Mixed Reviews: DJ Nikoless-Easin' In Mix [Free Download] + An Episode Of "Feeling Inspired" With Kevin Beacham...

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: DJ NIKOLESS "THE EASIN' IN" MIX NOW!!

Before we get into random writing, I’d like to inform you that I’m doing a special show this Sunday on 89.3 The Current. As part of their “The Current Presents” series I’m doing a set that I’ve labeled “Cosmic Funk And Space Age Soul”. The musical explorations will be just as it sounds. I’m digging in my crates, stacks and hard drives for some Funk, Soul, R&B, and Electro to take you far beyond the confines of the Ozone layer, metaphorically or in actuality. Fun stuff….

In other news...

So…I’m having one of those scatter-brained sort of days. I’m feeling inspired and creative on so many different levels that I don’t even know where I want to focus my energy. Though that type of mindset might be useful in some kinds of writing, it’s not particularly helpful in committing to something to write about. I have started mentally writing about eight different blogs today before l branch off somewhere else into wherever my over-stimulated brain drifts into. However, many of those ideas were centered-around DJing and Mixes. I haven't been doing a much of either things lately, guilty of lack of motivation I suppose.

[However, I am DJing at Ginger Hop on Friday, Sept 21st! RSVP NOW!]

However, there’s something about accomplishing goals, as well as just feeling excited and good about life that can prove to be uplifting and make you want to dig back into your passions. I’m in one of those moments right now. It’s been a pretty great year; I’ve spent more time than ever on my greatest passion, writing, including being in the process of writing two books. I'm in a inspiring relationship where, among other things, we encourage each other to achieve our goals. I’m on a pretty good path of getting healthier with my diet and exercise. I’ve been dedicating time to reading more books on psychology and neuroscience, which not only fascinate me, but also have been a great fuel for my creativity. All things considered, I’m feeling more creative and inspired than ever. I plan to harness part of that energy into doing some projects that I’ve been putting off for so long, such as, expanding my RedefineHipHop Project, Unarchiving/Completing a bunch of demos in my vault and tapping into my DJ/Production skills to record some new projects.

I thought to coincide with this post I would give a free download to one of the many rare or unreleased mixes I have. As I was flipping thru I found this mix that I had completely forgot about. I recorded it in November of 2005 at the request of Mark Wheat (89.3 FM The Current) to use on his show. By then I had been doing Redefinition Radio* for about nine months. I didn’t give him a name for the mix, but I decided today to call it “The Easin’ In” mix and that’s just not because of the first song. I've never really talked about this, but for a while I was surprised by the flexibility I was afforded on The Current. For the first couple years I was always ready for them to pull the plug…ha. It’s no fault of anyone there just my own demons because they have always given me free reign to play what I want and regularly tell me how much they love what I do. But, I remember when I was first approached about doing a Hip Hop show there I just assumed they were going to want something that was more on the popular side. With that in mind, I submitted my first demo to them and they basically told me it was too mainstream. I have never been called too mainstream….ha**. That wasn’t the actual term used, but they just made it clear I had the freedom to be more “adventurous”, they actually expected it. I thought it was great that they wanted to go against the grain and if you look at my first playlists you’ll see I wasted no time digging deeper***. Yet, I was still wondering how far I could go with it and I continued to try to push the limits to see when I’d be ask to pull back, but that never happened. Even when I played old demos from bad quality low bias tapes or went way off the radar with artists that hardly anyone listening probably ever heard, The Current still encouraged me to keep pushing forward. I am still impressed.

When I was asked to do this mix I was still in my “uncertain” phase. Even though, I was pretty comfortable, or at least willing to be risky, on Redefinition Radio, I wasn’t sure how far they would want me to go in a more prime time slot during Mark Wheat’s show. That in mind, it is not coincidence that the first song is Edwin Starr’s “Easin’ In”. It was my subliminal message that I was trying to draw the listeners in slowly in a sneaky fashion. I would give them some Funk that had been sampled in Hip Hop. I followed that up with a instrumental from DJ Format called “A Lil Bit Of Soul”, that had a soulful feel and could probably be appreciated by the downtempo/Portishead type fanbase. From there I went with the Marley MarlRemix of Gumbo’s “A Free Soul”, which mixed tribal vibes with R&B and conscious lyricism. That transitioned nicely into some Medusa and from there I loosened up and took things a bit off the grid…. It’s a fun mix and blends in a lot of favorites of mine and covers a decent amount of ground in under 38 minutes…

-DJ Nikoless “Easin’ In [a.k.a “The Mark Wheat Mix”]

Edwin Starr-Easin' In '74

DJ Format-A Lil Bit Of Soul '03

Gumbo-A Free Soul [Marley Marl Remix] '93

Medusa-You Betta Be! '97

YZ-The Ghetto's Been Good To Me '93

Task Force-Brothers Mcbane '99 Mr

Live & Tony Bones-Hunger Strike '96

Chief Kamachi w/The Last Emperor-Nile Nutrion '99

Double Edge-Larger Than Life '01

Insight-Timeframe '04

TLA Rock-It's Yours [Litterthugz Inst Rmx] '84/'05

Busdriver-Unemployed Black Astronaut '05

Disco Four-Throwdown '83

20^th Century Steel Band-Heaven & Hell Is On Earth '75

Hope you enjoy and hopefully I sometime soon-ish I can be sharing some new creations of mine...

 FREE DOWNLOAD: DJ NIKOLESS "THE EASIN' IN" MIX NOW!!

Written By A Highly Inspired Kevin Beacham

-Editor’s Notes:

*Redefinition Radio:For those who don't know. I host Redefinition Radio on 89.3 The Current every Saturday from 11 PM until Midnight. You can also listen online as well as hear every show I've ever done via the archive HERE

**Truthfully, it wasn’t THAT commercial of a demo that I submitted. I played Beastie Boys, OUtkast, Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Nas, Pharcyde, Fugees, Black Starr, Mobb Deep, Jay Z(but a Paul Nice Remix), Digable Planets, De La Soul, J5, KRS, Aesop Rock, Eyedea & Abilities, Odd Jobs, Sage Francis, Furious Five, Carnage, Run DMC, Cee-Lo, Handsome Boy Modeling School, etc…. But, that's a testament to the fact they were giving me the green light to go into the vaults...

***You can hear my whole first year of shows, as well as see all the playlists HERE.