Quality, Afrodisiac Sound System, Dakah Hip-Hop OrchestraLos Angeles based DJ/Producers Haul and Mason are firmly establishing themselves as the party-rocking DJ duo to watch in the coming years. The two So-Cal residents have been founding and maintaining residencies at club nights [notably their Quality night at Zanzibar in Santa Monica running 3 and a half years strong], producing original tracks, playing live with bands, and blowing up dance floors all around the world for the past seven years as a team. Theyve shared the stage with such artists as Jazzy Jeff, Common, Mos Def, Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, Africa Bambaataa, DJ Krush, Roni Size, and DJ Premier. DJ Haul and Masons unique approach to four turntable performances seriously ups the ante of the art form, incorporating hip-hop turntablism and house-style mixing into meticulously planned party-rocking sets that, while focus mainly on hip-hop, cover all types of dance music. In the past two years, attention has certainly perked regarding the duo as theyve landed national print campaigns with Ocean Pacific (OP Classic) and Live Mechanics clothing, won the URB Magazine 2002 Mixtape Contest, been chosen as Los Angeles resident DJs for the innovative Scion Metro events, and Hauls having been named best Selector by LA Weekly Magazine for 2003. If all that isnt enough, Haul and Mason were selected by URB magazine for the Next 100 up and coming artist issue 2004 and continue to steadily release original material independently on their Afrodisiac Soundsystem label as well as their first full-length Half-Baked Goods in 2005.
A few years back, along with global crate digger and producer Jed, the duo formed the Afrodisiac Sound System (www.afrosoundsystem.com) in association with Afrodisiac Records (the West African Funk reissue label responsible for 2000s Booniay! and 2003s The Danque). The Afrodisiac Sound System and Afroheat mash-up series have been wildly successful thus far, with Afroheat ..1 becoming a staple party-rocker of 03, charted by the likes of Groove Armada and LA house guru Doc Martin. Afroheat ..2 (released summer 04), Afroheat ..3 (released winter 04), and recently Afroheat ..4 (released early 06) have created a similar buzz and selling out 1st and 2nd pressings within weeks of their releases. With the A.S.S. trio constantly working in the studio, one can expect a flood of original tracks and DJ-friendly remixes and mash-ups from them in the coming months. In fact, the production teams first original 12 single Revolution b/w Its So Nice featuring MC Raashan Ahmad of Oaklands Crown City Rockers, released June 2005, has been getting heavy play around the globe proving that the A.S.S. men have more than just remix chops. A full-length Afrodisiac Soundsystem album is in the works and slated for a late summer release. In regards to a newer medium, a full-length DVD/audio of DJ Haul and Masons original productions called Half-Baked Goods was released in early 2005 on Myutopia Recordings (www.Myutopian.com). Mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, this next-generation format release makes the duos album one of the first 20 hip-hop projects in the world to be mixed and released as such.
On the DJing front, Haul and Mason have been busy promoting and holding down the dancefloors at their club night Quality (in LA weekly and SF monthly), doing Scions Metro parties around the country opening for artists such as Jazzy Jeff, Grandmaster Flash, and Pete Rock, touring in Japan and Europe, and recording sets in the studio. LAs reigning mixtape champs have recently completed a mix in conjunction with PF flyers to promote the new Justin Bua limited edition sneakers, a Scion mix CD (of which 500,000 were distributed in the U.S.), and the album sampler for RJD2s last record Wish you were Here, along with east-coast favorite Diplo of Hollertronix. Apart from mixtape work for hire, DJ Haul and Mason have been busy recording and independently releasing mixtapes of their own including 2004s Four Turntable Beatdown which garnered great reviews and sold several thousand copies in the US, Europe, and Japan.
On top of their regular club sets and production work, both DJs work in bands together and separately. The two have worked together for the past five years with LAs 60+-piece Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra (www.dakah.com) both performing live and doing studio recordings. In the past two years, Dakah has been fortunate enough to have some traveling opportunities playing in San Francisco, Austin at SXSW, New Orleans 05 for Jazz Fest, Playboy Jazz Festival, and the Las Vegas House of Blues with Guru of Gangstarr. Also in collaboration with Guru and Scion, Dakah released a 12 inch of Roots and Gang Starr covers featuring the talents of Guru in ealry 2005... Myspace Layout Generator-Layoutgen.com
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