Remembering Dilla

Last week, I was in the shower listening to CBC radio when Pound Magazine cofounder and publisher Rodrigo Bascuñán caught my ear. He was talking about his new book, Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture From Samuel Colt to 50 Cent (see Narcel X’s interview, elsewhere in this issue). I’d been hearing about this project for so long that I was really excited that Bascuñán had finally made it to the promo stage. Long story short, I called in as “Scott from Mile-End” and aired my frustration about people criticizing and blaming hip hop culture for all the ills of man, when they know little or nothing about the culture itself. Although mostly in response to some seriously ignorant callers, I surprised myself at how mad I got as a 35-yearold who has grown up surrounded by hip hop culture. I think I made some sense, but more importantly, I won one of the free copies of the book that was up for grabs, which promptly arrived in all its hardcover glory.

While the tally of Montreal beatmakers and producers continues to grow with leaps and bounds, it seems even the most seasoned worker bee can hit a wall while trying to come up with the next best track in the lab. Last week, I got a package in the mail from a Montreal company called Drumlabz, who specialize in rounding up drum hits and libraries for people who are tired of their old library of sounds. Their first release is called Crushing Drums and features over 1,000 sounds in total, including hi-hats, kicks, snares, basses, percussion and sound effects for use with Akai samplers, your home computer, or any other WAV-compatible sampler. Now, I know that certain heads swear by their own, meticulously collected libraries, and would never cop any sort of audio tools made available to the general public, and because of this, Drumlabz have limited this run of Crushing Drums to only 500 copies. If you ever come across a file online called “Simahlak Drums,” guard it with your life and tell no one, but if you’re interested in Crushing Drums, you can get a copy at Moog Audio on St-Laurent, or at turntablelab.com. More info at www.drumlabz.com.

Speaking of Simahlak, the Son of Sakuraba celebrates his birthday, while remembering one of his musical heroes, at Kunta on Friday, Feb. 9. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already been one year since hip hop producer James “J Dilla” Yancey passed away from Lupus complications, but it was Feb. 10 last year when we heard the sad news. The night, called Tribute to J Dilla, aims to remember the vast body of musical work that he left behind, and with a little help from Sim, 7D and myself, you can expect nothing but Jay Dee all night long. A portion of the $5 cover will go to the J Dilla Foundation for Lupus Research, so if he made any kind of impression on you, please show your face

KEEP CRUSHIN’... fathead@videotron.ca