Meet Deon “River Sand” Palmer, a Jamaican artist like no other via my friends at Large Up. Be sure to watch to the end, when River Sand rolls around his studio on a two-ton concrete ball. Definitely something I haven’t seen before. By the way, Large Up is the best Caribbean Culture site on the web, by leaps and bounds.
Some Words On Why The Beastie Boys Matter So Much To Me:
This was inspired by an article that came out on my folks site Largeup.com today about the Beastie Boys’ connection to reggae music. I left this comment on their article today:
The Beasties truly represented my musical path more than any other group ever. I came of age (11-13) going to see to hardcore bands like Bad Brains and Murphy’s Law, who obviously both had big reggae/ska influences. At the same time, I was being introduced to “The Harder They Come” soundtrack (which includes the “Stop That Train” sample), Eek A Mouse, Steel Pulse, Yellowman and the like. I remember, my boy had all these reggae artist names scrawled on his book bag, and it just had a HUGE effect on me. I went and found all those artists.
After being raised on classic rock, yacht rock and 80s music, hardcore and punk were the next logical step. Then, all the hardcore kids in Boston (where I grew up) took off their Doc Martens, and put on sneakers, started listening to/going to more reggae, ska and hip-hop shows, and called themselves “sneaker boys”. Precisely at this time, I moved to NYC. I never went to another hardcore show again. I got completely obsessed with listening to Red Alert, Stretch Armstrong, Kid Capri and Silver Dee on the radio, and just got consumed by hip-hop. Later on, I went back and caught back up on all these previous phases, which was great therapy.
The Beasties represent the true nature of hip-hop and dj culture to me. The people that started hip-hop (and dj culture), just loved music. ALL KINDS. But the Beasties also had a musical progression that mirrored mine, which transcends any of that for me. The connection between reggae, punk, hardcore and hip-hop is something that I think many people who call themselves “hip-hop fans” just don’t even understand.
Raven Toney from the West Indian Day Parade Brooklyn, 2011 by Simone Serwer. You want to see the rest of these flicks from the parade at Large Up.
Meet Trini Project Runway Designer Anya Ayoung-Chee, via my friends @largeupdotcom - You can read the interview here.
Just in case you didn’t know, Large Up is the best Caribbean Culture Site on the web. They are under the Okayplayer umbrella. It’s run by my home-strudel DJ Gravy and jet-setting photographer Martei Korley. What’s more, the site is about to undergo a re-design, and get a logo and packaging from LEGENDARY designer Brent Rollins (Ego Trip). Looking forward to that.
