Our good friend DJ D-Boogie has put together a little day party for Sunday August the 29th, 4-9 at Garage bar. Mark your calendars!

Once upon a time there was a quiet little Italian restaurant, that carried decently priced wine, played its music at a sensible levels, and made sure its employees went home at a reasonable hour.

One night, a few hundred hip-hop fiends showed up and took the place over. They turned the music up to 11, and harried the employees for gin ‘n’ juices.

They brought their own dj… (that’s iYE of Fly Union)

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During a recent trip to Chicago I managed to catch a brief performance by the Rocksteady Crew at the Streets festival (write up to come). Even though they are now well past their sell by date, and I often found myself drawing a sharp breath whenever one of them tried anything vaguely acrobatic (men of a certain age should never attempt the windmill), they still put on an enjoyable performance. That is the thing about b-boying: it is performance art. You are meant to stand and watch.

We had a group of b-boys at the June O-Gee and they took over the dancefloor. You’d expect a certain b-boy presence at the BEST OLD SCHOOL PARTY IN COLUMBUS (ha!), and we always have one or two turn up, but this month it felt different. They were there in numbers.

B-Boys present a special dilemma for the DJ. We love them- theirs is pure hip-hop art, one of the original four pillars of the culture, but they tend to live in their own world- and, I hate to say it, they kill dancefloors.

A b-boy circle does not encourage the sort of wild hands-in-the-air abandon that we DJs strive and live for. Neither does it encourage… um… uninhibited social exchange (there is a reason nightclubs are dark). Quite the opposite infact. Usually, when a b-boy circle develops the dancefloor begins to lose momentum, and the DJ is eventually left with a room at half-temperature that he has to massage back into life.

Now I’m not saying I hate b-boys. That would be sacrilege, a blasphemy of the highest order. Apart from DJs, B-Boys are the only group of people that would recognize, for example, the King of the Beats break and get giddy. Besides which, they do a good job of getting a dancefloor going early in the night. They just love music. They are my people.

I am saying I could sometimes do with a little less b-boying and a little more cooing over my mad dj skillz. Hmmm… Maybe this is an ego thing.

Anyway, last month’s O-Gee jumped off, as usual. We were worried, but people braved the flash storm that hit this corner of the globe and we all had a ball, b-boys included. More pictures after the jump, and if you haven’t attended this party, what are you waiting for? Our next one is on July 26th.

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Headbangers special, thanks to Jodi & Beth

It was a special O-Gee this past weekend. We were celebrating Jerome’s burf-month (the three-oh, the big one), and a night of old school jams was the perfect cap to a weekend filled with soft ribs, hard drink and good friends.

Thanks to Seif Al-Din for the pictures.

More after the jump.

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Patrick and I have been DJing together since college, so you’d think we would have developed some sort of system for setting up and breaking down our equipment over the years, but that is not the case.

We have five turntables between us, but only two work. We have one reliable mixer out of two-and-a-half (long story); more wires, leads and dongles than I care to reveal; four sets of needles, from which, at the beginning of every gig, we mix and match parts until we get two that work and a cd player with a cracked display that neither of us can explain.

Only once ever have we showed up to a gig and not had a quarrel over who forgot what.

Still, this past O-Gee was one for the record books.

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It was a slightly tamer O-gee in March, but still fun, fun, fun. Thanks to our girl Rita for her usual fabulous pictures. My highlight of the night: the excited screams from some girls (and some guys) when NKOTB came on. Fantastic… I will never doubt DJ Patrick again.

More pictures after the jump.

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Come Saturday the Unaffili(8)d djs will be throwing the hammer down at yet another O-Gee. In preparation, we mixed of some of our favorite old school tracks for Mixtape Monday. Most of the songs are high-tempo and have that New Jack Swing type sound that was popular in the late 80s and early 90s. We like straddling decades. We also like straddling… um… never mind. Enjoy the tape!

Tracklisting:

1. Monie Love – It’s a shame
2. Heavy D & The Boyz – Sex wit you
3. Brand Nubian – One for all ft Grand Puba, Positive And L.G.
4. Leaders Of The New School – Case of the P.T.A
5. Slick Rick – Mona Lisa
6. Joe Public – Live & learn
7. TLC – What about your friends
8. Bell Biv Devoe – I thought it was me
9. Father MC – I’ll do for you
10. Digital Underground – Dowhatchalike
11. EPMD – I’m housing
12. Big Daddy Kane – Ain’t No Half Steppin
13. Special Ed – Mission
14. Ghostface Killah – Cher chez la ghost
15. Das Efx – Set it off
16. Spyder D – I Can’t Wait (To Rock The Mike)
17. Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I. – Do The Right Thing

O-gee is sponsored by Tell A Friend Promotions, the fine folks at We Will Attack and leopard-print slap bracelets.

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Our girl Rita took some fantastic pictures of the February O-Gee. She has an eye for the three things that, in my humble opinion, make this little party great:

1. Wild, carefree dancing

2. Funky, cool fashion

3. Good, fun music

That is the man dj kwest-on from Chicago, who guest dj-ed and gave a musical clinic. We were blessed to have him.
There are more pictures after the jump, plus Rita’s comments.

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This is the mix for O-GEE, our monthly old school hip-hop party.

Tracklisting:

1. Digable Planets – Jettin’
2. Notorious BIG – Dreams
3. Large Professor – ijustwannachill
4. Gina Thompson – The things you do (bad Boy remix)
5. Method Man ft Mary J Blige – All i need (RZA remix)
6. Da Brat – Give it to you
7. The High & MIghty ft Mos Def & Mad Skillz – B-boy document
8. Horace Brown ft Jay-Z – Things we do for love
9. Mya ft Jay-Z – Best of me (remix)
10. Shai ft Jay-Z – I don’t want to be alone (remix)
11. Camp Lo – Black nostaljack
12. Craig Mack – Get down
13. Audio Two – Top billin
14. Tupac ft Digital Underground – I get around
15. The Roots – Next movement
16. Gangstarr – Code of the streets
17. Epmd – Never seen before (remix)
18. Lords of the Underground – What I’m after
19. De La Soul – Ego Trip
20. Reflection Eternal – This means you
21. Black Moon – Buck em down (remix)
22. Common – The Light
23. Bobby Caldwell – Open Your Eyes

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Thanks to everyone that came out to the O-Gee one year celebration.  We are overwhelmed by how well this party has been received, and how quickly it has grown.  We are also grateful for the fabulous staff at Due Amici who put up with us every month.  Hopefully we can keep going and going and going… like the energizer bunny. Pictures!

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I have three distinct memories from this night:

1. The Shaqster was in the building!
2. VonSwayne and DJ Kwest_on were lit.
3. I left my computer charger in Columbus (typical), but thankfully Patrick was in town with his machine.

A good night all round

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1. Method Man & Redman – Whatever man
2. INI – Fakin jax
3. Jeru Tha Damaja – Come clean
4. Notorious BIG – Kick in the door
5. OGC – Gunn clap
6. The Roots – Clones
7. Jay-Z – Allure
8. Asher Roth – Fallin
9. Slum Village – Players
10. Mushsinah – Discovery
11. Mobb Deep – Shook Ones
12. Bush Babees – We run things
13. Black Moon – Who got da props
14. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario

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