Last Tuesday, May 3, local tastemaker DJ Munch and his team put together a remarkable event at the U Street Music Hall where nine of DC’s (and the East Coast’s) finest DJs competed at the last stop before US nationals on Red Bull’s Thre3Style tour, an international DJ battle judged by professional DJs.

Below, I’ve compiled three categories to sum up the contestants: First Class, Business Class and Economy. That way, if you weren’t there to get your Red Bull wings, you can still fly with the cool kids on The Couch Sessions.

1. First Class (Dope DJs and masters of the craft)

The teenage years, when Queens, NY native DJ GETLIVE–the winner of the East Coast showdown of Red Bull’s national Thre3Style DJ battle, May 3 at the U Street Music Hall–had to sneak into clubs and negotiate his place on the decks are long gone. Today, the self-proclaimed Party Rocker and Crowd Motivator has fine-tuned his hype barometer, allowing him to navigate what’s good for club goers (and for the battle win) like Mom feeding you your favorite meal. Sometimes, it’s easy to give ‘em what they want, and last Tuesday, DJ GETLIVE mastered the crowd pleasers, playing early 90s jams like “Whoomp! (There It Is)” and “Hip Hop Hooray,” the timeless it’s-almost-summertime anthem that still lights up a room. That is, unless you were one of the teenagers (18+ night) obnoxiously booing when they missed the cultural cues. Waiting for Odd Future or Waka Flocka Flame? #DontPlayYourself #GrownFolksBiz

With only 15 minutes to rock three genres (“thre3 style”) and show the judges creativity, mixing, track selection, stage presence and get the audience to participate, DJ GETLIVE earned his stripes (and $1,000 cash prize) with an ill power set heavy on scratching. The only oversight he made was playing the iconic rock jam, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” for the third time all night. I have to give him a #CmonSun on that one for not paying attention to his peers. Still, GETLIVE deserves props for his masterful turntablism, which was beautifully reflected in the shiny, two-tier setup Red Bull brought in for the event, another reminder that the company’s production stays on point. In the words of André 3000,

“Who want some? / Don’t come unprepared / I’ll be there, but when I leave there/ Better be a household name (…)”.

Whereas DJ GETLIVE definitely left his mark on the Diamond District, making Red Bull a household name in DC might have been a little difficult considering there were no complimentary energy drinks flowing. As with other cool stuff like national health care, the green light to visit Cuba, and the least crime in North America, Canadians have all the fun. Apparently, the Thre3Style concept started in a small club there three years ago “with a steady supply of Red Bull.”

Where were DC’s wings, Red Bull?

On the subject of fly, congratulations are in order for DC’s own Jahsonic, who took second place and a $750 cash prize (drinks on Jamil!). Both Jahsonic and DJ GETLIVE will advance to compete in the US national finals in Las Vegas. Although Jahsonic had me at the once ubiquitous go-go classic, “One Leg Up (Put Yo Booty on the Floor),” a smile broke across DJ Adrian Loving’s face at the transition into Jill Scott’s equally funk and percussive, “It’s Love.” Waving his hands in the air, he exclaimed, “Never underestimate the power of a slow jam!”

2. Business Class (Suns that don’t know yet they’re stars)

Stussy was rooting for Jerome Baker III (shout out to the Southwest!), who cleverly busted out the gate with, “Everyone Nose” a.k.a. “All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!” and quickly transitioned into “All of the Lights.” But, as the set went on, it started to feel long and the crowd–this writer included–got sleepy. #Morecowbellplease

Also worth his weight in vinyl, I want to give big props to the homie DJ 2-Tone Jones for a strong, confident and consistent opening set. It ain’t easy being first, but 2-Tone’s top notch stage presence, fluid transitions between his three genres–Go-go, Hip-Hop and Reggae–got the crowd syced and disturbed the peace properly. Another reason I tsssked DJ GETLIVE is this: not only did 2-Tone play “Teen Spirit” first, but he transitioned from ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” into the harsh guitar intro of the intensely powerful track. #Winning

DJ Braun Draper was quick, competent and fresh, subtly throwing in the night’s first Dilla track and playing for the judges more than the crowd. That is to say, Draper was dope, but not all the youngins were feelin’ it enough for him to get away with the “Oochie Wally” opener. DJ Cuzzin B definitely did his thing, too, boldly hitting the decks with Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” and mixing the reggae banger “Tempted to Touch” into James Brown’s “Funky Good Time.” Solid.

3. Economy (Bammas who need practice)

This category is reserved for two DJs who failed in the eyes of the Council On All Things Worth Reporting To Couch Sessions Readers. That DJ Petey C won Pittsburgh’s competition is utterly disconcerting if there is to be any hope for more black and yellow pride. With wack (weak) transitions and zero fluidity, even Red Bull reps giving out freebie towels for the teens to wave around the dance floor couldn’t save the dope Outkast track that got lost in the chaos of Petey’s mix. No bueno.

I hate to add insult to injury because a technical problem with the decks left DJ Price with less than half of his allotted time (7 or so minutes out of 15) and no do-over, but dude’s tasteless remarks about the death of Osama bin Laden and gloatingly enthusiastic “USA! USA!” chants were all wrong for the event. The techno start to his set distinguished him from the rest, but I’m not sure that even with an extra 8 minutes it would have been enough to save face, making him Public Bamma No. 1.

To read more and to follow the competition, visit Red Bull’s website or Twitter feed (#RB3style). Don’t forget to congratulate our local champ, Jahsonic, and cheer him on to a national Sin City victory!

Words by Allicia and Dafna Steinberg
Photography by Tracy Clayton

Artists from across the country submitted artwork featuring Red Bull‘s iconic can to enter the annual Art of Can creative competition. This year marks the eighth year of the event, which takes place in Washington, DC.

Local Artist, Dan Barojas

Inspired by the colors of Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Simply Cola, each artist incorporated the colors of red, blue and silver into their designs. The material used to construct all the pieces were made from Redbull cans to form sculptures, graphic designs as well as clothing. Val Lewton, Cheif of Design and Production at Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, is the curator for this exhibition at Union Station.

Winners

Fifty-six pieces are currently on display to the public at Union Station’s main hall (entrance). Yesterday, Tracy and I had the opportunity to attend the the cocktail reception and preview the exhibition. Red Bull invited DJ Rich Medina to provide the entertainment, as Philippa Hughes and Adrian Loving hosted the gala. As I walked through the exhibit, I noticed that Red Bull had chosen local artists to participate in the show. Above is Dan Barojas’ piece, who is also a jewelry designer based out in Fairfax, VA.

The artists whose work is on display come from as far away as Vietnam and Israel. The winner of the competition (which was announced at the Gala opening) was Kathryn J. Beale from Granger, Texas. Her piece “Common Ground” shows the politically symbolic Liberal Donkey and Conservative Elephant drinking from the same can of Red Bull through two straws. The piece seem an appropriate winner for the Washington DC extravaganza.

The exhibition will run through October 19th and open to the public at Union Station.

Red Bull and XM Satellite radio are back with the Red Bull Sub Sessions that take place Thursday on XM’s campus in DC. Last year’s session with DJ Spinna was beyond dope so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s event. Click here to RSVP. Spaces are limited.

If you can’t make it to XM, then Bambaataa will be spinning the afterparty at Current in Dupont Circle later that evening.

DJ Spinna is one of the few hip-hop DJs that has crossed the lines of house, soul, and R&B, and manages to do it more effectively than any artist of his time. The Brooklyn based MC has had a long career as a party DJ, as well as an MC and producer. Last Thursday, I was witness to an intimate Red Bull Sub-Session with the where Spinna participated in a spirited question and answer session with a select group of fans, and gave us a audio tour of his influences on the 1s and 2s a la VH1 Storytellers.

“Music has always been a part of my life”, he says, and no one can doubt that. Spinna’s grew up during the time of hip-hop’s infancy. He talks about how he was influenced by 70s block parties in and how he crossed over into the then bourgening house music scene in New York. He also talks about how record label troubles stifled his attempt as a failed MC and gave his take on the current state of the hip-hop industry.

On His House Music vs. Hip-Hop

Although House music and Hip-Hop have many simalrities, they rarely share the same stage today. Spinna is one of the few musicians to be fluent in both genres. “I have always embraced dance music,” he says, “they’re both rooted in R&B. They’re both rooted in soul.” Spinna was influenced by the sound of classic house records like Marshall Jefferson’s “Rock Your Body” and and Larry Heard’s “Can You Feel It”. At times he finds it difficult to juggle both genres, but he’s never gotten a negative reaction from the hip-hop community. During the mid nineties, hip-hop was “wack” to him, so he went into house music full speed. Now, he’s back doing this hip-hop thing with a vengeance.

Larry Heard – “Can You Feel It”

On DJing vs Producing

“I’ve always been a DJ,” Spinna says, “but recording is a thing that I’ve always taken seriously.” The turning point in his production carerer was when “Everybody Bounce” dropped in 1994. This record, which most people wrongly attribute to Funkmaster Flex, was a club hit and led to projects such as remixing “Stakes Is High” for De La Soul. (On a side note: I just listened to Stakes Is High, which dropped in ’96, and it basically foreshadowed the current state of hip-hop in 2008.)

DJ Spinna – “Everybody Bounce”

On His Stalled Rap Career

Spinna’s turn as an MC for the most part, never got off the ground. He’s flirted with major labels before with solo stints, as well as two groups–the JigMastas and the Polyrhythm Addicts. Spinna was closed to signing a deal with then EastWest records, but he got lost in the record label shuffle in a sale to Elektra. The first Polyrhythm Addicts record debuted in 1999, but his label, Nervous Records, pull the plug on all of their hip-hop acts and the album never got a proper release.

He makes no bones about his treatment of the second Polyrhythm Addicts album, Break Glass. The album was commercial failure. “Thanks Babygrande!” Spinna says as he sarcastically shouts out his record label.

JigMastas – Lyrical Fluctuation 2000

Polyrhythm Addicts – “Goin’ Down”

On J Dilla

Spinna and Dilla weren’t the best of friends, but they had a healthy competition with one another, including 3 AM phone calls to trade beats. He really got into Dilla after Pharcyde’s “Runnin’” dropped and he has high praise the fellow producer.

On Serato Scratch

As music moves into the digital age, some DJs are steadily moving from spinning vinyl to the digital Serato Scratch which DJs to mix MP3 files instead of vinyl tracks. Not surprisingly, this has caused a rift within the DJ community. Spinna is all for Serato though. “I paid my dues breaking my back for records,” he laughs, reminiscing over the multitude of times that he had to haul crates of records over his almost 20 year career. “I own about 50,000 records…and Serato is saving my back!”

On The Current State of Hip-Hop

There was a long pause after someone asked who Spinna was listening to currently.

“I tend to gravitate toward older things,” he said.

Spinna’s criticism of hip-hop today is nothing new. “Its become so commercial. Its become a number. Its less about quality and it has nothing to do with the art.”

He does get around to giving props to Madlib and DC artist Muhsinah, who he has done a remix for (and he gave us an exclusive sneak peak of that track later).

As a house DJ, Spinna is excited by the new trend of Hip-Hop and dance music overlapping, such as Kanye West sampling Daft Punk’s “Stronger,” and Wale rapping over Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” Historically, hip-hop and dance have always been intertwined, and Spinna references Afrika Bambaataa’s sampling of Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express (which he cited as one of his inspirations) as an example. Artists such as Queen Latifah have had House-influenced songs on their albums as well.

Queen Latifah – Come Into My House

Kraftwerk – TransEurope Express

“Hip-hop is more of a dance culture again,” he says, “its getting fun again.”

Sitting in a room with one of Hip-Hop’s pioneering DJ’s was definitely an uplifting experience (and not just because of the free Red Bull!). Soul Sessions with DJ Spinna will air on XM Satellite Radio next month. Spinna will also be coming to your town for his acclaimed Wonder-Full Party with Bobbito Garcia

Full DJ Spinna Playlist