DJ Format plays some crazy records from his collection

A few years back, DJ Format did a 'Patterns' vinyl set for Mr. Bongo you can watch right here. Check out a special 45 set below.

Midweek Mixdown: Dublab's 45 Live with Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Eli "Paperboy" Reed spins a selection of gospel and funk for 45 Live with host Greg Belson. Check the link below. 

Here's the scoop...

Putting it simply, there's just not enough space here to give this man justice to the dedication he has to the music he produces. From writer, musician & producer, to DJ, collector & archivist, Eli "Paperboy" Reed's passion is undeniable. So, and is not often the case with these write-ups, please check his site at this link: http://www.elipaperboyreed.com/ 

Eli's DJ sets are particularly spectacular, as they provide a keen snapshot as to what to expect from the Paperboy, when he performs live. The influences are all wrapped up tight into the grooves of each record.  

Dublab's 45 Live host Greg Belson bookends the set and this week it's a deep dive into the still relatively untapped world of gospel soul & funk 45's. you'll hear songs from Chariettes Gospel Singers, DJ Format, World Service Singers, Spiritual Harmonizers, the Windy City Four and others – original 7"s on lock, as per usual! 

Check out the 45 Live session right here. 

Watch Eli "Paperboy" Reed performing live at the Grand Ole Opry in support of his latest album Down Every Road, a rootsy salute to Merle Haggard below. 

Grab a copy of DJ Format & The Simonsound's limited 7" single while you can

DJ Format's 2019 single pairing "The Peruvian" and "Holy Thursday" is momentarily available via KayDee Records right here.  

Midweek Mixdown: DJ Format's Hindsight Psych Mix

Check out DJ Format's creepy cool and slightly bent psych selection straight from the Devil's Workshop right here.

DJ Format discusses his epic new album, The Devil's Workshop

DJ Format revels in dark psych and badly bent Euro prog on his delightfully demented Devil's Workshop out now. 

 

Perhaps best known for his funky, club-friendly hip hop records, deep digging Brighton-based DJ/producer Matt Ford aka DJ Format takes a sharp turn into the trippy netherworld of private-press psych on his latest sample-based epic The Devil's Workshop. Gone are the uptempo party-rockers which made him the standardbearer of fat-lace hip hop for a generation of aging b-boys and instead Format has chosen this Disaster Time to offer a mind-expanding Brainstorm of Strange Sensations across Mountains of Madness through the Warm Dust towards The Light. Often dark and unsettling, there's a haunting sense of impending doom throughout The Devil's Workshop which is perfectly captures the tenor of our troubled times. 

Years from now, when people want to know what it felt like to live through a global pandemic, historians will simply drop needle on a battered copy of The Devil's Workshop by DJ Format. The claustrophobia, paranoia, confusion, the horrible feeling of helplessness in isolation – it's all right there. 

You can get a limited-run vinyl copy of The Devil's Workshop or digital version via Bandcamp right here. Check out a few videos from The Devil's Workshop and some mixes in the links section following our Q&A with DJ Format below.  

 Q & A with DJ FORMAT

For years now, you’ve been running a successful British/Canadian cultural exchange program employing highly skilled though commercially undervalued Toronto rappers for your recording projects. How did that start? What’s the fascination with Canuck emcees or perhaps Abdominal and D-Sisive in particular? Are Brits and European listeners latching on to some strange exotic quality in the Canuck flow that Canadian audiences just aren’t getting? 

DJ Format: "I visited Toronto for the first time in '99 and was extremely fortunate to meet the lovely Aaron Keele (Tune Up Music / therecordguys.com) who had just released the debut 12" by Abdominal & DJ Fase. I loved that record so Aaron introduced me to Abdominal and we just hit it off and started working together. I was already a big fan of Maestro Fresh Wes, especially his 'Naaah, Dis Kid Can't Be From Canada' album so I contacted him about collaborating together but it never quite happened. I later heard Fatski & D-Sisive and knew I had to work with those guys too, which fortunately they were down to do. I think ultimately it appealed to me to work with relatively unknown MCs and I couldn't believe there were such dope artists in Toronto who were mostly getting overlooked outside of Canada. Before that I was only working with UK MCs and trying to make beats that suited their style/accent and so the opportunity to make beats for North American MCs allowed me to make slightly funkier rap songs that would sit better alongside the instrumental B-Boy tracks I was making at that time." 

"I can honestly tell you that most Brits & Europeans wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Toronto accent and a New York accent so maybe that's why we embraced those guys over here more than your typical American might have done. It just wasn't something we thought about, let alone passed judgement on."

Those expecting another Format party platter might be surprised by Devil’s Workshop is not at all a beat-heavy hip hop record.  In fact, the mood shifting soundscapes are closer in spirit to a dark, suspenseful horror film soundtrack. Did the worldwide pandemic play a role your decision to pursue a less club-oriented recording concept that might be better suited to isolated home listening or is it just a happy coincidence that you’ve come up with precisely the right record for the moment?

"I was really bored of the whole 'funky old school hip hop' scene that I'm mostly associated with, especially as I've always made other kinds of music which seems to get largely overlooked, so I decided to try something much more musically ambitious to prove I'm not just a one-dimensional producer. I can honestly say I'd finished about 80% of the album before any of the Covid stuff began and I spent the next few months mostly just adding subtle touches and making small improvements. And it's funny that you describe it as 'precisely the right record for the moment' because I was worried it would fall flat as people would surely much rather hear a positive/happy/uplifting record than a dark/moody/serious record after a year of lockdowns & misery. Fortunately I was wrong and quite a few people have said this is exactly the kind of record they were waiting for. The fact that I'm not able to tour the album live is kind of a relief in some ways because it's absolutely not a club-friendly record and I've no idea what I would have done to adapt what is very much a 'studio album' to a live setting."

Unlike most producers who’ve arisen from the hip hop sphere, your sample material seems to be less sourced from conventional African-American soul, funk and jazz and instead veers away towards less explored European, Asian, Middle Eastern and South American recordings. How did that start down that road less travelled? 

"I realized in the mid-late '90s that if I wanted to make some original hip hop I'd need to find samples from somewhere other than America. Even British records, especially Library music and British jazz, were starting to show up on people's radars worldwide so I needed to look further afield to find something potentially untapped. A couple of friends discovered some incredible Czech records in a charity shop here in Brighton and it completely blew our minds and made us start going to Eastern Europe to find records to sample. Back in those days you could visit places like Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and find amazing records which were not only dirt cheap, they were pretty much unknown outside the Eastern Block. As the years went by, that all changed and eventually the Internet made the world a much smaller place but some of my fondest discoveries which I sampled in my own songs came from those cities I mentioned."

When you come to a new city where you may not speak the language nor know any locals, how do you find worthwhile records?  From my experience, they’re sometimes hidden in the parts of town where cautious tourists rarely tread. Any harrowing tales you’d care to share?  

"You know, I honestly can't recall a bad experience in all my years of travelling around in search of records. I've definitely had some weird experiences like seeing someone at a flea market in Bulgaria selling their old records alongside an old car tire, some old porno mags and an old dildo, but that's about as harrowing as it got haha! I remember visiting Budapest with a friend for the first time and having no idea where we were gonna sleep that night, let alone how we were gonna find any records....but we always did and every record trip was an adventure that I feel privileged to have had. It's amazing how you can find ways to communicate with people without speaking a word of the same language, even if it means just pulling a record out of your bag and trying to indicate that you are looking for more of these black plastic things. The more I think about it the more I can't believe how successful some of those trips were and it makes me realize just how much the Internet, and Discogs in particular, have pretty much killed the fun in searching for records in the flesh like that."

Once you get to the records and the song titles and musician names on the covers aren’t a help and there’s no turntable available, does the sleeve art sometimes provide clues to which recordings might contain something for you? Typography, Instrumentation? Colour combinations? Appearance of farm implements? Polyester suits? Interesting facial hair?

"Absolutely! You've got to use your intuition and if a record cover gets your spider senses tingling then you've gotta trust that gut feeling. That's what I used to love most of all about digging but nowadays it's very hard to find interesting looking records just sitting around. Plus if I'm being honest I pretty much ALWAYS took a portable turntable with me wherever I went because I got sick of wasting money on records that didn't quite deliver the music that their sleeves promised."

Having spent some time going through piles of 70s Euro prog LPs myself, I know that even uniformly shlocky albums can have one absolutely stunning sequence – maybe a fuzz bass riff, a off-kilter burst of harpsichord or a weird flute figure – that comes out of nowhere, lasts a couple bars and is gone, never to be repeated. Whereas I would normally pass on those, my guess is that your reaction would more likely be “I’ll take it my good man, and anything else you have that sounds like it!” Could that be part of the origin story for Devil’s Workshop? 

"Yes I think those kind of records are the most interesting to sample because the idea of taking a moment of brilliance from an otherwise boring record and giving it a new lease of life is the most satisfying feeling! It's far too easy to just sample a whole chunk of an already brilliant record, something I've often been guilty of throughout my entire career, and so I did find myself wanting to utilize more of those brief moments in a creative way on Devil's Workshop. Another thing that has pushed me more & more towards that is the realization that when you sample something you can easily end up looking stupid if someone else has already used it before you...or better than you. I decided that I wanted to make a whole album of instrumental songs that are proper SONGS, not just cool loops that don't really go anywhere or do anything much. I wanted to create entire instrumental songs that take you on a musical journey with the use of multiple samples from lots of different sources so that even if someone was to recognize a sample I'd used, they'd hopefully respect & enjoy the way in which I'd used it." 

After more than 20 years of amassing those brilliant little bits from obscure recordings most people have never seen or heard – stuff that wouldn’t be suitable for a live set – the natural inclination would be to use them as building blocks for something on a larger scale. Could you have made Devils Workshop 20 years ago or only now that you’ve accumulated enough suitable material. How did the creation process differ from a typical Format album? 

"I couldn't have made Devil's Workshop at any time before, I just wasn't ready to do it until now. I've made quite a few songs in the same vein before ('Copper Canyons,' 'Mayor Of A Ghost Town,' 'Black Cloud,' 'Little Bit Of Soul' being the best examples) but on reflection I think all those songs were slightly missing something. Instead of using samples that already contained several key elements like drums, bass, guitar & organ for example, I wanted to use separate individual samples from different records layered on top of each other to create something new and more original. 

"There were so many records I sampled over the course of the album that I could have taken more samples from, but I tried to limit myself and be more creative. It's hard to explain it without sounding a bit pretentious but I just wanted to make an album from 100% samples that would be considered as a great body of work, not just a bunch of stolen property. I have no idea if anyone will consider it as that but at the very least, I feel 100% satisfied with everything and that's why it took me so long to complete. Some of the songs like 'Strange Sensations,' 'Mountains Of Madness' and 'The Light' were ideas that I'd started years ago and kept returning back to. For some reason I wasn't initially able to make them into proper instrumental songs that did what I wanted but I knew they had the potential to be something special so I persevered....and almost drove myself mad, hence the title 'Mountains Of Madness' on that particular song ha!

"Other songs like 'Warm Dust' came together really quickly, despite being one of the songs with the most samples in it. It's funny how it goes that way sometimes but I just had a mad creative burst and couldn't sleep much while I was working on that song because ideas just kept popping into my head day & night. I don't know how many samples from different records I used over the course of the whole album but it was a lot, WAY more than any album I've made before."

It now looks as though the mixtapes/compilations you’ve released over the last few years, particularly European Vacation (2006), Holy Shit (2008) and DJ Format's Psych Out (2016) were signposts for what we’re hearing now on Devil’s Workshop. How much of a role did they play from an arrangement and production standpoint to the work you’ve done on Devil’s Workshop? Did putting together Holy Shit inspire any religious revelations? 

"It's funny how often I return to songs I've used in a mixtape for things to sample years later. I can't think off the top of my head if I used anything from Holy Shit or European Vacation when making Devil's Workshop but I definitely used several samples from 2 different online mixes of weird psych records that I did a few years ago. The more familiar you are with your records, the more likely they are to slip into your subconscious mind and so I find myself naturally going back to certain songs from certain mixes I made because I've heard them so many times. If I've only played a record a few times occasionally at home without ever recording any of it in a mix then it's probably not gonna be ingrained in my memory. As for religious revelations, personally I'm not religious but I do love how singing about god seems to bring out such gut-wrenching emotion in some singers and although I won't name it, the vocal sample I used for the chorus of my song 'Brainstorm' is sampled from a religious record that really touched me very deeply."

There’s definitely a cinematic quality to the tracks on Devil’s Workshop. Were you thinking in terms of a film score? Any aspirations of getting involved in the movie business? Perhaps supplying creepy background music for video games or the many cold case murder podcasts out there?

"As much as I'd love to make music for a film, it's just not possible to do that with samples because of the legal ramifications. There were so many times during the making of the album that I just wanted to call a friend to come round and play a bass or guitar riff for me when I'd got stuck on a song but I'd already made up my mind from the outset that I wanted the album to be 100% samples so I just kept searching for samples until the right one came along. 

"I gave up any ideas about making money from music years ago and it's a labour of love for me. I've never had any of my songs used in commercials, let alone films, because of the samples and I'm totally at peace with that. It's my choice to 'creatively repurpose' old records so I can't then be a hypocrite and expect to make money from other people work. Sure, I make back a little money through record sales but I self-release in very limited numbers so if I was to add up all the hours I've spent and calculate an hourly rate for my work it wouldn't even come close to minimum wage. As long as I can continue playing enough occasional DJ gigs to pay my bills, that'll give me the freedom to keep making records that I'm proud of."

Have you thought about the visual side of Devil’s Workshop? Are there plans for videos to be released?  

"I'm fortunate to have some very kind & talented friends who between them made a video for every song on the album. For anyone interested, you can watch/play the whole album in sequence on my YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1erZt_t_kBo2E10KJPhpCzBIuKH5W_wp

Also, Devil’s Workshop sounds like it could be the title of a 70s sound library recording from Music De Wolfe. To what extent was your album inspired by the audio and/or visual aesthetic of sound library releases. Any particular favourites? 

"Yes Library records definitely played a big part in influencing the sound of my album, some of my favourite composers are Janko Nilovic, Nino Nardini and Nick Ingman. I've sampled a few bits from Library records over the years but some of those companies are still active today so you've got to be a little careful. Aside from not wanting to get sued, I really don't like the thought of upsetting people by sampling their music with clearance/permission. I always try to sample in a creative & respectful way but sometimes it wouldn't even matter if the composer/artist approved and would be willing to let it slide because it's the companies who own the rights and wouldn't care about things like that, it's just business to them."

The sleeve art courtesy of Rough Stuff 77 looks like something off a Balkan gypsy LP although the background scribbling on the wall referencing different hallucinogens like psychoactive toads (Bufo Alvarius) and mushrooms seem to suggest something else. A raven, squirrel and owl also make an appearance – your spirit animals? What exactly is going on? 

"Mike (Rough Stuff 77) is a huge talent, not only as an artist/illustrator but as a DJ & producer too! He sat down and sketched the incredible album cover whilst listening to the music so whatever you see contained within is his interpretation of what he heard. We had conversations beforehand about the fact that I wanted the album cover to reflect my slight departure from anything close to old school hip hop and how it was especially important to me that anyone looking at the cover would know that. Fortunately we are on a very similar wavelength and I think Mike was even more keen than me to send a clear message out that this wasn't exactly a hip hop record. He even talked me out of including a song that was originally intended to be on Devil's Workshop because it was TOO hip hop haha! I'll probably re-work that song and use it for my new album but he was absolutely right, it would have upset the balance of the album and pushed it more towards what I was trying to get away from."

Why did you choose to feature Croatian, French, Arabic, Turkish, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Russian translations of the title on the front cover? Related to places which contributed in some way to the album, popular Format sales strongholds,  a clever marketing scheme or something else entirely?

"No, to be honest I got the idea from a Russian soundtrack. The export version of the soundtrack had the title written all around the boarder in different languages in an effort to appeal to foreign markets and I just loved how it looked....so I 'borrowed' the idea;) I contacted various friends from all around the world to translate the title into their own language and left it to Mr Krum (my friend who did the layout & labels) to use whichever ones he felt worked best visually. We went back & forth a bit because there were certain ones I definitely wanted to include because of how they looked, the Russian & Arabic text especially, but anyone who's familiar with the Russian soundtrack will recognize it immediately."

The basic label design and paste-on jacket is more reminiscent of 70s private press psych and religious LPs. Were you going for a particular overall look? Also, it’s released on Project Blue Book Records… anything we should know about you and UFOs? 

"Yes I really wanted the album to look like an old psych record from the late '60s, something that anyone with a keen eye for quirky records would pick up and say "I've gotta hear this" It cost me a lot of extra money to get it manufactured like that because there's nowhere in the UK that makes those proper quality paste-on jackets so I've gotta say a big thank you to Timmion Records in Finland for manufacturing them and doing such a beautiful job. The name Project Blue Book came about when I was making music with my old friend Simon James (The Simonsound) and we needed a label name to self-release a 45 we'd made together in about 2008. The whole project was very influenced by space and things of that nature and we both grew up reading books on UFOs so for some reason we used that name and I've used it again for a couple of releases since."

Who exactly is the target audience for The Devil’s Workshop? Who do you hope to reach? 

"I'm not sure if I've really got a target audience in mind but I probably get the most satisfaction when I find out that like-minded record nerds are digging it and appreciate the hard work & creativity that went into it. Having said that, you can't choose your audience and I'm genuinely grateful if anyone is still talking about it more than a week after its release because that seems to be the shelf life of most new music in this day & age. I guess I just want to reach as many people as possible because I feel very proud of my work and naturally want everyone to hear it."

Do you have enough recorded material remaining for a Devil’s Workshop 2 or will the next album be something completely different? 

"I have quite a few half finished songs in the same vein and a whole load of ideas sketched out that I just need the time to execute & experiment with. I think it will be largely the same because that's still where my head is at right now but that could change, only time will tell."

–––––––––––

Watch the videos for "Brainstorm," "Mountains of Madness," and "Strange Sensations" below.  

LINKS

DJ Format mix for Rebecca & Huey 

DJ Format Simonsound mix for Paris DJs

DJ Format Psych Out mix

DJ Format's Psych Out compilation gets a vinyl repress

DJ Format's head-noddin' Psych Out collection of fuzz enhanced global goodies is now available on vinyl from BBE. 

Sez Matt Ford aka DJ Format: 
"The idea for this compilation came about because of my search for a rare psych/funk 7″ that isn’t even included here! My friend DJ Oneofakind played me the said record and I totally lost my mind. Some months later after a lot of asking around and searching online, a copy turned up on Discogs.com for a painful amount of money. I contacted the seller to ask a couple of questions and it turned out I was talking to Jake Holloway, BBE’s in-house designer. I’d loosely known Jake for a few years through mutual friends so we quickly arranged a time to meet and take care of business. Jake told me he’d offered the 7″ to a few other DJ/collector friends but they’d passed on it as it was ‘too heavy’ for them. This got us talking about my love for psych records with a funky slant and I explained my frustration at buying so many records that fit that description, that were ‘too heavy’ to play at my typical DJ gigs. Jake had the perfect solution: 'why don’t you do a compilation of funky, fuzzed-out psych stuff for BBE?'"



00:01 1. The Quests - Hava Nagila
00:27 2. The Tijuana Brats - Karate Chop
00:55 3. Rainbow Family - Travellin' Lady
01:21 4. The CT Four Plus - Exodus II
01:48 5. 49th Blue Streak - Foxy Lady
02:16 6. Bana Pop Band - Jet Pop
02:44 7. La Logia Sarabanda - Todos O Ninguno
03:11 8. Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar - Louis, Louis
03:35 9. Flamengo - Tyden v elektrickém meste
04:03 10. Sergio Ferraresi - Time of Machines
04:29 11. Krzysztof Klenczon - Nie Przejdziemy Do Historii
04:56 12. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin - The Shaman's Dance
05:21 13. Pro Arte - Stari Dvorac

Midweek Mixdown: DJ Format & Abdominal

DJ Format & Abdominal are hitting the UK roads once again to spread the glorious word of their current LP, "STILL HUNGRY" starting tonight (Wednesday, November 1) at The Strait and Narrow in Lincoln, then hitting The Magnet in Liverpool (Thursday, November 2), followed by the Workmans Club in Dublin (November 3), Drygate in Glasgow (November 4), The Soundhouse in Leicester (November 7), The Georgian Theatre at Stockton (November 8), Fibbers in York (November 9), The Brewery in Kendal (November 10), Bootleg Special in Blackpool (November 11), The Venue Derby in Derby (November 14), Thekla in Bristol (November 15), Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff (November 16), Canvas in Bournemouth (November 17), The Haunt in Brighton (November 18), The Boileroom in Guildford (November 22), Sub 89 in Reading (November 23), The Craufurd Arms in Milton Keynes (November 24), culminating with a London blowout at The Garage (November 25).

After STILL HUNGRY's released in back in April, the Abs & Format had success through the spring with yet another sellout tour, a #1 album chart topping position on Bandcamp (for two months!), Top 10 on the iTunes hip hop charts, playlisting and appearances on BBC 6 Music and Soho Radio and numerous rave reviews.

To switch things up a little, a hand picked selection of remixers were appointed to turn the original STILL HUNGRY tracks on their heads and the results will both surprise and delight open-minded music fans worldwide.

Expect basslines, live bands, hip hop hitters and tropical vibes from the likes of DJ Supreme, Featurecast, Danny.wav, Hiphoppotamus, Dutty Moonshine Big Band and plenty more. Heck, even the MC maestro Abdominal himself has reworked the standout track "Dirt" alongside his three piece band The Obliques!

This remix album truly has it all – and best of all, it's free ...or PWYC, if you're feeling generous! Check it out.

Watch DJ Format & Abdominal's new video for We're Back

Check out Ludo Jaccard's  clip for "We're Back" off DJ Format & Abdominal's Still Hungry album.

Watch the new DJ Format & Abdominal video for Dirt

"Dirt" is off the forthcoming DJ Format & Abdominal album Still Hungry out April 28 via Kartel Music Group.

DJ Format & Abdominal on tour:
May 03: Leeds / The Wardrobe
May 04: Glasgow / Stereo
May 05: Edinburgh / Voodoo Rooms
May 06: Newcastle / Cluny
May 10: Manchester / Gorilla
May 11: Nottingham / Rescue Rooms
May 12: Birmingham / Hare & Hounds
May 13: Sheffield / O2 Academy
May 17: Bristol / The Fleece
May 18: Oxford / The Cellar
May 19: Southampton / The Social Club
May 20: Whitstable / Duke of Cumberland
May 23: Cambridge / J2 at The Junction
May 24: London / Electric Ballroom
May 25: Brighton / Patterns
May 26: Norwich / The Arts Centre

DJ Format & Abdominal preview new Still Hungry album with the brilliant "Behind The Scenes" video

Like Drake, Abs enjoys having some T.O. flava in his videos – however, no Bentley GTCs were harmed in this shoot.

Possessing superior rhyme skills isn't necessarily a ticket to rap stardom. Toronto-based emcee Abdominal knows better than most that the day-to-day life of a real hip hop artist ain't all the glitz 'n' glamour people associate with celebrities like Drake and Kanye. In Dafydd Palfrey's fab new video for DJ Format & Abdominal's latest single "Behind The Scenes," our man Abs pulls back the curtain to show what goes into making a living with a microphone.

As can be seen in the footage shot primarily in Toronto, there's much more time spent alone scribblng ideas in corner cafés and digging for beats in dusty record stores like Grasshopper Records (1167 Dundas West at Ossington) than sipping champagne with models in hottubs. Have a look...



DJ Format & Abdominal's new album Still Hungry is out April 28 on AAF Records via Kartel Music Group. "Behind The Scenes" is now available at https://abdominal.bandcamp.com. The dynamic hiphop duo will be rockin' houses across the UK this spring – check the dates below...  

Deep digging DJ Format unearths obscure psych gems

Matt Ford continues mining funky marvels from Eastern European countries where many beat junkies fear to tread. 

DJ Format's Psych Out (BBE)
The Quests - Hava Nagila
The Tijuana Brats - Karate Chop
Rainbow Family - Travellin' Lady
The CT Four Plus - Exodus II
49th Blue Streak - Foxy Lady
Bana Pop Band - Jet Pop
Koncz Zsuzsa - Visz A Vonat
La Logia Sarabanda - Todos O Ninguno
Friar Tuck And His Psychedelic Guitar - Louis, Louis
Flamengo - Týden V Elektrickém Městě
Sergio Ferraresi - Time Of Machines
Krzysztof Klenczon - Nie Przejdziemy Do Historii
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin - The Shaman's Dance
Pro Arte - Stari Dvorac

Happy Birthday MC Abdominal!

Cheers to Toronto's dopest rhyme ripper – with his own sign in Kensington Market – MC Abdominal on his day. 

MC Abdominal & DJ Format reppin' for mature b-boys on "We Say"

Toronto residents will recognize many of the locations used by director Dafydd Palfrey for the We Say clip. 

Catch MC Abs & DJ Format on tour in the UK

Format and Sureshot back in b-boy style

Having previously collaborated on the decidedly dope Lungbutters (DWG) underground hip-hop mixtape in 2008, world-class vinyl hounds DJ Format and Sureshot La Rock of Diggers With Gratitude notoriety have reunited for a new project.
This time, the Virginia-raised crate robber formeriy known as Legit gets to test his microphone technique on a few old-school style joints finely crafted by Brighton's baddest b-boy for a new DJ Format album.
The good news is that while Sureshot seems to have retained the golden age values of his favorite early 90s random rap classics heard on Lungbutters, he has definitely honed his skills since the 1994 release of his Mr. Len produced Junglez Of The East b/w Buddah Bless Finess single on Libra as the two resulting bangers Mr. DJ and Dope Pusher – are just as sick as the Sleeping Bag-inspired throwback sleeve design on the five-track 12"EP for Project Blue Book. Can't wait to hear Format's new album. 

Dope Pusher



Mr. DJ



Here Comes The Dope Pusher