DJ Purple (the duke of House): Blog

A few years back, when I first began my subscription with 5 Magazine I was delighted to be able to keep up with the House Music Scene in Chicago, as I was involved with the Scene in Salt Lake City. It was for that reason that I called the magazine “my lifeline”. Since that time I relocated to the Chicagoland area, yet I still subscribed to the magazine because it made for fine reading. The December 2011 issue stood out for me because of one of the interviews: Jamie Lewis, Purple Music label owner. Prior to receive this issue of the magazine I had already known that Prince would be releasing a single on the Purple Music label, and that had me very excited, for I had grown to respect the Purple Music catalog…and had intentions of making some more purchases in the near future, starting with Prince. Upon reading the interview I took note of the single – the first one – and that it was on the “Lotusflow3r” tripe-CD, which I own. The second release on Purple Music is also [...]

The songs listed below are not a “Top Ten”. Nor are they a “Top Five”. They are a selection of songs that I have found myself feeling at the moment. Some are recent, while others are older. All are just simply my flavahs…

Producer Yah Sharif featuring Amera Light – “MA’AT POWER (Be Strong)” [Messengers of House]
Third Party featuring Johan Greaves – “Alright” [Mi Casa]
Frankie Knuckles – “Chicago Theme (La Sonata di Fascia Bassa)”
Mark Grant featuring Russoul - “You R The 1” [Blackstone]***5 Magazine Remix is doing the damage for me right now…
Ron Trent – “Message to the World”
Matthew Bandy featuring Venus Cruz – “Time Me” [Soul Heaven]
Stevie Wonder – “My Love Is On Fire” ***DJ Spinna heats it up…
Papo Sanchez – “Guaguanco” [T’s Box]
Sun Singleton – “Ready” [Stilnovo]
Inaya Day – “My Cry” [Slaag]
Amana Melome` – “Nao Falo” [Irma Casa Di Priordine]
Positive Flow – “Dance Of The Soul” [Stilnovo]

Friends:

First, Happy New Year! Now is the time for reflection and a recharging of the batteries (if even for short time). I am in the midst of pursuing a very special project that has been in the pipeline for some time now. For this project I will be soliciting input from other people, which should make things even more exciting. The project? Allow me to explain…

Every DJ has a story about how they got into spinning records, and how they were influenced. I will be putting down my thoughts about music in general, and time span will be from 1971 – 2010; four decades. I only state 1971 vs 1970 because ’71 is my year of birth. This recollection of memories will basically be about some of my shared experiences as well as events that only I could experience through the decades, and the subject matter will be varied. One element of my storytelling will be that of including excerpts from outside sources: family, friends, etc. This is where you enter the picture. If our acquaintance/friendship [...]

Old habits are hard to break; some are IMPOSSIBLE to break. I have one such habit and it is called “vinyl”. Now it has been debated (and will continue to be) that the recent technological advances in DJ equipment have made vinyl virtually “a thing of the past”. Instead of carting around 100 records for a gig a DJ can carry 200 tracks on a laptop and just plug-in using any of the “DJ-master” packages such as Vinyl Scratch, Serato, etc. Then there is the music distribution itself. The major labels are still CD only, with a few of them releasing a limited number of LPs or 12” singles on vinyl. There is a respectable number of independent labels that follow the same pattern of vinyl releases but many more of them are digital only. Finally we have the chosen media itself. We are in the digital age and that means we are saturated with technological wonders – musically speaking that would be the iPod. Where do I stand amidst all of this? My response is, “to each his own”. The [...]

It is now six days before my next big gig in Salt Lake City and I have decided that now it is time to re-tool my “brand”, re-evaluate my “mission” and present a renewed “package”. In other words I will put a new “stamp” on my love of music and show everyone what DJ PURPLE will bring to the table.

I have been a DJ since 1993 and I have purchased music since 1983 – add in my lifetime appreciation for music in that I’ve listened to it practically all my life. My love of music is as strong now as it has ever been. Now I am at the point where I feel that my eclectic taste in music can no longer be held back and kept in bondage by “imaginations” and “strongholds”. What I mean in a literal sense is that while the function of the DJ is to entertain there is certainly room for education.

In my reinvention I am incorporating several different catch-words that will now define DJ PURPLE - Purple: royalty. Duke: a ruler of a territory. Spiritual: of the spirit or [...]