Cliffrock is Clifford Choi, an American transplant just recently relocated to Shanghai. Although currently, he's snappin' necks and cashin' checks as a chiropractor at St. Michael Hospital, he used to be a hip hop DJ and promoter in the back in the day in the States. This weekend he's answering the siren's song of the turntables, hosting "NYC Underground" this Saturday at Not Me.

SmartShanghai talked to the doctor, Cliffrock, about kicking it old school.

Here's the event information for NYC Underground.

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Cliffrock: No, I was born in Montana and I grew up in St. Louis and Bangkok. I went to the International School of Bangkok. Anyways, I lived in NYC in 1998 to 2002. So I have seen the pre and post 9/11 New York. It has changed a lot since that turning point. I lived on St. Marks in the East Village which has been gentrified over time. It was down the block from CBGBs and Satellite records. Both are gone now. I guess the last time I was in Manhattan was last year to visit my buddy Harlemint.

I worked at Satellite Records and the Izzy Bar back in the East Village after I quit my day job. Something about 9-5 didn't appeal to me. So anyway, I DJed main events like Halloween and New Years Eve for Izzy and a few other bars. I threw a few loft, rooftop, and boat parties with friends so we had some great times. For my birthday party in 2002 we got a loft that was 20,000 square feet which is like one whole block in NOHO that was awesome. Other than that all of the DJs at Satellite ran their own gigs and got VIP to all of the clubs and events so we got to hang out with all the big name DJs that would roll through the record store. Most of them are producers now.


Cliffrock: Actually, I am a Doctor of Chiropractic from the U.S. with Level 1 ER experience as a medic. So I was invited to work at the St. Michael Hospital in Gubei. I am Board Certified, so I have licenses in both the U.S. and China. It's a full time job in the Rehabilitation department, but it's great when you get to help people. DJing helps people feel better too, I think.


Cliffrock: Shanghai has a lot of great clubs, and lots of potential. But I'm not sure if I could compare the music to NYC because most of the rap music is from the States anyway. I haven't been here long enough to really say anything about the parties. But quality would be a key factor to judge something like that.


Cliffrock: No, but I will be looking for the DMC and ITF guys first because they are true to the art. They will know everybody else in the game.


Cliffrock: I grew up listening to rock and rap in the '80s. So I guess it was my buddy Russell in high school parties that got me started with 2 tape decks and a microphone. Later on in college I met some DJs and I helped them throw some raves. We opened the Other World in St. Louis. It was a nice warehouse space. That was before "house" music was a genre -- the name came from the "warehouse".


Cliffrock: Well, the party is going to be a trip through my favorite jams that I've amassed over the years. So people should prepare to hear a whole new spectrum of music like jazzy, ill, mad hip, funky popping, electro shaking, breakadelic delirium... if that clarifies anything. You'll just have to experience it I guess. They bought me turntables just for that night.




Cliffrock: Yeah, well back then we would get "white labels" or "test pressing" from our distributors. They would be unmarked or stamped "for promotion only", so they were limited runs of 100 records.

So I'll be playing some tunes that are limited editions. Other than that I have some rappers like Biggie freestyling that were never released.


Cliffrock: Yeah, I like the feel of vinyl and 1200s. I got my turntables in 1993 so it's hard to change over to CD players, especially if you want to scratch or juggle records. I switched over to Serato in 2004 so I've retired my vinyl collection and recorded most of it to digital format. But I've been collecting records since '93. My first house record was "Open Your Mind". I think I've had 30 crates all together. I'm not sure. That's not counting the digital tracks.


Cliffrock: Yes, I always open up a lounge set with "Warm Chill" by Julius Papp. But you'd have to come early to hear that one. You might hear me play "They Don't Understand" by J-Rocc and Babu, if I feel like playing my "Wizard of Oz" set. I've known J-Rocc from the Beat Junkies since '96 and he changed my whole style and perspective on the art form. So I play that in his honor. Otherwise you might hear me play a few tunes for certain people.


Cliffrock: Yeah, I listen to Electro. I still like the older stuff like Z-trip, DJ Wicked, Stanton Warriors, Mark Farina, and Green Velvet. I'll probably be playing some of it on Saturday.


Cliffrock: Well, I am going to blow out some speakers here, so I'll probably be moving around. I like the high end clubs and dive bars, I think they'll be cool to play. Any place with turntables is cool with me.

Cliffrock is at NYC Underground this Saturday at Not Me.

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