Live at Root Down
12.09.99
This brief, solid 35-minute session of funk, soul and indie hip-hop head-nodders was spun at the legendary Root Down club, a staple of late ‘90s and early aughts hip-hop in LA. It’s a perfect warm-up for the night ahead, plus it sounds like the Root Down as it should be remembered. Recorded in December ’99, the set was mixed by the late great DJ Dusk, joined that night by Music Man Miles and Mixmaster Wolf, the duo from Breakestra.
Smokey vintage vibes make their way through each classic cut. Featured are the Brentford All-Stars’ “Greedy G”, The Vibrettes’ “Humpty Dumpty”, Dynamic Syncopation’s “Ground Zero”, Ugly Duckling’s “Everybody C’mon”, Public Enemy’s “Rebel Without a Pause”, Biz Markie’s “Nobody Beats the Biz” and even “Right On Up” by The Sequence, among plenty of others. Bounce along from one punchy pentatonic bassline to another, and stay tuned for more Root Down posts.
FROM THE VAULTS is an ongoing curation project produced by Ben Sinclair, resurfacing rare live performances and DJ sets recorded during dublab’s first ten years.
