The Loon and the Walrus

This is my trilogy piece recorded in early 2007 in the garage. It tells the story of the Loon who makes his way through a great storm before meeting the Walrus. This is all my own production, for the first part I played all the parts live and layered it with skratching. The next two parts are beats I made around the time, with skratching and samples over top. For the storm I sampled from real Georgia rain.

DOWNLOAD: The Loon and the Walrus

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CLASSIC LIVE SET

Summer 2006.... Hot Monkey Love Cafe. Monday Night. Mondays at The Monkey picked up where The Cypher left off... The only thing missing was Pokkey. It was now hosted by Pyro, who was 18 or 19 at the time and also did the sound was just hyped every minute of it. The regulars were local emcees mostly, all pretty young. The Monkey was one of the few all age venues in the area that had Hiphop nights. Our crew was Pottery Wheel, assembled by Dr. Greene, and included Pyro. They would do a set every week and I would add skratches off to the side. We did this every Monday for a few months at least, until the cafe moved spots and the crew all went separate ways, figuratively and literally. I still talk to Pyro pretty regularly, he lives out in Fresno now and has been preforming at open mics and Hiphop nights, and still doing sound and loving every minute of it. He just told me he did the sound for Pep Love, and before that he was opening up for DEL. He's been killing it and getting sharper all the time. I haven't talked to Greene in almost a year, but hopefully we will connect in the future. Generik and Anec are still in San Diego and are in a crew together, but aren't cool with Greene or Pyro because of some beefs and battle raps, not quite sure all the details anymore.

2 Tracks: 1. ADA Warms it Up

2. Pottery Wheel Rips it Down

The Cypher is where ADA was born. It all connects through the Hot Monkey Love Cafe, which ended up moving to another location, never to be the same. I never got to see it. So that summer turned out to be its last summer for Hiphop, and it was also my last summer in San Diego, although I didn't know it at the time.

I wrote this sometime in Roswell, late 2006.

I first came to the Monkey Fall 2002. I was a freshman, 18 and didn't hardly know anyone in San Diego. All I knew was that I was finally out of high school and living in California. I was so naïve. Before I moved out there I couldn’t even locate San Diego on a map. I just knew it was southern CA and there were palm trees and the ocean. When I moved into my dorm room, my RA Charlie was impressed that I had turntables and was excited because he liked Hiphop a lot and was interested in learning more about DJing. He was way into Beastie Boys, and stuff like Blackalicious and Hieroglyphics. He could recite all the lines of the Alphabet Aerobics. He was a theology major. He's married now and we don't talk much (ever) anymore which is a shame because he's a cool guy and we had some good times together. Even though he was the RA, I saw him more as a friend. Through Charlie I met this older dude Matt who took me Access Music (I didnt have a car back then). There, I met DJ Mada, who was real nice when I asked him if there were any 'under 21' hiphop events, and gave me this little green flyer for The Cypher. Willow and Artistic DJing. That Tuesday, Matt drove us out to the Monkey. We pay 3 bucks and inside its hot and there's mad people: DJs, Bboys, Emcees, heads, girls, everyone. I met Pokkey the first time that night. He was hosting. I saw him cooling off outside so I went to talk to him. I told him I was a DJ, he was like, "what do you play?" I said something about the Golden Era, and we were instant friends. it was that easy. But what wasn't so easy was actually getting a chance to DJ there. so many good DJs were coming through every week: Willow, Artistic, Sake and Mane One, Ironic, Kutfather, and more that never introduced themselves to me. I got better just by watching them every week. Finally after a couple of months of just showing up with a crate, I got some time on the tabes. I was nervous as shit and probably sketchy and sloppy, but whatever, it was fun. My skills were limited to mixing, scratching, and basic backspinning. I wasn’t real clean and could barely cue up the records in time. After time me and Pokey got to know each other and realized that we had a lot in common. He said I'm the only one he ever let borrow his infamous tape collection. Seriously it was boxes and boxes of the best, the dopest, the rarest, the most classic TAPES i've ever seen. I've been down with Pokkey The Selecta ever since those Tuesday nights in 2002 and now we're closer than ever. Pokey didnt even DJ back then. I gave him my old geminis when I got 1200s. Since then, he's been digging like crazy! It's easy for him because he already had the knowledge. He has crucial knowledge because he's been there and seen things I can only dream about about. He gave me the name A D A when I first started DJing at The Cypher because he liked the way it sounds and I asked him to come up with something.

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DROPPING GEMS

This is the first thing I did when I moved into my uncle's garage. It's a 4 track adventure with lots of beats.

Dropping Gems

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JOURNEY THROUGH THE PERFECT BEAT

get ready... this is another "4 track adventure"... layers and layers of loops at 114 BPM... Loosely based on "Searching Through The Perfect Beat" and "Last Night a DJ Changed my Life".... with many more mixed in there...20 minute version.

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TIME ON EARTH

Classic ADA Mixtape here... I made this one soon after I MISS THE 90s.. It was around Winter 06... there's some good stuff on here: more 90s gems, dope underground material, and even some original beats mixed in with my sampler going through the line channel.

Around this same time I wrote a poem called Time On Earth. I was an English major... so I might as well share it.

Time on Earth

Trying to find the right breaks

To create the masterpiece

That will increase

My level of ability

With a release.

To produce is to reduce

Music down to its essence.

The core of the rhythm

Captured, in a sense.

Forever made immortal in the sampler:

Roland S - P

Six Oh Six.

Losing innocence

But gaining life’s knowledge.

Funny how the important

Lessons weren’t learned in college.

Absorbing wisdom through various mediums,

Channeling energy and keeping time,

Trying to find the right breaks

To break out from this broken state of mind.

Sometimes I’m so lonely

On this planet I can’t stand it.

Might as well be on the Moon.

Plenty of room, I assume.

Not many dare travel

Farther than Earth’s atmosphere without air.

They’re too scared.

Wake up schemers of sound.

Listen.

It’s all around and surrounds.

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SPARK THE MOVEMENT

Another ADA rarity... This is one is also LIVE LIVE LIVE... at a University Art Show for my school (USD), around spring of 06... I'm not sure what they were looking for when they asked me to DJ it... what they got was this... Like the Haunted Houseparty, I figured since I was taking the trouble to bring ALL my equipment (even all 4 speakers...), I might as well bring the minidisk player and record the sucker. Glad I did because it made the whole thing worthwhile and the inconvenience of it all is just a distant memory. Big shout to my good friend and next door neighbor at the time Ian for being there that day... he even mixed in a couple records while I snuck off to my car for a needed 'escape'. I haven't listened to this in awhile, but I remember it being a lot of choice instrumentals...

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HAUNTED HOUSEPARTY

this is LIVE LIVE LIVE!!! from Halloween 2005!!!! as a personal favor, I agreed to DJ this costume birthday/Halloween party for this girl down the block... I really glad I recorded it because it's a pretty hot set. The party, on the other hand, SUCKED. Also, it fell on a day where I had to work, washing dishes at the organic co-op for 8 hours... then I had to race home, pack up all my equipment (and i do mean ALL OF IT... speakers and all), then race to her house, set it all up in her backyard, then started playing records for 4 or 5 hours. I edited the mix from the original minidisk so I could fit it on a cd (I gave this one out to a few friends)... but what you hear is all live, the mic even picked up some classic party moments! But that party just sucked. None of my friends showed up (well a few did, then left. thanks guys!), I couldnt even get a good buzz going because the keg was inside upstairs (along with the rest of the lame bunch of party goers)... so there I was, spinning all this great music for an empty backyard after washing dishes for 8 hours. what a day. oh and then this one girl started jocking me, but she turned out to be super lame and was more interested in trying to score some coke. I went to bed that night vowing never again to DJ someone's lame ass party for free. At least I got a decent mixtape out of it... and I got to use the title I'd always wanted to use: Haunted.....HOUSEPARTY!!!

DOWNLOAD....... HAUNTED HOUSEPARTY

SPRING BREAK 06

SPRING BREAK!!!!! While other students were planning wild excursions to exotic places... Me? I was planning on staying home and making a mixtape. With my roommate gone on a wild exotic trip somewhere I had the apartment to myself. No school, no worries. It was great. A whole week to myself... I spent the time playing records I'd found. I don't think the music ever ended, it was a nonstop odyssey into sound. This is one of my "unofficial" mixtapes (it was actually recorded straight to a cassette... for my own amusement), so keep that in mind. It's my own version of a wild and exotic trip....all in the comforts of your own home.

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INNER SOUL

Taking you back... way back... into time...

The year is 2005. I'm a junior in college and starting to get serious about digging, not just for Hiphop, but for all kinds of crazy records. I must give a shoutout to the San Diego Record show (also the Swap Meet at Sports Arena) for it was there where I found so much of this... Peace and thanks to Willow - I wont forget what you showed and the records you sold me.

Emphasis on soul, funk, and jazz. Enjoy this mellow trip nice and easy...

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THE TRANZMITTAL

so there I was, working in Tampa... first I made FUTURE BREAKS (do not sleep on it! it took 4 months!) , then it was time for my next "project" I call this one a project rather than mixtape, because it's one of them "4 track mixes"... I made it on my sampler: Roland SP 606. I sampled about a million tiny loops... most of..which i had aquired real cheap in Georgia near Dakator...what else was I to do with it? I threw in a lot of breaks to round it out, but it was all recorded at 130 BPM. I called it The Tranzmittal because I was working for a health insurance company where I filled out these forms called 'transmittals' all day long. Basically, it's the cover sheet to a file. So i made this to keep my mind occupied during the experience. At least they let me listen to headphones all day.

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REGRESSION

So after spending maybe a little too much time in The Garage... it was time to move on. I knew it, just didn't know what to do... I was working part time delivering flowers which is nothing like it sounds. It was cold, confusing, and I was always being yelled at by the owner who wasn't helping me feel better about the situation. Then my brother called me. He just broke up with the girl who he was living with. He needed a roommate. I didn't need to think about it too hard. I looked around the garage at the huge piles of junk accumulated by my uncle's roommate,Plant, which is a perfect name because he just planted down and took root at that house, and knew what I had to do. I packed up my equipment into my car and drove way down south to sunny Florida. Welcome to Tampa. It's not for forever.

LISTEN/DOWNLOADRegression on Mixcrate.com

THE GARAGE

so I left San Diego and headed back East... Just me in my car packed to the brim with all that would fit (mainly: turntables, speakers, mixer, various recording equipment, clothes, and whatever records I could fit... ended up being just 3 boxes. 3 out of 30!!) But I eventually made it safe to Georgia, where my uncle Steve said I could stay for awhile, you know, it'd be a place to get my shit together. As long as there was space for my turntables, I was happy. I found that space in his garage, where I immediately set up shop. I ended spending 4 months there, mostly in the garage when I wasnt working part time (I did construction for a bit, then was a delivery driver for a flower shop... I got lost a lot.) So with most of my records in a storage unit in Chico, I started fresh. How and Why my records ended up in Chico is a Looooong Story... it's not a secret but it's just not something I want to get into here. The bottom line is they're still there and I'm still paying $45 a month. But back to Georgia, Roswell to be specific, which is just north of Atlanta.

I dug around for records lot. Not much else to do. I found some pretty interesting stuff. This mixtape marks my time in Georgia, digging through stacks of dollar records I'd bought, trying to find breaks and stuff to sample...It was an interesting time for me.

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Going back to that summer of 2006... there's just something about summer in San Diego, you can feel it in the air. Everything was just lovely. This was recorded while everything was still lovely. I made this the day before the 4th of July, where we had a party in the back area of our little apartment complex that overlooked Dusty Rhodes, a huge field. We could see the fireworks from Seaworld perfectly... It was a great party... Frisbee in the field, drinking beer from a keg with the neighbors, listening to good music. I set up my turntables outside, man it was beautiful... looking back, it really does seem like a dream.

About the mix, I wanted to get my uptempo records together. That's pretty much the idea, aside from the Shakespeare theme. I took a Shakespeare class in college. It was once a week, Monday morning at some crazy early hour like 9 or 10. Wouldn't have been so bad but I always worked Sunday nights at Fumari, the hookah bar downtown. It closed at 1am, so I got home around 2am and I'm supposed to have read a play a week? Amidst everything else I was up to, there was just no time for that. I read the online sparknotes and ended up doing all right after all.

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CATHARSIS

This one signifies an emotional and chaotic time in my life. It was summer 2006, I had just graduated college... everything was lovely. or so I thought. The end of summer came and although I'd tried to find a 'real' job that would put my degree to use... I just couldn't seem to make it happen. I didn't know what I was doing.... I had little experience: I worked at a hookah bar for a couple years... then I was a dishwasher at an organic co-op for 2 years... not exactly resume building jobs. So anyway, the end of summer came and I still hadn't found that 'real' job, much to my parents' dismay. To make a long story short (there's a lot of ins, lot of outs, lot of whathaveyous....), my parents cut me off. This posed a problem: I could no longer afford to live the lifestyle I'd been enjoying in SD. I had to leave the city I loved so much.... destination unknown. I knew I couldnt even begin to take all my records with me... I knew I had to make a mixtape before I left it all. I knew I had to choose wisely. The records I chose all are special to me... some of the first records I'd ever bought back in high school as well as many classics I found in San Diego.

It's been over 3 years now since I left. I recorded the CATHARSIS shortly before I drove across the country and moved into my uncle's garage in Roswell, GA. Everything I couldnt fit in my car I put in a storage unit (still paying that monthly fee...hopefully not TOO much longer). Beside a ton of records, I have 4 custom built shelves that my friend built for me with his bare hands! You can see one of them in the photo... there are 4 of those... I can't just let it go. I had to leave a lot behind... Recording this mixtape was an extremely cathartic experience. Listening to it still brings me back to that crazy time.

"just... don't touch my records...ever."

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JUST LISTEN

fuck Serato. I don't have it, so I'm not the authority. But I know what it is. I've seen it. A lot. Too much. I just don't like it. I don't like seeing a DJ pulling up Mp3s on a laptop. If you're a club DJ playing that mainstream stuff, THAT I can understand. That music is disposable anyway, no need to buy the wax. Also, if you're touring all around the world, I understand you can't always roll with 20 crates so serato is the best option. But local Hiphop DJs, you better bring some vinyl to the tables!!! How hard is it to bring a crate? two crates even! It's so worth it. It will make everything so much better. The vibe instantly improves. I love RECORDS. I LOVE VINYL. I love everything about it. It's all part of the experience. I'll never cut stop.

I made this one Summer of 2008 - just listen

Just Listen to this

THE NEXT CYCLE

I made this right around the time I turned 24. It was a big deal to me. It's a golden number. 24 is the start of The Next Cycle. Every 12 years... when you turn 12, you enter another cycle. But 24... 24 is the official start of The Next Cycle... playtime is over.

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HARDCORE WREX

This mix is in homage to DJ FADE

He had some serious records... but now they're mine! I found him on Craigslist selling all his records... like 5 crates of the hardest bangers I've ever heard.

It was Spring of 2009.... there's a lot in there... so listen close, it moves fast!

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FUTURE BREAKS

I listen to a lot of mixtapes with old breaks from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. But what about the breaks from the 90s?

These are the breaks of the future. You heard it here first. I made this in 2007.

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I MISS THE 90s

January '06... I was 21 years old. I'd found a lot of classics on vinyl. That year I decided it was time to start making and giving away mixtapes. It was time. This one is Golden.

All records from the early/mid 90s. The best sampling, the best lyrics, the best beats, the best flows...

man I still miss the 90s...

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