The Hot List

Since Summer is finally here, and it's legitimately HOT outside (or has been until today), I figure it's time for another Hot List. I should do these more regularly, but I don't. This edition will run the gamut of topics, so hopefully you will enjoy:

1. The Rub: I literally discovered them today via the Johnny Cupcakes blog. This DJ crew is composed of DJ Ayres, DJ Eleven and Cosmo Baker. The threesome has been working together for about 8 years, and they are based in NYC. They spin full-time and make mixtapes basically for a living. I haven't been listening to them for long, but I'm already hooked. They mix hip-hop, funk, soul, rock, and other genres to make truly interesting mixes. They also are currently producing a series called the History of Hip-Hop. This series basically puts a group of the hottest songs from a single year into a single long-ass mix. The series starts with the year 1979, which was posted on their site back in December of 2007. Their most recent addition is 2003, which is a throwback to high school for me. I'm listening to the 1993 mix right now, which contains classics like Tribe's Award Tour, Wu-Tang's Protect Ya Neck, Method Man and Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin to Fuck With, Snoop's Gin & Juice, TuPac's I Get Around, Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain, and Souls of Mischief's 93 to Infinity (which Dumb and Wax sample in 2010 to Infinity), along with 39 other joints from that year. While I was only 6 years old in 1993, and certainly had never heard Wu-Tang, Snoop, or delaSoul when I was in first grade, my respect for these artists is immense. To hear them all on one track is pretty epic. All of their shit is available for download on their website. I really hope I can see one or more of them spin when I go to NYC this summer. Hopefully Diane/Amy/Sarah/someone will be down to check them out with me.

2. Rain: It's monsoon season here in Korea. Now, being from Florida, I'm no stranger to summer rains. In fact, in my personal experience, it (thus far) has rained far less here in Korea than it does each summer in Gainesville or Wellington. But, I appreciate much more here for various reasons. 1) my classes are no longer outdoors (LA classes at the ELI are outside and thus were moved every single day due to midday rainshowers). 2) it makes it significantly cooler in my un-air-conditioned classroom and office. 3) The students like rain a lot and are thus much happier/animated in my class. Plus, I just really like the rain. It's messy and wet and cool and it totally encourages casual behavior/dress. The only really unfortunate thing is that in my perpetual forgetfulness, I manage to consistently lose/leave at home my umbrella. So, in the last two weeks, I've bought three umbrellas. T_T

3. R16 Bboy Championships- OH MY GOD. It's this weekend. I've been on the website every day for the last 5 days just looking at the links and watching videos and checking out the pictures. I'm so stoked for this. I'm going to the pre-party with Words Run Dry and Dre. I'm also going with WRD to the bboy championships. I don't know if she knows it, but we are going eaaaaaaaaaarly to get good seats and be as close to the action as possible. I'm stoked as fuck. There will be an Urban Arts Festival at Olympic Park with graffiti exhibitions and bboy circles, along with a street market. Then, popping/locking battles on Saturday and Crew battles Sunday. ^______^ Tickets are still available at www.r16korea.com

4. FUEL- I just received a bunch of my FUEL gear from BoBo/parents. Everything is really great. It's unfortunate that I just now get the sweatshirt since it's really hot here. Also, more importantly, FUEL released their highlight video on youtube this past weekend and it's fucking awesome. Filled with layouts and skies and nasty d's (I've never seen so many handblocks in a highlight video in my life), it makes me so proud to be a FUEL alumna. Anyways, you watch the video here, and check out their other highlights which I've posted here but deserve more hits.

5. Taeyang's Solar Album: My Young-Bae is dropping his first full-length solo album tomorrow. I've got my copy reserved at ShinNara Records at the Shinsegae near Arts Center. I'm the 60th person in Incheon to reserve it. Clearly I'm a superfan. Anyways, YG has been releasing a 1 minute sample of songs every day since Sunday, and they are all super fresh. I loooooooove it so far. Tomorrow evening you can expect a full review of the album. I will listen to every song like 10 times and then really late at night, after I obsess for a few hours, I'll tell you all just how fucking amazing it is. I mean, jesus, have you seen my Bae lately? SEEEEEEX. See below for one of the audio previews released to youtube. Other previews can be found here, here (this one is really gooooood) , here (see previous parentheses), here, and here.



xoxo
A