R.I.P. DJ AM

I'm back yall, as you can see I haven't been blogging for a couple of weeks. Frankly my last blog entry was on Friday August 28th at 5:36PM. After I blogged that day I looked outside and it was looking crappy, so I began to cook myself dinner so it would be ready by the time the NY Yankees game started. As I was cooking something made me want to twitter about my cooking exploits so I did, as soon as I twittered I refreshed the page to make sure that my comment posted and that's when I saw the first reports of DJ AM's passing. I proceeded to call my boy Ian Fletcher who was close friends with AM and the sound in his voice confirmed that it was true....

As a DJ I have always believed that you learn from Good DJ's as well as Bad DJ's. The bad DJ's show you what not do to do, but the good DJ's inspire you to step your game up and be GREATER!!!! I wasn't friends with AM but I had a chance to meet him and spin with him for the first time back in 2002 for DJ Eric Cubeechee's B-Day party @ The House Of Blues in Anaheim, CA. Eric Cubeechee had told me a lot good things about AM but words can't ever replace being in the presence of him on a set. What first struck me about him was that he was a real cool guy, what struck me second was this guy was CRAZY on the turntables and he didn't need a mic because he spoke with his hands. He was playing records that most DJ's back then wouldn't even think about hitting and it wasn't just what he played; it was also the way he was scratching and mixing these records up. Coming from NY I had never seen someone ROCK a party that way until I saw AM do it. These days it's more common for DJ's to play Rock, Pop, 80's, Dance, along with Hip-Hop but AM made it a trademark. If they were other DJ's that did it before him then I never saw them, all I know is that watching a fellow DJ rock the crowd that night inspired me as a DJ.

I had a lot of thoughts on my mind when DJ AM passed which led me to slow down on the blogging for a little bit. I'm sure it's not any different for any other DJ that was a friend of DJ AM or a fan. I then came across my boy DJ Bri-G's blog Revenge Of Rob Gordon and he summed up some how I felt so I'm posting his words for yall to read.

"The DJ Community is a small one and thus when we lose a member of it, the impact is felt by all. Most DJs either personally know or at least know of the influential DJs in every market across the country. We have conferences, conference calls, fly in and out of each other's cities. We meet for lunch with a fellow DJ we've only talked to via email, facebook, or twitter and talk about music."

"It's the music. It's why we all do this. Yes, there's the feeling of rocAdd Imageking that crowd and having everybody waiting on that next record to drop. There's the money, the girls, the partying and the noteriety that comes with being the guy behind the decks. But in the end, it's all about the music. That's why I respected AM so much. Aside from his incredible technical DJ skills, it was is overwhelming knowledge of music...and his love for it that made him stand out."

"As a student of the culture as well as a member of it, I've always sought out teachers that would help me get better as a DJ. With the advent of Youtube, it was made that much easier to bring those legends into your home as you learned from them. DJs began posting up video clips of them in the rockin' the club, practicing in the studio, or even giving lessons. Then the Rane 57 allowed you to record your mixes live from the club and everytime a DJ is kind enough to release them, I study it like I'm about to take the Bar exam."

"Before I knew AM as a person, he was one of my unwitting online teachers. I'd watch videos of him and try to emulate his style. The seemless mashing of genres, the scratching, the live blends, I've studied it all. Have I gotten to be even half of the DJ that AM was? Probably not. But without somebody like him to look up to and strive to be like, I don't know if I'd even still be doing this."

"DJing is a competitive culture. We all talk shit about each other. "Oh, that dude is wack." "Why is he playing that record." "That mix was way off." "His cuts are off beat." "How did his wack ass get that gig?" But then there's the guys that transend the hate. The guys you just sit back and enjoy listening to knowing your going to hear something you never heard before. Knowing that you weren't just listening to a DJ play records, you were listening to an innovator. The Jazzy Jeff's, the Primo's, the DJ Scratch's, the Riz's, the Z-Trip's...and of course DJ AM."

"Below are links to AM's "Elton" series of mixes. These mixes will give you a true appreciation for the musical range and talent of our now gone DJ brother. Please feel free to pass them along to your friends and family and do just a little bit to continue AM's legacy."

Thanks Bri-G, great words homie. Shouts also to DJ A-Trak who posted some REAL thoughts on DJ AM as well on WWW.DJATRAK.COM. I remember talking to DJ Smooth Denali about these mixes a week before AM's passing, their are CLASSIC!!!! Thank you DJ AM....

DJ AM - Elton Part 1
DJ AM - Elton Part 2
DJ AM - Elton Part 3
DJ AM - Elton Part 4
DJ AM - Elton Part 5