MC Battle : Hong Kong

Tonight I went to the Iron Mike MC Battle. It was good to see
the freestyle culture growing. Respect to the peeps who got
on the mic. At one point, it became a Hong Kong vs. Guangzhou
Battle. It was gettin' heated. But, HK got love all around and
peeps was cool about it. Asian Hip Hop don't need divisions right?
Most of the underground was represented during event hosted by
Showtyme, MC Yan and Young Kin.
Highlights were the Hong Kong vs Guangzhou thing, Fat B vs Heyo,
Master Mic and Iron Mike MC defending champion. Dope.
Btw, are all the top freeStylers longhair Chinese dudes with glasses?

Syrrup Sippin : DJ Screw

He's one of my heroes in DJing and Hip Hop. I only got put on
to him just before he passed away. But, you got to credit him
for bring the chopped and screwed style to hip hop.

Basically, he digged having the music pitched down (slowed to the max
on a turntable). There's some sonic mud there that's got
hell lots of soul. Recently, I heard some mixtapes of his and
it's dope. If you have the chance, have a listen.
DJ Screw RIP.

Chinese MC : Iron Mike

This MC Battle, from China has been around for a minute.
Now hittin' Hong Kong. This Sunday.
I definitely wanna check it out.

Soulful : 808s & Heartbreak

I'm feelin' this latest offering from Kanye West. All the hoorah
about him saving hiphop--nah. If this is hiphop, then, it's definitely
dead. However, I would say, he uses the hiphop ethos of pushing
boundaries and applies it to his music.

HIS music. That's the beauty of this album. It's really personal, soulful and musical.
It's good that Kanye keeps bringing new stuff to the table evolving from Hiphop
artist to popstar. I love it when artist quit the cookie-cutting formula of music making
and bring art to the mix. This album ain't for everyone, but that might be the reason it hits.

Beat Make: SP 404

I'm looking for a new toy and this might be the one.
A new album for GS in the horizon?
The SP-404. I use to have the MPC 2000XL, sold it
to my friend who collects them. The SP-404 looks
like something I can mess with. I like tweeking sounds
analog than with a mouse. Maybe the ingrained DJ thing...
Then again, might be junk. Anyone use this?

WATCHABLE : MISSIONARY MAN

Is it just me or is this movie actually 'watchable'?
It's on tv rotation now and the filming, coloring and edits keeps
me on it. I assumed it was an 80s avenger flick, but it was
much better, due the the stylistic stuff.
It turns out that it was made in 2007 and directed
by Dolph Lundgren himself! Nice one Dolph!

Don't be fooled by the cover, which doesn't represent
what's inside (actually, the first cover is more like it).
It's a generic story, avenger/modern western
but a well-made film throughout.

RECOGNIZE: Q-TIP

It gives me hope, that music will be with me til I'm dead,
when I see all my heroes and idols return to our ears with new tracks.
Q-Tip is definitely one of my favorite MCs
and his new album is a must for fans. I still listen to 'tribe' and this
gives us more of what you like. Make sure you pick this up.

Listen to tracks

DAMN, AXL ROSE!

Or maybe thank you for puttin' out 'Chinese Democracy'.
Just when GnR fans are about to give up on music,
get married and raise kids, Axl Rose let's loose this monster-
I've listened to it once and there's alot to digest
It's a rock orchestra and got lots of musical ideas that are crazy.
It's worth being in your collection just because of the backstory
behind making the album.

Axl Rose & GnR were one of the reasons I picked up an electric
guitar and put me on a path of music, "I wanna to be a Rock Star!!"
Now, many years on, I've moved on from rock, but this music ain't no joke.
Either it's the biggest joke or something genius. I don't think you hear
much soul-wrenching music today like this. Thumbs up.

Listen to the album

BAND: MORPHINE

This was a trio band, from my school days. I caught them live at street festivals. The music was dope.
When I visited Taiwan, I was checking out the CD stores and found their album. "Morphine". It brought
back memories. I remember seeing the lead vocal Mark Sandman get a sudden electric shock from the mic
and to that he said, "shocking...". What really shocked me was finding out he passed away, like 10 years ago.
RIP. Just goes to show about how music lives on.

PIX

It's been a minute since posting pix. Here's some from the past week. Peace

SMOKE IF YOU GOT 'EM

ASHTRAY, originally uploaded by dougievision.

50mm

ALIEN GATE, originally uploaded by dougievision.

I pulled out the SLR this morning and took it out for a few snaps. It's got a totally different feel then the quick 'point&shoot' style. I use a 50mm prime lense, shooting around my hood.

YAANGG!

YAANGG!, originally uploaded by dougievision.

Last night we went to see the Hong Kong Contender Asia.

MINI ME

mini me taipei, originally uploaded by dougievision.

DEAD NOT ALIVE PARTY

Shout-out to AnD for a Crazy Night! 

Here are snaps from the night, enjoy!