Nice & Smooth - Ain't A Damn Thing Changed (1991)

Like most people of my generation, Nice & Smooth were introduced to us through Big Daddy Kane's classic second album. 

From there, we learned the duo would release classic material of their own. 

The first two Nice & Smooth albums are classics. I can’t state with definite certainty which of the two I prefer. I remember buying the debut album as a teen. Yet, the second half of Ain't a Damn Thing Changed is especially crazy.



Let this be my moment to thank Nice & Smooth for the years of more & more hits.

If you haven't already, please make yourself familiar with the link below for more of your favorite show and mine.

The Suite Delight new time slot is Tuesday morning 1-2am EST on www.ckut.ca & 90.3 FM.
Below are some archived podcasts to bring you up to speed.  

Click here to download more podcasts.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com



DJ Solespin - The Goods (July 2014) Playlist:

1. Damian Marley – Welcome to Jamrock
2. Koushik – Be With
3. Washed Out – Feel It All Around
4. The System – Don’t Disturb This Groove
5. Loose Ends – Hanging On A String
6. Erykah Badu – Bag Lady
7. Feist – Mushaboom (K-os Mix)
8. D’Angelo – Feel Like Makin’ Love
9. Mark De Clive Lowe – Restless
10. Marley Marl – Hummin’ feat. Roy Ayers
11. Charles Bradley – Heart of Gold
12. DJ Spinna – Surely
13. The Pharcyde – Drop
14. Masta Ace Incorporated – The I.N.C. Ride
15. Busta Rhymes – Turn It Up
16. De La Soul – Plug Tunin’
17. Nice & Smooth – No Delayin’
18. MC Tee & Lord Tasheem – Gangster Nine
19. Gang Starr – Code of the Streets
20. Pete Rock – Back on the Block featuring C.L. Smooth
21. Souls of Mischief – Make Your Mind Up (Rock On Mix)
22. Biz Markie – Nobody Beats The Biz
23. Digable Planets – 9th Wonder (Blackitolism)
24. Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew – Everybody Loves A Star
25. MF Doom – Dead Bent

The Suite Delight - 2014-07-08 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - 2014-04-08 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

 

The Suite Delight - 2013 CKUT Funding Drive Podcast by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

Def Jam Recordings Tribute

The first hip hop album I ever bought on my first solo trip to downtown Montreal was a Def Jam release. For them to be among my Twitter followers today is an honor I would never have dreamed.

While trying to prepare the playlist for the podcast below, I browsed online looking for some form of inspiration to hit me.

I stumbled across word of Def Jam Recordings label celebrating 30 years.  I naturally grabbed an hour's worth of Def Jam classics and presented some of them on my radio show.

Thank you and congratulations to Def Jam for defining hip hop music and culture for over 30 years.

Thank you for checking out Def Jam Recordings Tribute.

Visit the Mixcloud page to listen to them and more.

The Suite Delight - Def Jam Recordings Tribute by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - 2014-10-21 Playlist:

1. Ghostface Killah - Daytona 500 featuring  Raekwon & Cappadonna
2. Nice & Smooth - The Sky's The Limit
3. Davy DMX - One For The Treble
4. EPMD - Give The People (Erick & Parrish Remix)
5. Slick Rick - It's A Boy (Remix)
6. Nikki D - Hang On Kid
7. Nas - Memory Lane 
8. Public Enemy - Can't Truss It
9. Jay-Z - Sunshine featuring Babyface & Foxy Brown 
10. Redman ‎– It's Like That (My Big Brother) featuring K-Solo
11. LL Cool J ‎– To Da Break Of Dawn
12. 3rd Bass - Product Of The Environment (Project Remix)
13. Method Man - The Riddler

DJ Solespin @ Under Pressure International Graffiti Convention 20th Anniversary

August has been a magical month for me over the last few years. 

Prior to Under Pressure being easily the most important DJ set opportunity presented to me for the last 5 years, Sharon Mount-Real was one of those people instrumental to my DJing to begin with.

I had met her in the late 1990s during the Brass Knuckles Crew heyday at Blizzarts on the Main.  Those nights would eventually make me decide that I belonged behind the turntables.

Although I knew she was involved with a local record store at the time, I had converted to CD and our paths seldom crossed. 

By 2010, I realized that if I wanted to chart my own course of DJing in some capacity, I would need to join the ranks of some of my local DJ peers that have spun at Under Pressure.  When I finally decided that I would take the steps to get onto the Under Pressure roster, I asked who I needed to speak for it to it happen.  Sharon Mount-Real was who I have contacted to make Under Pressure happen for me.
  

She even entertained my idea of scheduling me a slot later than the previous year for as long as I was involved with Under Pressure.  That would have been my marker to measure my personal growth and development as a DJ. 

I always hoped she would be around to see or hear my sets so that she could know what the guy she used to meet outside Blizzarts ended up doing when he was behind turntables. I would look for her and ask a volunteer for her but I would hear she was dealing with matters elsewhere. I came to terms with the fact she was busy but there was a part of me that might have wanted her feedback.

The news of her recent passing was an unexpected and unwanted surprise.  It is also ultimately saddening.  Montreal has lost a pillar of its cultural community. 

I may have never gotten that feedback from her over all of these years but the memories and photos below more than make up for that.


R.I.P. Sharon Mount-Real

Under Pressure is Montreal’s only festival celebrating underground culture, including the elements of graphiti, breakdancing MCing and DJing.

I’ve known this for a long time and have wanted to participate in the culture that has molded and shaped me for decades.

I’ll never forget that August morning when I opened the Montreal Mirror to see my name as one of the first DJs for the 2011 roster.

The magnitude of the moment started to sink in when The Goods’ Andy Williams arrived prior to my set. Williams, among other DJs scheduled for that and most Under Pressure weekends, was an inspiration in making me pursue my DJ dreams despite the setbacks and disappointments of years passed.

I enjoyed DJing for the appreciative people in front of the stage and passersby on the street. Before I knew it, my time was done and I passed the baton to Andy Williams who played great danceable tracks.

After years of attending Under Pressure as a spectator, the many years of hosting The Suite Delight radio show, along with the time spent practicing on turntables, prepared me for that weekend. Life presents us with milestones and that day was one for me.

A heartfelt thank you goes to the organizers for coordinating myself and the other DJs/performers.

A heartfelt thank you goes to Sharon Mount-Real for allowing me the chance to have these memories and moments as a DJ and Montrealer.  My condolences goes out to her family.

I again had the honor of spinning at this year's edition of Under Pressure.
My DJ set this year was scheduled from noon to 1pm on the Sunday afternoon of August 10 near Les Foufounes Electriques (87 St Catherine St, Montreal, QC H2X 1K5).

Enjoy the 8tracks mix from this year's DJ set, the photos as well as the videos taken during this and previous years.  

These are photos taken from my time at Under Pressure.

Under Pressure is truly a family affair.

More footage from the battles as well as additional footage taken during my DJ set can be viewed at the DJ Solespin YouTube channel.  Shout outs to Super Stef, FlyRightVideos & Alex Menjivar.  

Lastly, I thank Sterling Downey for continuing to make it possible.