Wax facts

For the past week, I’ve been tripping on Brian Coleman’s Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip Hop Junkies. Whether I’m eating a delicious strudel on the couch or carelessly crossing the street on a green light, this book is glued to my hands, and my eyes to its lines. The 500-plus-page bad boy is pure dope to any hip hop head thirsty for knowledge. Coleman offers, in sometimes overtly vivid detail, the stories behind 36 classic rap albums like The Score, Raising Hell, 36 Chambers and The Low End Theory. All accounts are delivered straight from the horse’s mouth—MCs and producers now considered “immortals”—and with its one chapter-one artist-one album format, including track-for-track breakdowns, it’s one of the best existing guides to rap history. Must-read, homie.

Once I finally get my nose out of it, I’ll be checking out the always soulful AOT Live on Friday night at Club Lambi for a special performance with singer/songwriter Fredy V and his band Black Soil as well as an opening DJ set by Godfather D. Saturday night, you can catch me on the airwaves from 6–8 p.m. on CJLO (1690 AM) with kinfolk DJ Solespin, host of the fruitful Eclectricity. We’ll be doing a rare hip hop samples-only show, so tune in and consider it a lesson.

Same night, Academy is hosting Montreal’s biggest one-on-one popping competition, featuring Montreal’s top poppers as well as DJ Shash’u, MC Afternoon and G-Style creator Slick Dogg, who will be giving a special two-hour workshop the next afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Shauna Roberts Dance Centre (372 Ste-Catherine W., #328).

Don’t forget to save some juice this Tuesday for Blue Dog’s new ’80s night with Deadbeat Dad and guest Rilly Guilty serving up those cold cuts like butchers. Cameo on the menu, for those who know.

SHE’S STRANGE…AND I LIKE IT…
DABEATSEEKER@GMAIL.COM