeat…totally not my cup of tea. Great musicians though, and the crowd loved them. 2 flicks. Anyway, it was time to head to my gig at DROM in East Village, Turntables on the Danube with Nickodemus.
Unfortunately i missed the band that was on first, but gladly got to listen to all of Bodoo’s set, which was i believe all Hungarian music, jazz and other dope oddities, presented inna radio show style, it was the perfect kick off to an awesome night. I jumped onstage to discover the CDJs were a rather old school version, oops! The screen is tiny. Thank goodness they still read my recordbox and i had a back up usb for the other player. A minor challenge but I had a really fun set and crammed as many jams as i could into an hour or so – i think i got hip hop, disco, house, soul, funk and latin covered, oh and Missy Elliot – WTF. Why the F**K not right? Great vibes on the dancefloor. Nickomdemus destroyed it of course, along with Nappy G on percussion and Troy on the brass. 5/5 damn flicks! Thank you so much for having me!
The following night a friend had door list for Rick Ross at Stage 48, i was like, ‘when in New York’..
I don’t even know how to describe this party. Kinda gross. Lots of sunglasses, high fives and backslapping onstage and not a hell of a lot going on. I’m pretty sure Rick Ross was there, though i wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan or could pick him out of a lineup. I’m pretty sure the music that was playing was Rick Ross, i think some other djs were playing us his new album?? I was entertained by the shenanigans onstage but extremely confused. Like, when are they gonna do something? OK i’ll fess up, i googled the event beforehand, and it was called ‘Rich Forever featuring Rick Ross’. I thought to myself, damn this Rich Forever dude must be hella famous, i’ve never heard of him and he’s got Rick Ross supporting him!! When i said this to my friend, himself in the hip hop industry in NYC, he looked at me like, “REALLY??”. Of course Rich Forever is the name of his new album. Oh how we laughed. Anyway, zero flicks given.
Last night out and about for music was Awesome Tapes from Africa at Good Room in Brooklyn. After hearing him play in a couple different scenarios it was perfect to finally hear him in a club, dope spot, good people, good night!
In summary, New York has it going on. THE END.
Dishonourable mentions to all the BWA’s (bouncers with attitude)….maybe also to me for always forgetting to take my passport out….and to Hot 97 for rotating the same 5 songs day in day out – yes Justin, it’s too late to say you’re sorry.
If you made it to the end of this extended blog, thanks for reading!! If you are bychance, American, and would like a NZ passport, hit me up! #notjoking
