Rap selections from 94. Mastered version available NMLSWORLD Hawaii (@NMLSHI)
A few years ago we did a mix with DJ @JCABARTEJA that was release with our Golden Era design. Listen to it on his sound cloud. Click on the NMLSX94blocka sound cloud link.
Who Is Jon CCC,
When I was very young, I remember my dad sifting through vinyl records, speakers and disco lights in the garage. He would also always be in a hurry to leave, and wouldn’t come home for a few hours. I eventually realized when I was a little older, as a 6th grader at Kalakaua Intermediate School that my dad has been moonlighting as a DJ. This caught my interest, and so on certain days while he was away at work, I would sneak into the garage to in plug his turntables. It was on. A seed was planted.
Throughout middle school, the idea of being a DJ never left. For my birthday, I remember going to Radio Shack and buying my first mixer with all my birthday money. I didn’t have enough for my own turntables then, but I did have a pair of CD players. I got clever, and started to buy CD albums and singles in doubles. This is actually how I really started paying attention to music, and started learning the fundamentals of blending music and the concept of ‘beats per minute’. I still remember bringing all my CDs to school to help ‘DJ’ a dance in the cafeteria.
I eventually bought my first turntable - I was in the 9th grade, and that year, I saved enough lunch money to approach someone who was selling a used Technics-1200. It was around this time, that you could go to Borders Books & Music in Waikele, and still find vinyl records for sale. I used to stop there after school everyday, on my way home to really listen to music, and to buy vinyl with whatever money I had saved up.
Also around this time, I learned that a good friend’s cousin was a DJ for a mobile company - Music Unlimited. A little back-story - Music Unlimited was one of the largest mobile DJ companies on the island. And doing mobile gigs back then was not easy, as everything was heavy, bulky, and analog in sound, so it wasn’t easy. And therefore, customers would pay a lot of money to hire a mobile DJ. I remember begging my friend to introduce me to his cousin. And when he eventually did, straight off the bat, I believe I told his cousin that I was interested in filling out an application. He laughed super hard, and just told my friend and I to come along the next weekend. And again, it was on. This move would lead me to meet some pretty important people, but more on that later.
By the age of 15, I was running gigs on my own - on behalf of Music Unlimited, of course. I learned a thing or two about sound, people, and business. During this time, I had helped DJ countless proms, banquets, winter-balls, weddings, first birthdays, and all sorts of other functions. It was a really mainstream way of life however, so my curiosity for alternative types of genres started to peak. I started buying records that I wouldn’t necessarily play at my Music Unlimited gigs. I started becoming a little well rounded.
One day, I learned that one of the Music Unlimited guys had a cousin who was in this turntablist group called the Nocturnal Sound Crew. So I pressed my friend to introduce me to his cousin. He got tired of me asking, so he gave me his number. So I called his cousin, Lowell Viloria.
I remember that phone call to be one of the most awkward calls ever. I basically called him, and we agreed that I would teach him how to blend and mix music, if he could teach me how to scratch. HAHAHA!!! Anyway, my friendship with Lowell Viloria, I would say, was one of the most important pieces to my coming up as a DJ. This guy knew everybody. And his crew, NSK, would serve as a great inspiration to me, until today.
And so, while discovering a whole culture existed outside of what I was currently doing as a mainstream mobile DJ, I slowly started to shy away from mobile gigs. It wouldn’t be too long after though, that I would that all my time spent as a mobile DJ, actually gave me tools and quite an advantage to be a good club DJ.
As far as that goes, I’m currently at The Manifest, as their resident DJ. I also do special events and weddings, though I am very selective. I still buy vinyl, and I’m now in the process of teaching myself the production aspect of music.
APPROACH TO 94 BLOCKA PROJECT
For the project, decided to put together a mixtape consisting of rap songs released in 1994. Some may actually have been released in late ’93. I tried to use tracks converted from vinyl as much as possible. I also paid attention to the styles of rap that was prominent in different regions throughout the states. You’ll notice the music from each region was very jazz/soul heavy, as ‘94 was sort of the gateway to the Golden Era sound, which was influenced strongly by jazz and soul. Though I prepared/studied the breakdown each track, the mix was a straight live recording, so please excuse the rawness of it. I hope you enjoy!