Miami 2007 Part Five - Stones Throw’s Hella International
Day Three of my five-day, 20-hour-a-day madness got off to a slightly stressful start. After a good shower and having to wait my turn for the only Internet terminal in the hotel I was staying (wi-fi…what’s that??), my mind ended up being focused on two immediate day events…the Stones Throw event called Hella International, aka the Do Over Miami, and the Scion Sunset Yacht event featuring Masters At Work and others.
I arrived early to the Stones Throw event being held in the back of the Raleigh Hotel, just getting started with Cali’s Haycock kicking things off on the stage. I haven’t seen him since the Do Over event in Los Angeles, a popular, free daytime Sunday event held between May and October of each year featuring choice DJ’s both local and not-so-local. Along with Jamie from Stones Throw and artist Aloe Blacc, they make up the trouble-making trio that make the Do Over happen.
On this day, they were doing it Miami-style, and soon after meeting Haycock I would see Jamie to give him a hello. In turn, he passed me a copy of what would be one of the most sought-after promos during the conference…a nicely-designed boxed set filled with triple-vinyl goodness known as Hella International. And let me tell you that these boxes weren’t just being handed out to anyone, but mostly to those in the scene such as DJ’s, producers, radio cats, and peeps who are really down with the Stones Throw sound and, more importantly, help spread the love.
I needed to make a mad dash, barely staying about 30 minutes, in order to try and catch the Scion yacht. Me being Mr. Organization, I had no clue where the location of the yacht was. I called up Jessica, who told me that I had to travel to the area around 5th Street…a 10-block trek. Talking with the front desk of the hotel, who weren’t able to find the location themselves on the Internet, I was advised to take the city bus, which I did.
After getting off the bus, I went to several places asking for directions as the boarding time grew closer, but was sent every which way. Finally, I called up Santiago from the Amalgama crew, who gave me the news that a friend of his told him that the yacht was already filled to capacity way before the noted boarding time on my invitation! My first yacht trip was scuttled, but he wasn’t too far away and picked me up to tag with him, Simbad and another friend to go to the Stones Throw gig.
After driving around for a long awhile trying to find parking and talking smack, the damnest luck happened as someone pulled out of a parking space that was a few blocks from the Raleigh. After making a quick stop to an event at the Marlin, we separated for a little bit. But on my way there, we were reunited and proceeded to the gig.
Hella International built up a bit with more peeps in attendance. I’ve found Jamie chatting, and after running into Mad Mats from Raw Fusion I’ve asked both Mats and Simbad to follow me for a quick intro to Jamie. They all had good greetings with one another and I left them along while trying to find Santiago. I didn’t get to find him for awhile, and have even mistaken him for someone else as I was talking to him about meeting Jamie…he gave me this quizzical look, this guy. But oh well…I did ran into someone from Om Records who was there that I have not heard from until that moment, who was talking with Santiago; all good.
From that point on, I’ve taken in the event for a good part of the day going into night. I’ve ran into Proof from Massive Selector, who was besides himself about the whole Miami vibe. He introduced me to J. Boogie from Om, who played at the party the night before, as well as the one-and-only Freddie Cruger, aka Red Astaire from Raw Fusion and G.A.M.M. in Sweden. I was, in turn, introduced to his singing partner Linn, who apparently is a top vocalist in her country. It was their first visit to Miami, and they were enjoying it. Mr. Cruger and I would talk quite a bit that day. Also, there was Sarah from Pitch Control, whom I’ve met briefly days before when I met Mad Mats for a chat. So the company was all good, indeed.
Now about the event, itself; I know some peeps are wondering why the heck is a hip-hop event being held during a dance music conference. In our special music scene, Stones Throw is one of the few hip-hop labels that does a tremendous job of pushing the scene forward with some of the freshest sounds around, as well as having a keen ability to step back and find lost treasures. It’s a label that has earned a tremendous amount of respect in independent music, and for it to be given big ups there is a sign of respect. Judging from the turnout as the day move forward into the evening, the respect was overflowing.
The DJ’s on the decks really stepped up to the plate. Benji B. from BBC’s Radio 1 did a nice, deep set that made peeps happy; Madlib was showing why his science on the decks captivates; A-Trak was blowing minds with his scratching wizardry; Aloe Blacc, Wildchild, and others took the mic to whoop up the enthusiastic crowd that have build and build from the late afternoon into the evening.
On this day, independent hip-hop took and stand and Stones Throw laid down the law.
Highlights:
- Finally meeting Santiago from Amalgama and the man Simbad and having some quality chat time in the car.
- Finding Mad Mats again; I’ll never forget what he looks like ever again.
- Seeing and hitting up the Do Over homies Jamie, Haycock and Aloe Blacc.
- Meeting J. Boogie for the first time.
- Seeing the Proof man losing himself to the Miami vibe.
- Being introduced to Freddie Cruger and Linn; great time to chat with them.
- Chatting with Sarah for a bit.
- Catching Jessica from SPECTRE and Asya from Fusicology as the evening wore on.
- Witnessing the Stones Throw posse waxing it for the peeps, and watching peeps go mad.
- Everyone on the mic were for real…yes, indeed.
- Copping my very own Hella International vinyl box set…yes!
Want to view all the pics from the gig? Now you can!
Thanks to Jamie, Haycock and Aloe Blacc (the Do Over trio), Santiago from Amalgama, Simbad, Sarah, Freddie and Linn, and Jessica.
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