***House Shoes is my new favorite DJ***

Real talk.  Last night, for Rhettmatic’s birthday at Nightlife, Shoes spun one of the greatest sets I’ve ever heard.  

I’ve known Shoes at some capacity for over 10 years now and have heard him spin countless times.  Shoes in general has always played nothing less that what he thought was dope.  Nothing.  That’s the essence of Shoes and one of his most admirable qualities.

Last night was special though.

I was exhausted from the weekend (we’ll get into that in a different post).  By midnight, I was ready to go home.  Not that Rhettmatic or Mr. Choc weren’t spinning good music.  I just wasn’t especially moved by it.  I was thankful to find a comfortable couch to chill on.

Not long after sitting down, I hear a Frank N Dank track that I love, followed by more HARD Dilla joints.  I knew Shoes was spinning without being able to see.  It was much more than that though.  The blends were exceptional as was the progression from song to song.  It was seamless.  Even when Shoes went from a real hard Dilla track to a smooth one, it made perfect sense.  He was just feeling it.  He was playing without thinking.  You could tell it was coming from the soul and the crowd could feel it too.  The volume wasn’t any louder and it was far from the first time we’d heard Dilla played that night.  Still, somehow through the selection of songs, progression, and transitions, Shoes has taken the vibe up several notches.

It wasn’t until Shoes started spinning some more upbeat soul and old school that I got up out of my seat.  It was too much to sit for.  Everyone was dancing and by this time, there were at least 20 people on stage who were feeling what the rest of us were feeling… and they were wild’n out!  

Shoes went through an entire classic Boot Camp Clik set, classic Nas and Mobb Deep, back to originals of DIlla tracks blended to the new versions.. back and forth… it was madness!  You were just waiting to see what RECORD he was gonna play next and you knew it was perfect.  Like I said, he was just feelin’ it!

Certain things stood out that night that I had never seen Shoes do much of in the past.  He was cutting the records a lot more than he ever had before.  Not excessively at all.  Just solid cuts and blends.

What stood out the most was when he was remixing tracks live.  Playing an acapella with a Dilla instrumental, then switching up the instrumental half way through.

By the way, Shoes was going through records at a serious pace.  You could see the stack piling up next to the tables as he didn’t have time to put them away.

To make this long story shorter, the night went on like this.  One perfect track after then next.  Mr. Choc, Oh No, Roc C, Rhettmatic, Melo D, and a slew of others were wild’n the fuck out on stage.  I think Shoes taught them a lesson that night that they will possibly never be able to duplicate.  It was beyond DJ skills.  Most of those DJs have better “skills” that Shoes will ever have.  But NONE of them have the soul that Shoes has.  He poured it all out last night and became my favorite DJ.  That’s my word.

 

 

As a quick side note.  When Shoes got there, he came up to me and could BARELY stand up.  Shoes is drunk a LOT of the time, but he even said something to me to the effect of, “I’m not gonna make it through the night.”  When I first saw him up there spinning I was worried.  Fo’ real.  He was so drunk when I first saw him there was no telling what was gonna happen.

Anyways, it was a truly special experience.  Outstanding!  

 

Yesterday was most importantly my brother’s birthday, Rhettmatic’s, and Dave New York’s.  Only my brother was missing.  Oh well.

Other posts you should check out:

House Shoes – A Legend in it’s Own Time (Dilla Sample Mix) (free download)

DJ House Shoes – “We Only Just Begun” (free download)

The Ma Dukes Collection (Mixed By Rhettmatic J. Rocc and Houseshoes 2008 (free download)

House Shoes – Europe For Dummies Episode 1

House Shoes – Europe For Dummies Episode 3

House Shoes – Europe For Dummies Episode 4

Invincible feat. Finale – “The Locusts” video

The manifestation of the Jay Dee “Pay Jay” MCA album

Now On – “Don’t Call It A Mixtap” hosted by DJ House Shoes (free download)

Jay Electronica on Gilles Peterson (BBC) Podcast via Houseshoes