New York Hipsters for Obama UNITEWord to Witnes

And Ka-Jillionaire.



Gotham Obamans want you to Barack what your momma gave ya! Head to Sapphire Lounge on Wednesday, April 9 for the exclusive, first ever, muy caliente edition of Freedom Funk, a new Obama fundraiser that's sure to put the sheen in your fro and soul in your glow!

Fifteen dollars gets you past the bouncer and goes directly to Obama's campaign. DJ Morsy of Brooklyn's Nanachill will spin his signature blend of disco funk, while Witnes, back from his jaunt to Miami's Winter Music Conference, will get the dance floor nice with '60s soul grooves and stomping Motown beats.

We've also got drank—Bamakazee shots—that will sock it to ya all night long! Arrive early and we'll also treat you to two for one well drinks, 10-11pm.

Sound like a plan? Meet us there!

Can't make it? You can still help the Gotham Obamans reach their contribution goal.

Donate now at:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/GothamObamans

Remember to click on the meter!

Gotham Obamans present:
Freedom Funk Vol. 1

Where:
Sapphire Lounge in the Lower East Side
When:
April 9, 10-2/3am
Who:
DJ Morsy
Nanachill.com
Witnes
Quickwits.blogspot.com
Dress:
To impress.
Why:
To keep hope alive!

$15 MINIMUM donations taken at the door.
NO RSVP
21+ ONLY
Bamakazee shots all night!

YouTube Videos from SXSW ROUND 1

And way more to come...


Bun B and Dizzee Rascal do "WHere's Da G's" Live at SXSW!


"Where's Da G's" Video!


10 minutes of the Bun B show courtesy of Luxury Mindz (Hope you like bass)


Them boys MDDL FNGZ!


Devin the Dude and the Coughee Brothaz Live at SXSW!(But who the hell is the DJ that pops up???)


Team Facelift at Red Bull Party SXSW


Dizzee Rascal Live at SXSW


Dizzee Rascal does "I Love You" at SXSW


B-Boys including Nosaprise and members of Havikoro Dancing on stage with Dizzee (Pussyole video was filmed at B-Boy City in Austin BTW)


Bushwick Bill freestyling while EL-P Beatboxes at SXSW (WORD TO MR. DIBBS!)


El-P Live at SXSW


Del on the big stage at SXSW


I'm a Billy Bragg Fanatic. Seriously.


Billy Bragg and Kate Nash Live at SXSW!


Clipse at Rhapsody Party SXSW


Chromeo at the Scion Event!


Kid SIster LIve at her Friday SXSW Show at Volume


David Banner did this Fader Party instead of the panel we planned for him, but whatever, he got on BET for it. And the show that night slayed.


Thurston Moore at SXSW


Thurston Moore more


Very important jam here - Billy Bragg - "I Keep Faith"


MURS went off. CRAZY SHIT!


Sparkdawg at SXSW


WING Live at SXSW

Hope you enjoyed all this. I'll be posting way more in the days to come!

Still Haven't Written...

Still Haven't Written... my SXSW wrap up. Also, disregard what I said in the earlier post. I'm not gonna just go nuts on DJ Coalitions. I'ma talk about the whole industry at some point this week. And the main problem that I see with it today.

And that's everyone trying to chase the same dollar.

I always get real introspective and start questioning the industry hard after SXSW. My mind just races when it is set free from the shackles of the day to day grind, which it hath been for the next few weeks.

So I'ma get back to being a wildman on the mic, I mean with the pen, I mean on the PC. It's about to go down.

Also Bun B's album comes out in one month and 2 days.

Also if you don't have Bavu Blakes'ses Extra Plair EP, you must do yourself a favor and go to find one somehow someway. It's quite nice.

K-Rino - Holla At Me - NEW VIDEO

Now see y'all, the following video also represents and personifies exactly what I was speaking on below. While the press chased the pink pants/bicycle hat wearing fruitcakes thru the streets, some of the realest rappers EVER were representing up in that South By Southwest.

Including of course, K-Rino and the South Park Coalition. I don't know why so many people have forgotten about reality rap, but I'ma tell you right now, when the pink pants boys fall the fuck off and disappear, my dudes will still be here.

HOLLA AT ME!



Capisci?

My wife sent me this link

And it backs up what I am talking about below.

On a whole nother level of the damn game.

Also, DJ Coalitions are some bullshit. I'ma speak on that shit soon as well. Soon all will become clear.

THAT'S JUST HOW I FEEL!

And it's real.

What Was to be my SXSW '08 Wrap Up

(Is really just part one of an on going series, as I am still a lil braindead and can't put it all into one post. I'm not one for brevity you see...)
------------------------------------

“We’re about to crash into the sun. All of us! And that’s very bad.” My daughter Eva just screamed that from the bathtub as I sat down to write this, my SXSW ’08 wrap up. If she would have sent that warning two weeks ago, I might have run outside and welcomed the impending explosion with my arms wide open and my eyes tightly shut, but now that SXSW ’08 is all said and done – and hath been a smashing success – I’m going to hope that her five-year-old mind is just making things up.

For the past two years, I haven’t been able to write shit about the conference/festival I now call home for 12-14 hours a day between December and March, but this year I feel as though I have to. Generally, after the four day bacchanalia fest, I’m so wiped out that I really can’t muster up the energy to sit and actually think about what just went down. I also had to um, well, move along to the next hustle as my checks up until a few months ago were anything but regular.

But now, my life is on a different course. I’m duly employed, doing something I love and have loved to do on the side for some years, and yeah, things are a lot different.

Below you can see a ton of photos, just like you can see from years past if you click the archives over at HoustonSoReal. And from those photos – which many say are worth 1,000 words a piece - you can get an idea of the magnanimous undertaking that SXSW really is. It’s no mean feat, it’s no simple task, and this year, after eight years of having no real job to speak of, I immersed myself in it full bore. All the way. No turning back.

SXSW looks a lot different from the inside looking out. I liken it to any machine. Unless you take the machine apart and really study its mechanisms, you’ll probably have no idea how it works. That’s what bothers me most about SXSW’s critics. SXSW is the biggest and most useful and constructive party anyone has ever created in the history of the music business. It’s a complex puzzle put together by a relatively small group of individuals whose passion for the music supersedes their needs for sleep, and there’s haters out there who just love to talk shit about it.

I don’t normally take shit talking in stride, but as stated above, I’m an employee of this business now, and can’t take my personal feelings out on the nutsacks of the wieners who wanna whine about an event that drops more music, free beer, bar-b-q and opportunities on this two horse town for a few beautiful days every March than any other organization in the world.

But this is AustinSurreal, so I can talk a little shit, fuck it. (R.I.P. Pimp C – thanks for the inspiration brother).

First people I want to talk about are the critics who say “SXSW is no longer about new music and unsigned artists. It’s the big bands now who rule the roost.”

MOTHERFUCKER WE HAD 1,800 BANDS THIS YEAR! Are there even 1,800 bands signed to major labels in this world? Do you want to try and coordinate 1,800 bands on 80 stages over 4.2 nights? No, you don’t.

You also don’t seem to want to cover any of the indie/unsigned/new/local bands either. Every fucking writer that hit me up about this shit had the same questions. They weren’t asking things like “What’s the deal with these Norwegian rappers you are bringing?” “Who’s SouthBound and Ryno & Slim Gutta? Are they cool?” No they asked me how to get in touch with Ice Cube, Clipse and Bun B. They barely even gave a shit about Dizzee Rascal or Devin.

Then I sit and read the blogs and the papers and the magazines and it’s all about all the bands you would expect them to be about. It’s sad, cuz when I was growing up we had about 1/10th of the magazines, 1/16th of the radio stations, no internet, no satellite radio, and I think back then more music got thru to the masses than is getting through today. You can challenge me on that if you want to, but I pay attention and all I am seeing is a bunch of copy cat lazy ass motherfuckers all clamoring for the same thing.

It’s some bullshit (shout out to those who stick their necks out for the new shit. Please send me some links cuz I’m having trouble finding you.)

That my friends, is my biggest beef. The lazy ass media.

I feel like going off on some of the other critics (local Austin whiners who don’t like money being dumped on their city by the bucketful and who go and start mini “festivals” that run at the same time as SXSW…) never mind I’m not getting into that.

But “xxx,” I know who you are.

Fact of the matter is, I am not better than them, because instead of focusing on all the great things that came out of my SXSW experience, I’m complaining and honestly right now, at this moment, I have nothing to complain about. Except for the fact that I didn’t see Dokkebi Q play cuz I was caught up in craziness for most of Saturday. That’s it though. Wait, actually I’m also extremely annoyed that David Banner didn’t show up for his panel. But he did come out and rock his show, so whatever, I can’t complain too much.

And I won’t, in fact, I’m going to end this here, have a few beers and chill out and start working on my play by play run down in a separate post. People who hate complainers have probably already tuned out, and honestly, all the great things that happened last week deserve their own post.

And it was a great week. All that business about wanting to crash into the sun, went right away once the festival swung into full swing. The days approaching the fest, were some of the most stressfull, and nerve racking days I have ever spent, but that’s really only because I am a worry wart and have no faith in much of anything. Next year I have to remember that there’s really not so much to worry about.

SXSW went down, it goes down every year, it has for 22 years, and it will go down for years to come. And this my friends, it what really matters.

The Summit, The Pinnacle, SXSW '08

I'm bruised, scraped, scratched and sedated. The week we've been waiting for hath come and gone, and in my assessment, SXSW '08 WENT THE FUCK DOWN. Haters sit down now.

Anyway, YOU CAN CLICK HERE to see a bunch of footage on AllHipHop.com
and YOU CAN CLICK HERE to see a bunch of footage on USTREAM. Check the Panel footage, like whoa.

CLICK HERE to read NEKESA MUMBI MOODY's story on SXSW Hip-Hop. She's with AP so the story got all over! Like 200 Papers. I love you Nekesa!

Also CLICK HERE check out the man ICE CUBE live in concert from Auditorium Shores.

I'll write an entire synopsis on this tomorrow (I swear and also realize I haven't in the past couple years), but for tonight let the pics and a few words here and there suffice.

I started off MY SXSW experience by rolling over to the Scoot Inn to check out my homegirl, the First Lady of Sabbathe in the Park...

Maggi Horn!
Killin' it.




My man Mike was feelin' her.


Chalie Boy killed it at FUZE!


DJ Bull


Public Offenders outside Fuze after their killer set.


These a couple of Hustlers in ATX whogo 24/7 and such


Bankroll Jones


Bushwick Bill rushed at the very least 50 stages at SXSW throughout the weekend. He rapped with bands, introduced bands, rappers, everyone.

Shit was insane. Flavor of Love was cool, but follow this dude with a camera and you'll have 15 seasons of money to be made.

Bun B came out and killed it for sure. (Like I say, more of a review coming soon, not tonight)







Thursday I was able to see ONE artist who I wanted to see that I was not responsible for.

El Remolon on the Zizek night at 90 Proof.


JAMMIN'!


Deuce of Hot 93 interviewing Da COD live on the air from FUZE!


El-P, Del the Funky Homosapien


Perseph1, El-P


Devin & the Coughee Brothaz Killed It!


Domo


E-Rock of the 5th Ward Boyz


Jugg Mugg


Rob Quest


ODD SQUAD!


QUEEN MAJESTY!


Mark Sound


Lone Star waqs not an official sponsor but up in the Scoot it officially sponsored my Friday hangover.

Which really wasn't that bad.


JAMMER!




NEWHAM GENERALS!


DIZZEE RASCAL!






Aaron LaCrate DJed for Dizzee






Dan Tobin, Flamin' Hotz


Me & El-P


Me and Jesse from Def Jux


Rad Rich was dressing like that waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy before the Cool Kids


Shina Rae, Me and Crystal


Scavone


Spinna of Dollaz and $ince


Austin's Kriminals killed it






As did Da C.O.D.






DJ Knowledge


Dirty Wormz




Tech N9ne fucking destroyed it!












Kidz in the Hall


Josh Martinez and Sleep!


Nick Cachdubs & Naledge


A-Alikes, M-1, Grouchy Greg +


A-Laget came thru from Norway with Lars Vaular. I can't believe I didn't get a decent pic of Lars!


A-Trak


Kid Sister of course killed it.




Kathryn Frazier & Dana Meyerson of Biz 3 Publicity, and I SWEAR I didn't realize that Perry Farrell was the dude in the pic till I looked at it today.


Know'm Sayin'?


I followed Kid Sister up onto the roof of Emo's...


Shannon is a prominent Sculptor in Austin


Dave 1 of Chromeo


P-Thugg of Chromeo

My wife saw Ice Cube roll into Emo's on Friday night for the Biz 3 show and said he wasn't letting anyone take photos. But then I saw Draper and decided to move in for it.

ICE CUBE, TONY DRAPER, CLIPSE and WC AT EMO'S!!!!!


Me and Southern Rap Pioneer Tony Draper




World Trade rocked the Carver Center! Bavu Blakes.


Bavu Blakes & Rochelle Terrell


Element 7D - World Trade

The panel was actually really informative. WATCH IT HERE!

Soren Baker, Tech N9ne, Tomar Williams


Davey D, Grouchy Greg




Cingo Bling


Pikhasso in the house!


Saturday night atthe Music Hall, Pimpin' Pen got up and killed it.


Murs




Question




Michael Watts and Eddie Deville seriously killed the show at the Music Hall Saturday!


Seriously.


Rob G and SWAT as well


Dolemic & Rob G


Cooda Bang, Archie Lee & Big Red


And David Banner showed them how it's supposed to go!












This did not come from me.

Then on SOnday ti really went down.

SABBATH IN THE PARK!


Sabbath Security Scavone, Cosmo Baker, Me and Maggi Horn aka THE BOARD!


The Queen was up in the piece.


The beginnings


Jeanette Live in Austin! Norway in fool effect. SABBATH IN THE PARK!


As seen with Scavone Sabbath Security


Mike, Skratch Bastid, Jazz & Jill


Sun Jue in the spot


Dan Tobin & Casi G. - Flamin' Hotz Records.


Curtis Vodka in from Alaska


ROXY AND QUEEN MAJESTY UP IN THE PLACE!


Serg & my favorite DJ Stef!




Tami & Her Husband


DJ STEF!


My wife Melissa brought the Radio Flyer and got the party really started.


Michelle Frost even.


NORWEGIANS!


Know'm sayin'?


Kasia made a beautiful headband out of REAL FLOWERS for my girls. Crafts are encouraged at Sabbath in the Park.


Ian Meyer - OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND ARCHIVIST OF SABBATH IN THE PARK, LLC!


Tierney was not feeling the paparazzi


Jill, Jazz

And then in this next series, names have been omitted to protect the identities of the partakers of that apple bowl.


Know'm sayin'?





























Anyway every inch of Austin was crunk for every second of every day and night from like what, March 12th to the 16th and it's already goin' down today on that St. Patrick's Day!

Anyway, blanks will be fillded in.

Check out the UStream of the panel!