I normally don’t plug other private labels, but Kid Robot is doing something amazing! They’ve joined forces with Da La Soul and Myong Kurily to bring a Kid Robot inspired set of De La Soul figurines available on March 18, 2010! It commemorates the 20th anniversary of one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time “3 feet high and rising.”

Check out the info here:
http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/de-la-soul-3fer-win-it

Vintage Clothing Limited is the Official Clothing Sponsor of the “Smoking Needles Tour 2010″ featuring Phife Dawg (of Tribe Called Quest), Chip Fu (of Fu-Schnickens), and DJ Rasta Root! The crew will be traveling all over the map beginning with Copenhagen on March 12th and wrapping up the tour in Brussels on March 27th. We will be checking in with the three as their travels take them to all over Europe for a unique blend of classic hip-hop that’s sure to make an exciting showcase! If you have a chance to catch one of the show’s you can expect to see a Vintage Limited t-shirt being represented on stage as well as a banner, stickers, and other materials like flyers lining the venues at this month long Europe tour!

Also, be sure to pick-up your official Phife, Chip Fu, Dj Rasta Root tour shirts designed by Eric Nine and Vintage Clothing Limited! (currently available in Europe only during the tour). Soon to be available in the US @ our online store!

TOUR SCHEDULE:

Here enters a much anticipated player in the game by way of Native Instruments Maschine. A one-part software editing/sequencing suite and one-part hardware interface much like the mpc. While the verdict is still out on the legitimacy of software engineered beats because it allows anyone with the money to purchase the software and a gang of downloaded drum kits from the internet to call themselves a producer… There is no shortcuts when it comes to real talent. I once heard a well known producer say that many people like to talk about the tools they use to make their beats but no matter what tool is used its the talents of the producer and their ability to master whatever is at their disposal to craft masterpieces that truly makes you note worthy. I like that!

For more info on Native Instruments Maschine, visit their website here.

The second music video off the upcoming Vintage Experience album by Wordsmith is “Tour Guide to New Bride.” While many of Wordsmith’s videos tell a story, there is no doubt that the interspersed narratives in this newest video play well into the notion of the “movie-music video.” Tour Guide to New Bride follows the career of a rising star, our “rapper hero” Wordsmith, as he struggles to meet his obligations in the daily grind, eventually falling in love with his booking agent played by Ally Gunther.

Trey P makes an appearance during the club scene. You’ll see him walking across in a white and blue Ecko track jacket, Amongst Friends hat, and of course Vintage Limited’s “Lion in the City” t-shirt. Wordsmith also sports “The Rock is Steady” t-shirt in the last scene. This is an enjoyable video and like nothing you’ve seen in a minute. Classic storytelling here!

Don’t forget to download your free copy of Wordsmith’s “Vintage Vault” mixtape as a prelude to the “Vintage Experience” official album dropping on March 30th. You can grab the mixtape here.

I had the chance to catch up with 93.9 FM WKYS’s DJ Gemini at an undisclosed fast food restaurant location in District right before his live broadcast from Ibiza, one of the hottest clubs in the DMV. For those in the know, KYS is one of the top 10 radio markets for urban/hip hop/R& B music in the country. Along with his colleagues, Gemini is a large part of the success.

During our conversation, he opened up to me about the current state of deejaying, fake deejays, the real job of the radio deejay, love and hate in the DMV, his thoughts on Wale and other rising artists, Lil Wayne, and fashion.

Trey P: Who are you and how long have you been doing this?

Gemini: I’m DJ Gemini and I’ve been deejaying for about 30 years. My dad was actually a deejay, and he also owns a music store. I was kind of born into it.

Trey P: What’s the name of the music store he owns?

Gemini: It’s called Sound of Maryland in Oxon Hill, Maryland. He’s originally from Baltimore where he ran Sound of Baltimore.

Growing up in Baltimore you kind of want to be a deejay. I know I did. In DC, everybody grows up with the go-go bands. I put out a Baltimore Club records years ago. I was definitely heavy into Baltimore Club. I’ve got all the Unruly Records. I couldn’t wait to save my lunch money, get on the bus, go down to Howard Street, and go to the music store.

Trey P: But you took the path of a radio deejay instead of staying in the clubs?

Gemini: I started off in the clubs. I really didn’t get into the clubs until I came to DC. Like I said, my dad owns a music store and some guy who works for Liaison Records named DJ Mike Scott used to deejay at the Ritz, a legendary club here. So the Ritz was one of the only clubs in America outside Baltimore that would have Baltimore Club music. The Ritz had like ten rooms. They had a reggae room, three hip hop rooms, a Baltimore Club room…so their thing was “we got to get a DJ from Baltimore.” That was kind of how I got lucky out here. This was twelve years ago, and then I took it from there. Ever since the Ritz, I’ve been fortunate enough to always land in big clubs.

The radio happened when I was really kind of heavy on the downtown scene here in DC. The radio deejays would all be at the same clubs. But it was still hard to get on. DJ Sixth Sense was actually the guy who brought me into the station. Like I said, I pretty much have a relationship with all these guys, DJ Alizay, Quicksilva…all those good guys. So they helped me out. I’ve now got two shows on radio so the last…maybe three years I’ve been just killing it.

Trey P: What’s a typical day look like for you at the station?

Gemini: I go in about 10 am. My show doesn’t start till about 12 pm. My first show is the twelve o’clock mix with Jeannie Jones. Then I have another mix show that comes on at 12 am with DJ Reddz. It’s technically a live show. So what I do is I try to get up there early for the 12 am show. Then I go up after my first show about 12:30 to 1 pm and meet with independent artists. I do music meetings. I get out about 3 pm if I’m lucky and then I go to run the music store with my dad.

Trey P: How has the deejay game changed, say, in the past five years?

Gemini: Man…there’s a few different aspects of the game. Being a deejay, Serato has completely flipped the game. The positives of Serato are you’re not lugging around eight crates. You can carry a lot more music. You’re not normally faced with “well, I don’t have that song.” That helps you as an individual Deejay. The problem with the Serato is after somebody buys Serato they feel like they are a deejay, and you know that ain’t so.

You can find music a lot easier. A lot of people are making music with the computer carriers. A lot of people are making music that should not necessarily be making music because it’s so easy to make. Before, you had to get vinyl pressed and you really had to do a lot to approach a deejay. Now, you can kind of go to your house if you have the Garage Band software. Garage Band is no joke, but it’s made a lot of things easier for the wrong people. Everybody wants to be a DJ.

Trey P: Do you prefer vinyl still?

Gemini: I use vinyl on the air a lot. In the clubs, I use CDs. I still use Serato, but I prefer CDs in the club. You don’t have to worry about bumping tables when you’re on the air.

Trey P: So what do you have going on at WKYS?

Gemini: Same old ratings looking good. So that’s always a good thing. Like I said, I have two shows.

Trey P: What’s the political hierarchy look like at KYS? Is it good? Is it bad?

Gemini: A lot of people think that there’s a lot on the pay-o-la. I personally don’t see it. Let me clear this up. I’m way down at the bottom. Us deejays, we’re kind of low. We’re just the personalities. We’re talking about a really big company. Radio One is huge. We’re really down low on the pole…

Trey P: But you’re also the link to the audience.

Gemini: Right. We’re the link to the streets…the direct link. On a personal level, when I see talent, if I hear things, it’s my job. Right now, it’s like you’re an undercover cop. If someone robs a store, even if you’re not on duty, you still gotta save the people in the store. If I hear something, and I’m out on the streets, I take it there, know what I’m saying? If you win a Grammy, I’m the type of guy who wants to say, I helped him win that Grammy.

Trey P: Is there a lot of love like that in the DMV in your opinion or do you see a lot of factions going on?

Gemini: You know, everybody has their own circle. But, it’s a lot of love too. You hear the hate, but the muth#@$% that hate are kind of nobodies. They don’t matter. I’ve never had any problems from any artists. Tabby is my dog. Wale is a good guy. Kingpen Slim is a great guy. Whitefolkz is my dog. What I see with them all, they all seem to have love for each other so I don’t see [the hate]. But when the door closes at their house…whatever, I don’t know. It seems like a lot of them are starting to realize that if one person makes it…

Trey P: Is that true though? I mean, Wale made it. Do you see everyone making moves with him?

Gemini: I think Wale helped a lot of people. He can’t help everybody. You know what I mean?

Trey P: Yeah, that’s true.

Gemini: So naturally the people that feel like they should have been helped will be kind of pissed off. But at the same time, Wale signed with Interscope, which is a machine. So, there’s only so much that Wale can do.

Trey P: Cause the machine will slash out everybody else.

Gemini: Right. For instance, the Pretty Girls record…that’s the s#$t right now. Wale brought the record to us [WKYS] months ago. He would say, “you know this is the s#$t, but the label isn’t letting me let it go right yet.” I mean, it’s only so much that he can do. He can’t just say, “I’m gonna take everybody in the DMV and get them record deals.”

Trey P: But his break at this point is pivotal because nothing’s come out of here. So he’s breaking it out for everyone.

Gemini: I think Wale did a pretty good job.

Trey P: He hooked it up with Mark Ronson. And Ronson really put him on.

Gemini: Definitely. You know, Mark Ronson is always a good look. Alizay, who pretty much broke Wale, is a good friend of mine. I used to deejay at Platinum. And Alizay was at Platinum. I seen Wale kind of…we got the same watch, man.

Trey P: Oh really (laughs…looks at watch).

Gemini: Anyway, I saw kind of how he was coming up. This is one thing I saw with Wale, kind of going off subject…before Wale’s album came out, and people are not going to like me saying this s#$t…whatever. I think everybody was kind of Wale crazy. So, I said, “I want to see how crazy they are when his first week of sales comes out.” He didn’t do as well as we thought he would do. So where were all these people? You know, people turn on you. People will turn on you quick.

Trey P: That’s true.

Gemini: I think Wale did a pretty good job. All the guys who broke through, Wale, Tabby, Mully right now is killing them, Bossman in Baltimore was really killing them, Raheem. You know, I think people do what they can do. I don’t think Wale got on, Tabby got on, Mully got on and said “f#$k the DMV.” You know what I’m saying? I think they do what they can do.

At the same time, the world is bigger than the DMV. So you kind of have to cater to everyone. So everything can’t be DMV. You can’t make the Pretty Girls f#$king DMV remix because you still got people in Compton, California who don’t give a f#$k about the DMV and don’t need to hear that song. So you kind of have to prepare like that.

Trey P: So what’s your five year plan?

Gemini: Awww…man. I love deejaying.

Trey P: Are you hooking up with any artists right now?

Gemini: Right now my focus is Mully Man. On a personally level, I love deejaying. I know I’m not going to be a DJ for the rest of my life, so hopefully I’ll be running one of these radio stations you hear me on. I do have a daughter. So definitely, taking it to the next level.

Trey P: Do you have anything you want to plug…anything for Mully Man?

Gemini: Mully’s the Twitter king. He’s not hard to find. I’m not hard to find. I’m in the DMV at all the clubs. Just a shout out to everybody. I’m pretty positive. There’s a lot of arrogant deejays out there. But it all kind of catches up to you later in life. It’s karma. I’m doing a little bit of traveling. I’m gonna be on Shade 45 next Sunday with DJ Whoo Kid.

Trey P: So one last question. What are your thoughts on fashion in the hip hop community?

Gemini: It’s a big deal. From Run DMC with the Adidas, Naughty by Nature…man, it’s a real big deal. I’m not a real big fan of the skinny jeans. But what I will say is that is that generation’s. When we were young, we were doing some s$%t that thirty year olds wouldn’t do too. I don’t knock the kids. I don’t like it, but that’s my own personal opinion. You gotta look at it like this on the fashion end. It kind of goes back to music. I love Air Force One’s. I love Timbalands. That’s what I was doing when I was 15. That’s like what’s happening with hip hop.

Trey P: Well, there’s only a couple of guys that are really killing it like Wayne…

Gemini: But Wayne is what’s hot so Wayne is what dictates hip hop. So whatever’s hot…how he dresses normally dictates what you as a fan are gonna want to wear. When Kid ‘n Play was wearing high-top fades that was the craziest looking thing that somebody who was 40 or 50 years then saw. “Why would you want to do that with your hair?” So it’s like Wayne with dreads or the New Boyz with skinny fronts…it’s what kids see. Fashion is fashion in my opinion. I’m not too flashy. I put on my flannel, my North Face vest, and my Timbs.

Trey P: Gemini, thanks for your thoughts and insights.

Gemini: Thanks.

For more info:

www.kysdc.com

What is the BeatLab Podcast?

Think of it like a 30 minute beat tape released every 2 weeks in podcast form so fans can subscribe through itunes and have it automatically downloaded when a new mix drops. Its all underground beats with no lyrics so you can throw this on and do some work or chill or set a mood without any lyrics or artist distraction. It’s all about the beats!

Our podcast DJ (DJ Bonezelli) travels the World collecting beats from producers both know, unknown, commercial and underground and his beat collection is incredible. You might hear a Madlib beat then a Dilla joint followed by The ARe, then Alchemist, then Black Milk, M-Phazes, YOU and so on…

What do I send in and how?

Producers can submit beats through email attachments or links in an email to: beatlab@vintagelimited.com – The stipulations are that the music need to be in mp3 format at least 192 kbps (or higher!) but no more than 512 kbps to keep file sizes manageable on our end. No more than 5 beat submissions per email and all beats need to be fully ID3 tagged (which you can do in itunes) with artist name, album name (if applicable), and beat name. If a beat is from an artists album other than you (the producer) then the name should be as followed “song name (instrumental) – artists name – prod. by producers name”. This should help us to keep stuff organized.

Also if you have press sheets, album release information, etc. Please feel free to send us that as well. Please note that not all beat submissions will make it on the rotation and will be up to the podcast dj to make all final playlist decisions. We definitely appreciate your interest and send in those beats!

Check out the Vintage BeatLab Podcast now, right here on our site. You should also subscribe on iTunes now here.

Thanks and Best Regards!

Last night at the swanky club in the Mt. Vernon district called Red Maple, set against a cold and rainy Tuesday evening backdrop, the rescheduled event took place. As planned we were in the building full force, and regardless of the less than the capacity crowd we had expected (due to a number of factors) those who came certainly got their entertainment fix for the evening. Around 11:45 Wordsmith hit the floor, mic in hand, and crowd raring to hear some heat. Word definitely did not disappoint. He left it all on the floor as he walked away, sweat from his face and exhausted after an energetic performance as if appearing before a prime time tv audience. Even know there was no Leno in attendance a video crew was capturing the set. I had my camera in hand as well and took plenty of photo’s to document the night. Below are a few but for the full effect you need to head on over to our Facebook fan page and check out the photo gallery here.

A big shout out to Garth the owner of PEDX for his hospitality and for the opportunity. I’m sure this won’t be the last event we’ll do together and I definitely look forward to more in the future. Also, a big thank you to all the blog readers, and people who receive our newsletters and support us with your purchases. I got the chance to talk with a few of our local supporters last night and its always inspiring to hear that you like what we’re doing and rep us hard! Thanks for the compliments coming first hand and face to face. Much respect!

If you’re in the DC area this Friday and you’re looking for a party spot, come out to Indulj Lounge where Vintage Clothing Limited will be on hand sponsoring the Cred Magazine party (www.credxtra.com) which celebrates the release of the new issue. We expect to see DJ Alizay from 93.9 FM on the 1s and 2s as well.

I’ll be joined by Wordsmith (www.wordsmithmusic.com) and Coast2Coast mixtape DJ Ykcor (www.coast2coastmixtapes.com)

Also on hand…come out and meet Samantha Reynard, Vintage Clothing Limited’s resident female model.

Dress to impress! And while you can’t wear street wear, including Vintage Limited, we expect to have some on display for you touchy-feely types.

Indulj is located in the U Street Corridor of DC, in the same vicinity as the world-famous Ben’s Chili Bowl (as seen in the Wale video “Chillin’”)   For more information on Indulj or for directions, visit their website at: www.induljdc.com  Hope those of you in the area can make it out!

Wordsmith (a.k.a. Wordsmith the Great) will be performing at Red Maple in Baltimore, Md this evening and Vintage Clothing Limited is the sponsor.  If you haven’t seen a live Wordsmith performance, you’re in for a treat. This trained theater major works the floor like nobody’s business.

Red Maple is one of Baltimore’s premier venues for hip hop and they’ve teamed up with PedX for their Tuesday night event called Always Dope.  Event starts @ 9 pm and goes until 2 am.  Free until 10 pm. $5.00 after.  Great drink prices. Great music!

Also, mark your calendars for these other dates as Wordsmith starts to fill his live show schedule to promote his first album drop on March 30, 2010 and beyond!

Wordsmith @ Red Maple (Baltimore, MD March 2, 2010)

Wordsmith @ SOBs (New York City March 24, 2010)

Wordsmith @ Zanzibar (Washington, DC March 25, 2010)

Wordsmith @ Eye Bar (Washington, DC March 30, 2010)

Wordsmith @ in the London, England and Paris, France (for two weeks in April 2010 – locations TBA)

Wordsmith @ The Ocean City Car Show (Ocean City, MD June 5-6, 2010)

Wordsmith @ Dub Magazine Custom Car Show & Concert  (Ocean City, MD  August 7-8, 2010)

Part of a four chapter series, Wordsmith, an MC, discusses Chapter I of his upcoming album “Vintage Experience”.  The album will be available for purchase on March 30, 2010.

Learn more about Wordsmith and Vintage Experience by logging onto his website www.wordsmithmusic.com

This video Interview was produced by Olawale Ogbonlowo for 4sight Pictures. Shaun B. of Vintage Limited designed the album cover  seen in this video. Also you can download the latest mixtape by Wordsmith by going here now to get you ready for March 30th!