French artist L1ES ONE has been active in Hong Kong for several years now. His art is rooted in graffiti, but often ventures into other territory. On Wednesday, July 29th, he’ll be opening a show of new work titled “DR1PS & BUBBLES” at the private club M1NT in Sheung Wan.

L1ES ONE is particularly good at tailoring his art to different spaces. Curious what his previous exhibitions looked like? (more…)

D.J. Craze and D.J. Klever, two world renowned turntablists, hit Volar last Thursday night. Turntablists are sort of like musically gifted hackers. Instead of using a record player (called a turntable,) for what it was intended – to playback music, they use it more like an instrument.

The techniques they practice include scratching and beat juggling. The result is that they create music from music.

In their repertoire there’s even a famous scratch that was named after the Transformers. (It resembles the sound that occurs when they change from cars into robots!) The best turntablists can produce fantastic improvisation-filled performances.

However, I’m usually skeptical of turntablists as party d.j.s. Sometimes they get too used to crowds standing around and watching, and don’t understand the dynamics of a dance floor. At times they tend to get too technical and lose the non-d.j.s in the audience.

How did D.J. Klever and Craze hold up? (more…)

I ran into my friend M.C. Yan on Thursday night and he was excited to tell me about a new project he’s been working on called Radio Dada. Yan is one of the pioneers of Hip Hop in Hong Kong. He’s helped popularize the concepts behind the culture and is well known as a graffiti artist and rapper. Yan was also a member of the now defunct group, L.M.F.

Friday night I bumped into him again, and since we were right next door, he gave me a tour of the new station he’s just launched. (more…)

Pharoahe Monch, the veteran New York rapper and former Rawkus all-star made a headlining two-night appearance at the three day Chivas Studio event. (Topping the bill on Friday was Hong Kong singer Justin Lo.)

The site of the event was the Watermark restaurant, located at the Star Ferry pier in Central. Though I had originally planned to attend Saturday’s performance, I stopped by on Thursday for a quick look. (more…)

Beijing’s D.J. Wordy is coming to town for a special Hip Hop party called Real Recognize Real on the 18th of July. The event features classic and underground Hip Hop as opposed to the commercial Hip-Pop and R&B that normally floods the clubs here.

I met D.J. Wordy in Beijing around five years ago and he was a great d.j. even back then! This is before he went on to win China’s D.M.C. championship three times! If you’re a fan of turntablism or Hip Hop before it went Pop, this might be a chance to hear an interesting set. (more…)

Hong Kong based French artist L1ES ONE held an opening party for his exhibition titled “LE GRAFF1T1 C’EST CH1C” at M1NT on Thursday night. The show included a series of canvases, but the real stars were the tags and pieces he created on the club’s interior. Showing the eye of a true graffiti artist, L1ES attacked key surfaces within the club. M1NT deserves credit for not flinching, and giving him carte-blanche to write on whatever objects he chose, including their precious shark tank pictured above. (more…)

Arriving at the Business of Design Week event, I thought I was at the wrong party. The music was a cerebral instrumental Jazz and the people were mostly wearing suits. I walked to the edge of the event and contemplated a speedy exit. I decided to make one last pass through the thick of the crowd before escaping. As luck would have it, I bumped into several friends and an hour later, caught Jin Da M.C. putting on an excellent show. (more…)

In town for an MTV Music Awards special promotion, New York Hip Hop group Mobb Deep made their first appearance ever in Hong Kong. Without Prodigy, the group’s main M.C., the crew was comprised of Havoc (the other founding member,) in addition to Big Noyd, D.C. and The Alchemist (a top Hip Hop producer.) (more…)

The body as a canvas; the t-shirt as art

Thursday night I stopped by the launch party for the American brand Miskeen. Originally from Philadelphia, Miskeen has grown into a collective of over thirty artists who hand paint t-shirts. The style of the artwork is a cross between graffiti and the street art you could find in N.Y.’s Soho in the 1980′s. (more…)

I was attending a birthday party at HALO on Wednesday night, so I arrived at Dragon-i towards the end of d.j. Cash Money’s set. He’s been to Hong Kong several times over the past three years, and he plays a combination of classics mixed with the latest Hip Hop hits. (more…)