Illvibe Pays Tribute to Oronde Gibson

Mr. Sonny James & fellow Tasty Treats' DJ Mike Nyce pay tribute to our fallen friend, Oronde Gibson. He played a pivotal position in Philadelphia nightlife and loved music as much as any DJ we know. Many of the artists he loved were played in this new Illvibe Radio mix. Featured artists include  J. Dilla, Fela Kuti, Pete Rock, Little Brother, Louie Vega, and more...

RIP Brother!

Illvibe Radio 19 w Special Guest DJ Foxx Boogie!!!

Always a solid selection from our bro Foxx Boogie!!! Get down to this ill! hip hop mix from the
homie. Also subscribe to illvibe Radio HERE.

Illvibe Radio 19 ft. DJ Foxx Boogie by Illvibe Collective on Mixcloud

Thank You Frankie!! Illvibe Radio Season 3!!

We begin the 3rd season of Illvibe Radio with an uplifting mix from Mr. Sonny James celebrating the life and legacy of the Legendary Godfather of House Music, Frankie Knuckles. Rest In Peace...

Illvibe Radio 012 w Mr. Sonny James

It's Summertime in Philly and when it's not raining, it's btwn 90 and 100 degrees. With that being said, Mr. Sonny James is back on Illvibe Radio to lace you with some hot tunes to swim, BBQ, play frisbee, sit on the beach, drink a Heineken too or whatever else you feel like doing to beat the heat. From Dillon Francis to Marvin Gaye, here's an eclectic mix of electronic s#!t to get down to. Click the image below and go for it!

The Story Behind The Tunes | Illvibe Radio 8 (12.12.12.) Edition Pt. 3

For this month's episode of Illvibe Radio we chose to rock out for December 12, 2012 with 12 of our favorite 12 inch records. These are tunes that are classics in their respective genres. And each are special to us for personal reasons.

Illvibe Radio 8 (Special 12.12.12.) Edition - DJ lil'dave

Alison David - Dreams Comes True (Afronaught Mix)

When Broken Beat music hit the scene, I was all over it.  I was the guy at the record store who would snatch up all the new 12 inches when they came in.  This record was one that really stood out.  There is so much going on in this track.  You have these classy uplifting vocals, this crazy stutter-stepping drum track, african chants, and heavy brass synths.   I saw all sorts of madness take place on the dancefloor when I witnessed djs like Osunlade, Jazzanova, and Bugz in the Attic play this tune at Winter Music Conference in Miami.

Incognito - On The Road (Danny Krivit re-edit)

This was one of those records that stayed in my crate gig after gig.  Those bossa nova drums did wonders for getting the ladies on the dancefloor.  Danny Krivit edited the track perfectly to create a gigantic build-up.  By the time the chorus comes in, every person in the room would be acting like they know how to dance the samba.  It wasn't until years later that I heard the original version of the song and could really hear how much work Danny Krivit put into the edit.  This is the perfect example of how a dance edit should be done.

Tom & Joyce - Queixume (MAW MIX - KUTS MIX)

This is one of those records that no one can front on….  it's just beautiful!  Silky vocals and amazing instrumentation.  The break down alone is worth the price of admission.  For some reason, I waited too long to buy a copy and it sold out.  For years, all I could do is stand by while all the other djs were playing it.

Taylor McFerrin - Broken Vibes (Isoul8 edit)

During the years that we were doing the BODYROCK party at the Aqualounge, there was a Thursday night jam session hosted by Taylor McFerrin.  We didn't know who he was then, but we always heard about how great it was.  Years later, this song appeared as just a demo and started getting some airplay on BBC Radio in the UK.  It caused a big stir amongst underground djs and eventually the Rude Movements guys released a super limited amount of white label vinyl of this song.  I was one of the few lucky people that got their hands on one. 

The Story Behind The Tunes | Illvibe Radio 8 (12.12.12.) Edition Pt. 2

For this month's episode of Illvibe Radio we chose to rock out for December 12, 2012 with 12 of our favorite 12 inch records. These are tunes that are classics in their respective genres. And each are special to us for personal reasons.

Illvibe Radio 8 (Special 12.12.12.) Edition - DJ Skipmode

Disco Dave & The Force of the Five MC's (Crash Crew) - High Power Rap: 

This is one of my favorite early hip hop records and a 12" I'm proud to own.  One thing I love about the early rap acts is that they actually performed as a group - playing off each others lines, practicing routines, doing back ups and harmonies and whatnot...you know like a real group...and this record is a pretty good example of that era.  There's also lots of quotables, sampled phrases, and it's an overall engaging record - you can kinda picture these dudes in front of you performing this live on a stage in an outdoor park circa 1980.  Extra snaps up go to this 12" for being one-sided and having the cool looking vinyl etch design (but no music) on the b-side. 

World's Famous Supreme Team - Hey DJ: 

Another old-school rap classic from 1983.  For those who don't know, The World Famous Supreme Team were a radio team that hosted one of the earliest hip-hop radio shows.  Granted it was late night and on a smaller FM station from outside of NYC so folks prob had to fine tune their radio dials with precision just to get a taste of the rap, breakbeats, and "street music"  they'd play, mix, and scratch every week.  Of course the show was a bit before my time, and geographically impossible for me to have tuned into, but from the tapes of the show I've heard, the effort seems like it would've been worth it.  Somehow the WFST linked up with ex-Sex Pistols manager and British entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren, and contributed a few songs to his hip-hop/ african exploitation album "Duck Rock", this being one of them.

M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume: 

This one holds a place in my memory as one of the first cassette "Maxi-Singles" I ever purchased.  There was no full length M/A/R/R/S album, so the only way to get that song I liked from the radio, was on 12" vinyl, cassette single, or cassette "maxi-single" - which for you young schoolers is essentially the 12" vinyl version in a cassette format.  Comparing the track listing on the back of the cardboard wrapped "cassingle", to the hard plastic cased "Maxi-Single" revealed that the maxi had two additional versions of the song I liked, and that one was a whopping 7+ minutes.  Say Whaaat?  So I took a chance and went with the slightly more expensive, but ultimately more rewarding maxi-single. 

In hindsight, I probably should've gone with the 12" vinyl purchase, but cassettes were just more convenient as they could slide right into your walkman and have you jamming on your way out of the store, and that's where my head was at on that day in 1987.  Luckily these records were easily available through the years and I've now owned several copies.

Eddy Grant - Time Warp: 

"Electric Avenue" was and is one of my all-time favorite 80's jams.  It also has the honor of being one the first commercial tapes I convinced my parents to buy me as a preschooler (Naked Eyes, Men at Work, and Billy Joel cassettes also come to mind).  But this tape right here was something special...Why?  Because it contained "Two Bonus Tracks!!!".  The long version of Electric Avenue which was exciting enough, and "Time Warp", which sounded unlike anything I had ever heard before, and also completely out of place on the reggae/ pop-ish sounding album.  I won't front like I was on some electro proto-house visionary listener type shit at 4 years old, but the song did make an impression - something like "This music is weird".  But I don't recall fast-forwarding the song like some others on the album just to get back to Electric Avenue.  

Fast forward about 15 years later when I'm starting to DJ some parties here and there and hunting many a used record shop gathering all of my favorite songs on vinyl.  "Electric Avenue" on a 12"?... yeah...gotta have that.  So later that night, when listening to vinyl purchases of the day, I eventually got around to flipping over the Eddy Grant record, and was instantly flooded with childhood memories of sitting on the floor with my gray boombox wondering what to make of this weirdo bonus track on the Eddy Grant album.  I also couldn't believe that until that moment I had completely erased the song from memory, and had to slap myself for forgetting such a completely awesome and influential track for about 15 years.  Just goes to show that sometimes the best shit is right in front of you and you don't even realize it.  Thanks for the reminder Eddy!

The Story Behind The Tunes | Illvibe Radio 8 (12.12.12) Edition Pt. 1

For this month's episode of Illvibe Radio we chose to rock out for December 12, 2012 with 12 of our favorite 12 inch records. These are tunes that are classics in their respective genres. And each are special to us for personal reasons.

With three of us contributing to this mix, we had to narrow down our choices to four records each. Obviously there are tons of joints that could potentially make the cut. When I began diggin through shelves galore of vinyl at my house, these are the four that jumped out at me and had the most personal and professional significance. Tomorrow we will post DJ Skipmode's picks. But for now...

Illvibe Radio #8 (Special 12/12/12 Edition) - Mr. Sonny James 

Who're You - Fela (1983)
This jam takes me back to the first time I was introduced to Fela's music in 98. I was all about Gil Scott Heron and James Brown. Fela was like the African version of those two legends combined. I couldn't believe how amazing his tunes were and that I had never heard them before. The first two that got me hooked were Lady and Water No Get Enemy. When I became tight with Rich Medina, he introduced me to a whole other world of Afrobeat. When I first heard Who're You, I nearly sharted. It became one of those records I shopped for for years and when it would get played at Shine or @ Lil' Ricky's at APT in New York, it was a reminder that I'm in the right party at the perfect time. My dance moves with my homegirl Vero got put to the test many nights to this tune. Big up.

Disco Africa - The Ogyatanaa Show Band (1976 [2004 release])
When illvibe first formed, we were mostly hired as a crew to DJ at B-Boy battles. Phillee Blunt and I had a mission to find the funkiest breakin' friendly joints we could, hitting Cue Records, 611, Armand's, Sound of Market, The Philadelphia Record Exchange, and Funk-O-Mart. When I stumbled upon this jam, it was perfect for many of the funk/soul moments we had at The BODYROCK as well as the high energy moments at the B-Boy jams. One of my favorite memories of getting this record off was at The B-Boy BBQ at Hawthorne Center. In a lot of ways learning to pull off joints like Disco Africa in "hip-hop" situations contributed a lot to who I am as a jock in Philadelphia.

Women Beat Their Men - Submission (1997)
When I first started going to house clubs, this record was everything. When Robbie Tronco played it for the first time at Shampoo, I got an instant Charley Horse. Then I ran to Armand's and asked Joey Blanco about it and he said he didn't have it in yet. Then I went to Sound of Market and Randy Flash (RIP) promptly handed it to me as well as several other hot tracks at the moment. Randy knew exactly the type of house music each DJ bought and he had 12"s prepared for each of us as soon as we came into the spot. When I copped this one, Randy smiled and said "Something told me, you'd dig this one." I always bought tribal shit back then. This one is particularly special because it marks the period in my career when I stopped shopping for primarily hip hop 12" and really got on the quest for funky music of all genres. And Randy was quite a dude to have on your side when looking to get familiar with new underground music.

Lets Start The Dance - Bohannon (1978)
This was one of the first records I ever owned. It was in constant rotation at my house when I was a child and I loved it so much that my mom eventually gave it to me. It began years of digging. And the rap is by a DJ from WDAS in Philly.
"Let's rock the house, let's shock the house!"

Illvibe Radio

We're proud to bring you the new and improved Illvibe Radio. For the past decade, we've brought you The Sure Shot & The Difference, two mix shows with different formats to showcase our different tastes in music. From our audience feedback at various events and online, what we've discovered is good music is simply good music. Therefore, we've decided to consolidate our shows into one Illvibe Radio Podcast making it easier for both us and for you, the listener. We hope you enjoy the new mix as we'll continue to bring you strictly the best in Hip Hop, Soul, Funk, House, Broken Beat, Brazilian, and more. This mix is brought to you by Illvibe Collective's own Mr. Sonny James, DJ Phsh, and Phillee Blunt.

Listen Here http://illviberadio.podomatic.com/

Heavyweight Crates

If you missed last Friday's episode of Eavesdrop Radio, you missed the Rare Grooves special. It's was a 3 hour set of funk, soul, and jazz from deep in the crates. Lucky for you, the recording is available to download for a limited time only.

Download Here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/0v5rie
Playlist Here: http://www.recordbreakin.com/eavesdrop.html

The Difference Now on FM Radio

What's up folks?

What a bananas weekend in Philly. From the Ladies of Hip Hop Festivities to the Popped Festival, to Mojito and Sundae at the Bubble House, I had my fix and then some from Wednesday to Sunday.

Now we continue the fun as we bring our world famous Difference show to FM Radio. It's the first place on the dial which should make it easier to remember and you can access it best in West Philly and it's surrounding areas. We've been rocking new flavors for our dedicated listeners since 2003 and recently upgraded our Real Media stream to an enhanced podcast on iTunes in which you can now view the song details, artwork and web info for each artist/song played. You'll still be able to access our podcasts but for those of you fortunate enough to live in the Philadelphia area and can get WPEB on your radio, you can now enjoy an extended 3 hour version of the live show with the illvibe Collective and guests. Stay tuned in as we bring things to a new level.

Peace

Statik

BUSY WEEKEND

Thanks for checking back with us.

In more 84 news, the fellas just did an interview for The Art of Rhyme. They discuss their classic golden era sound, the B-Boy BBQ, their work in the community and so much more.


Young PHSH

Photo by TuPhace

Check your iTunes. You should now have episode 45 (the lost episode) of the Sure Shot. This episode features West Philly's own DJ Phsh. You may have seen him deejaying for Dice Raw and TuPhace or at the Gathering getting the b-boys and b-girls hyped up. Subscribe to the podcast and download the show here: http://thesureshot.podomatic.com


EVENTS

This Thursday June 19th is the first FADED party. It's all going down at Medusa Lounge with Dj lil'dave on the wheels. There is a $10 open bar special from 10pm to midnight, there are lots of free goodies from Frank 151 magazine, and most importantly there is dancefloor waiting for you to get open. This is just the start... expect big things from this party in the near future.

FADED @ Medusa Lounge (21st & Chestnut St.). Thursday June 19th. 10pm-2am. $5




LADIES OF HIP HOP 2008

If you didn't know, this is the week of the Ladies of HipHop Festival. One of the main events is My Mic Sounds Nice, a hiphop show/party going down this Friday at Fluid. It features two of our favorite mcs Bahamadia and Ethel Cee, who are both going to destroy it without a doubt. Holding it down on the wheels and supporting their respective mcs is Dj Statik and DJ Ultraviolet. Go ladies!

Also, catch DJ Statik this Thursday playing jams for the ladies on the rooftop of the South Street Whole Foods. It's all part of the Fe:male Hip-Hop Dance Battle. Should be dope!

Fe:male Hip-Hop Dance Battle @ Whole Foods Rooftop (10th & South Street). Thursday June 19th. 5:30pm-9:30pm. Free
My Mic Sounds Nice @ Fluid (613 S. 4th Street). Friday June20th. 10pm-2am. $10


POPPED FESTIVAL

If you still need to get more hiphop in your life, hit up the Popped Festival Saturday afternoon over on Drexel University’s campus. Ok, we know like 90% of the line up is rock, but they also have Def Jux lyricist Mr. Lif along with our own DJ Statik performing (around 2:40pm). That alone is worth making the trip. More info here: http://www.poppedphiladelphia.org

Popped Festival @ Drexel University (33rd & Market St.). Saturday June 21st. Starts at 12pm. $32



Peace and we'll see you out this weekend.