A happy Monday to you good sir or madam. Sure enough every summer in Shanghai starts out with non-stop rain and overcast days. Even though I’ve been here over five years, at the beginning of every June I get my beach towel ready to hit the Mandarin City pool bar any minute. Well July starts tomorrow and the only thing that towel has been used for is drying off my wet dog. Don’t fret, as I’m sure any day now we will be sipping warm Tsing Tao cans poolside and standing in line for the urinals at Dino Beach or the new water park at Happy Valley. Shanghai was lucky enough to have around ten solid live shows and DJ events last weekend. Events are about to slow down in July and August but we still have action every weekend so cancel that trip back home and stick around with my Ayi and I. One such gig is the upcoming Sub-Culture party at Shelter this Saturday, July 5th. This one features Beijing born DJ Shackup along with Shanghai based producer Downstate and our favorite vinyl connoisseur DJ Drunk Monk, who runs the group Sub-Culture. Along with music from Shackup and Downstate, I’d like to take this chance to share music from Juke and Footwork pioneer DJ Rashad, who passed away about two months ago. Sub-Culture has been one of China’s main supporters of Juke and Footwork music and if you have never heard DJ Rashad before I highly encourage you to check out the tracks below.

Shackup

Jeff Huang aka DJ Shackup is part of the ever-expanding Beijing electronic scene and has been making waves with his eclectic selections. Shackup is fast becoming the go-to DJ for supporting famous acts like Goldie and spends many nights in Dada Beijing playing his brand of Dubstep, Trap, Juke, and everything in between. Born in Beijing at the tender age of sixteen, Huang was kicked out of high school and hit the road. He ended up in London for a few years but due to money constraints the boy beat wonder came back to China and now resides on a friend's couch in Beijing with ample time to put mixes together. Shackup has also been a regular at the Beijing party Black Eyeliner run by future phreak DJ Soundspade a.k.a. Benjamin Bacon, who recently moved to Shanghai and is starting up a local version of his dark electronic night. Also look out for Shackup at various music festivals across China like the Great Wall Music Festival. Here is a new mix that just dropped last week called "Swim" and my personal favorite (and sexiest) mix titled "Thinking About Eating You Out." Shackup – "Swim"

Phosphenes by Shackup on Mixcloud

Shackup – "Thinking About Eating You Out"

Thinking a lot about eating you out by Shackup on Mixcloud

Downstate

Our favorite autistic producer Downstate, who is one half of the group SLV that also features Tokyo-based beat maker Hamacide, is up to his old tricks again. Since Downstate is playing Saturday, I thought this would be a good chance to feature some of his new music released this year. He's one of Shanghai’s most productive producers, with a style so bi-polar I couldn’t even begin to pigeonhole it. Maybe glitch-witch-house-trap-crunkwave-hop? For back catalog listening of Downstate albums check out his Bandcamp page and for more current tracks his Soundcloud is the place to go. You can also find Downstate releases on labels like Urban Waves and the Shanghai-based SVBKVLT Records. Downstate has been playing shows in Japan and also releasing more collaborative works like the track below with Tshima. If you still don’t have the SLV vinyl 10” released late last year, put in your order now at Juno or come by my record store Uptown and get some great conversation from the clerk behind the counter, a.k.a. F of the bands Pairs and Next Years Love. I’m pretty sure Downstate is going to be doing projects like the Transformer 5 soundtrack so that first vinyl is going to be worth millions some day. For now catch him at Saturday’s Shackup party. DWNS†▲†Ξ - "h a ru" DWNS†▲†Ξ x tｓhｉmａ - "manhunt" SLV - "4Rose"

DJ Rashad

Let's end this with a tribute to one of the greats, sadly fallen. Born Rashad Harden and best known as DJ Rashad, the American DJ and producer was one of the most influential musical figures to come out of Chicago in the past decade. Rashad passed away in late April due to a complication with a blood clot in his leg, despite many rumors of a drug overdose. This was a real tragedy as Rashad was hitting an amazing stride, forging a union between U.S. and UK bass culture with his signing to British label Hyperdub, which released his last album Double Cup. He helped popularize Juke music, which is related to Ghetto House and Footwork music and forms the soundtrack to juking, a kind of dance that includes fast turns and everything from tap dancing to traditional hip hop battle moves. Even popular tracks from artists like Beyonce have started using elements of Juke, and before his death DJ Rashad and partner DJ Spinn went on an extended US tour with MC-of-the-moment Chance The Rapper entitled "The Social Experiment" tour. The first track I’m sharing is one of my favorites of all time called "Love U Found," which just hits you straight in the heart. The next track "It’s Wack" is a more commercial release from Rashad's music collective Teklife that shows Rashad’s true talent as a producer. Finally I’m sharing a radio interview with long time Rashad friend RP Boo. One of the more memorable parts of the interview is when RP Boo shares DJ Rashad first words ever said to him "can I get on (the turntables)" and the last phrase was "we made it, Teklife" just a few days before his death. Struck down in his prime. If this is your first experience with Rashad I urge you to check out his back catalog of releases and mixes. Had this tragedy not happened, DJ Rashad may have made a China appearance in 2014... DJ Rashad - Love U Found DjRashad & Heavee D - Its Wack RP Boo Interview - (DJ Rashad Memorial Broadcast) Well there ya go, a little preview of this Saturday at Shelter and hopefully we turned a few kids on to DJ Rashad. Take ‘er easy breezy Shanghai and see you poolside (someday).