The Eleventh Hour: Interview with DJ Eleven

Globetrotting partyrocker DJ Eleven is, above all things, a workhorse. The Oakland native has played from LA to London, and pretty much any locale where a nightlife exists. He’s also played alongside many masters, including DJ Premier and Grandmaster Flash. In his spare time, he’s written for Wax Poetics, XLR8R and contributes a monthly column for UK magazine, Hip-Hop Connection. The Village Voice and The New York Times have also touted his mixtapes and acclaimed parties, respectively.

Besides being jealous, I’m glad to see a Bay Area cat achieve such success. The Rub, a booming website he runs with DJ Ayers and Cosmo Baker, consistently provides mixtapes and podcasts which gets heaps of visitors daily.

Eleven hustles hard, but was kind enough to lend us his time for an interview. Here’s our talk after he had just gotten back from playing Europe.

Let folks know about your Bay Area roots.
I was born in Redwood City but grew up in Oakland. My parents & all of my siblings live in the Bay. I came up DJing in the Bay Area with my crew, Local1200. And, I moved to New York almost 9 years ago. But, I try to get back to the Bay any chance I can.

What’s the general reaction to Bay Area rap when you play it elsewhere? What Bay Area joints do you play out often?
In New York, the reaction isn’t good at all. Most club goers in New York still don’t give a shit about any hip-hop that isn’t from New York. But, through much of the South, the Midwest & the West Coast, the reactions are much better. I think the joint I run the most often is Too $hort “Blow The Whistle’”.

What country or countries have embraced your sets the most?
I just got back from a European tour and on that run, I was really blown away by the crowd in Helsinki, Finland. It was my first time there & they were so live. I’ve also played to phenomenal crowds in London & Buenos Aires, Argentina.

What made you decide to become a DJ? Tell us a bit about how you got started.
I’ve always loved music and got into DJing during college. My first semester of my freshman year, I was able to get a radio show on the college’s station. So, that was really my introduction. From there, I started playing records at parties around the school and, before long, I was hooked.

What mistakes or misunderstandings do you often see young DJs doing?
The three most common mistakes I see young DJs making, are all kind of based on the same thing. 1) Playing an opening set at a party in fifth gear. 2) Not understanding the arc of a club night. 3) Expecting things to come too quick.

The commonality among all these mistakes is basically being young. Haha. It takes experience to realize that people don’t want to walk into a club at 10:15 and be bombarded by hard house or the same hits from the radio. It takes time to realize that club nights/parties that work the best are the ones that have an arc to them. And, last, it’s not immediately obvious that making a living as a DJ, or having any sort of longevity, is a patience game and takes time & dedication.

You’ve written for Pitchfork, Wax Poetics and XLR8R. How did you begin as a writer and when do you find the time? What article(s) of yours are you most proud of?
The first magazine I ever wrote for was 4080, based out of the Bay. As I recall, someone who was working there asked me to review an album. From there, I kept taking any chance I got to do some writing, usually for little to no money. It was always more about enjoying the process and getting to talk to folks I wouldn’t necessarily have had a chance to.

For that reason, the article I wrote for Wax Poetics on the history of Bay Area is one of my favorites. I also write a monthly column for an English magazine called Hip Hop Connection, which I really enjoy because I can talk about ANYTHING I want. Downside to that is the hate mail.

Talk a little bit about your involvement in The Rub and what other interesting projects do you have in the works?
The Rub is made up of myself and my partners, DJ Ayres & Cosmo Baker. We started the party in Brooklyn just shy of 6 years ago. And, in that time, it’s grown so much bigger & more successful than we’d ever imagined. It’s taken us all over the world! And, it’s still the best party I do.

Other than a couple quick trips, such as a short tour opening for Too $hort & a quick run thru Asia, I’m staying put in New York a lot more in the coming months. I’ve been on the road very heavily in the last year & a half and now want to spend some more time recording & working on new production. And, they’re might be a new mixtape or eight, too.

You gave us a nice little Public Enemy mix of yours (to be posted soon!). Talk about why PE’s music is so important to you?
PE’s music was crazy influential to me when I was in high school, so part of it is that it was important to me at an important time in my musical development. The Bomb Squad was doing production that was light years ahead of anyone else & so dense. And, the combination of Chuck D & Flavor Flav on the mics was magic! It’s really amazing to me that so few of their joints are part of the canon of hip-hop “classics”.

Thanks so much for your time man. We'll let you get some rest. Peace.

***The Rub’s 6th Anniversary Jam goes down at The Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY July 5th.
***For more info on DJ Eleven, visit www.DJELEVEN.com or visit Eleven's myspace.
***Check The Rub for updates, music, and more from Eleven.
****Eleven will be back in The Bay this month on the 17th@ Levende in SF and the 18th@ Luka's in Oakland. Support.

Three, Two, One: A Final Say With Bob James

Wax Poetics added to their ever-expanding empire this week by launching their online digital store. To set things off, they chose an article on Bob James by yours truly. Click the image below to read it:

I usually have qualms about posting my non-WTTM work on here (I just did it in my previous post, I know), but I'm proud of this one. It's a three-parter where Bob talks about the myths surrounding his work, breaks down his best albums and the most sampled tracks off each, while contextualizing his own importance within hip-hop's history.

I'm flattered that Wax Po chose it as their lead article for the big launching of their digital store. And as far as I know, it's probably the most in-depth, hip-hop related interview you'll ever read on Bob James.

"D Stands For Dignity"

"D stands for dignity", explained Chuck D when asked about his absence at Flava Flav's Comedy Central roast last year. As one of the few rappers that I've respected all the way to my adulthood, I can honestly say it was an honor to meet and talk to such an admirable guy.

Here's a recent interview I did with him for the skate publication, Slap Magazine. Although the piece barely scratches the surface on Chuck's importance and longevity, it was one of the few times I was in awe while conducting an interview. I played it off proper, but truth is, the whole experience was super surreal.

**Check back in a few months where we'll be relaunching WTTM, kicking things off with an extended, in-depth interview with Chuck D (with a slick foreword by Nate Nothing), complimented by an exclusive Public Enemy mix by DJ Eleven of The Rub. Believe the hype.

See The Way She Walks, Hear The Way She Talks...

Besides her awing stint with the Velvet Underground, Nico, born Christa Paffgen, mostly made slow, dim, devastating music. The Marble Index (1969), Camera Obscura (1973) and The End (1985) are sharp examples of her heedless position towards mainstream acceptance through the years. Former VU member and frequent producer John Cale was also probably instrumental, and likely supportive, of her uncompromising ways.
It’s said that Bob Dylan was one of many famous men (Jackson Browne, Jim Morrison, Serge Gainsbourg and Iggy Pop) who fell for her while their histories converged in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Whether the story is true or mere myth, Dylan did give Nico a song he wrote, which she sang on her 1967 solo debut LP, Chelsea Girl. The album is sunny compared to her later work, while the song, “I’ll Keep It With Mine”, features Dylan’s words with Nico’s voice, ushered along by dark, vexed violin stabs.

"I'll Keep It With Mine" is below. Standout line; in typical self-aware, world-aware, Dylan style: “I can’t help it if you might think I’m odd, when I say I’m not loving you for what you are, but for what you’re not.”


Nico’s first recording, “I’m Not Sayin’”. A chipper 45 that omits the corniness of Gordon Lightfoot’s original, while adding her signature gloominess.


Amazingly, there's footage of the video they made for “I’m Not Sayin’”. It’s rough around the edges, but one can see why everyone was so enchanted by the femme fatale. You'd Better Watch Your Step...

Lemme ax you a ?uestion

At the risk of sounding like a blatant self-promoter, I spoke to
?uestlove a couple weeks ago, and the article is now hot off the presses. You can get it by picking up a copy of The Metro where they're available, or bypass all the ads and typos, and just read it here.

Soft-spoken, funny, and eloquent, ?uest talks about the Bay Area, records, rap, and his well-kept career. Respect.

Wax Return

Lee Perry and the Upsetters' Return of Wax was one of the first records I bought when I was starting my collection. (Justice League, 1998. Still looking for an original.) At the time I was heavily into the Beastie Boys and actually picked up a few nice records following their samples and shout outs ("Like Lee Perry I'm very... odd," from Sure Shot). The opening track on the second side is an original instrumental called "One Armed Boxer" with a killer intro. After the drums roll in, a single note repeats for a few bars over snappy drums before settling into the bass groove that makes up the rest of the track. We here at WTTM headquarters can't agree on the orgin of that addictive sound. Cutso thinks it's an organ, Weezy and I are guessing some kind of effected guitar. I always wanted to sample that part myself but never got around to it. Luckily, someone far more talented than I am used it a few years later.


The utterly unique MC/producer Beans jacked the loop for "Databreaker" off of his slept-on album Now Soon Someday (Warp,2003). He drops a slew of his trademark mind-bending free-associative rhymes over the track.
Highlights include a brilliant metaphor:"If Earth's a jail, then music's how I'll serve my life sentence..."
Some cogent advice for weak MCs: "If you want constructive criticism, then stop rhyming..."
And a concise, hilarious story rap tucked into the last verse that explains a lot about Beans' outlook on life: "Picked up these two girls in the club so they could double team me/ Caught them walking out the door trying to steal my TV/ Wasn't mad, but if you like me, admire ingenuity, so you understand..."

Though not nearly as prolific or influential, I see Beans as an inheritor of Perry's legacy of innovative and eccentric artistry. Among other similarities, the two men share an inclination toward bass-heavy production and a penchant for seemingly nonsensical wordplay.

Heavy Rotation: Carolina Funk

For months now, I keep going back to Now Again’s brilliant Carolina Funk: First In Funk compilation. The release, like others in the series, are lost recordings of heavy, sweat-drenched funk tunes. Artists like The Soul Drifters, Frankie & The Damons, and The Tempo’s Band, are stellar examples of the comp's level of excellence. It’s no wonder Cut Chemist sampled portions of these tracks. This, right here, is rhythm caught on record.

Below is my favorite (among many favorites) from the release:
Roy Roberts’ “You Ain’t Miss It”. Notice how everything--the bass, guitar and vocals--cuts through the muddy recording to compliment each other perfectly.


And check back in a few weeks where we’ll be talking to Egon, general manager of Stones Throw and esteemed headmaster of the Now Again label.

***If you dig the track above, please visit http://www.stonesthrow.com/nowagain/ to purchase the comp and get more info on Now Again. While you’re at it, peep more landmark releases from the series (Midwest Funk, Florida Funk and Texas Funk). They won’t disappoint.

Wrinkle In Time

At the risk of severe understatement, I think we can all agree that the quality of Frank Black's solo work is uneven at best. At fourteen albums and counting, his solo catalog dwarfs that of the Pixies, yet all but the most die-hard fans can't help but feel that his best years are behind him. That said, the man is one of the masters of indie rock songwritng, and there are moments on his solo albums that rival anything he accomplished with his distinguished band.

Teenager of the Year has always been my favorite of his solo albums, and though it's somewhat bloated at 22 tracks, there are great moments spread throughout the disc. "Headache" is one of them; a perfect piece of jangle-pop with vivid imagery and an oddly optimistic sound considering the subject matter. It's also noteworty for being prescient about the Myspace phenomenon at least a decade before it emerged ("I thought about my space, and it really got me down...").

This one's for Audrey Le, who introduced me to the song and was a huge factor in broadening the musical horizons of a hip-hop obsessed teenager. Thanks, Aud.