WHO'S THE DJ? (AND PRODUCER?)... A GUY CALLED GERALD - A MUSICAL GIANT WHOM YOU MAY NOT, BUT SHOULD KNOW

A Guy Called Gerald's Classic release, ESSENCE. Growing up with Hip-Hop Culture in my household was a privilege, as I always take moments to reflect on history and my upbringing. My mother and her brother, Alphonse were children in the cities of Watts, Inglewood, Pacoima and Vallejo, California growing up and getting into new and interesting things. Luckily for my sister, La Fre$h and I, one of these things was Hip-Hop Culture in the form of Pop-Locking/B-Boy/B-Girling. My mother's involvement with the popular West Coast version of B-Boy/Girling paid dividends, because this made it so that Hip-Hop was not foreign in our early '80s household - in fact, Hip-Hop was embraced and encouraged. I am forever grateful.

We loved all forms of Hip-Hop from UTFO to Whodini, from Afrika Bambaataa to Egyptian Lover and Twilight 22. Always, was the presence of electronic music during my youthful Hip-Hop experience - the love remains. However, as I grew, I would not be introduced and hardly would I be interested in the existence and emergence of electronic/techno/dance music. Even in the form of Hip-Hop House (Twin Hype, some Native Tongue tracks, etc.), I in my youthful 'all-knowingness' was reviled by the House music. I would not be abandoned in my youthful closed-mindedness, thank goodness.

Lucky for me, a college-buddy who I worked with at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington would stay on me about studying the relationships between Hip-Hop and it's family member, electronic music. Jeff Helm and I worked at KZUU 90.7 FM from 1995-99 - I was there until 2001. Jeff would always make his best effort to introduce me to new sounds like DJ Krush and many other 'eccentric' artists and cultures - Jeff was fascinated with Japanese Culture (and Japanese women too). As the Electronic Music Director, Jeff had his hands on everything NEW and EXCLUSIVE. As the Hip-Hop Music Director and Associate General Manager, I leisurely brushed him off repeatedly, until one day an album appeared and I actually... LISTENED. From the isle of England, a legend entered my sonic life when, in the spring/summer of the year 2000, I opened the case and inserted the CD entitled, ESSENCE, by one of my (now) favorite artists, A Guy Called Gerald (yes, in the vein of A Tribe Called Quest).

Certainly, one of my favorite works, ESSENCE is a sonic journey into the questions, thoughts and passions of life - from my humble interpretation. At least these are the moments that I experience while listening. Among the tens of thousands of albums/records/tapes that I have listened to, played, charted, produced and tossed-out, ESSENCE is among my favorites - like Top 10 ever! AGCG's masterwork (in my humble opinion) sits aside the works of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, DJ Quik, John Coltrane, Bob Marley and others whom I consider essential-listening. In imagining one of the most pleasant days I could experience - it would include lying on my back among the summer rains of Pullman, Washington with A Guy Called Gerald's ESSENCE being played in the background. The beautiful melodies, vocals, production and ideology introduced to me on this album, marked a moment of sonic-growth and introspection and research about what music/soul/spirit means to me. When you get a moment of clarity and need for peace, take a listen to A Guy Called Gerald's, ESSENCE. http://www.guycalledgerald.com/blog/

LUVVA J RECORDING SESSION FOR ULTRAMEGA PROJECT [011711]

I've been working on a major project for the past half year, which has me thinking and acting waaaay out of the box (good thing in my view of the world). This Drum and Bass/Jungle/GoREALLA project has me pretty amped. High speed/tempo tracks and grinding production that is outside of the box has peaked my interest. With so much redundancy in my beloved Hip-Hop culture/universe and with my love for Hip-Hop's relatives like electronic music (Dub Step/Techno/DnB, etc.), I wanted to re-engage in my MCing over Drum and Bass beats and production like I had been doing in the late '90s during my student career in Pullman, WA @ Washington State University (GO COUGS!).

I didn't always dig electronic music, but thanks to people like 'electronicologist', Jeff Helm and DJs like Gene Lee, Sean Majors, DJ Tee, Budget Money and other influential people in my life (shots to KZUU 90.7 FM in Pullman!) - I kept an open mind about all music, but with the help of some reading/research and Jeff Helm reminding me that Electronic music is a niece/nephew of Hip-Hop (thanks to Afrika Bambataa and Kraftwerk and many others), I had to be open to the history and culture of the music. The same way that Hip-Hop is a culmination of Jazz, Blues, Spirituals, Rock and Roll and other genres - electronic music is closely related to Hip-Hop (although you might not see the connection with an untrained eye)...

So, I am engaging in this album - LUVVA J as UltraMega: JungleLUVV. It's in its finals stages as I continue recording at Vertigo Studios in Seattle's Greenwood Neighborhood with engineer/producer, Brad Kaminski. Potato Finger out of Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood is also a dynamic producer featured on the project. Recording as UltraMega is symbolic with the 'BIG NAME'. Everything on the album thus far is BIG. The attitude is WINNING BIG. The vocals ATTACK BIG. The beats are BIG - some fast, some grind, but all BIG. My intent is to create egotistical motivation music with JungleLUVV - basically the type of music that I (or you, hopefully) would listen to before a big game and/or athletic, business or social event where motivation, inspiration, ego and pursuit are key elements for success. This is PRIMETIME SATURDAY NIGHT music, WAKE YO' A$$ UP music and 3:38am music... That's what it is made for... As I complete this project (projected by the end of January) I anticipate the response of the people. Although the project is being marketed primarily to European, Canadian and African markets - where electronic music is almost consumed as Pop music, I am eager to test the open-mindedness of the US market... The quatrains are beginning to show slight visions! (Shots to Michele De Notre Dame aka Nostradamus, one of my heroes).

WINNERS TRAIN, LOSERS COMPLAIN ...DO YO' THANG!

LUVVA J, In A Real Way!