DIGGIN IN THE CRATES ON YOU TUBE

After being on the Internet for almost eight hours after midnight at my fathers house (you could say that's crazy, but the best time for me without my sisters bugging me in the ears) reading my emails, and touching up my Myspace page, I really wanted to make good use of my Youtube page as nowadays it's hard to find good things to watch. DVD's seem to just focus on Hollywood bullshit so classic Urban movies like Love Jones, Slam, and Get On The Bus (that did come with in the Spike Lee box set but look how long it took to came out) don't get no love, Movies like The Mack, Trouble Man and Coolie High or Documents like Just For Kicks, The MC, and Roc Radia's Gong Battle should not be hard to get (without ordering off the Internet) but in the world of THE MAN, we get no say.
Anyway that's another story. As I was checking out hard to find music videos (as MTV BASE won't even touch the one that some other people might want to watch or enjoy) and adding on anything to do with turntablism showcase videos to my favourite section, I came across this mini DJ video called D.I.T.C ("Diggin' In The Crates with Dj Souliva"). This dude from New Mexico had me on lock; and sure that many music lovers, Hip-Hop producers, beat diggers and DJ's would feel the same. Dj Souliva made over 12 episodes of himself playing original snippets and breaks that Hip-Hop producers used in yesteryears and today's music. After checking out two episodes I added all the rest of his episodes to my favourites and starting thinking of my close friends who would enjoy watching this, the same way I would. As I left my fathers house (time now was about after 11am) leaving my second youngest sister with her collage friend behind and hopped onto a bus into town to meet my friend Presto who came along with me to my Mothers house where my turntables lay, I needed him to film my turntablism showcase set which was set as a pre showcase for a Hip-Hop theatre show that was coming to town. I told Presto about the D.I.T.C episodes feeling good about myself like I was the one who made it but felt good that I had a reason for cats to check out my Youtube page (Even so I've only got two vidz that I've filmed on it), I knew he would want to check it cause all he doe's is bitch about today's music and feels that it's going nowhere, but he doesn't go no where to search for good music so I knew this vid would kick him up the back side. After filming my set and watching a Rob Swift DVD, Presto and myself went out to another friend of ours name Busa. After eating a take-away at his house and watching Boondocks (another hard to find program that gets no air-play in the UK) we went on to my Youtube and checked Dj Souliva D.I.T.C episodes in my favourites. I thought this would be ill, one DJ, one Producer and one MC/ Producer, three music lovers with three different minds watching the same thing that we were about to enjoy. As we sat and watched Dj Souliva play little parts of the hard to find original records where we would recognise the sample in some of the classic Hip-Hop records we hear nowadays. Busa said a lot of producers are not going to like this man after exposing some of these records, which I can't help but to agree in some ways as most beat diggaz don't want other diggaz knowing where they got some samples from. As we got on to the forth episode we tested are skills and knowledge on knowing who used the samples and who produced it (or who owns a copy of the original;). Busa and myself find each other going back and forth or rapping to the song (as the rapper who used it on their material) till it pops into our heads, Busa would know all the the samples that Wu Tang used, Presto would step in when a sample that A Tribe called Quest or J Dilla used and I'll step in when I hear something that Marley Marl or Prince Paul used. 2 hours of name that tune and all I can think that it's been along time since I had so much fun. As I started to reminisce of some of the classic Hip-Hop tracks and where I was at the time I wondered to myself, this is what it was all about, this is the reason why I fell in love with Hip-Hop, (the same reason why B-Boys would wait for that ill break in the records) hearing them samples. Back then (in the early 80's for me) it was how the DJ looped the breaks and I knew them records because my father had em, and watching DJ M… playing the original records and exposing the covers by putting it next to the records that is playing had are minds buzzing, Presto would write down the names of the artist and the albums down in his phone, Busa would think that he could do something more with the sample, I'll would think I could do a ill gig with his selection alone or I could do a crazy beat juggle if I had two copies of that record.

That was one of the illest Tuesdays I've ever had in along time and kept thinking who the hell said Hip-Hop Is Dead but like Nas (Hope) and Skillz (Hip-Hop Died??) said,
The ones who say that is the ones that killing it as it's no longer in their heart and letting the soulless media tell us how it is. Real will recognize real when people get up off their backside and search like true beat diggers, and that's also the beauty of Youtube, I can find what am looking for by searching.

Dj Souliva, Good looking out on doing them episodes and keep on diggin cause there's much more out there. Like the group Krispy 3 (from Manchester, U.K.) said on their debut "You Can't Melt The Wax".

Check www.youtube.com/mantus and go into my favourites and see all Dj Souliva episodes or type in the Youtube search box "Diggin' In The Crates with Dj Souliva"

Enjoy!

Psykhomantus