Dilemma

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If you heard my show a couple of weeks ago, you will have spotted my mistake when playing 'Meet Me At The Top' by Serius Jones. Initially, I accredited the track to Snoop Dogg (although I corrected my error swiftly) not because they sound similar either vocally or musically but because I had Snoop on the brain.

Let me explain. For the last five or six weeks I've had a couple of new Snoop tracks (one of which came with a 'clean' version) that I was going to play on my show. However, when it comes to it, I've always baulked in favour of tracks from lesser known (or at least less commercially successful) artists.

The dilemma is this; I want to promote music that most (if not all) mainstream media ignores or, worse still, deliberately stifles. Not just to be different, but because I genuinely feel that the music deserves to be heard by a wider public. Thanks to the name he's established for himself, Snoop (and others like him) has already got a large fan base and doesn't lack promotion.

However, whilst many people will happily listen to new, independent music all day, every day, probably the majority of people like to listen to what and/or who they already know. So the decision I have to make is do I accept that I'll only ever have a small core of regular listeners who are down with supporting new and emerging talent, or do I throw in a significant amount of established artists' works in an attempt to expose the independent stuff to a potentially wider audience?

Furthermore, just because Snoop et al get played within the mainstream media doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve my support too, does it?

Although three hours sounds like a long time it goes by in a flash, especially when you consider that at least 10% of that time is taken up with advertising, and remember that the remit for my existing show is to play music from a mixture of different genres. So trying to fit in Hip Hop from independent artists and established ones is a difficult task.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinions on this one, after all the show is for you.

One Love, Spy!

Of mice and men...

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You ever feel like you're being pulled in all directions and end up going nowhere?

I've got things piling up in the studio, my work plus tracks for Brando and Pseudo. I'm spending time familiarising myself with new music and re-familiarising myself with old(er) music for my radio show. Most of the new music from independent artists nowadays is in the form of digital download only, so I have to convert mp3s to wavs and burn them onto a CD before I can play them in the show too. And if that wasn't time consuming enough, I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to free my house of mice!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't have to change my name to Willard quite yet. We're not overrun with the little guys, but because they're so small and fast it's been difficult trying to catch them. Meanwhile, my wife being the girly-girl that she is, was getting more and more frustrated and upset with the whole situation.

It didn't help that our cat actually brought a live mouse into the house with him one evening. Bud (the cat) found it highly amusing to let the poor bugger go just so that he could chase and re-catch it. Eventually I was able to grab the mouse from Bud and release it in our garden (actually next door's garden, but shush don't tell them) but not before Mrs Spy spotted the two of them (cat and mouse) and almost had a heart attack.

Naturally, Mrs Spy figured that all the mice in the house were brought in by the cat, which put him in the dog house. Probably just as well that we don't have a dog because I'm pretty sure that it would be me that would be displaced by the dog for bringing the cat to the house in the first place. Let's just say that I wasn't Mrs Spy's favourite person that night.

Anyway, we started putting down these so-called humane traps. Basically, they are small plastic boxes with a little ridge protruding from the middle of the bottom of the trap. The idea is that one baits the trap with cheese, chocolate, peanut butter or whatever and puts it down on a flat surface so that the baited end of the trap is touching the surface while the end with the door is up off the surface due to the little ridge (kind of like a seesaw). Once the mouse crawls in to eat the bait, its weight shifts the trap closing the door behind it.

Of course, theory and practise are often at odds and this is one of those situations where they totally missed each other. You guessed it, when we checked the traps, neither bait nor mouse were anywhere to be seen. By this time I was developing a grudging respect for the little creatures (or at least their ingenuity). So it was with heavy heart that I finally succumbed to Mrs Spy's wishes and put down some sticky traps.

The sticky traps are much more effective at their intended purpose, so I spent the last couple of days removing dead mice from the house instead of live ones. This saddened me greatly. After all, the poor little blighters were disturbed from their underground dwellings by recent local roadworks and, just as we would, sought warmth and shelter elsewhere. They're not trying to bother us or take over the yard, just stay safe and warm in this increasingly cold winter.

Now, I'm no member of any animal rights group or anything like that, but I admit that it irks me to see the arrogance of us humans sometimes and the way we've turned our backs on (or noses up at) the natural world as if we're not a part of it. It's that same arrogance that's fucking up the world for our future generations.

So, personally, I'm going to spend less time trying to kill 'pests' and more time doing what I'm supposed to be doing in the studio.

One Love, Spy!

It's the same old show...

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It's been a while, something like 15 years in fact, since I was last on the radio and, to be honest, I didn't think I'd ever get back on (or even try to). However, that's exactly what's happened (not the 'trying' part). I was approached by a new and, this time, legal internet radio station to become a presenter and, for reasons that I've never quite fathomed, I agreed.

This happened a few months back and I kind of put it to the back of my mind since then until a couple of weeks ago when I was invited to attend the first DJ's meeting for the station. Even then, at the meeting, it still felt a little surreal after all this time. Obviously, I'm still a huge fan of music and, indeed, am even more involved in/with it than ever. But I still didn't foresee the day when I would be back behind the decks spinning tunes and chatting bullshit.

Well that day is here. Starting this Saturday, 10th October 2009 between the hours of 9-12 pm (GMT) I will officially and, for the first time, legally be 'on air' at Jam1Online.

As with most things in life, there are pros and cons with this situation; on the positive side, despite this being a legal station it is also independent so I don't have to follow a playlist, another advantage to being legal is not having to worry about being cut off mid-show or, worse still, my records being seized. On the other hand, I do have to restrict what I play in terms of lyrical content and context. Being a bit of a potty-mouth myself combined with the fact that a lot of the music I like has been known to turn the air blue, I'm not happy about being (self-)censored in this way.

However, there is a possible silver-lining at the end of that particular nimbus and that is the possibility of an extra show on Friday nights from 12-3 (GMT). You see, the UK Radio Authority, unto which this station is responsible, has set a 'watershed' time of midnight, which means that I could play anything I like (within reason) on this show. So here I am, angling for more 'air-time' and I haven't even started yet. It's just that I abhor censorship (although I acknowledge that some people/groups of people are better off and/or prefer not to be exposed to certain material/knowledge/experiences) and want the chance to play some deep, meaningful Hip Hop (instead of that Club Rap stuff) from artists like Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, etc., and sometimes these cats use expletives when they're expressing themeselves.

I also intend to feature (in both shows, should I get the second one) tracks from unsigned and independent artists that wouldn't normally get played on legal radio, not just to be unique (although I will try not to turn into a clone of DJ wotisname) but because I believe in a lot of the music that never gets listed. Whilst some of it may never manifest as 'hits' I'm sure that a lot of it will be welcomed by a wider audience once they've had a chance to listen to it.

Anyway, if you're reading this blog I'd really appreciate it if (provided you're not due to be doing something else) you'd open up the Jam1Online page - you don't have to join, sign up or log in - in your browser on Saturday night (or evening, or morning, depending on where you are in the world), listen to the show and leave any feedback, good or bad (remember my stance on censorship, fire away), as comments to this blog (or anywhere you like really). I'm genuinely interested in any response because I want this show to mean something, otherwise it means nothing and I might as well go back into retirement.

Hip Hop and music

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Greetings all,

As you will have noticed, I haven't been too prolific at posting blogs on this page. The thing is, as much as I enjoy the medium of the written word as a form of communication and expression, I'm not really that good at putting my often random thoughts into sentences that are both coherent and interesting (to someone else, I mean). I usually have to be quite passionate about a subject in order for me to take the time and effort to write something on it, even if it seems trivial or inconsequential to others.

One such subject is Hip Hop. Now I won't try to portray myself as a living, breathing, thugged-out G, hustling for my paper or doing all the other things that 'rappers' are supposedly renowned for. For a start, I can't rap for shit, that's why I make instrumentals, duh!

However, I have been involved in Hip Hop in one capacity or another (and usually more than one at a time) since the days of 'Planet Rock'. This makes me old; I'll accept that, but not old school because Hip Hop was around long before that. It's just that as a youngster growing up in suburban South London in a family that were into Reggae (which I have always loved dearly, but it's not the subject of this blog); my first exposure to Hip Hop was limited to say the least.

Yet even back then I knew that Hip Hop was never just about the music. Sure, music and rappers are an integral part of it but there's so much more. And I'm not just talking about the writing (a.k.a. graffiti), b boys (a.k.a. breaking, popping, locking, etc.) and stuff. I mean the whole philosophy and common goals that make Hip Hop what it is; a community!

Now within any community there'll be factions and occasional disputes/conflicts and the way in which these opinions are expressed and received are what shapes that community and makes it distinct from the others.

In my experience of Hip Hop, the code is honour born of respect. Respect is earned not by having skills, but by knowing how and when to use them. For example, if you're a fire emcee and someone comes to battle you, you don't use your best rhymes on the weakest opponent, you size 'em up and squash 'em without breaking a sweat - that's what gets you respect.

Many say that the influence of Hip Hop is a negative one. I agree that some 'rap' music will have a detrimental effect on some of its more suggestible listeners. However, the real, overall influence of Hip Hop (i.e. the community) is very positive.

The 'Stop The Violence Movement' was a Hip Hop initiative. How many other communities have dedicated so much time and effort at educating/re-educating Black youth? Hip Hop has given very many young men and women from all over the world a sense of purpose and given them access to knowledge that they might otherwise never had. It embraces so many different cultures, which is reflected in the diversity of sounds and 'genres' that make up Hip Hop music, without bias or prejudice.

Anyway, fuck it! I love Hip Hop and I'm glad to be a part of it.

One Love, Spy!

Move the crowd

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Now, I'm no rapper. In fact, I'm not a performer of any kind, although I did use to break and pop in public but that was a long time ago – if I tried it now I probably would break and pop, but I digress.

Like Rakim, I believe the definition of an MC is to move the crowd. Not just physically but intellectually and spiritually too. In my not so fucking humble opinion, there are very few rappers who are able to do any one of these let alone two or all three!

I've tried rapping (immersed in Hip Hop from an early age, I've tried most things related to it) and I can tell you it's not easy. Even for those that have a natural talent for chatting/rhyming it still requires, amongst other things, great timing, breath control, concentration, determination (especially in a battle scenario) and I still haven't mentioned the obvious things such as flow, lyrical content and the tone of the voice itself.

Personally, I fall down on almost all of these criteria, however, at least I recognise that about myself. There is a large (and ever increasing) number of rappers out there, some of whom you've heard or heard of, many of them with deals and joints on the street, that do call themselves MCs and fall pretty fucking hard on my criteria too.

It's not all doom and gloom (although we could do with some more MF DOOM) as the many  talented MCs on some of the social networking sites proves, but we can't afford to be slack in our defence of the real Hip Hop or the WMD (wack mic deviants) will force us to go to war.

To begin...

Greetings all,

I'm know I'm late with all this blogging lark but I'm a man of few words - especially when they're about me.

Anyway, I'll start by saying I'm here to make friends and promote the fruits of my labours. I have a small home studio that I use to write/record/produce material, mainly for the fun of doing it.

I've hooked up with a few local artistes who provide the talent whilst I provide a less-than-perfect but comfortable facility for them to record in.

If any of you are in/near South London and are interested in displaying your musical talents, check out my website and if you like what you find, give me a call and we can hook up.

That's all for now (told you I was a man of few words).

One Love, Spy!

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