Results tagged “hiphop”

Underground hip hop act People Under the Stairs have flown all the way from Los Angeles to play one night at The Shelter. Consisting of Thes One and Double K, the group has been putting on amazing live shows since the late 1990s. Just before their Shelter debut, PUTS gave Shanghaiist the low down on hip hop, being in China, and buying fake DVDs.

Shanghai's beat-banging stalwarts were remarking earlier in the week that:

Neocha's Sean Leow drops knowledge on asiascoutnetwork.com: "[T]here is a scene of more pure or underground hip-hop in Shanghai that stays true to the original style and sound of hip-hop, which was started in the Bronx during the 1970s. Additionally, there is a related genre of what can be called Chinese hip-hop ('嘻哈' in Chinese) which exists in between and overlaps with both the commercial 'pop-rap' and underground hip-hop genres." [Source]

Yeah, that long holiday week is almost here, isn't it? Well if you want to tack on an extra two days, this might be your ticket. On Thursday night, Free the Wax is bringing Daedelus to The Shelter with his brand of hip-hop/synthpop/electronica. What's it sound like?

Via former superstar Shanghaiist contributor Jake Newby: "The Kanye West concert originally scheduled for September 23 at Hongkou Stadium has been postponed. Organisers China West have said that it is definitely a postponement, not a cancellation, and that the gig will now take place on November 3 at Shanghai Grand Stage." Newby points out that this postponement is not due to permit problems (a la Jay Z '06), instead it was done to allow promoters to add a Beijing Kanye gig on November 1. We'll see.

Rumours have been swirling for weeks, and now it’s official: Grammy-winning producer/rapper Kanye West will be passing through Shanghai for a gig at Hongkou Stadium next month. Although we don’t usually take anything seriously until we read about it on Kanye’s blog, we made an exception here after speaking to Steve Sybesma, CEO of China West (who are organizing the show along with Live Nation Asia).

Turntablism, also known as scratching, started as an integral part of hip hop in the 80s and has expanded into numerous other genres. At its basic level, turntablism involves manipulating a record and crossfader to create quick chops, fades, cuts, and stutters in the music. True artists juggle beats back and forth, switching between numerous songs at lightning-fast speed. Not only does it sound amazing, it's also extremely badass to watch a DJ manipulate a record in his own fashion and create an entirely new piece of music on the fly.

Tonight (Tuesday, 3 June) "Hip-Hop" group the Black Eyed Peas are playing a hastily arranged benefit gig for around 700 people at the Shanghai Concert Hall.

As we feel frankly uncomfortable in anything else, Shanghaiist frequently rocks the t-shirt and jeans look. Classic. To that end, eno is one of our favourite shops to head to — with a great range of creative and oh-so-cool clothing, including designs by some of our favourite bands and musicians. So, when they say they're throwing a party we're naturally interested. When they say there'll be live music we get pretty excited. And when they say there'll be free beer and snacks, well... then we have to take a cold shower and sit down for a while.

As part of their "China Issue", GOOD Magazine — a relatively new American publication "for people who give a damn" — are running a feature on the trials and joys of living as an expat in China.

Ah crap. We will, of course, let you know if the show gets re-arranged for another time. They seem fairly sure that this is a postponement NOT a cancellation so hopefully Nas and his entourage won't suffer from the recent tightening of visa regulations and they'll all be over in Shanghai soon. We'll see...

"Nas is confirmed. Officially, its not going to be a performance. it’s a private party featuring Nas."

Shanghai DJ collective The Lab celebrates their second anniversary this weekend. As a sort of reverse birthday present, they've gifted us with turntablist wizard and mixologist DJ Kentaro. Kentaro is the 2002 DMC World Champion and a two-time DMC Japan Champion, so he knows a thing or two about scratching records. But don't just take our word for it. Kentaro's label Ninja Tune describes him thusly:

By Jake Newby

In a genre that, perhaps more than any other in music, is driven by overt egos and self-worship, when a record opens with the words "Chinese hip-hop — a long way to go", you have to worry a bit about what will follow. This bluntly honest statement from Shanghai rapper BlaKK Bubble at the start of Hip-Hop.cn's new downloadable mix-tape is at times proven to be painfully accurate on this free release, but there are also some highlights.

We've been hearing about the so-called hip hop grannies, but dang, actually watching them getting into their element left us pretty gob-smacked! We're sending this clip to mom because these ladies put up one helluva performance that would make Tina Turner blush... definitely the coolest grannies one could ever ask for!

By Michael Ohlsson

RIP: 4Live (November 2006-January 2008)

This coming Saturday, Antidote will be hosting Knifehandchop from Toronto and Sulumi from Beijing. Antidote organiser Michael Ohlsson aka DJ Ozone explains why he invited the two DJ's:These guys are producers, not just DJs. I've always been interested in music that is current, innovative, cutting-edge ... but also accessible. Not just experimental noise. And I love to share this new music with people. The music that Sulumi and KnifeHandChop are doing is very different from...

We've been somewhat faithful readers of Foreign Policy for awhile and noticed that they had a couple of articles that either mention or focus on China in their recent issue. Jeff Chang has written an article called It's a Hip-Hop World where he talks about how globalized hip hop has become, and, in this context, mentions Shanghai. More worrisome than a bunch of seventeen-year-olds in baggy pants is information we found in the article on...

Question: “Who are three people who’ve never been in my kitchen?” Or lately: "Name three people hating on the once mighty US dollar." On Tuesday, Cheng Siwei, the vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress suggested that China’s foreign exchange regulators ought to consider shifting the country’s massive USD $1.4 trillion reserve into “stronger” currencies. The greenback has been on a downward spiral since 2003. Little did Cheng know that his remarks would trigger a...

Oops..we have been sitting on this a few days, all the beers and amazing shows made Shanghaiist a little loopy and unable to sit down and type. The entry below comes via Emily Moy who had a chance to sit down with Talib Kweli and Ozomatli at the Yue Festival press conference last Thursday........

Saturday was a very successful day for the festival, drawing medium-sized crowds again in the afternoon and selling out completely the evening portion. The day started with E-Groove, a Shanghainese funk-fusion band who play a popular brand of original instrumental music a la '80s Michael Brecker. These guys play a regular concert series at the Jin Mao concert hall, and can occasionally be seen featured at JZ Club. Following them was Islaja, a Finnish duo who used lots of loop-based soundscapes to support the female folk vocals. She played guitar, and there was a man who played bass, and he played lots more chordal stuff than traditional bass lines. It was a slightly psychedelic, soothing sort of Finnish folk.

Even though today might be Friday, for many of us it isn't the start of the weekend. With the upcoming National Day vacation period approaching, many people are stuck in their offices over the weekend to make up for the extended break. This has carried over into the live music scene, with only a few note worthy shows before the craziness that starts next week. The Jazz it Up week of music continues with a performance tonight by the Shanghai Music Conservatory Jazz band. Out at I Love Shanghai, Didgeridoo lover, Didjelirium will perform, backed by DJ Michael Dean. Things start to pick up on Saturday with the 8th installment of the Back to the Roots party, a must see for any fan of hip-hop, soul or funk. CMCB those, Linkin' Park-esque, rappers from Beijing will be playing out at the Dream Factory. If watching and listening to a man blow on an object made out of brass (or maybe some other metal) is your thing, then don't miss Bob Mintzer and the All-star band who will be wrapping up the Jazz it Up festival on Saturday night. Mintzer is an astounding saxophonist and will be joined on stage by a multitude of Grammy award winners.