Quickie Mart

Four (out of five) Stars

Who's on it?
Haps, Mr. Green, Myka Nyne, Bionik Brown, Sadat X, and other stars of the Austin crunk keep it musky on this crispy copilation with DJ Quickie Mart providing sick cuts and scratches.
Any good?
Holla!! Be careful where you play Volume 1. This dirty gem might have you grinding in your office chair or calling your mom "gurl". So bad and so, so godd.

MW - URB Magazine

Four (out of five) Stars

Who's on it?
Haps, Mr. Green, Myka Nyne, Bionik Brown, Sadat X, and other stars of the Austin crunk keep it musky on this crispy copilation with DJ Quickie Mart providing sick cuts and scratches.
Any good?
Holla!! Be careful where you play Volume 1. This dirty gem might have you grinding in your office chair or calling your mom "gurl". So bad and so, so godd.

MW - URB Magazine

What a great night for hip hop in New Orleans. The White Bitch presented Tampa Hip-Hop group Red Tide at The Circle Bar Sunday night. He acted as MC throughout the night, playing songs here and there and sitting in with each artist. D.J. Quickie Mart, who has the highest profile among D.J.'s in New Orleans, showed up as a fan. The White Bitch wanted to make sure Red Tide was introduced to Quickie Mart because he felt they were the best in their cities.

Apparently the meeting went well. D.J. Quickie Mart played an unannounced set before Red Tide hit the bar's living room. It's always fun to watch D.J. Quickie Mart because he plays stuff I've never heard before. I didn't recognize one of the songs he played, which doesn't say much for my knowledge of underground Hip-Hop. Still, in being introduced to fresh things, ignorance was bliss.

Quickie Mart cut the records with majesty. Restraint and style. At times, though, he seemed to show off a bit more than usual. Maybe for the sake of Red Tide, who were looking on. He increased the pace of the cutting, keeping the pace while spinning around, going underneath his leg, and using his elbows.

Most D.J.'s seem to concentrate long and hard on matching beats, but it wadn't no thang for Quickie Mart. Before I had enough time to realize he was matching, the next song was upon the audience. Too bad they were only twenty strong.

All in all, Quickie Mart's performance was an enjoyable re-mix of the original records.
- Live New Orleans

What a great night for hip hop in New Orleans. The White Bitch presented Tampa Hip-Hop group Red Tide at The Circle Bar Sunday night. He acted as MC throughout the night, playing songs here and there and sitting in with each artist. D.J. Quickie Mart, who has the highest profile among D.J.'s in New Orleans, showed up as a fan. The White Bitch wanted to make sure Red Tide was introduced to Quickie Mart because he felt they were the best in their cities.

Apparently the meeting went well. D.J. Quickie Mart played an unannounced set before Red Tide hit the bar's living room. It's always fun to watch D.J. Quickie Mart because he plays stuff I've never heard before. I didn't recognize one of the songs he played, which doesn't say much for my knowledge of underground Hip-Hop. Still, in being introduced to fresh things, ignorance was bliss.

Quickie Mart cut the records with majesty. Restraint and style. At times, though, he seemed to show off a bit more than usual. Maybe for the sake of Red Tide, who were looking on. He increased the pace of the cutting, keeping the pace while spinning around, going underneath his leg, and using his elbows.

Most D.J.'s seem to concentrate long and hard on matching beats, but it wadn't no thang for Quickie Mart. Before I had enough time to realize he was matching, the next song was upon the audience. Too bad they were only twenty strong.

All in all, Quickie Mart's performance was an enjoyable re-mix of the original records.
- Live New Orleans

That's my soul on that pad / That's my life on that track / That's a dream that we had / to stand in front of a crowd and scream out loud / that we're young, dead-broke and proud, what now," spits Roan "Know-One" Smith of the young hip-hop artist collective known as Media Darling Records on "Passin' the Torch." This line embodies the spirit of the Lucky Stiffs -- Bionik Brown, Know-One and DJ Quickie Mart -- one of the groups on the new album, The Humid Sounds of Media Darling Records. This first release from the fledgling Media Darling Records also contains tracks from God Awful, Ruin, Illucid and the Blank Space.

"Diamonds are great, cars are great, rims are great, but we don't have that," says Bionik Brown, one of the more experienced MCs on the label. "That's not our lives, and since we make honest music, we can't talk about that stuff. We struggle to pay bills and have bad credit. Our lives are doing a gig and waking up to go to our 9-to-5 jobs!"

This is a lifestyle known all too well by countless bar bands and artists of all genres who hustle and scrape not in the hope of raking in millions but of merely paying their rent. "At this point I'm just trying to make money from rapping, enough so I can just do music as my job," Brown says. "That's all I want."

In a genre where being from New Orleans earns you instant credibility after the successes of the No Limit and Cash Money labels, Bionik and other acts on Media Darling have found the pedigree actually working against them. Producer, DJ and default booking agent Quickie Mart found it hard to book tour dates because of the stigma. "Lots of places hear Œhip-hop from New Orleans' and just immediately think Œbounce,' and in places where they get more of an underground crowd, that made them hesitant to book us," he says. "I really had to work hard to convince people we come from a different place musically and mentally."

In contrast to the "ice and Cris" (as in Cristal) focus of much bounce and Dirty South hip-hop, the Media Darling collective thinks of itself as coming from a more profound place. Know-One says, "We've been doing this for years making no money because we just love to get together and make tracks. I mean, to make a good living at this is definitely a goal, but the process is really what it's about."

Aside from philosophy, the music itself is different. The songs have a West Coast feel, yet they remind us that West Coast hip-hop owes much of its sound to New Orleans music in the first place. DJs took funky drumming from New Orleanians like James Black and Idris Muhammad and used it as the bedrock for grooves. Like West Coast rappers, the Media Darling artists love the sample. It might seem surprising, but the samples on Humid Sounds mark what is essentially the hip-hop staple's introduction into the New Orleans hip-hop canon.

"New Orleans producers have traditionally not used samples and have just relied on keyboards and drum machines for their tracks," says Quickie Mart. "I love to use samples, but I also love to take just a sound or sounds from a sample and splice it in so that it might sound familiar but so you still can't quite place it." A good example of this approach is Bionik Brown's "Throw Back Rap," where a familiar sample is used but in a way that makes it nearly impossible to identify. When asked the source of that sample, Quickie chuckles and pleads the musical Fifth Amendment: "I'd really rather not say."

In addition to the musical and lyrical differences between New Orleans underground and bounce, the Media Darling artists also see a major difference in the respective fans' attitudes. "We don't really understand people who come to a show with a frown on their face and are just looking to start shit, which seems to go on a lot when you're talking about the crowds at more mainstream hip-hop shows." says Know-One.

"It comes along with the music," adds Bionik. "I mean, if all you talk about is money, guns and how hard you are, then that's how your crowd is going to think, too. Rappers are role models whether they want to be or not." The so-called thug image associated with much of bounce, Dirty South and commercial New Orleans hip-hop in general is a large part of the reason why booking a gig as a different kind of New Orleans hip-hop artist can be tough. "We want to offer an alternative to all of that," says Know-One. "We're definitely into making you think, but most of all we want to make hip-hop about the party again." - Gambit Weekly

That's my soul on that pad / That's my life on that track / That's a dream that we had / to stand in front of a crowd and scream out loud / that we're young, dead-broke and proud, what now," spits Roan "Know-One" Smith of the young hip-hop artist collective known as Media Darling Records on "Passin' the Torch." This line embodies the spirit of the Lucky Stiffs -- Bionik Brown, Know-One and DJ Quickie Mart -- one of the groups on the new album, The Humid Sounds of Media Darling Records. This first release from the fledgling Media Darling Records also contains tracks from God Awful, Ruin, Illucid and the Blank Space.

"Diamonds are great, cars are great, rims are great, but we don't have that," says Bionik Brown, one of the more experienced MCs on the label. "That's not our lives, and since we make honest music, we can't talk about that stuff. We struggle to pay bills and have bad credit. Our lives are doing a gig and waking up to go to our 9-to-5 jobs!"

This is a lifestyle known all too well by countless bar bands and artists of all genres who hustle and scrape not in the hope of raking in millions but of merely paying their rent. "At this point I'm just trying to make money from rapping, enough so I can just do music as my job," Brown says. "That's all I want."

In a genre where being from New Orleans earns you instant credibility after the successes of the No Limit and Cash Money labels, Bionik and other acts on Media Darling have found the pedigree actually working against them. Producer, DJ and default booking agent Quickie Mart found it hard to book tour dates because of the stigma. "Lots of places hear Œhip-hop from New Orleans' and just immediately think Œbounce,' and in places where they get more of an underground crowd, that made them hesitant to book us," he says. "I really had to work hard to convince people we come from a different place musically and mentally."

In contrast to the "ice and Cris" (as in Cristal) focus of much bounce and Dirty South hip-hop, the Media Darling collective thinks of itself as coming from a more profound place. Know-One says, "We've been doing this for years making no money because we just love to get together and make tracks. I mean, to make a good living at this is definitely a goal, but the process is really what it's about."

Aside from philosophy, the music itself is different. The songs have a West Coast feel, yet they remind us that West Coast hip-hop owes much of its sound to New Orleans music in the first place. DJs took funky drumming from New Orleanians like James Black and Idris Muhammad and used it as the bedrock for grooves. Like West Coast rappers, the Media Darling artists love the sample. It might seem surprising, but the samples on Humid Sounds mark what is essentially the hip-hop staple's introduction into the New Orleans hip-hop canon.

"New Orleans producers have traditionally not used samples and have just relied on keyboards and drum machines for their tracks," says Quickie Mart. "I love to use samples, but I also love to take just a sound or sounds from a sample and splice it in so that it might sound familiar but so you still can't quite place it." A good example of this approach is Bionik Brown's "Throw Back Rap," where a familiar sample is used but in a way that makes it nearly impossible to identify. When asked the source of that sample, Quickie chuckles and pleads the musical Fifth Amendment: "I'd really rather not say."

In addition to the musical and lyrical differences between New Orleans underground and bounce, the Media Darling artists also see a major difference in the respective fans' attitudes. "We don't really understand people who come to a show with a frown on their face and are just looking to start shit, which seems to go on a lot when you're talking about the crowds at more mainstream hip-hop shows." says Know-One.

"It comes along with the music," adds Bionik. "I mean, if all you talk about is money, guns and how hard you are, then that's how your crowd is going to think, too. Rappers are role models whether they want to be or not." The so-called thug image associated with much of bounce, Dirty South and commercial New Orleans hip-hop in general is a large part of the reason why booking a gig as a different kind of New Orleans hip-hop artist can be tough. "We want to offer an alternative to all of that," says Know-One. "We're definitely into making you think, but most of all we want to make hip-hop about the party again." - Gambit Weekly

The hipsters became the hippies at this year's gigantic Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and the feeling-of-unity vibe emanating from the notoriously jammy fest must have been cooked into the veggie-tofu sandwiches backstage: Not only did Oysterhead — the prog-funk band composed of ex-Phishman Trey Anastasio, Primus' Les Claypool and the Police's drummer Stewart Copeland — reform for the first time in years, but plenty of the music world's most cred-minded musicians had onstage parties of their own. Conor Oberst wooed Gillian Welch and David Rawlings onstage with him to make "Lua" even more heartbreaking, and eventually My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys joined Bright Eyes to close out the set. Later, Sonic Youth orchestrated a half-Pavement reunion, inviting Steve Malkmus to help out with "Expressway to Yr Skull" alongside his old bassist (and recent Sonic Youth addition) Mark Ibold. Even Tom Petty got in on the action: Stevie Nicks was onstage with him throughout much of his Friday night greatest-hits set.

But the weekend wasn't all collaboration, love and porta-potties for 80,000 fans. We're sure you've heard about the rest of the music somewhere else (Radiohead rocked, so did Elvis Costello, blah blah blah.) Instead, we give you just a few of our favorite, if randomly selected, Bonnaroo '06 moments:

Silent Disco, Friday very very late:
Talk about an idea whose time has come: Every entrant to the Silent Disco tent was given his own pair of headphones with piped-in music from DJ Logic and DJ Quickie Mart, among others, spinning live, with nothing amplified. To shell-shocked observers, it looked like random craziness — especially when Motion Potion dropped "Where It's At" and 500 people suddenly screamed, in unison, "I've got two turntables and a microphone."


By Jeff Miller - Blender

The hipsters became the hippies at this year's gigantic Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and the feeling-of-unity vibe emanating from the notoriously jammy fest must have been cooked into the veggie-tofu sandwiches backstage: Not only did Oysterhead — the prog-funk band composed of ex-Phishman Trey Anastasio, Primus' Les Claypool and the Police's drummer Stewart Copeland — reform for the first time in years, but plenty of the music world's most cred-minded musicians had onstage parties of their own. Conor Oberst wooed Gillian Welch and David Rawlings onstage with him to make "Lua" even more heartbreaking, and eventually My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys joined Bright Eyes to close out the set. Later, Sonic Youth orchestrated a half-Pavement reunion, inviting Steve Malkmus to help out with "Expressway to Yr Skull" alongside his old bassist (and recent Sonic Youth addition) Mark Ibold. Even Tom Petty got in on the action: Stevie Nicks was onstage with him throughout much of his Friday night greatest-hits set.

But the weekend wasn't all collaboration, love and porta-potties for 80,000 fans. We're sure you've heard about the rest of the music somewhere else (Radiohead rocked, so did Elvis Costello, blah blah blah.) Instead, we give you just a few of our favorite, if randomly selected, Bonnaroo '06 moments:

Silent Disco, Friday very very late:
Talk about an idea whose time has come: Every entrant to the Silent Disco tent was given his own pair of headphones with piped-in music from DJ Logic and DJ Quickie Mart, among others, spinning live, with nothing amplified. To shell-shocked observers, it looked like random craziness — especially when Motion Potion dropped "Where It's At" and 500 people suddenly screamed, in unison, "I've got two turntables and a microphone."


By Jeff Miller - Blender

Moving from his native New Orleans to sunny Southern California hasn't taken the edge off DJ Quickie Mart's saucy, beat-laden mash-ups: his sentimental grooves continue to ingeniously juxtapose '80s indie pop with new-wave rap. Tonight, the crack beatmaster shares the Mint stage with fellow Nawlinians the Rebirth Brass Band — a group whose utterly unique sound combines the heritage of big-band jazz with heavy, modern funk. Possessed with a powerful, dynamic positivity, they're perfect harbingers of the Crescent City's proud past and refocused future.

- SND - Flavorpill L.A.

Moving from his native New Orleans to sunny Southern California hasn't taken the edge off DJ Quickie Mart's saucy, beat-laden mash-ups: his sentimental grooves continue to ingeniously juxtapose '80s indie pop with new-wave rap. Tonight, the crack beatmaster shares the Mint stage with fellow Nawlinians the Rebirth Brass Band — a group whose utterly unique sound combines the heritage of big-band jazz with heavy, modern funk. Possessed with a powerful, dynamic positivity, they're perfect harbingers of the Crescent City's proud past and refocused future.

- SND - Flavorpill L.A.