Photo by Nex Millen (2013)

Well, I guess it’s been a long time coming. And in any situation you can see coming, you may feel like you’re ready for it until the impact becomes real. The past few weeks at Fluid have been bittersweet. Seeing so many friends I’ve met throughout the years and having a full room of people dancing to our tunes; Well it’s simply been awesome. As I’ve been taking a minute each week to sit and really take in my last few moments at the club, I’m present to what Philly is losing physically and culturally.

The times have changed. When I travel to other cities and other countries, I notice how certain things are the same across the board. Chain restaurants, flagship retail stores, radio programming, and TV shows. The majority of the world has access to the same information and businesses. What makes each place interesting for me is a unique place I cannot find anywhere else. Fluid and it’s sister restaurant, The Latest Dish are two of those landmark places we have taken for granted in Philly.

Perhaps we got so used to them being there, we thought it would never end. I know I felt that way with other businesses like The 5 Spot, Tower Records, Club Fever, The 2 floors of Armands, Aqualounge, Cue Records, Soma, Elena’s Soul, and a list of other spots that are now a Walgreens or a parking lot.

What makes Fluid special for me though is the community around it. Many of the people in my life change every few years. New faces replace old ones as people move on to other places and take on new lifestyle changes. Many of the people, however, that I’ve met at Fluid are still dear friends at the present. And the memories I’ve shared with them on 4th St. btwn South and Bainbridge are tattooed on my brain.

Although this post could go on for days, here are just a couple of my fondest memories hanging out at Fluid.

The first time I attended a party at Fluid happened to be on a Monday night for Cosmo Baker and Rich Medina’s legendary Remedy party. I was 19 at the time and musically, I was sitting somewhere btwn Gil Scott Heron’s 125th and Lenox and Robbie Tronco‘s philly club anthems. (College was an interesting time.) In clubs, I was playing Spin Spin Sugar and Money Cash Hoes. When we first came up the stairs, I heard Love Song by Da Bush Babbees and although I was loving everything that was happening with Rawkus Records, Stones Throw, etc., I couldn’t imagine the music working so well in the club. Let alone becoming anthems. By the time I left, I had been schooled on original samples I never knew existed and heard some of my favorite Philly classics from The Roots, Bahamadia, and Schoolly D and saw them get gigantic responses on the dancefloor. I now realized that there was another dimension to rocking parties and so much more was possible. I spent countless Monday nights here after attending indie hip hop shows at the TLA (Another one of Philly’s diamonds in the rough). Thank you to Santoi for introducing me to this community. And an even bigger Thank you to Rich Medina and Cosmo Baker for inspiring me to be the DJ I am, taking risks, and never being confined to a script.

Within a couple years of studying all the DJs I could at Fluid, I became a resident for various events happening at the venue. One of the most consistent was for Tayyib Smith and Toyota for the SCION: Metro Events. As a resident, SCION booked me for various parties in Philly & New York and  flew me around to different places to open for celebrity DJs. One of the most special moments I can remember was when me and my partner Phillee Blunt opened for Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. Although I was excited to meet one of my childhood heroes, I was going through a tough time in my personal life. When I met Mr. Muhammad, he didn’t treat us like fans or groupies, disregarding us, the way a lot of hip hop legends do. Instead he took real interest in what we had going on in Philly and even pulled me to the side and gave me some words of wisdom since he could sense I was going through some things. One thing I can remember him telling me was to try not to let my personal life interfere with my art. Words, I live by still. That dude is a class act.

J. Dilla passed away in 2006. Shortly after, we threw a jam at Fluid to raise money for the J. Dilla Foundation and raise awareness for Lupus. Alongside my bro DJ Jay-Ski and Monie Love, we played all the music that J. Dilla produced and appeared on which had been the soundtrack to our lives throughout high school and beyond. If you were there, you know the energy in the room was magical and will never be repeated. If you weren’t, you can listen to a portion of the night here.

J. Dilla Tribute Pt. 2 – Statik / Jay-Ski / Monie Love

I was also a resident DJ for Candyland at The Latest Dish. We had an award winning, weekly run there for some time. Being a resident with Questlove (when he wasn’t on the other side of the world), I got to hear new Roots tunes in demo mode which was an honor and privilege I never took lightly. As a fan of The Roots from day one, it was pretty exciting to become acquainted with some of those guys. It also made me feel like a million bucks when Questlove heard me play something he didn’t have and he asked me about it. Those moments are small victories for a guy like me. LOL

Since most clubs have watered down programming and skill-less DJs taking the people on a journey to nowhere, it reminds me of how special “Fluid University” has been to our culture in Philly. If you weren’t fortunate enough to be apart of it, you have one last chance to experience the magic for yourself this Saturday as we say goodbye in proper fashion. Tasty Treats style with myself, Mike Nyce (10 year+ Fluid resident), Questlove, and The Magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff.

And to Oronde Gibson, Stacey Wilson, Yahmean Allworld, Questlove, Mike Nyce, Tayyib Smith, Rich Medina, Cosmo Baker, Ms. Rahnon, Melanie Cotton, Dennis Perez, Dieselboy, Dirty South Joe, Ron Crawford, DJ Phsh, TJ, Rasheed (Don Sheedlez), Stef Tataz, DJ Ulraviolet, DJ Roxxy, Jay-Ski, Tina, Case Bloom, Jacqui Paik, Tracy Waschinsky, Alexi Melek, Botany 500, Tony Schiro, and all the staff that have come and gone; Thanks for what you’ve contributed to Philadelphia for 17 years.

For the past 2 years or so, Hez has been busy in the studio cooking up joints with Bilal, Kindred, Keyshia Cole, Blu, Wordsworth, Eric Roberson and more. Hez’s production swag is “on a bean” as they say.

Get involved.

 Free Download | BANDCAMP

To those of you who’ve been rocking with me for years, you know I have loved and supported Detroit hip hop about as much as I’ve supported music from my hometown. Slum Village, Invincible, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Miz Korona are among some of the finest talents that have had me in the headlock for over a decade now. At the top of the list, of course, is the legendary Jay-Dee aka J. Dilla. Known for his classic productions for The Pharcyde, Bilal, A Tribe Called Quest, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Common, De La Soul, and many more, his footprint is all over the soulful music I love to listen to and play out. His untimely passing in February of 2006 caused many to honor his legacy each year around this time with Dilla Month. We start things off with a re-edit of Lil’ Kim’s Crush On You b/w J. Dilla’s classic Crushin’ track. The homie DJ Beatstreet and I have a game going on right now where we each make an edit with the same idea and see which one kills in the clubs. ha.

Dilla Forever.

Hezekiah and I have been in the lab working hard to compile the best of his productions, vocal appearances and song writing efforts for the past two years and putting it together in a fresh way for y’all to enjoy. This Thursday, you can look forward to hearing the outcome of Cure For The Common Soul Volume 2 (Famous Last Words) in it’s entirety. To get you in the mood, check out the video for one of the songs appearing on the mixtape featuring Chris Rock. Skeet skeet skeet…