You Was in Church With Your Moms

O.C. dropped by HHK's March edition to lay a classic down. Check it. Props to Edgar for the filming, editing and graphics.

Happy Birthday

If you've been to even one HHK, chances are you've seen this man on stage, either on the mic or providing back-up choreography for countless emcees. He's always one of HHK's most enthusiastic performers and ridiculously supportive of every other performer. Hopefully he'll teach Diggedy to dance one of these days. Happy Birthday, D!

Weekend At Diggedy's - Volume 12

And we at it again, and we at it again.................

Party people in the place to be.. I wish I could say it's a glorious Friday, but the overcast sky has me thinking and moving a step too slow this morning/afternoon.

Alright. I just had a brownie from Hale & Hearty. I'm good to go.

Nothing crazy really happened this week. I saw a screening of this flick, "Superbad." It's written by Seth Rogen (actor in 40 Year Old Virgin, Freaks & Geeks). He's in it, along with the kid from Arrested Development and tons of other people you know when you see them. The movie was flat-out hysterical. B-A-N-A-N-A-S Bananas (shout out to Kelly on The Office). If you liked 40 Year Old Virgin, you will like this. J New had a chance to roll, but he's not seeing sh*t unless it has subtitles. He's that type of dude. Anyway, see it when it drops.

CLICK THE TITLE TO PLAY. PLEASE TO ENJOY THESE SELECT TRACKS FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 27 :

Matt Fingaz feat Just Blaze, The Game, Large Pro, & Talib Kweli - "1 Degree Of Me"

Matt's bounced around the underground scene for quite a while now. I really only knew him as a producer (back when his name was Fingatip)with The Aboriginals, Mike Zoot, etc. I didn't even know he rapped until I heard a song with him, Wizdom Life, and Talib Kweli called "Fruits Of Labor". Then, a couple of years later, I see him onstage with Large Pro opening for the Roots at Lincoln Center. Hadn't really heard anything from him since until I was turned on to this new track. Simply put, the sh*t is fresh. And for those of you afraid to try something new, there should be a guest on this song that appeals to you. What the hell are you waiiiiiiiiiiiiting for? DOWNLOAD IT!

Akinyele - "Yo"

Since I clowned on J New, it's only right I redeem myself by dropping some Ak on the blog. Newman loves Ak. I think he wrote his college thesis on Lefrak, Queens. I can't blame him. Ak, when he wants to be (see Vagina Diner), is dopeness. My boy Drew Boogie grew up with Ak, and got me addicted to his debut album when I was in high school. When DJ Album Cuts - yours truly - ever gets on the wheels of steel, "Da Bomb" is always his go-to party starter record. This is an unreleased track, and Ak murders it. DOWNLOAD IT!

Hi Tech feat J Treads - "Weak Minds"

I mean, again. The whole reason I do this, is to hopefully put people on to sh*t they might not be familiar with. I'm only really aware of a couple of songs from Hi Tech. While he does his thing on this track, the bread and butter is J Treads. Growing up during the 89tech9 era, his verse on this song was always one of my favorites. Back then, Treads, Co Flow, and Breezly Brewin of the Juggaknotts formed The Indelibles. Basically, it had all the makings of an undergound Wu Tang. They did a couple of joints, but then all went their separate ways. God. I'm realizing this song is at least 10 years old. There was a time when we'd all sit around and say "this is the future of rap." Yeesh.

Hope everyone enjoys the tracks.

Have a good weekend.

A T-Bone Steak, Cheese, Eggs and Welch's Grape

Notorious D.R.E. - Big Poppa at Hip Hop Karaoke - 3/9/07

F*ck imitation. This is embodiment.

iron man.

he's insane.

at his prime, unbeatable.

his video game on nes is top 5 of all-time.

we all know this stuff.

he's also been mentioned in a billzillion rap songs.

wex wednesday's presents some of those references:

1. LL Cool J on "I'm Bad": I'm like Tyson, icin/I'm a soldier at war/Makin sure you don't try to battle me no more
2. Kool G. Rap on "Poison": With Polo and while he's slicin/I'll turn the mic's last name into Tyson
3. Nas on "The World is Yours": They locked the champ up leavin my brains in handcuffs/Headed for Indiana, stabbin women like the phantom
4. Big Daddy Kane on "Put Your Weight On It": My sharp tongue is like a license/I strike like Mike Tyson, I be icin
5. Ghostface Killah on "Holocaust": Unfaithfully married to rap, we been engaged for 12 years/Tyson bit Holyfield ear, we love the sport

there's more, what are they!

honorable mentions to the fresh prince, canibus, spoonie gee, etc.

be easy.

djwex.

Out with the old, in with the new...

What's up everyone...

The HHK crew felt like it was time to do a little house cleaning.

We've tweaked the list a little. Scratched some songs, added others. Nothing is ever permanent. We just want to make sure everything is nitro fresh.

Also, we have said it before, and I'll say it again : we are ALWAYS on a mission to bring you the very best for the song list. Whether male or female artists, many songs simply do not have the instrumental. And if they do, sometimes it proves extremely difficult to obtain that record.

If you have an instrumental, we are always open for discussion on adding it to the list. So please feel free to hit us up.

These are the songs we are adding this month :

Jay Z - Dead Presidents
Common - Testify
Leaders of the New School - Case of The PTA
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Royce Da 5'9 - Boom
Outkast - ATLiens
Wu Tang Clan - Mystery of Chessboxin'

Diggedy & The HHK Family

Weekend At Diggedy's - Volume 11

Mark Messier.

Phil Simms.

11.

A powerful number.

If you thought I'd go soft after the huge 10th anniversary blow out, you're nuts.

E-mail of the week :

Digs,

Picture it. I'm at a backyard bbq in SF. Big speakers. Big time stereo equipment. Basically, doing big things. Absolutely no music. Crazy right? Luckily, there was a laptop. We downloaded all 30 of the Weekend at Diggedy's songs, and played them for 2 hours. When they were done, we played them again. Cops came, and asked us to turn the s*it up! Do you believe that? Anyway, keep doing what you're doing.

You're saving lives.

Chris

Thanks Chris. I mean, what can I say? When you are getting 50 e-mails and letters like that every week, you have no choice but to bring the heat.

Without further adieu..............................................

THE CHOICE CUTS FOR THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 20 :

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "One In A Million"
http://www.zshare.net/audio/petecloneinamillion-mp3.html

It's funny how history can alter a group's legacy within one's soul. For years, De La Soul was my favorite group. Their first four albums will be brought to any desert island I find myself stranded on (btw, De La Soul is Dead is my favorite rap album of all time, in case you care, and I know you do). Then came their subsequent albums, all of which had a couple of hits, but also several misses. Of course it doesn't tarnish their legacy with me. That would be crazier than RDJ grinding on HHK hosts. But it makes you wonder. What artist has a perfect resume in your music collection? What artist can you drop on the phonograph, walkman, cd player, ipod, what have you, and they have never had that "this is when they started falling off" album. I'm sure there are several artists, but the one I am speaking of, and that is one of my favorite groups of all time, are Mount Vernon's finest, Pete & CL. Pete has always been a top 5 producer to me, and CL Smooth has always been the everyman on the mic. This track is off of the Poetic Justice soundtrack. Never seeing them live was always something that ate away at my Hip Hop soul. I, along with DJ Wex, Miss Diggedy, and my man my mellow Brian Goonan got that opportunity at SOB's a few years ago for their reunion show. If you think HHK is a gathering of old rap souls, you should have been there. 500 people jammed into this venue. All waiting to celebrate rap the way it used to be, and rap the way it oughta be. One of my favorite show experiences ever.

King Tee - "Dippin'"
http://www.zshare.net/audio/king_tee-_dippin-mp3.html

Paul. You know who you are. Ill Street Blues Paul. Where are my King Tee cd's you keep telling me you're going to burn for me??? Anyway, from the limited amount of songs I have heard from him (Tee, not Paul), this is my favorite. I always associate it with the summer, and what better day than the one we are currently having to drop it on the blog. Once Sheep's Meadows opens up, be on the lookout for Wex and myself camped out with a football, some Heinekens, and this song blasting from the ipod (before Wex says "my turn" and plays some backpacker shit). If cops are reading this blog, and looking to bust us for open alcohol in the park, we're the ones in the matching Hammer shirts. Btw, I just saw a FUNNY ass clip of Joan Rivers on the red carpet approaching MC Hammer for an interview and calling him "MJ Hammer". Love you Joan. You left your mascara at my crib. FYI.

Red Hot Lover Tone - "Give It Up"
http://www.zshare.net/audio/12-give-it-up-mp3.html

Red Hot Lover Tone is one half of the champagne and caviar production team The Trackmasterz. But in the good ol' days, he was a punchline loving emcee. You may remember his appearance with Chubb Rock, and this kid Nas on MC Serch's "Back To The Grill Again." He had 2 albums, and I'm not going to lie, I loved them both. Not on some "this kid is the future!!!" type shit. Just on some, "I enjoy putting this tape on" type shit. Give it a shot. DOWNLOAD IT!

Alright peoples.

Btw, it's 4/20. I remember back in college, Junior year, I had a performance with the unbelievable Yellow Number 5 crew, on Halloween. We all got dressed up, and I dressed as some morphed old school rapper, b-boy, Flavor Flav. Adidas jumpsuit, gold chains, kangol, and clock. So.. Those who know me know that I'm not really on the Chris Tucker Friday side of the weed fence. Some of my college peeps convinced me to make the time on the clock "4:20". Some people got it. Some didn't. Not a big deal. However. My straight out of the Sopranos Uncle Louie (he has made a cameo at HHK) came up to school with his girlfriend for the show. We're at the bar and I say to him "do you know why the clock is on 4:20?". With the gruff, 35 years of smoking Larks voice, he says "you think I was f*cking born yesterday?? He thinks I don't know what 4:20 is. I knew what 4:20 was before my sister ever met your f*cking father." So now, all these years later, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc he comes in the house and says hi to everyone, then sees me and says "4:20 dude!". I still don't think my mom understands what that's all about. Unless she reads this blog. Then the jig us up. Love you mom!

This is Diggedy signing off.

ozzie newmiesome.

last night... i was lying in bed... thinking about what i'm gonna do for wex wednesdays... when my inspiration came via blaring text message alert!

top albums that my man jason newmie new new the third has turned me on to - that i still listen to today. these aren't going to be reviews or anything... just some ramblings. but trust me, these are all worth checking out:

1. Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" - newmie NEW about this lady about 3.5 smidgens before anyone else here in the states, save for a few bigger music nerds. "Rehab" is my joint. also, love the "remix" that she did with pretty toney. she's a known lush, but whatever, so are plenty of my relatives & they're good people. also, newmie took me as his guest to her first ever US show at joe's pub. she was drunk there too. but whatever, the show was dooooooope. pick it up.
2. Interpol "Turn on the Bright Lights" - i didn't think i'd like it. i mean, my friend Karen loved them, and i hate most of the stuff she oogles over, so yea. but man, this is a new york city walkin through the streets must-have. fav cut is probably the first song, which is... untitled. side note: this song was almost ruined for me by some crap deejay's "mash up" with "in da club". fuck outtttta here. i still think the one bass player dude wears some clothes that say, "i care waaaay too much about being cool". but alas.
3. Giant Drag "Hearts & Unicorns" - ayo at the album title. anyway. although the true find was their live session for sony connect, the album is great too. newmie brought me to their showcase at pianos and after i gushed over how awesome they were (that's a lie, i don't think i've ever gushed over anything), he sent me the record - the rest is giant history. i don't know what i liked more, the songs or annie's (the singer/guitarist) childlike sarcastic dialog in-between songs. sadly, they recently broke up.
4. Mulatu Astatqe "Ethiopiques Vol. 4" - ever see Jim Jarmusch's film "Broken Flowers"? it was decent. 6/10. but what really got me through the whole movie was the music that was being featured throughout. said music was provided by this Ethiopian musician and arranger - who's apparently known as the "Father of Ethio-Jazz". just real chill thinkin-man's music. pick it up. try Kim's on Astor.
5. TV On The Radio "Return to Cookie Mountain" - brooklyn's finest. this one was on everybody's year-end best-music-omg-in-the-whole-world lists. but newmie, a longtime TVOTR fan, put me up on this a while back. i still don't think the track listing i have is accurate, but alas, i love these friggin songs. looking forward to seeing them live sometime. do yourself the favor, pick it up.

dj fuckin wex, ain't a damn thing changed. except for lots of stuff, actually.

updatez.

with a z.

that means it's hip hop.

the april photos are up.

the multimedia section has been updated with the masta ace performance videos (also below).

some new press added to the... yes... press section.

and i've organized my closet. but that's none of your business - i can't believe you asked.

dj wex.

Masta Ace Videos

First off, if you haven't already, scroll down a bit to check out the special 10th Anniversary of Weekend at Diggedy's. Ten Whole Years. Where does the time go?

Much love to Masta Ace for coming down last week for "Crooklyn" and "How Many MCs..." Check out the videos below for proof, memories etc. And love to Dee Phunk for playing the Buckshot role to perfection. Out of many contenders, my personal highlight is Ace "runnin' down the block" towards the end of "Crooklyn." Next HHK is Thursday, May 10. Mark the calendars.

- J. New

Weekend At Diggedy's - Volume 10

They said it couldn't be done.

They said it wouldn't last.

No school this small has EVER been to the state championship!

Sorry. Got sidetracked thinking of Hoosiers.

10 editions of Weekend At Diggedy's! When I embarked on this mission, I didn't know what to expect. I'm just a simple man who loves his music. A man who wants to share it, and his thoughts, with the world. Ten weeks later, I've been asked to DJ three sweet 16's, speak at 2 college graduations, and coach a woman's softball team in Des Moines (long story regarding their Ground Floor letters). I want to thank everyone for coming along on this ride with me. Here's to another 10.....

Erick Sermon - "Relentless"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dufkmn

This song isn't exactly obscure. But judging by his album sales, I'm willing to bet that you haven't heard it. This song is off his 2004 album Relentless. It's basically Erick giving you the birds eye view of his career, rumors, state of rap, EPMD, etc. I love honest Hip Hop. More importantly, I love EPMD. Erick & Parrish have always epitomized "cool." When they did a reunion show last year at BB King's, I can't explain it. Made me feel like I was in Junior High all over again. Download it!

MOP feat Treach - "Brooklyn/Jersey Get Wild" (remix)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/apv4d8

This is a bananas remix to the song off of First Family 4 Life. This song is dedicated to the K-Dot, Scooter, Murray collective holding it down for Jersey every month. HHK SUPPORTS OUR JERSEY BRETHEREN. I'd say who this was dedicated to on the BK side, but it's too many to name. A study was done in 1994 by two professors in California, who determined that the most potent rap collaboration ever would exist in an MOP/Naughty collabo. After some false alarms (who can forget the infamous "twinkie" incident at Chung King in '96), they were finally able to make it happen in 1998. Positively glorious. DOWNLOAD IT!

Trends Of Culture featuring Punchline - "Trendmen"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/0xik3i

THE YEAR WAS 1993 (said in Mr.Funkee voice). The cassingle was the tremendous "Off And On" off of Trendz... If you don't know it, you can check out the vintage video on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMQP7HkCG6M . This song was the SH*T back in the day (driven by the LONS Charlie Brown sample off of the "Scenario" remix). The album was terrific. This is another one of those early 90's groups that did their thing, came, and left (Legion, Troubleneck Brothers, among others). Come to find out they released a couple of songs in the late 90's. "Trendmen" is one of these songs, and the dudes still got it. This features Punchline (of Punch and Wordsworth) fame. Just a reminder that Punch, Words, and Masta Ace are forming a group called EMC. Masta Ace coming to HHK. I mean, wow. K-Dot has been talking about him and Scooter fighting over his tapes. He is the rare, RARE, artist, that is still consistently putting out GOOD music after all these years. Just a truly great moment.

Enjoy the music.

Enjoy your weekend.

Take care of yourself.

And each other.

bringin wex wednesday's back to the good ol boom bap... today we're going to talk about my favorite hip hop influenced feature films (does the use of "feature films" rule out straight to dvd movies starring Master P, DMX, etc? if so - feature films it is).

as a side note, Liz from the Knitting Factory actually inspired this edition of WW's... because she asked me at soundcheck what made me want to deejay... and the answer was my #1 pick:

1. Juice. hate on 2pac all you want (the rapper), he delivered the goods in this one. but the real highlight of the movie to me was the deejay shit. from his mom waking him up by dragging the needle over the record, to the stealing the records in the newspaper, to the battle - this made me buy turntables, straight up. also, dope soundtrack. uptown anthem, so you wanna be a gangster, know the ledge, etc.
2. Boyz in the Hood. hate on Ice Cube (the actor & rapper after '96) all you want, he delivered the goods in this one. haha. again, great soundtrack. actually, the highlight to the music in this one for me was the instrumental piece by stanley clarke. you know the scene, they're driving around looking for revenge in the impala - it's the song that plays. fishburne killed it too.
3. New Jack City. not exactly what you'd call a timeless flick, but at the time, it was the shit. pookie! nino brown was a bad bad man too.
4. Wild Style. i ain't gonna lie - i just watched Wild Style for the first time a couple years ago. on dvd nonetheless. which some how just felt wrong. but anyway - a great time capsule into the early days of hip hop. you got to see all of the greats in action: caz, rocksteady, cowboy, grandmaster flash, fab 5 freddy, etc. also, the acting! the acting was amazing!! wink wink.
5. Friday. back to the west coast. had to include this one just for the sake of diversity. was this hip hop's first intentionally truly funny movie?? so many quoteables. and what it made it special was, i dont even smoke weed and it was STILL dope to me. omg pun.

serious honorable mentions to: menace II society, new jersey drive (yes russ, new jersey drive), above the rim, office space (yes, office space), breakin', krush groove, etc.

dj wex.

good friday night.

thanks to everyone that came out on friday night.

i certainly had a really good time - which might have been a direct correlation to the number of green bottles on-stage. but regardless, good times, good times. got home at 4:30am, woke up my girl, told her how diggedy had to wear a sign that said "midget" and passed the f out.

props to my boss who was in the house - and props to rdj's parents, who were also in the house for the bizness - and to the superfriendz who packed the stage - and to charlie with the crazy look in his eye when brooklyn zoo dropped. and to everyone else who rocked it... best.

** ah yes, and a BIG shoutout to Masta Ace - who came out to rock Crooklyn with diggedy & deeeeeephunk. very dope moment for us.

next one is a thursday night - so we'll see who the true hhk'ers are. may 10. 9pm.

deejay wex.

Weekend At Diggedy's - Volume 9

Tonight is the Super Bowl.

Consider this the pre-game tailgate party.

Fire up the grill. Bust out the Heinekens. And crank up the benzi box with these choice cuts for Friday, April 6th.

Ghostface featuring The Theodore Unit - "Guerilla Hood"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1c4hjb

This track was released on the Theodore Unit album/mix 718. If you're a fan of Ghost, you'll love this. It was inspired by the recent Wexford Wednesday's about sports greats. This name drops my sports idol, Don Mattingly. Not to mention a shout out to Don Baylor. All you need is a shout to Steve Balboni and you have the greatest song. Ever. Of all time. In the history of people. DOWNLOAD IT!

Ground Floor - "One, Two"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dj0vgu

I get a lot of fanmail from all over the world here at Weekend At Diggedy's. A majority of the handwritten (sometimes scented) letters are begging, pleading, hoping against all hope, that I will post some Ground Floor for them. That day has come sports fans! Here's the deal. I do not know much about Ground Floor. I know they were down with Lord Finesse, and that he did a joint with them called "Dig On That". I do know this : their track, "One, Two" was my holy grail. Remember back in the cassette and radio days, when you'd hear a track you love, SCRAMBLE for the Maxwell/TDK/whathaveyou and record it praying you weren't dubbing over something important? That happened with this song, only I just caught the last 2 minutes of it. I sat by radio for hours, days, weeks, waiting for this f*cking song to come back on. No store had it. Napster came around, no dice. It didn't exist other than those 2 minutes on tape that had been worn to smithereens. I had given up, until the wonderful world of blogs reunited me with that track in it's entirety. I had no idea the song even had a video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=0WZe5oHb4Us). I'm making a motion to reinstate hockey jerseys and Helly Hansen's. Is you with me? OH YEAH! DOWNLOAD IT!

Redman - "Smoke A Blunt Too '94"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7159hb

I know we've got a lot of Redman fans at HHK. This was an unreleased promo, and Red murders it. "Take off those LA Gears cause I'm about to light yo ass up." Haha. I remember hearing a story about some dude who rocked those, committed a crime, and was trying to run from the police in the woods, in the dark, with the shoes lighting up the whole time. By the way, what's up with these kids all having sneakers that morph into skates? I'm walking through the mall, and see kids who two seconds ago were walking, gliding over to me. Scares the s*it out of me. I think I'm under attack. Speaking of which, to the mom from the Queens Center Mall (you know who you are), I'm sorry for kicking your kid in the head. I hope the Cinnabon made him feel better. Peep the Tame 1 cameo. Download it!

See everyone tonight.

Let's school that ass like St. John's!

Hip Hop Karaoke Going Down Tomorrow Night

It's that time again. Last month saw legendary emcee O.C. perform Notorious B.I.G.'s
"Unbelievable." Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbJaFW9-XTI


Hip Hop Karaoke
Your Chance to Rhyme

Friday, April 6
Sign-up at 10
Show at 11

Knitting Factory
74 Leonard St. between Church St and Broadway
New York City

As always, free to enter, free to perform. See ya there.

i like sports. but i'm not a big sports guy. i mean, i'm not DEDICATED to it. i watch sports. i just watched my heat drop to the pistons this weekend. i follow the nba & the nfl loosely. i watch sportscenter once a week or so for like 20 minutes. i played high school basketball. i didn't start. when me and diggedy make plans to kick it, he has to check the yankees schedule. he's the sports guy.

with that said, i grew up, like a lot of kids, a big fan of certain athletes. it was sort like the wwf thing to me. these guys were bigger than life. characters. so today, wex wednesday's presents the athletes that i hold near and dear from my childhood:

1. Bo Jackson. he was the shit to me. from the marketing to the on-field displays of superman'ism... the guy had it all. too bad about the fucking bengals.... which brings me to my next pick...
2. Boomer Esiason. i don't know what it was. but when i was a kids i was a bengals fan. maybe it was the uniform. maybe it was the icky shuffle. boomer was the qb i routed for. when they lost to the 49'ers in super bowl whatever, i cried. no i didn't, but i was pissed. in 2007, i think boomer comes off like a schmuck on tv. times change.
3. Bimbo Coles. that's a straight up old miami heat thing. i think i liked athletes with interesting names.
4. Earl Campbell. i never got to see him play live. by my mom was a huge fan and always was talking about him. she bought me his mint rookie card. and his jersey. i was brainwashed, i guess. but i've seen those tapes man... and nobody ran a dude over like earl.
5. The Marks Bros. Clayton & Duper. super duper! as a dolphins fan growing up, these two dudes were like batman and robin to me. i guess duper was robin. i still think they're slept on in in terms of the greats. i mean, they get mentioned when people talk about "great pairs of receivers" but eh... that's not good enough.

i guess i was more of a football guy as a kid.

deeeeejay wex.

see you friday!