NYC’s own Boshra AlSaadi (aka Saadi, who did the fresh cover of Dylan’s “Mama, You Been on My Mind”, which Pitchfork debuted) and collaborative partner Dither Down Records founder Tim Wagner (33Hz), have teamed up with Sierra Leone artists Ahmad Janka Nabay (of True Panther and Bubu Gang) and Pupa Bajah of the increasingly momentous Dry Eye Crew, for the well-worth-the-half-hour “Summer of Saadi” (S.O.S.) mixtape, which through a dozen tracks covers Lady Saw’s “Man is the Least”, a track on Sly ‘N Robbie’s Tabla Riddim called “Nunyo Shit” (performed by The Pajammerz including Here We Go Magic’s Jen Turner), and Queen Ifrica’s “Below the Waist”, while also repping the new Saadi Reggae tune, “Take It Easy”. My favorite moment comes when they go macro-micro by preceding the cut “United Nation” and its call for peace between Palestine and Israel with the harrowing sounds of a NYC street fight, kinda reminding us about what’s worst in all of us, and how violence — and more importantly PEACE — starts and ends with individual choices. ‘Also love those stealthy strings on “Lights UP NYC”. The S.O.S. mixtape involves a gang of musos and if you can catch any of these acts live, you’re pretty much guaranteed a rawkus night involving two stages worth of guest artists and a lot of sweat and global rhythms — Summer ain’t over if you don’t want it to be over. I’ll be swimming in the waters of my beloved Coney as late as November. …MORE
By the time Jamaican-American Dwane Rich was in high school, he was by spinning at trendy parties in his neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In these formative adolescent years, he developed into somewhat of a pro-skater, in a similar vein to another neighborhood skateboard legend, Harold Hunter, and Blader Ryan Jacklone, with nearby stomping grounds in Union Square, Washington Square Park and The Brooklyn Banks. Dwane Rich’s DJing escalated into spinning at corporate events for the likes of Tommy Mottola, Zac Posen, Jay-Z, Andre Harrell and Maybach. This lifestyle, coupled with his experiences and creativity, lead him to express himself with the artwork that eventually evolved into his lifestyle brand, Diamond Headz.



























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