NEW MIX! CASH MONEY BOUNCE

CMB_withlogo_aged

I finally finished a mix that I’ve been working on little by little over the last year, exclusively after 2am. Blame the stupid working hours on the fun of becoming a dad – each night I was volunteering to stay up all night to look after my son’s night feeds and would spend my new nocturnal spare time answering questions like “I wonder how many gigabytes the entire No Limit discography will take up on my laptop” (the answer is 12.17). I became addicted to staying up late and delving deep into the back catalogues of my favourite artists, producers and record labels; my downloading marathons interrupted by the cries of a hungry baby, who would be fed with one hand as I spent way too much money on the eBay app with the other, bidding on old tapes and CDs with a recklessness not usually associated with new parents.

A mission I accepted early into my night rap crusade was to fill the gaps in my Cash Money discography. Cash Money has always been the label I’m quick to blurt out whenever someone asks what my favourite rap label is – but it’s always immediately followed by “until 2005!”. That’s the year Mannie Fresh left the label, the best rap producer of all time and the heart and soul of Cash Money during their best years. It was crazy to me how different the early Cash Money releases were to what they put out these days and I wanted to hear the progression of Mannie Fresh as a producer, of Cash Money as a label and of Cash Money’s influence on the sound of New Orleans hip hop. I’d become fascinated with the history of New Orleans rap scene in the 90s (spending as much money on old No Limit albums and the odd overpriced bounce 12″ as I was on Cash Money releases) so I bought a few books documenting the bounce movement, most of which were useless and referenced the articles I was finding online anyway (Matt Miller’s Bounce is a great read though). For the purpose of this mix, the best article I found was this fantastic history of Cash Money’s independent years on the Amoeba Records blog, which the perfect introduction to the labels beginnings and the characters involved in their long story. (Sidenote: last year I found Lil Wayne’s 500 Degreez on vinyl at Amoeba Records in LA for $1 but I’d parked illegally in the Jack In A Box across the road. My car was towed and I had to pay $250 to get it released. Bargain!)

A weeks worth of Paypal transactions and illegal downloads of hard to find tape rips was all it took to complete my collection and soon my iTunes library contained every single record released on Cash Money from 1992 until 2004 (even the Teena Marie album). As my son slept, I immersed myself in the back catalogue, burning dozens of comps of my favourite tracks for the car and whittling it down to the essentials. I was immediately drawn to the bounce stuff as that’s where Mannie Fresh’s roots with Cash Money are. The beats on the first few releases are rawww (especially when heard as a low quality mp3 ripped from a cassette), with fairly primitive drum machine loops and recognisable samples. With each release Mannie builds on the bounce framework more and more, adding live instrumentation and relying less on loops, eventually removing the tell-tale bounce samples and producing his more hip hoppy (but still clearly bounce influenced) signature sound.

Originally this mix was gonna just collect the bounce tracks produced while Cash Money was an independent label (until 1998) but it made sense to include the last two proper bounce tracks Fresh produced, the mega hits ‘Back That Azz Up’ (from Juvenile’s 400 Degreez) and ‘I Need a Hot Girl’ (off the Hot Boys’ Guerilla Warfare) to show how he brought the sound of New Orleans bounce into the mainstream rap charts. Plus, they’re fucking awesome songs.

At some point I’ll make a mix of all of the more straight rap stuff Cash Money put out, from the Pimp C produced Kilo G tracks, to seriously half the songs on B.G.’s two part album It’s All On U. Even if I stuck to the independent years there’s enough gold to warrant another two mixes, showcasing one of the best labels and eras in the history of raps. Until then, here’s Cash Money Bounce.

Tracklist:

LIL’ SLIM bounce slide ride
B-32 shake that ass like a salt shaker
MC HEAVY gangster walk
PIMP DADDY got 2 be real (remix)
PxMxWx mo bounce
U.N.L.V. get into it with a nigger
U.N.L.V. eddie bow
PxMxWx still smokin’
PxMxWx splift out
PIMP DADDY keep on kick it
B.G.’z true story
B-32 feat MS. TEE i need a bag of dope
U.N.L.V. 6th & baronne
PIMP DADDY god bless the dead (rip)
LIL’ SLIM feat PxMxWx blunt after blunt
LIL’ SLIM feat B-32 ho’s i used 2 sweat II
PxMxWx feat LIL’ SLIM big man got hoes
U.N.L.V. pussy c’mon to me!
MS. TEE let’s get high
U.N.L.V. jazzy bitch
MAGNOLIA SHORTY monkey on tha dick
JUVENILE feat BIG TYMERS & MAGNOLIA SHORTY 3rd ward soulja
MS. TEE i like it (MANNIE FRESH style)
JUVENILE feat LIL’ WAYNE & MANNIE FRESH back that azz up
HOT BOYS feat BIG TYMERS i need a hot girl

crooks

I’ll be playing a shitload of bounce hits this Saturday night in Sydney at Goodgod Small Club for Halfway Crooks. It’s Mardi Gras night and every year we do a New Orleans Mardi Gras Party which is always my favourite party of the year. Huge lineup, free beads and a solid three hours of triggaman samples. Come dance. RSVP here.

Artwork by Daniel McKinley.

HALFWAY CROOKS MOVES TO GOODGOD

HALFWAY_NOV_2014_WEB
Thanks to everyone who came to the last Crooks at Phoenix last month – and thanks even more to Phoenix for having us for the last 5 years! Cheers to 49 amazing parties!

We’re stoked – seriously so stoked, typing one handed while the other hand is shaka-ing above our heads – to announce that the new home of Halfway Crooks will be our favourite club in Sydney, the incredible funhouse that is Goodgod Small Club. No huge surprise there right? We can be found at Goodgod almost every other weekend and have run some great special Crooks parties there but we’ve always wanted to run a monthly party there. The sound system is great, the staff are the friendliest and the vibe is just unbeatable. We hope you’re as stoked as we are about this and we’ll see you on the 8th of November for the first Halfway Crooks at Goodgod – with special guests Nes and Liz Bird aka Lazer Gunne Funke!

RSVP on Facebook.

 

 

NEW MIX! LOVE KINGS: THE RETURN

LOVE-KINGS_INSTAGRAM

Remember last year when I made that mix called THE LAST LOVE KINGS MIX? I lied! That party we put on called THE LAST LOVE KINGS was a lie too! Let’s hear it for lying!

My R&B party with the extremely sensual Radge is coming back after the most part of a year off. We thought Radge was moving away forever but he only moved away for a while. Now he’s back so Love Kings is back too!

I made a mix to celebrate our grand return. Radge is dropping a mix later in the week too. This is a sensual selection of some R&B tracks that I loved over the last 6 months. If you liked Crisp Forever or either of the previous Love Kings mixes this’ll be right up your alley.

Come grind with Radge and I this Saturday night at Love Kings, from 11pm at Goodgod Small Club. Event info is here!

LOVE KINGS: THE RETURN (Hosted by DJ Kharide)

OMARION ice box instro

OMARION you like it

KEVIN GATES stop lyin

BANDO JONEZ sex you

TINK feat JEREMIH don’t tell nobody

TEEFLII feat SNOOP DOGG & WARREN G that’s how we livin’

JHENE AIKO the worst

KELELA & TINK want it

BOBBY BRACKINS zilla

ADRIAN MARCEL feat SAGE THE GEMINI 2am (YOUNG CALIFORNIA remix)

TEEFLII 24 hours

TINASHE 2 on

RICO LOVE they don’t know

photo

MIXED WITH ASSISTANCE FROM ARCHIE LEVINS

KNIFEY SPOONY

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do a whole party based off of one Simpsons joke.

Come hang with me and Joyride (and a tonne of other kool mates) this Sunday night. I know it can be difficult to celebrate Australia Day given what it represents but we are hoping to unite everyone in the celebration of a Simpsons episode set in Australia. How very 2014.

We’ll be playing the usual good time hits of rap, R&B and Earth Song, we might even throw in a few of the Alt Aussie bangers we grew up with. I’ve re-upped my Australia Day Mix from 2012, filled with local hits from the late 90s and early 00s to prepare you for such a possibility!

Read more about my Australia Day Mix here.

RSVP for Knifey Spoony here.

EVERY MIX I MADE IN 2013

image

People have been saying some wildly negative things about 2013 on social media in the last month. There’s even a NYE party in Georgia called #Fuck2013, which boasts free drinks all night and “everything u need”, according to @Osama_BinFuckin on Twitter.

But you won’t catch me pounding free alcopops at #Fuck2013 this year. Flights to Riverdale were just too expensive and more importantly, I loved 2013. Bianca and I got married this year, went on two huge holidays and have spent the last few months awaiting the birth of our first son (our number one name for him so far is Osama BinFuckin).

“Good for you, dickhead! My 2013 sucked! I got divorced, smoked two packets of holidays and my son hates me!” I hear you man, and I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe one of these eight mixes I made this year will cheer you up.


 

THE SOUNDTRACK 2 DA WEDDING

We went all out for our wedding in April, spending the three months beforehand making decorations, desserts and dresses that added a personal touch to our big day. We wanted our friends to take home something once the wedding was over, so I made an activity book and a mix which we gave to all our guests.

The mix is a collection of dorky love songs that we have both been obsessed with over the five years we’ve been together. Songs we yell at each other in the car or have forced our friends to listen to at 5 in the morning.


CRISP FOREVER

I made this mix for Vanishing Elephant and it’s probably the best mix from start to finish that I’ve ever made. Highly emotional r&b and rap. Some good grinding anthems. The intro is me being a dickhead with the intro from Rick Ross’s Rich Forever mixtape.

DO THE DIP VOLUME 2

Our restaurant The Dip turned two this year! This mix is a follow up to Do The Dip Volume 1, made in 2012 when The Dip turned one. This is the opposite of the low tempo vibes on Crisp Forever. Do The Dip Volume 2 is nothing but upbeat club rap, the kinda tunes we blast in the kitchen when we’re busy. There’s a tonne of DJ Mustard on here.

THE LAST LOVE KINGS

Love Kings, the semi-regular R&B night that I ran with Radge over the last three years, had its last hurrah in August this year, just before Radge moved overseas. This mix is a few new R&B songs I was feeling with a lot of R&B hits from the last couple of years that were felt very deeply at Love Kings. This is my most listened to mix ever! I should end my parties more often.

This is a bigger and better sequel to my 2011 Love Kings Mix.

KOOL DAD FM by Levins on Mixcloud

KOOL DAD FM

And now, my least listened to mix ever, mostly due to the fact that Soundcloud won’t let it stay on their site because of the Kenny Rogers song at the beginning. Kool Dad FM was made for Fathers Day and is a tribute to Dad Rock! A grip of rock classics perfect for blaring out of your car with the windows down. I’m really proud of this mix and it was crazy hard timestretching half these songs so they mixed with each other. I lose sleep over how few people have listened to this. You can download it here, please burn it for your Dad.

WAMP WAMP RETURNS
Wamp Wamp was a party that I ran with my pal Kato in 2007, at the height of everyone’s obsession with subgenres like Baltimore Club, Crunk and Baile Funk. We brought the party back in November with our Melbourne buddy Tranter coming up for a set too. The three of us teamed up for this throwback mix, each putting together a 20 minute mix full of the best of 2007’s genres with silly names.

HALFWAY CROOKS x HOOPS BEST OF 2013

Another team up! This time for the Halfway Crooks & Hoops Xmas party at Goodgod (which was last weekend and was incredible!). The Wamp Wamp mix was 3 DJs putting together 20 minute mixes, this mix is 6 DJs putting together 10 minutes mixes! Anna Lunoe, Nina Las Vegas, Bad Ezzy, Captain Franco, Elston and me, throwing down a quick mix featuring some of our favourite songs of 2013. Hosted by Google Text 2 Speech, the hottest MC of the year.

GOODGOD NYE PROM HITS

My 8th and final mix of 2013 is a mix I made to promote the crazy concept of the Goodgod NYE Prom, a party that’s an 80’s Homecoming Prom in the front and a Jiggy 2001 Year 10 Formal out the back. The mix is half 80’s soul and half early 2000’s R&B. It’s some smooth listening and acts as a taste of the smoothness you can expect at Goodgod on New Years Eve! Buy yourself a ticket to the prom here.

There you go! Eight mixes in one year! A personal best, even if you take out the collaborative mixes (which you shouldn’t, because they’re great!). Please share these with everyone you know who likes kool music and I’ll try to make even more mixes in 2014.

Let me know which mix is your favourite and which mix you’d like a sequel to in the comments! I promise that 4 MILLION IQ, the long awaited sequel to 1 MILLION IQ and 2 MILLION IQ, will drop early next year. Thanks for listening!

NEW MIX! GOODGOD NYE PROM HITS!

image

Yup – yet another mix! But this one is to give you a better idea of what to expect at the Goodgod NYE Prom. That’s right, we’re doing a Prom at Goodgod this New Years Eve. Better than that – we’re doing TWO PROMS!

It’s a 1988 Homecoming Prom in the front bar and a Jiggy Year 10 Formal out the back, so I tried to make a mix that represents both rooms, like something a fickle partier would hear as they walked in between each room. This is a mix of 1980’s soul and some R&B heaters from the late 90s / early 2000’s. Nothing too banging, just some smooth grooves to get u in the mood.

Come and find love at the Goodgod NYE Prom, it’s a cracker of a lineup with me, Shantan, Radge, Ariane, Joyride and Mike Who! Buy your tickets here!

TRACKLIST:

GEORGE BENSON breezing
G-UNIT wanna get to know you
ZAPP & ROGER i want to be your man
CHRISTION feat JAY Z bring back your love
504 BOYZ feat MERCEDES i can tell
AL B SURE nite and day
DJ DMD feat LIL’ KEKE and FAT PAT 25 lighters
HOT BOYS feat BIG TYMERS neighborhood superstar
BITS & PIECES don’t stop the music
AALIYAH if your girl only knew (TIMBALAND extended mix)
NEW EDITION mr telephone man
LIL’ FLIP sunshine
PHARRELL WILLIAMS frontin’
MTUME juicy fruit
FABOLOUS & JAGGED EDGE trade it all

BIG DECEMBER!

Oh cool, it’s the end of the year already! Fuck you 2013! Thanks for nothing! Except these many fine parties and events that I will be at before the year is out, starting with Crooks this weekend and right through to New Years Eve!

HALFWAY CROOKS / SAT 7th DECEMBER

Crooks is back again for the last time in 2013 and won’t be back until February 2014! Come celebrate as me, Franco and Elston play the best raps from the year at Phoenix.

HOME ALONE TRIVIA / WED 18th DECEMBER

I’m hosting a trivia night at Goodgod for one of the best movies ever made, Home Alone, and will include more than just a few questions from Home Alone 2, while ignoring both Home Alone 3 and Home Alone 4. Come get a Christmas banquet at The Dip (compete with highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese) and join in on the trivia. Make sure you go easy on the Pepsi.

WAKA FLOCKA FLAME / FRI 20th DECEMBER

Halfway Crooks are supporting Waka Flocka Flame! I’m so amped for this show. Make sure you check out this playlist I made of all my favourite Waka jams.

HALFWAY CROOKS x HOOPS XMAS BLOW OUT

Crooks and Hoops team up to take over all of Goodgod for a Christmas miracle to end all Christmas miracles! Five of my favourite DJs and people playing back to back with yours fucken truly. Merry Christmas indeed.

GOODGOD NYE PROM

And finally – the last party for 2013 – the Goodgod NYE Prom! Double Prom even! We’ve got a 1988 Homecoming Prom in the front bar, channeling the sweet sounds of our bi-centennial and then in the back things are getting sweaty with a Jiggy 2001 Year 10 Formal playing nothing but R&B and rap classiques. Prizes, champagne and grinding will feature heavily in what is sure to be a top notch send off to a damn good year.

WAMP WAMP IS BACK!

DUST OFF YOUR FLURO PANTS, WAMP WAMP IS BACK!

WAMP WAMP RETURNS
w/ KATO, LEVINS & TRANTER
Saturday November 16th at Goodgod Small Club

In the Summer of 2006, DJ pals Kato and Levins (then known as Sleater Brockman) teamed up and put on a weekly Thursday night party at the tiny Bright’n Up Bar on Oxford St in Sydney. Their music brief was simple: only play genres with stupid names. The party was called WAMP WAMP.

Partygoers quickly became devoted fans of the mix of Crunk, Baltimore Club, Baile Funk and Hyphy that was played at Wamp Wamp each week, and were treated to guest sets from members of Ro Sham Bo, Bang Gang, Bag Raiders and other local legends. One insane night we were lucky enough to get Diplo to come play a set on which was easily the most packed night Bright’n Up Bar had ever seen.

Meanwhile, in the country town of Melbourne, our dawg Tranter was DJing at every single party there was, from Favela Rock to Fashion Keyboard, playing the same rad shit we played at Wamp Wamp. He was even in a band called Gameboy/Gamegirl whose songs we played every week!

We’re now headed into the summer of 2013/14, which means that Wamp Wamp was SEVEN YEARS AGO. What the fuck seriously. Let’s celebrate this pointless milestone by bringing this party back with LEVINS, KATO and special guest TRANTER!

Dig up an old Modular tshirt, dye your hair neon and come pump your fist as we pay homage to one of the best eras for new club music ever. Wamp Wamp is back!

NEW MIX! THE LAST LOVE KINGS :(

image

Love Kings is the R&B party that I run at Goodgod with my good friend Radge, who you might know from everywhere. Radge is leaving town for a while so we’re tying a bow around Love Kings and going out with one final party this Saturday night.

I made a mix filled with some Love Kings classics and some new R&B that I’ll be playing this Saturday night. Our regular guest Joyride sang a little intro, while bawling his eyes out because his favourite party is ending.

image

LEVINS – THE LAST LOVE KINGS MIX

TRACKLIST

JOYRIDE intro

KANDI don’t think i’m not (hip hop remix)

DRAKE feat MAJID JOHNSON hold on, we’re going home

CASSIE can’t do it without you

TEEFLII feat OMARION put it on u

R KELLY & JEREMIH misunderstood

BEI MAEJOR moments

TREY SONGZ find a place

MIGUEL how many drinks

YUMMY BINGHAM feat JADAKISS come get it

USHER you make me wanna (TIMBALAND remix)

THE-DREAM love king

MARIAH CAREY feat GUCCI MANE obsessed

FUTURE feat R KELLY parachute

JEREMIH 773 love

CIARA feat FUTURE body party (remix)

GUCCI MANE hell yes

DOWNLOAD

You can find my other R&B mixes here:

Crisp Forever

Love Kings Mix For Oyster 

DO THE DIP VOLUME 2!

I made a hot new rap mix to celebrate The Dip’s 2nd birthday. I made one last year with a tonne of Miami Bass on it. Since we’re launching a new hip hop / r&b night this Thursday I thought I’d make this one a straight up rap mix. These are the songs that we blast in the kitchen, and in the car on our drive home from work. It’s almost 50% songs produced by DJ Mustard, which is pretty special.

Tracklist: WAVEY DAVEY B INTRO / THEM PHRESH BOYZ dip / DJ DRAMA (feat TRAVIS PORTER & KIRKO BANGZ) real niggas in the building / YOUNG JEEZY feat 2 CHAINZ r.i.p. / TY$ & JOE MOSES weekend / RASHAD feat T.I. & YOUNG DRO tell em what they want to hear / YG toot it & boot it / MYSTIKAL bouncin’ back / YG pop it / HOT BOYS feat BIG TYMERS i need a hot girl / T.I. feat LIL’ WAYNE ball / TRAVIS PORTER feat TYGA ayy ladies / TYGA feat RICK ROSS dope / FRENCH MONTANA feat TYGA & ACE HOOD thrilla in manilla / 2 CHAINZ i’m different / RICH KIDZ house wife / E-40 feat YG, IAMSU & PROBLEM function / BEYONCE feat LIL’ KEKE, SLIM THUG, WILLIE D, SCARFACE, Z-RO & BUN B i been on (h town remix)

Speaking of mustard, we’re having a goddamned Hot Dog Eating Contest this Thursday night! Lots of awesome prizes to be won – all the details are here on The Dip site

We also made our first ever t-shirts, which will be on sale this Thursday night, and online over at Label State.

And we’re launching a new weekly party! DIP HOP – rap and r&b every Thursday night in the Front Bar at Goodgod for FREE. I’m DJing every week plus kool pals like Joyride, Franco, Elston, Leon Smith, Radge and more are playing too.

Enjoy the mix and come along this Thursday night if you can!