Rest In Paradise

Still cant believe it. One more for Roc!

90s HOUSE PARTY 16th OCT 09

Hey People

I'm throwing this up in advance for the sake of gettin' it out there early. Myself and H-Town legends DJ Ric Rush and DJ Militia will be holding down a old school 90s party at Voodoo bar, Hood street, Hamilton on the 16th. Tickets are $10 so get in early. I'll probably leave the doowop and new jack swing to the brothers. Cant wait to drop some ol gangsta shit on yall lol Click on the flier to view details. Word!

MORE IMPACT COVERAGE

More coverage of the bro by Waikato Times writer Jeff Neems. Read HERE

INTERVIEW WITH DJ IMPACT

On the 11th & 12th of September 09 DJ Impact from H-town NZ set for the UK to compete in the World DMC championships. I caught up with the brother to talk about his experience and placing 4th.




SMV Sup Brother...Congrats on placing 4th in the world DMCs last weekend! How does it feel?



IMPACT Sup uso, it's crazy man. I never wouldve thought this would ever happen to me aye, just really blown away. It was real unexpected, especially being a nobody from litte ol H-Town haha. Just really stoked bro!





SMV Were all proud of you in the H. But lets take it back aye...





SMV What Nationality are you?



IMPACT I'm half Samoan, half Palagi aye. My mum is from Si'ufaga, Savai'i, Samoa and my dad is from NZ.





SMV Where were you born & raised? & where do you reside now?



IMPACT I was born down in the 03 (Christchurch). Spent half of my childhood down there and moved up to the H (Hamilton) around 96' when I was around 10, been here ever since. H-Town all day! Hahaha, i still got got a soft spot for Chch though. Crusaders hard!





SMV how did you & I meet? No homo...



IMPACT Haha I heard of this guy around 2003 just before i started to get into dj'ing through one of the bros at high school, He always used to talk about the Tok stories hahaha, but i didnt finally meet the uso until the 2006 Last Man Standing Battles (Welli Battles). I think it was my 3rd battle and SMV was one of the judges!





SMV What crew you reppin'? Who are the members of that crew?



IMPACT I'm reppin "Elite Forces", we own this shit! Since we formed we've taken out every battle in NZ haha! It's just a little crew of 3, Wil K, Truent and myself.



SMV No Doubt

SMV How many years have you been DJing for? & what made you want to be a DJ or more so a Tablist?



IMPACT I've been dj'ing for over 5 years now, started around early 2004 on these fuckin wack ass Numark Battle Pack belt drive things haha! Back around 2002 my older cousins scored these DJ Rectangle mixtapes, i think it was Vinyl Kombat and I had a listen. I didnt really know what dj'ing/scratching was at the time but when i heard heard all those back to backs, scratch breaks and tracks being mixed together, i was like dayymn this is really dope. Not long after that they scored a copy of the 1999 DMC US Finals on vhs. After watching that whole battle i was hooked and said to myself, i gotta start doing this shit.





SMV What did you learn the most from your experience in the UK?



IMPACT They have heaps of beautiful women in the UK haha! Nah but for real, i feel like i've gained alot more experience and confidence from the battle. I saw alot of different styles/techniques at the DMC's this year so it's back to the lab and drawing board to improve on this years performance.





SMV Did you get to meet Qbert? Any other legends? What was that like?



IMPACT It was awesome to get to meet the guys you've looked up to on the video tapes. I got to meet Qbert at the DMC's, He was a real down to earth guy aye, hardcase too. He was reminiscing hardout about the show he did back here in 2002 and how he had a dope time in NZ. Got to meet Rob Swift too, he was the man! Did a showcase to kick off the night before the battle started, the homie smashed it. There were alot of other legends around too that i didnt expect to be there but were because it was the 25th Anniversary so it was a big one. Some of them were Qbert, Rob Swift, Prime Cuts, Tigerstyle, Woody, Blakey, Sparky T, Supreme who was competing, there were alot more.





SMV How do you feel about the Turntablism / Battle scene in Aotearoa right now? Whats good & whats lacking?



IMPACT I feel that it's getting stronger. This year there was a big improvement in the skill level, everyone switched up their game hard. I wont say too much about whats good and whats lacking because everyone will practice those things hardout and i'll get smoked next year haha!





SMV I've always wondered what the likes of yourself P-Money, CXL & Manchoo would be taking in from been in a world class environment like the DMCs. Does it have an effect on the way you put your future sets together?



IMPACT Yeah definitely.





SMV If you could time travel to an era of any DJ battle which era would it be & why?



IMPACT I wish i started dj'ing a bit earlier because i missed out on alot of good stuff. I wish I could time travel back to the Golden Era of DJ Battles. Around the mid 90's to early 00's (95 to 01). Back then there was so much funk and stuff in the battles. I reckon it's moved away from that direction, don't get me wrong i really get into whats going on currently but i wish it returned back to that funky, raw, original hiphop flavour.





SMV Who are your favorite DJs to watch right now? Whos hot?



IMPACT Shiftee from the US, he killed it at the worlds. Same as Coma from Japan and Switch from the UK. Kireek (Hi and Yasa) from Japan and all the french dj's in Traumateam.





SMV Who are the DJs you look up 2 past n present?



IMPACT Grandwizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, Joe Cooley, Jazzy Jeff. Cash Money, Aladdin, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, The Allies, Slyce, Swift Rock, Scratch Perverts, Troubl, Rafik, Ie.Merg, Netik, too many to write.





SMV Aite now... Steiny Pures or Coronas?



IMPACT Hmmm decisions, both haha!





SMV Allies or Perverts?



IMPACT The muthafuckin Allies.





SMV Chiefs or Crusaders?



IMPACT Crusaders.



SMV FAIL!

SMV DMC or IDAs?



IMPACT I've done the DMC's a couple of times now so i'd have to say the IDA's because I wanna bring that shit home to the H from Australia.





SMV Shot uso all the best for the future.... HTOWN!

'Forever' Video

Em kills it killa! Buzed when i saw the Slaughter in the back too.

Recognyz Youth Awards 09

Hey People...

If you're in Hamilton swing by and check out the Recognyz Youth Awards 2009 at The Founders Theatre, Hamilton. Myself and good friend Koma of 4 Corners will be playing alongside Nesian Mystik aswell. Gold Coin entry and all proceeds go to Canteen. Should be a good one!

Awards Night

Awards are to be held Thursday 24th September at Founders Theatre Hamilton starting with a pre-who of youth talent at 6pm and awards starting from 7.30pm.

Not only is awards night set to celebrate these amazing young people, a whole lot of young talent will be taking the stage. The awards ceremony is open to the public at 6pm, and entry is by gold coin which will be donated to CanTeen Hamilton. So come along, support our finalists, support our youth talent, and have a great night out!

Recognyz 2009 is proudly presented by Hamilton Youth Council and Hamilton City Council.

Gettin' Busy on the 1s & 2s

sup yo... SInce Roc Raidas passing ive dug out a sampler of an old tape i was working on a couple years ago. I wanted to do a tape based on the 90s sound of hip hop ect... My dude Ethical from MTC was in Asia at the time touring with Raida as his Hypeman. I would keep in contact with Eth whenever he'd be online & i asked him if he could get me a Roc Raida drop. Thanks Ash. Anyway i just wanted to share this with yall. Me gettin' busy on the 1s & 2s. Peace

LEADER OF THE BUM RUSH

Since the whole world is on a Kanye nut right now over his lil VMAs stunt i thought i'd remind yall of who was the ruler of the art!

Flash Back

RIP GRANDMASTER ROC RAIDA

This man is the reason why i love hip hop in its purest form. Roc influenced the way i looked at flow & execution on the 1s & 2s. Hes another figure i never thought would leave this life so soon. What's going on with 2009 & the deaths of good people? RIP Grandmaster you will be missed but never forgotten. RESPECT THE DJ!

WORLD DMC RESULTS

1st: USA DJ Shiftee

2nd: Japan DJ Coma

3rd: France DJ LigOne

4th: New Zealand DJ Impact

4th: UK Jeppa

4th: Benelux DJ ND

7th: Italy DJ Mandrayq

7th: Norway DJ Final


Congrats to my man Impact for placing 4th in the world. Dats some shit right there!

JAY-Z Rhapsody commercial

Damn this is ill.