THURSDAY2ND
FRIDAY3RD
MOTOWN THURSDAYS
FAKTORY
Kick start your weekend with Melbourne’s newest Thursday night! Motown Thursdays caters to all true music lovers. Join us on an eclectic musical journey of soul, funk and disco through to early R&B. A live Soul Band features some of Melbourne’s most talented musicians; Carmen Hendricks, Laurent Soupe, Duncan Kinell and Aaron Mendoza just to name a few. DJs keep the records spinning into the early hours; residents are Reg-e, Lee Davies, Kalepe, Dinesh, Suga, Rubz and Alwin Rafferty. Join us around a big, shiny disco ball or two, for free entry, soulful tunes, drink specials all night and a dance floor full of friends! Fashion Lounge, 121 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
This is it. Faktory Fridays are open for business at Melbourne’s home of R&B, Khokolat Bar. Where else? Damion De Silva, Ken Walker, Durmy, K Dee, Simon Sez, Yaths and Jacqui Dusk spinning all night long. Khokolat Bar, Basement, 43 Hardware La, Melbourne
RHYTHM-AL-ISM
The buzz is Light at RedLove every Friday. Hitting out that R&B flavour of old, new and everything in between! RedLove Resident DJs Stel, Harvey Yeah, TMC and Ripz on the wheels of steel from 6.30pm. If you don’t know, now you know! Check it! Red Love, Level 1, 401 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Start the weekend early with Fusion’s Resident DJs. Music for your funkin’ soul. Special guests every week! Fusion, Crown Entertainment Complex, Lvl 3, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
LIKE FRIDAYS Like Fridays at La Di Da serves up R&B and electro house across two rooms giving you a fun filled end to your week. DJs Dinesh, Dir-X, Sef, NYD, Shaun D, Shaggz, Broz and more. La Di Da, 577 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
LIGHT
THE LOOSE GOOSE The Loose Goose is focused on providing a wonderful array of cocktails and offers a great CBD location to lounge and relax in while overlooking busy Flinders Lane. A small plates menu is available to graze on whilst trying out delicious cocktails from the classics to contemporary, beer on tap and a wide range of beers, wines and spirits. Every Friday evening DJ Jumps of The Cat Empire will take to the decks at the bar spinning his rare afro Latin funk vinyl collected from around the world from 6.30pm until late. Papa Goose Cocktail Bar, 91-93 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
SWEET NOTHING FRIDAYS DJ Marcus Knight and DJ Xander James spin hip hop, R&B and house tunes all night from 8pm. Free entry and early drink specials. Temperance Hotel, 426 Chapel St, South Yarra
THE NICE UP Tom Showtime presents The Nice Up. All flavours of hip hop, ghetto funk and reggae niceness provided. Sailor Jerry nice up the cocktails, Dos Blockos nice up the $5 beers. Fridays done proper. George Lane Bar, 1 George Lane, St Kilda
SATURDAY4TH KHOKOLAT KOATED All new experience, same great location with a fresh koat of Khokolat. Restless Entertainment reloads your favourite Saturday night party. Damion De Silva, K Dee, Jay Sin and weekly guests playing R&B & ol’ skool sounds strictly for the urban elite. Khokolat Bar, Basement, 43 Hardware La, Melbourne
REDLOVE SATURDAYS RedLove Saturdays is all about solid classics from the ‘80s, ‘90s and into the ‘00s! Dropping beats of retro pop, disco classics, old school funk, and certainly some of that old school R&B and house to kick! RedLove Resident DJs Phil, HB Bear and Da Gato bringing down the house every Saturday night. If you’re looking for quality service, music to rock, sumptuous drinks and just a cold hard good time; look no further! Red Love, Level 1, 401 Swanston Street, Melbourne
UPCOMING HOME BREW Don’t know who New Zealand hip hop crew Home Brew are? That’s weird. You should ask NZ Prime Minister John Key or the University Of Auckland about them - after causing a bunch of people with their knickers in a twist to lose their shit over a music video poking fun at idiots who drink-drive, the group’s propensity for irreverence
and cheeky laughs is sure to appeal to Australian crowds. Having recently released their eponymous debut album to critical acclaim and finding it debuting at #1 on the New Zealand music charts, throwing a 48-hour party to celebrate in an old brother, then having their controversial pop up store shut down early, it’s high time we got in on the action, hey. Saturday August 10, The Espy, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda
THE PHARCYDE Los Angeles hip hop outfit The Pharcyde have been kicking it together for two decades, now. Doesn’t feel like it, given their enduring reputation for cutting-edge, forward-thinking beats and rhymes. Go on, have a listen to Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde again, 20 years on - its sense of timelessness is a rare thing, with classics such as Oh Shit, Otha Fish, Ya’ Mama, and hit single, Passing Me By guaranteeing the record its rightful place in best-of collections by everyone from Pitchfork to the Source. It isn’t often a group with their cheeky self-deprecating and incisive humour come along - and set to make a return to Australia soon, we can guarantee this is one gig you definitely don’t want to pass you by. Thursday August 23, The Espy, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda
RICK ROSS After cancelling his planned visit for this year’s Supafest, Rick Ross is set to make do with an Australian tour this September. Rickay Rozay has established himself as one of the biggest titans in modern rap, guesting with the likes of Kanye West and Diddy and building the Maybach Music Group empire in the process. The tour comes after the long-awaited release of God Forgives, I Don’t. Thursday September 6, Festival Hall, 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne
ILLY Laying relatively low since absolutely smashing it last year with his sophomore LP The Chase, Illy has announced his return to the stage in preparation for his third LP. As well as showcasing his massive hits, none moreso than the ubiquitous It Can Wait, the tour will be the first chance for fans to hear material from the upcoming album. The first taste of the new record comes in the form of Heard It All, a single which is already gaining traction on national radio. Friday September 7, The Corner Hotel, 57 Swan Street, Richmond
BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY Grammy Award winning hip hop legends Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are returning to their “second home” Australia, having already sold out over 20 Australian performances in the past. Having reformed for a upcoming performance at Rock The Bells in August this year, the group have created their fair share of interest regarding the possibilities of a new album, and have been introduced to a new generation of hip hop fans thanks to the likes of Drake and Wiz Khalifa expressing their admiration. Thursday September 20, The Espy, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda
THE PHARCYDE GANGSTA RAP: THE ORIGINAL Los Angeles in the early ‘90s marked a time where the airwaves blasted ‘gangsta’ and coasts were on the verge of beef. Mingled in between all of this were The Pharcyde, emerging left-of-field in South Central. With raspy and high-pitched voices, melodic rap verses and a unique aesthetic, the hip hop foursome became one of the most influential groups of the alternative genre. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, the remaining duo Imani and Bootie Brown speak with me about their dance beginnings, influences of the group and Jesus. I once remember watching an interview on YouTube with The Pharcyde, where a much younger Imani told his audiences, “Yo! My name is Imani. And I do what I wanna do!” Not much has changed, and with twenty years of extra experience tucked neatly under his belt, his assertive and enthusiastic nature has only been amplified. A much more softly spoken Bootie Brown proves the duo to be dichotomous, but complimentary as testified by the two-decade long career together. “No one can do you like you do you,” Imani says, when asked how The Pharcyde developed their idiosyncratic aesthetic. “We didn’t have to develop it. No one else can be The Pharcyde if you do you.” Bootie adds, “I hated my voice at first. I wanted to sound deep and hard and rap about drugs. I wanted to sound like Rakim but these are the cards you’re dealt with. And it worked in the long run.” The helium ballooned voices synonymous with The Pharcyde helped produce classics including Passing Me By, Runnin’ and Drop. Twenty years after the release of Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, its sense of timelessness is unmistakable and it’s not surprising that it shipped over a million units, garnered comparisons to De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, and has had everyone from Pitchfork Media to The Source hailing it as one of the greatest albums ever made. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1996, four years after its release, however the glowing responses were unexpected for the group. “We had no expectations,” Imani begins. “We wanted to sell enough copies to make another record and we wanted enough people in hip hop to like it. It was a long hard road. In hindsight we can appreciate it, but it was not easy. It was a lot of hard work.” Despite being an influential ‘alternative’ group, the duo dislike that term, or categorising for that matter. “The industry was dictating what people thought about L.A. at the time,” says Bootie, while commenting on the alternative scene that was thriving in the West Coast amidst gangsta-rap’s popularity. “Everybody out here didn‘t just have jerry curls,” Imani says. “L.A. was a diverse scene. We were dancing dudes that liked to kick it with girls. We were influenced by our lifestyles.” Bootie adds, “There’s so much more out there, aside from what the radio dictates. There are so many different genres of hip hop
and rap. [What made people think we were alternative] is that no one was throwing our music any money. [For people to invest] they knew it was gonna be a gamble [and were thinking], ‘I don’t know what this is, or what’s gonna come out of it, but I’m gonna put money in it and see what happens.’” Originally hip hop dancers, The Pharcyde segued into rap after people began commenting on their voices. When asked why they made the switch, Imani quickly responds, “There weren’t too many things with dance and the list was running short. You were either in music videos or dancing behind somebody.” He continues, “One thing led to another and we met someone and he talked about our voices saying we should do some rap music, and then we started making demos. We were hip hop dancers, so we knew all the music. We did talent shows and began there.” Stylistically, Bootie Brown says that their dancing background has influenced the way that they rap. “The breaths that you take, when you’re writing, you’re forming it around the beat,” he says. Twenty years is a primed canvas for the highs and lows of group relationships, which resulted in a break-up with the original members. During the late ‘90s and early naughties Slimkid3 and Fatlip left the group, however Imani and Bootie still carry the group name, continuing to busy themselves in new projects. Their catalogue of impressive collaborations includes director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) and the late J Dilla who produced Runnin’. One of the first groups to work with the renowned producer, Bootie explains how they were introduced. “We went out to New York for our second album but J.Swift wasn’t there. All the producers at the time were approaching us with music they had made for us, which isn’t what we wanted and it wasn’t really working. Q-Tip told us he met this guy in Detroit and said we should peep him out. We listened to three tracks, none of which were over a minute or two. The label wasn’t happy, but we liked it.” But when asked if they could collaborate with anyone, Imani replies with no hesitation. “Jesus Christ himself,” he laughs. “Ain’t nobody done nothing with him. And he can probably play any instrument too.” Over a wide spanning career, The Pharcyde remain humble. When asked what their greatest career highlight was they reply, “Being in highschool and saying we want to do this, then to have the ability to actually do it. The whole time is one big highlight.” Tamara Vogl The Pharcyde [USA] will be performing at The Espy on Thursday August 23.
URBAN
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