DJ Mehdi » Respect The Architect

KEITH ‘GURU’ ELAM – REST IN PEACE

djmehdi — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:07:17 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Apart from his obvious and widely documented legacy to Rap music and Hip-Hop, I want to address the man’s memory for many reasons.
I met GURU a few times, not only he was one of the nicest cats, he also always had something insightful to say about the music I played to him. He always heard something I didn’t pay attention to, even when I had composed the very music (Interestingly, Kery James and Mr Oizo are the other peeps I know blessed with the same gift).

This ‘Chump’ song off of Gangstarr second album is one of my favourite rap song of all time. Lyrics, amazing beat work by Premier, and overall great memory of going to the record store to buy ‘STEP IN THE ARENA’, you know, just to get a rep—

GURU RIP.

Mehdi.

PARTYING IN STYLE (CIRCA 81)

djmehdi — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:53:53 +0000

Stumbled upon these old school party flyers.

The line-up on this one is simply CLASSIC.
Mr Magic died a few weeks ago, RIP.

Not only Grandmaster Flash and The Treacherous 3 are GUARANTEED TO PERFORM,
The flyer’s also telling you which songs they’ll sing.

This one is a little more sophisticated,
and has two possibly tattoo-able designs:
the NYC skyline, and the breakdancer on the right of course.

“Avoid the crowd, come stupid early!”

Our own fella ASTERIX makes a cool little cameo on this one.

“Ecstasy Garage presents:
SAVE OUR CHILDREN!”

The details on this one are crazy.
Hey, the artists (or ‘graphic designers’ would we say today) are never credited,
so, although I don’t know who they are, this post goes out to them—

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

djmehdi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:50 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Childhood hero of mine and of many of my DJ friends, ROC-RAIDA died last week.

He, with the almighty X-ecutioners, was one of the very best.

In the ongoing battle with the Invisible Scratch Picklz, I always appreciated his effortless style and musicianship.

Study your classics by downloading THIS and THAT.

And may he rest in peace,

Mehdi.

RESPECT THE ARCHITECT: WORLD WIDE DJ’S part 1

djmehdi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:32:44 +0000

There will never be two many:

2ManyDJ’s, BoysNoize, Diplo, Blaqstarr, Tiga, Bang Gang DJ’s (Ajax, Doom, Hoodratt, Dangerous Dan, Beni), Andee Frost, K.I.M, Daruma & Dex Pistols, Towa Tei & DJ Dimitri, Arveene, Optimo, DJ Hell, Felix the Housecat, DJ Funk, Gant-man, DJ Craze, Brodinski, Crookers, JFK & Al, Jesse Rose, DJ Absolut, Mans & Carli Staygold, Isi & Jence, Buraka Som Sistema, Aeroplane, Mixhell, Sicarios, One Man Party, Miss Dominy, Jon the Sexy Lazer, DJ Kon, DJ San Gabriel, DJ Duke, Lord Funk, DJ Cream, DJ Mosko, etc, etc, etc…

This list is, of course, far to be complete, and is actually un-completable, because it’s unstoppable.

Way more soon then…

Mehdi.

If you missed the first four episodes of this series, please click HERE.

RESPECT THE ARCHITECT: WEST COAST DJ’S

djmehdi — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:02:28 +0000

Mind you, LA has a quite simple subway system.

Caliornia, knows how to party, ok.

California is also the state where I enjoy listening to the radio the most- and arguably the home-place of modern turntablism.

I might move there one day to say hi to: Dre & Yella, Go-Mack & Total K-Oss, DJ Aladdin, Evil D, Mike T, Sir Jinx, DJ Pooh, DJ Quik, Warren G, Michael Mixxin Moore, DJ Muggs, DJ Shadow, Mixmaster Mike, Q-Bert, Shortkut, Babu, D-Styles, Junkies & Picklz, , Cut Chemist, Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam-Funk, DJ O-Dub, Steve Aoki, DJ AM, Mike B, Blu Jemz, Gina Turner, Chris Holmes, and long time no see Baby Ryan.

RESPECT THE ARCHITECT: LONDON DJ’S

djmehdi — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:18:28 +0000

Being the first big city I ever visited after my own, I always looked up London blokes when it came to music taste and new grounds to break, even as a little kid. And it’s a fact, us frogs will always regard through the chunnel to peep the weekly new greatest band on Earth. Rules of the game!

In my case, peace to Cutmaster Swift, Tim Simenon, James Lavelle, Giles Peterson, IG Culture, Peter Adarkwah, Pete Tong, Trevor Jackson, Erol Alkan, Annie Mac, Fake Blood, Switch, Hervé&Sinden, Martelo, Kissy, James&Jas (SMD), Midfield General (he’s from Brighton, but he counts), Benji B, Jerry Bouthier, DJ Semtex, Seb Chew&Leo Greenslade, Casper C, Rory Phillips, Prince Charles, my partner Riton, and the PeopleAreGerms for always pointing in the right direction.

Mehdi.

RESPECT THE ARCHITECT: PARIS DJ’S

djmehdi — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:13:06 +0000

Peeps,

How proud I am to be one of them:

Dee Nasty, DJ Gilb’R, Loik Dury, Zdar&Boombass, DJ Samad, DJ James, Cut Killer, DJ Abdel, Nasser, DJ Clyde, Solo&Uncle O, Laurent Garnier, Romain BNO, DJ Deep, Dan Ghenacia, Ivan Smagghe, Falcon, Guido, DJ Sek, Mars, JR Ewing, Junkaz Lou, Headbangirl, DJ Pone&Birdy Nam Nam, Jean Nipon, Arthur King, Kazey, Marco Dos, Clara 3000, and of course my main men Busy P, Xavier de Rosnay and DJ Feadz.

Paris owes you guys,

And I do too,

Mehdi.

RESPECT THE ARCHITECT: NEW YORK DJ’S

djmehdi — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:15:02 +0000

There’s a new series on this blog—

This is no exhaustive list. This is just me, paying my own respect to my peers.

Some of them are friends. Some are teachers. Some are pioneers.

They’re all great DJ’s I somehow feel connected to.

New York City, lick a shot for:

Afrika Bambaata, Grandmaster Flash, Jam Master Jay, Terminator X, DJ Premier, DJ Scratch, Kid Capri, Stretch Armstrong, Kenny Dope, Louie Vega, Armand Van Helden, James Murphy&Pat Mahoney, Morgan Geist, Mark Ronson, DJ Soul, The Rub (Ayres, Cosmo Baker and Eleven), Amir Abdullah, Neil Aline, Nick Catchdubs, and my main man, DJ A-Trak.