CHICAGO MASSIVE: I’m not on this bill, but I am forwarding this thru anyway…
Indo-Dub prodigy Kush Arora will be in the city next week!

Saturday May 7 at Subterranean 2011 W North Ave Chicago, IL
Facebook Event:

You may have read my previous posts about Spoek Mathambo, another great, South African Hip-Hop artist. Well here is a group from the area named Jam Jarr. They happen to be working with a most talented producer, Process Rebel, who I am a big fan of. This is their latest release, on Rebel’s Sub Infinity Recordings. I do believe it will take dance floors by storm, starting THIS WEEKEND.

SUB005 – Jam Jarr Meets Process Rebel EP by Subinfinity Recordings

In my humble opinion Hip-Hop coming from all over the world is infinitely more interesting than a lot of US releases these days. South Africa in particular is holding the title with me, because of their surprising grasp of the Hip-Hop vernacular. Put plainly… a lot of them sound like Americans… but their overall approach is more worldly.

This shows me that they:
1) Did their homework on the genre
2) Learned enough to become innovators and then take things into exciting NEW directions.

In case you were wondering, that is my approach to Reggae

This one is slated to be the inaugural release on the Snatchy Trax label out of Kansas City

It features mixes by the following producers:
FSTZ /

I’ll tell you why this really makes me happy. Flore (from Lyon, France) is a tremendous artist in her own right. Having released music on the Botchit and Scarper label, collaborated with Joyce Muniz and Shunda K for her latest album “Raw”, Flore is making an established name for herself worldwide. Earlier this month she was herself highlighted on the influential music blog GlobalGhetto.com

http://theworldisaglobalghetto.blogspot.com/2011/04/global-ghetto-flores-woman.html

Feel Me w. Shunda K. (too hot for MTV version)

So I found myself saying “wow.., Flore likes my work..?” when she sent me a request to answer some interview questions. Of course that didn’t stop me from talking my sh** as usual (see the interview here)..

http://www.flore-music.com/2011/04/mc-zulu-will-change-your-mind-about-mcs/

Consistency of character is the order of the day as far as I am concerned )

Get Flore “Raw” At This Link

http://botchitandscarper.bandcamp.com/album/raw-lp/

I caught this show last night at the Chicago Lyric Opera House. Shen Yun was Opera in every which way imaginable, but with a Chinese twist on things.

Sure there were Tenors, Sopranos and one SCARY Contralto, all singing in Chinese. The orchestra was half Euro-classical, half Chinese-classical. There was also stunning background scenery. That’s where the similarities ended.

According to the Emcees for the evening (yea… MCs) most of the moves we refer to as acrobatics come from Chinese classical dance. I am inclined to agree. Shen Yun featured dancing with unparalleled acrobatics. In my humble opinion, this is the height of operatic performance… with NO fat lady singing……..

I couldn’t resist.

Woooowwww… This is a Joy Division remake??
Admittedly I am kinda late on this one, because it is taking the world by storm as I post it. But I am happy to see the brilliance of South Africa’s Spoek Mathambo take center stage. His album named “Mshini Wam” is a tremendous offering, and comes from the “Umshini Wam” Zulu fight song. (Loosely Translated: Bring Me My Machine Gun). Spoek’s Hip-Hop delivery is heavily distorted in the track, and I believe this is going to be my favorite music video for quite some time.

Being that I am personally cool with Spoek, the megalomaniacal side of me sees the megaphone as a professional shoutout….., whether it is or not.lol

I am a veritable PARAGON of optimism ) but what the hell do I know….? I said the same thing when I saw Glee…

I could go on and on about this. I have been a longtime listener to WBEZ (91.5 FM) in Chicago. That is our Public Radio outlet, and one of the only stations where you will hear the best Jazz, Blues and world news, depending on when you tune in.

WBEZ’s morning drive show is Eight Forty Eight, and the host is the lovely Alison Cuddy. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out that she was a fan of mine. When I was finishing up the spring tour in Zurich, I got an e-mail that they wanted me to appear, pretty much as soon as I got back. Well to me that amounts to a great reception, and I am most thankful.

I managed to work in music from each of my Chicago area producer /collaborators, The Drastics, DJ C, Jeekoos, Radiohiro, Chrissy Murderbot and DJ Searchl1te who got the setlist together at the last minute for us. Large Up the Chicago Massive And Crew.

Video Performance / For Interview Click Link Below

Link To WBEZ
http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-04-08/dj-series-mc-zulu-controls-crowd-behind-mic-84916