Philadelphia Salute

A little bird told me that my blog gets a lot of love from the United States.  

Americans appear to be most content with the podcasts I’ve been serving.  

Pennsylvania has been among one of the strongest supporters of my show for the last few years.

In appreciation for the love, The Suite Delight Old School Hip Hop Radio Show will dedicated an episode playlist to the Philadelphia followers.

If there are people in the United States, listed below or otherwise, that want a monthly DJ set or even one night of DJ Solespin/The Suite Delight musical goodness at a happening venue, please don’t hesitate to contact me. The pleasure would be all mine. 

The Suite Delight is broadcast live on Montreal’s CKUT 90.3FM every Tuesday morning from 2am-3am EST.   

Following @DJSolespin on Twitter will let you know when the songs are played and the podcasts are online.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com

Below is the podcast to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

The Suite Delight - 2014-11-04 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - 2014-11-04 Playlist:

1. Cool C - The Glamourous Life
2. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - A Touch Of Jazz (Extended Re-Touch)
3. Steady B - Serious (Ceereeus BDP Remix)
4. Cash Money & Marvelous - Who's In The Place (Vocal Mix)
5. Jay-Z - Money, Cash, Hoes (Remix) featuring Beanie Siegel, DMX & Memphis Bleek
6. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Brand New Funk
7. Steady B - On The Real Tip
8. Cash Money & Marvelous - A Real Mutha For Ya (12" Mix)
9. Schoolly D - Gucci Time
10. Three Times Dope - Funky Dividends  
11. Bahamadia – Uknowhowwedu 
12. The Roots - Clones

Thanks again to Pennsylvania & the States for their support!

DJ Premier

I was thrilled to see DJ Premier emerge as the main man for hip hop production. 

I was not only amazed at his ascension but his sounds as well. 

The list of artists he worked with outside of Gang Starr is mind-blowing.




On Masta Ace’s first appearance in Montreal, I met him at Off the Hook during an autograph signing. I didn’t forget to ask him if DJ Premier produced Saturday Nite Live because I knew my chances of getting the answer would be even slimmer afterwards. According to Ace, Premier did the cuts on the cut.

I remember Gang Starr performing in Montreal years ago and I would have asked Premier if he had produced Masta Ace’s posse cut while he was autographing my CDs. I forgot to do so probably because I was too shook from watching him sign the booklets and because I was among a mob deep of Montreal hip hop heads hustling to get his autograph.

You're on the Request Line

 

The original post was originally posted on February 8, 2020. 

The new time slot was Tuesday mornings from 3-5am EST on CKUT 90.3 FM.

I changed the name of my radio show to in an attempt to rebrand and reignite my love for radio that was dwindling with every passing week.  I thought to focus on classic, golden-era hip hop music again as a means of staying close to the music that was once close to me like The Cure. 

I stated that for the upcoming episodes that I would open the request lines for the songs that made you fall in love with hip hop.  It fell on deaf ears.  

Feel free to request songs & artists, hip hop or otherwise, in the comments section below as well as on Twitter that you could want me to blog about. 

I'm considering opening my blog again after years of writer's block or life basically doing its thing.

Please make yourself familiar with the links for more archives of what was supposed to be your favorite show. 

Visit the Mixcloud page to listen them and more. 

The Hip Hop Homeroom new time slot is Tuesday morning 3-5am EST on CKUT 90.3 FM.

Mixcloud

Podcasts will be added to Mixcloud!

Thank you to everyone who listened to the podcasts to date.

It goes without saying that you are cordially invited to follow/subscribe there as well.

The playlists feature classic hip hop artists up to 1999 that appear on the most popular podcasts on Mixcloud.

http://www.mixcloud.com/DJSolespin/

DJ Solespin - WeFunk

If and when I’d be home on a Friday night, the radio was tuned to CKUT 90.3FM’s WeFunk.

Someone told they listened to my last appearance on WeFunk and I told them it was one of the most pivotal moments in my life. 

Almost everything I've done with djing & records stems from that night at CKUT with DJ Static. Years later, I'm now on CKUT and blessed enough to be spinning for the public on a weekly basis. 

If you want to know anything about how & why I do what I do with music, this is the best place to find out. 

http://www.wefunkradio.com/show/568

I got to fill in for WeFunk twice before the 2012 holiday season year wrapped up. 

History repeated itself because I filled in for WeFunk just before the 2013 holiday season.

To hear what I did as fill-in host, click play on the Cloudcasts below.

DJ Solespin - WeFunk (November 2013) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

DJ Solespin - WeFunk (2012-12-08) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

DJ Solespin - WeFunk (2012-12-29) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The DJ Solespin - WeFunk August 2013 playlist is below.

Playlist:

1. Heavy D & The Boyz – Let It Flow
2. Sweet Tee – As The Beat Goes On
3. K-os – ELEctrik HeaT - the seekwiLL
4. Maestro  Fresh-Wes – Conductin’ Things
5. Queen Latifah – Dance For Me
6. Cookie Crew – Born This Way
7. Run-DMC – Run’s House
8. Three Times Dope – Greatest Man Alive
9. Flipmode Squad – Everybody on the Line Outside
10. Jurassic 5 – In The House
11. Rah Digga – Tight (Remix) feat. Pharoahe Monch & Lord Have Mercy
12. Nas – You’re The Man
13. Mood Ruff – Rocketship (Remix)
14. Isaac Hayes – Do Your Thing
15. Bill Withers – Use Me
16. The Dramatics – Whatcha See is Whatcha Get
17. The 8th Day – She’s Not Just Another Woman
18. Aretha Franklin – The House That Jack Built
19. The Jimmy Castor Bunch – Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You
20. Syl Johnson – Different Strokes
21. Sly & The Family Stone - Underdog
22. Baby Huey & The Babysitters – Listen To Me
23. Jeremy Steig – Howlin’ For Judy
24. The Dee Felice Trio – There Was a Time
25. James Brown – It’s A New Day
26. The Turtles – I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)
27. Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers – Right On
28. Donald Byrd - (Fallin´ Like) Dominoes

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.  

DJ SeriousBlack

Serious Black and DJ Solespin go way back like Just-Ice & KRS-One.

We knew each other long before either of us would don those names.

Although we were at opposite radio stations years ago, our dedication to the crafts of DJing and radio were common denominators.

Fate would have us at Greenlight Gallery twice and I got to hear Serious Black spin for the very first time. 

Her hip hop heavy guest fill-in spot on The Goods preceded my finalizing The Suite Delight guest schedule and naturally I invited her to join me on my show for a blissful December 2012 episode. 

**Due to technical difficulties during the live broadcast, the usual Suite Delight podcast had to be replaced with the station archive copy divided into three parts. The original December 2012 was edited and prepared as one podcast for Mixcloud.**

Visit The Suite Delight podcast site to download other archived episodes.

The Suite Delight - Serious Black (2012) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

Playlist: 
James Last - Aquarius
Professor Longhair - Big Chief
Greenwood Rhythm Coalition - Tabaco y Ron (TM Juke & The Jack Baker Trio Rework)
The Biddu Orchestra - Funky Tropical
Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove (Restless Soul Inspiration Information Mix)
Midnight Star - No Parking On The Dance Floor
Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl
Poysner, Riggins & Jackson - Funky Butt, Pt. 1
Medeski, Martin & Wood Featuring Guru - Whatever Happened To Gus (Word To The Drums Mix) (Guru Remix)
N'Dea Davenport - Whatever You Want (Remix)
M.C. Solaar - Caroline
Voice - Fantasy Pt1 (Think Twice Rmx)
K-os - Heaven Only Knows (Saukrates Remix)
Cut Chemist - Binky's Pick
Main Source - Watch Roger Do His Thing
Mood Ruff - Rocketship (Remix)
Pete Rock - We Good feat. Kardinal Offishall
Karma & Lotus - Monk's Swing
Conn-Shawnery - B-Boy Academy

Here is some more Serious Black at work in the mix for your zen, listening pleasure.

Wanderlust Tremblant in the D'OM mix by Dj Seriousblack on Mixcloud

 

MaxStaxofWax (January 2013)

MaxStaxofWax made a return to The Suite Delight this month. 

Discussions prior to our next show together give me the impression soul, funk, hip hop, jazz and other goodies were guaranteed. 

Below is the playlist of what transpired when he joined me in January 12, 2013.


To listen to the podcast, click Play and to download this episode along with others, visit The Suite Delight podcast site.



Playlist: MaxStaxofWax 2013


Jay Dee - Rico Suave Bossa Nova
Emile Normand Sextet - Mas Que Nada
Earl Rodney - Juck Juck
Classics IV - Stormy
Talk Spot
Dennis Brown - Money In My Pocket
Baba Leslie - Flying Free
Taj Mahal - Satisfied 'N' Tickled Too
ESG - U.F.O.
Martha High & Speedometer - Save Me
Bronx River Parkway - Deixa Pra La
Talk Spot
Betty Lavette - Heart Of Gold
Wilson Pickett - (Your Love Has Brought Me) A Mighty Long Way
Friends Of Mine - Shambala
Sammy Davis Jr. - Baretta's Theme
David Ryshpan - DSDQ: Dilla's Quiet (Incubator Remix)
Jai Nitai Lotus - Hard Times feat Georgia Anne Muldrow and Declaime
Madchild - Pressure
Buck 65 - Sunday Driver
The Incubator - Re:Us
Talk Spot
Obscure Disorder - 2004
P-Love – St-Viateur Shuffle, Part 2
Kid Koala - 7-Bit Blues
Junior Parker - Taxman
Maxine Weldon - My Way
Talk Spot

DJ Andy Couchman (December 2012)

DJ Andy Couchman may not take too well to the term legend but in my mind, as well as those of my generation, the title is apropos.

For most record connoisseurs and collectors, It is not difficult to describe what James Brown’s Sex Machine, Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul, Sly & The Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Going On and The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers album covers look like. It is also not difficult to imagine the impact those albums must have had on popular culture. For most in my demographic, that is all we can do. Couchman was DJing with those records when they were first released.

I was introduced to Bob Marley’s music before I would care about it. Couchman introduced reggae music to post-disco Montreal clubs in the early 1980s.

The Friday night Prince Montreal Jazz Festival concert is the best show I’ve ever attended. Maceo Parker was a featured musician for many numbers including a small James Brown tribute. Couchman told me a highlight of his career as DJ is opening for Parker.

A highlight of my six years of Concordia University's radio is receiving DJ Andy Couchman as guest DJ on the December 8 episode of The Suite Delight from 8-10pm EST.

**On this particular date, I filled in for the show on before mine. Due to technical difficulties prior to my regular broadcast time, the first hour of the podcast was lost and the recording resumed during the Martha High & Speedometer track.**



This download, along with others, can be found on my Podomatic website. 

Playlist:

King Curtis - The Weight
Motherlode - When I Die
Merry Clayton - I've Got Life
Merry Clayton - Southern Man
The Original Caste - Highway
Mongo Santamaria - Spinning Wheel
Talk Spot
Junior Walker & The All-Stars - These Eyes
Gino Soccio - Closer
Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band - Heart Of Gold
Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays - Is It Because I'm Black
Rick James - Mary Jane
Martha High & Speedometer - I'd Rather Go Blind
Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays - How Long
Jully Black - 5X Love
Talk Spot
Conn Shawnery - Shum Shum (Instrumental)
Santigold - I'm A Lady
Amanda Blank - Love Song
News & Community Calendar
Talk Spot
Carmen McRae with The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
Emile Normand Sextet - Mas Que Nada
Ted Moses Quintet - Hidden Strength
Nick Ayoub - Saphir
Talk Spot
Melanie Fiona - Running featuring. Nas
Jully Black - Material Things featuring. Nas
Talk Spot
Davina - So Good
Floetry - Floetic
Krystale & Kaytradamus - Sweet Tooth
Talk Spot/introduction to DJ Andy Couchman set
Isaac Hayes - Do Your Thing
The Temptations - Ball of Confusion (Acapella)
Jimmy Smith - Give Up The Booty
Alan Prater aka Soul-O - Morning Pages
Buckshot Lefonque - Music Evolution
Lalomie Washburn - Music Use It
Prince - Musicology
Cameo - Skin I'm In
Talk Spot
Sarah Jones - Your Revolution
Nina Simone - I Can't See Nobody (Daniel Y Remix)
Notorious BIG vs Herb Alpert - Rise Hypnotize (Dubious Fusion Remix)
Johnny Guitar Watson - Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty
Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten (SMV) - Thunder
Talk Spot
Sade - By Your Side (Cottonbelly Remix)
News & Community Calendar
The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby
Gwen Guthrie -Seventh Heaven
Mo' Horizons - Gonna Be (Ben Human Remix)
Prince & The New Power Generation - Gett Off (Housestyle Remix)
Cymande - Brothers On The Slide
Talk Spot