Common is coming to Tha mezz Wednesday, September 5th. And to see his new love-jammin self will set you back 40 bones…but at least you know he’ll bring it…

So on Saturday night I hit up Poleng and checked out the X-Ecutioners show…as Rob Swift kept saying, it’s been a long time since anyone’s seen a turntablist group play. Most of the time I hate watching turntablists. It’s like watching a guitar solo. It’s awesome for a few minutes but as it keeps going it turns into noise and gives you a headache. Not so with the X-Ecutioners, as Rob Swift, Total Eclipse, and DJ Precision kept up a beat and mixed in classics with their set. I guess because Mista Sinista isn’t there they have to call this new group Ill Insanity instead. Talking to Rob after the show, he seems upbeat about the new venture, especially in Europe, and is working on an album with the group.

“Main” (mp3)
from “Another Friendly Game of Baseball…Xtra Innings”"
by Rob Swift
(Rob Swift)
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Man, will be glad to be out of LA this weekend! While the extremely close to an actually warm beach location is a plus, everything else is pretty vapid. People here complain that people from “Nor-cal” are stuck up. But lets face it, LA ain’t that great.

On a side note, DJ Strong is a different kind of LA dude. I met up with him at his store, Hip Hop West. He’s pretty much the mixtape king of the West Coast and owns a successful clothing store, but you would rarely meet anyone so driven and hungry. Look out for major moves in the future - I don’t wanna give away much, but suffice it to say that at some point, if anyone starts listening to west coast rap again, DJ Strong will be a household name. At least for households that watch BET. He’s got an older CD that’s just been re-released, check it out here:

“Got it Like That” (mp3)
from “Black, Brown, White: 3 Shades of Rap Pt. 2″
by Abstract Rude
(StrongHouse Records)
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