DJ Excel: Philly OG Imparts Wisdom

DJ Excel basically runs the old school and the new school of this shit. You can find him all over the world injecting Philly-sized frenzy into suspecting crowds. If you're new to the game, he won't hate on you but he definitely thinks you might want to step your laptop game up ASAP. And watch out ladies, if you have a smile and a big butt, he might try to sniff that...

L and F: Jayson Musson told us once "if I go to LA and meet someone from Philly, we smell each other's butts like we're dogs, then go chase after squirrels together." Do you feel the same?

Excel: 1st off, Norfolk is like a 2nd home to me. I fly down there often, the love is there. It's an east coast thing, ya know. Not to mention, LA is a melting pot of people hustling to make it big. So the real people always recognize real people in any part of the world. I don't really sniff butts though, that may just get weird! ;-) okay, maybe if ur a pretty girl, I'll give it a whirl!

L and F: You've been at this a while. How has the game changed?

Excel: Yeah, I've been in this 17 years & runnin. the game has changed completely, for better & for worse....

1) Everyone wants to be a DJ. More people started seeing that you can make a living off of it & it became the cool thing to do. It's a lot easier now...all u need is a computer & a few days of nonstop downloading & you have a hard drive full of music. It took the OG's years of collecting records & equipment. It took dedication & sacrifice. Along with that, the talent level has dropped & the people really stop caring or just don't know what to listen for, so there's a bunch of DJ's who are makin' the rounds & the $ & gettin the props but haven't really earned it.

2) A result to #1 is that the game has opened up & now it's bigger then just one genre of music which is awesome. the DJ has been getting more recognition which has made us all more money & also brings more people out to the parties. We're looked at like real talent, rather then the guy that ruins the records by making weird noises with it. People have took a real interest in us (THE DJ) & we're poppin up on major daytime TV shows. We're looked at like real musicians. some even rock star status!!!! that's huge!!!

3) Now, the technology thing that makes it easier for people to DJ also has helped us redevelop our styles. We now have access to so much more music...stuff that was never on vinyl... songs that we all make. DJ's been around but you couldn't get the same quality. It makes it easier for us to travel which lets us expand our careers. The key is to evolve so we take the good with the bad. I'm not one of those hater dudes. Overall I'm happy how things have been goin & just happy to be in a position to still make a living off of what i love.

L and F: What should we know about the Scratch Makaniks Crew?

Excel: A group of talented djs, who are all OG's. Everyone is in the game because of love. we're all tryin to succeed as much as we can & have dedicated our lives to the game. Oh, & we got on the scene due to our full monty dance routine! ;-)

L and F: What's the best advice and why? Please choose one...

a) Never trust a big butt and a smile

b) You lay down with dogs, you're gonna get fleas

c) You can't turn a ho into a housewife

d) Wipe front to back, don't bring the shit to the clit

Excel: A. Mos def!!! I can't stay away even thought I know it can be poison!!!!!

-all the others are great advice also... all very true!

L and F: What can Excel fans look forward to?easter baskets & christmas cards!

Excel: I told my 4 fans i'll make sure they're in the mail this year for the on going support! j/k

...seriously, I'm workin' on more remixes. I'm lookin' to put out some more mixtapes & of course tryin' to travel & play more gigs & more cities....we're in the process of redoing the website & putting together a newsletter to keep everyone in the loop.

L and F: When you blow up super big, are you gonna become a media whore, driving around drunk and showing your privates like some celebrities we know?

Excel: Well, 1st off, I hope I blow up to get to that point! But I very much doubt I'll be the media whore. I'm pretty straight edge, no drugs, no drinkin, no cigarettes, but i love showing my privates!!!!! ;-) so u'll see me around from time to time.

Check out a seriously dope mix from DJ Excel and MC Elixir here

Craft of the Week: PBR is Timeless Elegance

PBR soap....for when you come home doused in it from that wasted chick you were dancing with and when you wake up and you have Pabst seeping out of your pores...go ahead and wash it off with some PBR!

dennisanderson.etsy.com


PBR Tote Bag...Canvas is the new plastic and PBR is the new High Life so represent

lisaspaperdoll.etsy.com

PBR Duct Tape Wallet...just in case homegirl was confused about whether you were gonna buy her the good shit or not

jDUCT.etsy.com

PBR Can Earrings...the square girls may hate but those ribbons tell them who the real winner is

kimazier.etsy.com

Trend and Anti-trend

Anti-trend: People who make fun of people who don't have TV who make fun of people who do have TVNahmean? Fluff and I do not have TV and we represent because we really feel like there is some better shit to do. Well, the new trend is to hate on people who don't have TV and are proud of it. Not only do they hate but they think other people will think they are hilarious for naysaying our naysayery. Well, fuck you and your Gossip Girls, Losts, Real Worlds and shit.

It's like when I used to protest KFC and there would be counter-protesters on the other side of the highway with shitty ass signs that no one could read and they were fat and downing chicken. Wow, they really showed us!!!!!!!!!

Trend: The Basic Banana Clip

Have these come back yet? I remember 2 years ago thinking I need to bust out some banana clip action before anyone else and then nothing happened. It's like the 80's came again and went and no fucking banana clips. So lets just complete this 80's thing again and also let me clarify:

None of this:

This says "fancy" in Nebraska still to this day and would send a very wrong message in an urban setting...

Lots of this in different colors for now:

-LC

Licker License to Drive

I knew from an early age that I was not gay, but I have always needed a girl in the public eye that I could say I would go lezzie with. It used to be Drew Barrymore when Poison Ivy came out, then it was Angelina Jolie (pre-Brad Pitt) and for a little while I had a Penelope Cruz crush when Blow hit theaters. A lot of straight girls are into Scarlett Johansson but I don't see the appeal. Basically I have been without a faux lesbian lover for years...until now. I have always loved Erykah Badu and she has been looking nice lately but look at these pictures! She's fucking hot even with the Suri cut. She also has super-human powers that make men go crazy sensitive which makes her my idol and default lesbian hook-up if it ever came to it. Ahhh, I feel complete again.

LC

The White Rick Ross Started It

So, we all know that Mild Davis is the White Rick Ross, "minus the tattoos, extra pigment and cocaine dealing thing". Besides the girth and the beard, he is also a general badass and likes wearing sunglasses and taking his shirt off.

This led Fluff and I to wonder which black person we were most like. For Chavez, this was a no-brainer, given she really knows her way around a jail cell and talks mad shit, she is definitely:

The White Remy Ma

Now, we had a hard time thinking of who Fluff could be....until LC started having flashbacks of large men holding Fluff back while she was kicking and screaming in the air at some chickenhead for looking at her the wrong way. Party-goers would be looking around, shocked that this innocent-seeming, hot girl was about to teach a ho a lesson and go buckwild on her. We're also pretty sure she would beat her help if they got out of line, so she is:

The White Naomi Campbell

Late entry: Juan Huevos is Ja Rule minus the "has-been"

The White Ja Rule

Where My Golden Girls At?

I'm 28 and I feel like I'm already way out of the loop socializationally. I think I'm semi-with it when it comes to the internet stuff, music today and fashion. However, I went to a local hip hop show (which shall remain nameless) and I would have been the oldest one there if it hadn't been for my cohorts who rolled up with me in the VW bus and each had about 5 years on me. It wasn't the hip hop show I'm used to. It was more Kanye West inspired, meaning the dance floor was peppered with underage white hipster chicks who (to my surprise) actually had rhythm and salted with really tall white dudes with tight ass jeans and the high-priced and high-topped limited edition Nikes that you know some chinese kid spent 10 minutes on and never thought of again. Smoking on the well-lit patio put me in the spotlight to be scrutinized by the popular bitch who just got hip to hip hop and thinks I'm a square. "I'm a fucking vet" I think to myself and simultaneously envision dousing her Cat Power bangs with Magic Hat. She must know some of the samples playing in the background but the others, she was probably conceived to and didn't even know existed until rock and roll plummeted starting with Dashboard Confessional. All these thoughts make me feel old as shit and I look down at my brown/amber beer and realize its all over. That beer used to be piss colored, tiny bubbly and furnished by horny thuglets. Now, I only drink the good shit on my own tab? I look over at the Debbie Harry wannabes and decide its time to bounce, take up Shuffleboard and retire to FLA.

Lady Chavez

Frontside Brings Out the Backsides

Seriously, we're not trying to monopolize our blog with super-talented, fashion savvy, wildly ambitious up and coming VA groups, but we love them and we know you do too. Frontside is a big fish in the huge talent pond that is the 757 (there's that area code again) and we think they have the skills and the balls to do big things real soon. So, check out their interview below and in case you need some dope reading music, go ahead and cop that free VA to NY mixtape here.

L and F: If you had to pick... VA or NY and why?

FS: VA will always be our home, motivation, and main support. The kids back in VA have been down with us since day 1 passing out shitty quality mixtapes we made on our laptop at parties. By word of mouth strictly we kept gaining and gaining fans. So if it wasn't for that we wouldn't still be doing this. However, NEW YORK is a place we have always wanted to be at. Nowhere else compares; we grew up watching hip hop shows taped in the city and they get so live; so many people respect and get into your art, its amazing. Most of the talented artist in the game live in the city so if we can make it there, its a wrap ! In the track "just chill" a line is "i still throw up V's when she snapping a flick" we will always rep VA!

L and F: Describe a Frontside show...

FS: The cool thing is every show we have ever done has been different. We love to switch it up and keep things fun. Most shows are just like huge parties. We play with rock bands, hip hop artists; even techno pop artists. We really try to not confine our fan base and always put our self out there so that any person can find some songs by us they like. We really started wildin out at our shows; we started doing this annual show at Radford University for a Fraternity. They have this huge house with an amazing basement that gets packed out with kids; everybody dancing, we had 'Paid $cum' writing graffiti everywhere during our performance and there is so much going on you really have to check it out for yourself.

L and F: We know how VA birds roll. Give us some good groupie stories...

FS: As far as this goes you will just have to see it for yourself. Usually the crowed is getting pretty intimate during parts of songs like "ugh girl show me what you got, rub it against my thigh. " The stage has also been known to fill up with girls breaking it down all over the place. This is why we love the party atmosphere of our shows. Recently we have been getting noticed out at more and more places; and it defiantly is a cool feeling. We are both pretty smart guys though and we know what bawk bawks (aka zombies/chickenheads) to stay away from.

L and F: Go ahead and shout out what you have going on right now with Frontside and all other collaborative efforts.

FS: First off our first "themed" album we are finishing up right now titled " The Teleport Team. " It is a collaborative futuristic themed album produced and recorded by Chanticler @ The Laundromat in Newport News, VA. Now back in NYC; Mikealis is on 5 of the tracks on Penelope's upcoming album "The Boss" which has an upbeat 80's dance vibe that will be released in March of this year. Frontside is also featured on the title track to that album. Expect a major city tour with Penelope and Mikealis coming this spring. We also work very close with Virginia's sickest indie rock band A New Born Thriller check for guest appearances on their album and at live shows. Also graff inspired clothing brand Paid $cum is in the works as well as a clothing boutique further down the road.

L and F: If we were trying to be simple, we would say you two seem like opposites. Do you get that a lot?

FS: Of course on the outside looking in we seem like complete opposites. Hipster white kid living in the city; and a fresh urban kid straight off the block. Actually we have been best friends since I can remember. We grew up right down the street from each other in Hampton, VA. We were pretty much the only kids at the time listening to underground hip hop in our area. We also took ourself out of the 'do rag' and 'tall tee' category and quickly started branching into fashion and all other culture aspects of Hip Hop/Punk. Everybody seems to love the mix of the hype technical wordplay of Mikealis and the witty, never know what he is going to say next style of Afterthought. So its pretty cool we can have different styles and can still be on the same page at all times.

The questions we always ask...


L and F: When you blow up super big, will you become media whores, driving around drunk and showing your privates like some celebrities we know?


FS: Of course everyone wants to act stupid and crazy in front of cameras because they can. We honestly concentrate more on staying fresh. You dont want to be the clown throwin up in front of everyone at the party (especially while rocking some exclusive kicks. ) We like the way Pharrell carries himself when he is out. Always in control, looking exceptionally fly, shittin on everybody else. Thats how we do!

Check Frontside Out Now