Psykhomantus Joins international Turntablist Crew ScratchLife

Who ever said that Twitter was useless? Well not to Psykhomantus as he's trade topics, post his mixtapes, followed and made new friends. Psykhomantus met another turntablist on twitter who goe's by the name Thatkidnamedcee who locates from France to Texas and is part of a Turntablist crew called SkratchLife. Other members of the SkratchLife crew is DJ Needlez (Houston,Texas), Doc Jeezy (Pittsburgh, US) and Dexxx Hunt (US). Thatkidnamedcee asked Psykhomantus on twitter to join the crew as they have never met before in real life but the vibe, the passion on the art of Hip-Hop and turntablism made them bound together. I had to say yes, say's Psykhomantus. Thatkidnamedcee and DJ Needlez knows the same people i do, one of people we know is Rob Swift from the X-Ecutioners. I met Rob Swift at the DMC World Championships in London last year (2009). I email him as i was waiting for my DVD from him as it took a while to get to me, reason for delay my message never got to him. When he did find my message he sent me his mixtape (Dust To Dust) along with the DVD and when we met at the DMC, we chilled out a little at the after party. Watch this space from the Skratchlife crew as there will be things to look fwd to in the future.

Check out "NitrousMaskPoisonKuttz" by Thatkidnamedcee

twitter.com/thatkidnamedcee

twitter.com/docjeezy

twitter.com/djneedlz

twitter.com/psykhomantus

Also check www.beat4battle.fr

So Whats Up Wit Psykhomantus?

Well! So what more can i say but March has been one hell of a busy month for me but it beats being at home doing nothing. Hmm... I wonder what that would be like? Anyway, as we move on to April (My birth month) I just wanna step back and say that March was ill. I joined Jonzi D's "The Surgery" for the second time, this time we took it on a mini tour from London to Manchester then liverpool. We also worked with three south african emcee's Hymphatic Thabs, Krook'd Warmonga & Gin I Grindith which was great. Not forgetting Maxwell (it was dope to work with you again) and Sarah Sayeed (Who i think is great), it was a good all round show and all the acts from there town (London, Manchester and Liverpool) that took part, it was good to see other talent, keep shining. "NIggaz said I lost my image, when I cut off my dreads But I'm the nicest nigga out duke, fuck what you said" Yep! My 3rd set of locks are off and ready for my forth set, so beware.. Lol! (Now back to the program). I also took part of "Malabu MISH MASH" hooked up by the Bruntprogress boys Tony Nwachukwu & Gavin Alexander (CDR London), It was fun but let me say it was very different. Lol! But to there was no better way to end March off was to support Kurtis Blow & Furious 5 in Birmingham, DAAMMMMEE! That was a ill ass show. That is a night to remember cause them cats were killing it on stage, never a dull moment. Wanna say peace to Mad Flow who was our host on the mic and loved the reunion of myself and E Double D. We've not DJed for years. Now back at home am working on a new Podcast for the CDR boys which will be ready by Friday. I usually put out a free mixtape mixed by me at the end of every month but have to push it back a little as i've not been at home for a month, the next free mixtape by me will be called "Classic Marterial". I'm planning on putting out six parts to "Classic Marterial" and that is going to be some straight up true DJ cutting up shit. You've been warned. In April, I'll be back gigging at my resident spots in Leicester "Tablist With Soul" @ Turkey Cafe and Barristers night, Miss C Brown has a new night called "One's & Two's" (April 8) which is a Hip-Hop Open Deck night in Birminghams Bulls Head, I'll be passing by to spin a little tune and Seweto Kinch "Fly Over Show" is coming soon. Apart from that It's just working on mixtapes, new routines and tricks, got the "Thank You, James Brown 2010" tour ready (more news on that) and still looking for Kenny Dust... Watch out for him, he's dangerous.

I told you, this man is Dangerous.

Roll on April.

Peace!

Best Of Gang Starr Videos

Guru's condition is still unknown and prayers are still being asked for by friends, family and many fans. Many people send their love using twitter and blog pages for him to regain full health. As for myself and Kenny Dust, we wanted people to show our love here on this blogspot by showing you the best of Gang Starr's Videos. It was great watching them all and every single one of them are dope. "Take It Personal" is my fav and "Jazz Thing" is a classic too but I can go on and on about the videos. Sit back and make time and watch how a real rap group makes dope ass videos. Enjoy!

Get Well Guru!

Words I Manifest



Positivity



from Gang Starr's album "No More More Mr Nice Guy" (1989)

Just To Get A Rep



Who`s Gonna Take The Weight



Love Sick



Step in the Arena



from Gang Starr's album "Step In The Arena" (1991)

Jazz Thing



from Spike Lee's "Mo Better Blues" Soundtrack (1992)

Take It Personal



DWYCK feat. Nice & Smooth



B Side to "Take It Personal" single, also on Gang Starr's 1994 "Hard To Earn"

Ex Girl to Next Girl



from Gang Starr's "Daily Operation" (1992)

Mass Appeal



Code Of The Streets



Suckas Need Bodyguards



from Gang Starr's "Hard To Earn" (1994)

You Know My Steez



Militia feat. Big Shug & Freddy Foxxx



Royalty feat Ki-Ci & Jo-Jo



from Gang Starr's album "Moment Of Truth" (1998)

Full Clip



Discipline feat. Total



from Gang Starr's "Full Clip: A Decade Of Gang Starr" (1999)

Skillz



Rite Where U Stand feat. Jadakiss



Nice Girl Wrong Place feat. Big Boy



from Gang Starr's "The Ownerz" (2003)

*D.I.T.C. #41* "Diggin In The Crates" With Dj Souliva

DJ Souliva returns by dropping us those original classic wax that us Hip-Hop fans hear by our fav rap songs.

Sunday 28th March Furious 5, Kurtis Blow, E Double D, Psykhomantus

Furious 5 & Kurtis Blow

@ Hare & Hound
106 High St,

Kings Heath,

Birmingham,

B14 7JZ

Host: Mad Flow

DJ's E Double D & Psykhomantus
Cost: £10

Sesame Street feat Rob Swift from the X-Ecutioners

This is a flash back for Scratch Academy in NYC but it's dope to see even so the UK stopped showing Sesame street along time ago that the art of turntablism hits the streets of Sesame Streets for the kids. Shame the UK is missing out.

P.E.A.C.E to GURU

Just sharing some thoughts on the Guru situation and imploring all Guru fans to send him some positive energy. My prayers are with the Elam family and all those affilliated.

- Kenny Dust

Jonzi D Productions' THE SURGERY @ The Black E, Liverpool.

Jonzi D breaking down what The Surgery is all about, taking it to Liverpool for the first time.

Promo Video: MADPRICKLY - MadFlow & Prickly Pear "Who´s this" E.P.

Here's a little something to look fwd too for ya ear's. My main man Mad Flow hooks up with Prickly Pear to drop some ill shit. Check out this promo cut called "Who's This?" for the up and coming E.P. Birmingham stand up.

Free Download: MadPrickl...mp3

Gig: Furious 5 & Kurtis Blow

Furious 5 & Kurtis Blow

@ Hare & Hound
106 High St,

Kings Heath,

Birmingham,

B14 7JZ

Host: Mad Flow

DJ's E Double D & Psykhomantus
Cost: £10

THE SURGERY this Saturday - don't miss out on the freshest freestyle Hip Hop theatre around

This will be one of the best Surgery nights ever!
Only 6 mins from London Bridge! (map)

Listen to Jonzi break it down on YouTube

In addition to the usual programme of brand new work from Jonzi D's Hip Hop Theatre Lab workshops we've also got a an international line-up featuring emcees from South Africa and Australia plus the UKs own DJ Psykhomantus.

Hymphatic Thabs, Krook'd Da Warmonga and gin i grinidth are three of the dopest underground emcees from South Africa, all making their debut in the UK, so don't miss out! Also featuring Australian poetry slam champion Omar Musa who worked with Jonzi in Sydney last year on a Hip Hop theatre project West Sydney | East London.

Hosted by Jonzi D, The Surgery is a platform for emerging and established Hip Hop artists to share new ideas and pieces and give the audience a chance to comment and question them. We use a series of Hip Hop Theatre Lab workshops to give artists the chance to work together and get creative in the week leading up to The Surgery. If you want to join the Lab workshops and the chance to work with Jonzi D and the South African emcees, check the websitefor more details - they're FREE!!

We're also taking the Surgery on tour for the very first time, sharing the work with audiences in Manchester and Liverpool.

In London we are presenting this Surgery and Hip Hop Theatre Lab in association with the Albany. In Manchester we are presenting in association with Contact and in Liverpool with The Black-E.

This event has also been made possible by generous support fromOpenvizor and British Council. Big up.

This Friday Specials @ Fabrika

On Friday 5^th March Fabrika in Leicester will host Special – a club night not to miss. Special @ Fabrika is the culmination of CDR East Midlands, a two-year Arts Council-funded project that has set out to discover and bring together the very best digital music talent across the Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.

Not only a night of celebration, live performance and just great music, Special @ Fabrika will be the biggest, one-off gathering of all the DJs and digital music makers involved in CDR from across the East Midlands. More than 15 DJs and live performers have already been confirmed to play.

So, you’re an aspiring DJ and digital music maker. Your work is good, but how do you get it played in a club when you’re still unknown? It’s a dilemma faced by many talented and enthusiastic would-be DJs and producers in the East Midlands, and it’s one that CDR, aimed to tackle.

Over the past two years CDR East Midlands has held club night in venues such as Sophbeck in Leicester, QUAD in Derby, and Muse in Nottingham. Aspiring DJs have been able to bring their own tracks burnt onto CDs down to have them played out in a club environment. For many music makers, previously confined to their own bedroom studios – CDR has been the first time their music has been heard by an audience.

The CDR concept was developed by burntprogress at London’s Plastic People club, twice nominated for ‘Best Club’ in Radio 1’s Worldwide Awards. The East Midlands is the first UK area to pilot the project outside London.

The project has unearthed a whole host of local talent, with many of that talent going on to collaborate and make its mark nationally:

Nottingham DJ Danny Berman aka Red Rack’em is well known for his recent wonky disco/boogie/Detroit house output as Hot Coins, and he had his recent set at the 2009 Worldwide Awards alongside Jazzanova and Laurent Garnier broadcast on Radio 1. His most vocal supporter, Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson, described Rack’em as ‘not being able to put a foot wrong right now’.

Danny says: ”CDR creates a network for local producers to meet and it makes you raise your game because if you come down and somebody else’s track is amazing, it makes you improve.”

He is not the only local success story to be involved with CDR. Leicester’s Psykhomantus has been amazing the crowds with his ability to manipulate classic records and produce fresh new compositions. Derby’s Si Tew, also known as Glitch n Groove – famous for their old school jungle, drum ‘n’ bass and breaks – have been enjoying great success at local club nights and are close to the release of their first collective EP: Powerpack.

Gavin Alexander, Co-director of burntprogress the creative agency that runs CDR, says: “The last two years have shown what an incredible amount of DJ and digital music talent there is in the East Midlands. Special @ Fabrika is going to showcase and celebrate that. It’ll be a really exciting and fun night and we’re hoping it will encourage DJs in the area to pick up what we’ve started and carry it on for the future.”

Gang Starr's Guru Undergoes Successful Surgery

Rapper's partner DJ Premier tweets, 'Keep sending him love,' after rapper reportedly suffered heart attack.

By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Jayson Rodriguez

Gang Starr MC Guru underwent successful surgery on Monday after suffering aheart attack over the weekend, according to the manager of DJ Premier, Guru's partner in the long-running hip-hop outfit.

An unnamed source told AllHipHop.com that the rapper was doing "fine" and is expected to make a full recovery. "Guru is alive and recovering from his surgery. Doctors are expecting a full recovery luckily."

Hot 97's news director Miss Info reported Monday that Guru was in a New York-area hospital where he was expected to undergo surgery.

One of Guru's former collaborators, French MC Solaar, issued a statement on Monday in which he said, "Guru is struggling with a serious health issue. We, the whole 7 Grand Records family, appreciate all your love and well wishes. We continue to hold out hope that Guru will make a full recovery from this. We ask that his privacy on this matter will be respected. Again, thank you for all your support through this trying time."

Composed of Guru (born Keith Elam in Massachusetts) and Premier (born Christopher Martin in Texas) formed Gang Starr in the early '90s and helped define the decade's New York underground rap sound. Premier's production palette featured sampled jazz records and scratched vocals on the choruses, complemented Guru's uncompromising rhymes. Although the pair would work separately as often as they did together — Guru's Jazzmatazz series of albums and Premier's work with Nas, Jay-Z, and underground act Group Home — Gang Starr continued to release critically acclaimed material throughout the late '90s and early 2000s.

Their 1998 album Moment of Truth was among their most critically lauded collections and Gang Starr's biggest selling project to date. Gang Starr's last group project, The Ownerz, was released in 2003.

Guru spoke with MTV News at the time, noting the pair's penchant for working on outside projects, but ultimately continuing to stoke the Gang Starr flames.

"You went on your little vacation, but you come back home with a bunch of skills and other things to add to the table," he said. "When we do Gang Starr it always gets more and more intense."

[This story was originally published on 3.2.10 at 11:45 p.m. ET]

Reports: Guru Of Gangstarr Suffers Cardiac Arrest; In Coma

(AllHipHop News) Rapper Guru of Gangstarr fame suffered a heart attack and is in a coma, several sources have told AllHipHop.com.

While details remain sketchy, the rapper apparently suffered the heart attack in New York City and is in serious condition.

Guru, real name Keith Elam, is a founding member of Gangstarr, which also features legendary producer DJ Premier.

While details remain sketchy, the rapper apparently suffered the heart attack in New York city and is in serious condition.

Questlove of The Roots said via twitter, "So Primo confirmed on Sirius radio yesterday that Guru had heart attack and is in a coma and will undergo surgery today."

Recently, Guru gave fans the opportunity to download his album Guru 7.0: Street Scriptures, which dropped on his label 7 Grand Records in 2005.