I understand Spin’s frustration, I also give celebrity DJs the side eye. How does one wake up and say “Today I’m going to be a DJ because I have the money to buy equipment and I have a lot of music.” Huh? To me that’s disrespectful to the craft of being a disc jockey. It’s true that they aren’t taking any money out of my pocket because I haven’t djayed a bar/lounge in years, but for those big name DJs this creates a huge problem. Clubs would increase their patronage with a big name DJ but are you paying to party or look at Kanye all night. I can only imagine how much it would cost to listen to Lil Wayne spin, but if he’s garbage, what did you really get?

I recently went to the Brooklyn Bowl to hear Talib Kweli spin. Questlove was originally supposed to spin and after the last time I heard him, I knew I needed more. He cancelled and Kweli took his place. He had absolutely no technique. The music choices were all over the place and his transition made grimace. Still, because I love music so much, I tried to enjoy myself.

In my opinion, unless celebrities are willing to take the craft seriously, they should leave the djaying to the professionals. In some cases like Idris Elba or Mike and Pauly from Jersey Shore, they really practice and study. From what I hear about Kanye West’s first gig, he played a nice eclectic mix of music but I hope he understands that it takes more to DJ than a Serato box, a laptop and a playlist.

These were MADE for DJ Diva..they just don’t know it yet  ;)

Miss Aretha Franklin is getting married for the third time at 69. It seems the songstress is in love enough to tie the knot again. To some it may appear to be useless, but from what I’ve learned from my own grandmother, a woman never ceases to want that promise of an everlasting bond with a partner.

4 years ago, when my grandmother was 75, she shocked all of her direct descendants (including me) when she announced that she was going to marry her long time male friend. On New Year’s Eve 2007, everyone who could, made the pilgrimage to Memphis, TN to see our matriarch get married at the family church. The same cousin who married me, said the blessed words over the couple and there wasn’t dry eye amongst the family as they said “I Do”. For the first kiss, my grandfather grabbed my grandmother so fast, he startled her. I couldn’t blame him, after all, she had made him wait 30 years before she said yes. They are the happiest couple you ever did see and according to Grandma, “The pig in the blanket still works!”

Grandma talks about other vibrant 60-80 year olds in her church who still want to get married and enjoy relations with a man. The problem seems to be that the men in their age group tend to gravitate toward women under 60, leaving the women without prospects. I feel bad for them but as I approach 40, I see the same trend. A close DJ friend of mine, who has been a confirmed bachelor forever, recently got married at 50 to a woman in her 30s and they are expecting a baby any day now. I can’t help to think about the women in his age group who would have loved to have been married to him.

Like my grandmother, I tend to enjoy the attention of younger men.  Although I’m single, I’m think by the time I’m ready to settle down again, I won’t have much of a problem. And maybe like Miss Aretha and my grandmother, the third time will be a charm for me too.

(Explicit lyrics included)

Happy New Year Everybody! But before you say goodbye to last year…make sure you download my last mixtape for 2011. It’s full of tracks to keep you dancing because you know that’s what I love to do: make you dance!

Track Listing

1, Jay-Z & Kanye West – Niggas In Paris
2. Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj – Dance (A$$)
3. Tyga – Rack City
4. Drake ft Lil Wayne – The Motto
5. Mary J. Blige ft. Diddy, Lil Wayne – Someone To Love Me Naked
6. Frank Ocean – Novacane
7. Chris Brown – She Aint You
8. Beyoncé – Countdown
9. Jay-Z & Kayne West – Otis
10. Beyonce – Love On Top
11. J. Cole – Work Out
12. Lupe Fiasco – Out of My Head (ft. Trey Songz)
13. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
14. Pitbull Ft. Ne-Yo – Give Me Everything (Tonight)
15. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love
16. Beyonce  – Who Run This World (Girls)
17. Jill Scott Ft. Eve – Shame
18. Syleena Johnson – A Boss
19. Monica ft Rick Ross & Lil Kim – Anything (to find you)
20. Beyonce-Party (Ft. Andre 3000 & Kanye West)
21. Rick Ross ft Nicki Minaj – You The Boss
22. J Cole ft Trey Songz – Can’t Get Enough
23. YC Ft Wiz Khalifa – Racks on Racks (Remix)
24. Waka Flocka Flame – No Hands ft Wale Roscoe Dash
25. Meek Mill ft Rick Ross – Im A Boss
26. DJ Khaled – I’m On One
27. Drake – Headline

I survived @GreenhouseNYC.
— Questo of The Roots (@questlove) December 15, 2011

Wednesday night (12/14/11), I got into one of the most exclusive clubs in New York with my girl Suezette. Greenhouse NYC is notorious for it’s strict door policy and choosey bouncers.  When Teri Woods had a book release party for her book Alibi back in 2009, the club owner refused to let in black people. When I originally saw the invitation pop up across my Twitter timeline from DJ Spinna, I immediately clicked it. DJ Neil Armstrong was having a party to celebrate 10 Year anniversary of  his mixtape “Original”, presented by Adidas.  Questlove was going to be spinning, along with DJ Neil Armstrong himself, plus DJ Spinna and G-bothe Pro, all of whom I follow on Twitter. It sounded great but I also knew it would be probably impossible to get into. My girl SueZette invited me to go to Peter Hadar on the same night. She said the event was free and since I needed to get out of the house it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I met her at the Wip Gallery and there were apparently problems at the door. They were letting in the white people but not the blacks. The bouncer had no guestlist for Peter and when his manager appeared at the  door, they treated her like dirt. I was in shock and was ready to call it a night, when this woman walked over to another female on the line and began talking about the party around the corner. It was the Greenhouse party and the line was around the corner.

Dj Neil Armstrong Celebrates 10 Years of “Original” Mixtape! from Billet Video Studios on Vimeo.

But back to D’Angelo. It seems my virtual psychic plea worked. D’Angelo has finished up his long awaited album,”James River” and now he’s announced a 2012 tour. Don’t get happy unless you have some Euros because he won’t be playing here in the States. D’Angelo will play at Le Zénith on January 29th in Paris, the Paradiso in Amsterdam on January 31rst and the 02 Academy Brixton in London on February 3rd.

I am not surprised that he stepping back on stage overseas. Europeans are generally happy to see an American Singer. (Well maybe not with Rhianna, they recently booed her off the stage in England.) I can just imagine what would have happened if he had missed a note, or if his voice was not the same. He would have been slayed in the media and would again become a recluse from the music world.

I just hope that I get to see him once again on stage. It doesn’t matter if he no longer looks or sounds like this:

For me it’s like that old boyfriend that you don’t expect to want to get back with, but you remember the good times you had when you were together and you would get back with him if the circumstances were different. Ya know? Kinda like this:
Welcome back D’Angelo, I hope.