The world’s number one DJ/producer Tiësto has set another musical milestone with a new collaboration merging his own unique sound with the prog rock of South Africa’s hottest emerging band BLK JKS – recently awarded ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ at the SAMA’s (South African Music Awards, the equivalent of the US Grammys). As part of a global Smirnoff Experience event in South Africa called ‘Mashup Street’, Tiësto has created a new and exclusive track for download. “Dreaming” available for DJvibe.com readers below! The track will be premiered live to a worldwide audience via an online live stream from the ‘Mashup Street’ event on the 15th May in Johannesburg, allowing people from all over the world to participate.

Watch the live stream right here on DJVIBE.COM and via our iTunes podcast on the day!

“Dreaming” has the Dutch dance music superstar’s signature all over it, with a brooding synthy intro and a building bassline pulsating then breaking to reveal BLK JKS’ intense vocal. The electro-trance breakdown follows a cinematic mix of rising strings and a chorus of call and response using a bass hook of epic proportion, infused with blips of township funk and kwaito bop.
Tiesto is no stranger to collaborations having recently worked with the likes of Nelly Furtado and Jónsi from Sigur Rós, but even the man himself admitted this one was something special:

Tiesto – “Over the past year, I’ve done several collaborations with artists from a variety of genres, but have never worked with an artist from South Africa. I was excited by the opportunity to work with an act like BLK JKS, who are influenced by their South African roots, but also have some dance music sensibility. I’m looking forward to playing “Dreaming” live for the first time on May 15 at Smirnoff Experience™South Africa and on tour this summer. ”

BLK JKS – “Some people don’t realise it, but we are big fans of dance music. We’re honoured to be selected by Tiësto and Smirnoff to take part in this collaboration. We’ve created a straight up dance track, which is not what we would normally produce on our own. I think “Dreaming” will surprise our own fans, and hopefully open us up to new ones.”

Smirnoff Experience South Africa ‘Mashup Street’ is an event that celebrates the fusion of vibrant South African music and street cultures. Tiësto will preside over this one-of-a-kind experience as the headline talent. Mixing modern and classic genres of music, fashion art and mixology, ‘Mashup Street’ provides the ultimate canvas for Tiësto and BLK JKS to bring their creative vision to the world.

The Tiësto concert, his collaboration with BLK JKS and Smirnoff Experience™ ‘Mashup Street’ is the latest installment from Smirnoff’s BE THERE program—a call on others to create, seek out and participate in more one-of-a-kind experiences.

With stops in Moscow, Shanghai, Paris and New York, the Smirnoff Experience series continues its journey around the world, having landed last weekend in Berlin on 23rd April with headliner Simian Mobile Disco before heading to South Africa. The events celebrate originality in nightlife by bringing to life original concepts, forming one-off collaborations and championing original party experiences.

Download the exclusive track only with DJVibe.com here!

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The Gaslamp Killer tearing it up on stage at Shelter in Shanghai.

Siesta @ BonBon

If you ever wondering how Drum and Bass made it’s way into the Shanghai nightlife.. you should look no further than DJ Siesta.. AKA Phreaktion Crew. With her roots in Hongkong back in 99′ she pushed the sound even when making no money and even into debt. She has a passion for the music and she is now bringing in the the industry’s big guns like Goldie and Marky. I am glad she stuck to her vision because some of the best times Iv’e had in Shanghai were at her shows..

Checkout DJ Siesta the DnB Mistress of Shanghai as she drops some rudeness @ BonBon.. We hooked up with Jane and the Peeps from Cityweekend for an exclusive interview to be featured in their next issue. Checkit!!

Checkout our CityWeekend Magazine Blog!
Check out Phreaktion
DJ Siesta Myspace

Stanton Warriors are the world’s biggest breaks DJs. Fighting off stiff competition from every badly-named trance jock in the world, they place inside DJmag’s Top 100 DJs poll with not one of their breakbeat peers in sight. They talk about getting into producing your own beats in this exclusive interview.

DJVIBE and City Weekend got an exclusive interview the French house legend David Guetta in Shanghai. He played to a packed house at Bar Rouge and it was so full clubbers poured out onto the terrace. You could hear them singing alog to his tunes from blocks away. James Blunt even stopped by to hang out with Guetta onstage…

CW: David, everyone knows you for really being one of the biggest house DJs around at the moment, but with there being so many different kinds of house, how to you classify your sound? What makes yours different for all the others on the DJ Mag list?

David Guetta: OK, I’m seen as a house DJ, but from there you try and create some underfamilies. For me [labels] are not so important because I play everything. You know, I could play a rock track, I could play, you know, techno, house, whatever. I play good music, I try to play good music and have a patry with the people, that’s what really count for me and this category [house] isn’t so important for me.

CW: Like We mentioned, you are known for being the best house DJ around, where do you go from there? We know you have some big plans coming up in the next year with a festival you’re planning. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

DG: She’s going to tell you about this.

Cathy Guetta: [laughing] This Stade de France?

DG: Yes.

CG: Yes, it’s the first event like this for France, because you know the Stade de France is usually for the…

DG: Soccer game…

CG: Yes, and for the first time there, it’s a real party with the five superstar DJ, electronic superstars Carl Cox, Tiesto, Joachim Garraud, Martin Solveig and my husband of course. And also some performers and some, you know, everything for best and unique party.

CW: That’s going to be awesome.

DG: It’s called United and the main thing is that a lot of us, we respect each other but we usually don’t play together, you know? And this party is for all of us to be all together “united” on one dance floor … and you know, also it’s a lot of people from different background in the DJ world but also in the public [coming together for this], which is pretty exciting. 45,000 people…

CG: Yes, 45,000 people and also for the first time, Star Jam is open until 6’oclock in the morning and it’s open air so it’s going to be fabulous for sure. [laughs] I hope!

CW: Cathy, you so involved in the business aspect of all of this from what we know …

DG: She takes care of the organization of the events, so this is her event the Stade de France, and we do F*ck Me, I’m Famous together. I take care of the artistic side but she takes care of all the promotion…

CG: …marketing, communication and PR.

DG: So yeah, she’s a working girl.

CG: [laughs]

CW: So Cathy, how did you get started in all of this? What made you decide to get into the business side of the music?

CG: Because you know, at the beginning, when I was in a nightclub for my first time, you know it was my passion–the nightlife and the music. When I met David 19 years ago we had the same passion for nightlife and music and since then, it’s been my life. And well, voila!

CW: This is always a hot button issue for DJs how do you feel about digital downloading? DJs are always the ones who embrace new technology it seems, but also at the same time people are coming out against it because of copyright issues.

DG: To be very honest, and against everything my record company says, I’m pretty cool with it really. I think thanks to the Internet, the level of knowledge about music is much bigger now everywhere in the world, and for me as a DJ that’s fantastic because I can play more new sounds and you know experiment with new things. And the young generation, they really know everything, it’s amazing. You know? Regarding my albums, I’m very luck because I still sell a lot of albums, and I think what happens is probably, you know–if you have one track, people will download it illegally, but it also creates an interest in the artist. If people really love you, they will still buy the album because they want to have the whole thing. And, I cannot complain. I’m sure there are millions of illegal downloads, but I still sell a lot of records. I’m still fine, you know? And, also there’s the legal downloading, and this is becoming really big also. You cannot fight against progress.

CW: Do you think it helps the newer DJs on the scene?

DG: Absolutely. This is why I think it’s kind of cool at the same time. And even me for example, I made a track on the road with my laptop, and I said, “OK, this is a cool track and I don’t have an album right now, so I’m just going to give it for free on the Internet.” It’s a cool thing that when you’re passionate about music that you can share it like this very quickly and you don’t have to wait for this long and heavy process of the record company. So on the more underground and electronic culture, it’s amazing and it opens a lot of doors for new producers. I’m like a lot of artists in that I know we lose a lot of money [to downloading] but I think in a way, we might lose in sales but we get it back by being more famous and doing more live, coming to Shanghai and playing records you know it’s amazing.

CG: Thanks to the Internet for that!

CW: We definitely will! There have actually been a lot of big name DJs coming through Shanghai recently, pretty much DJ Mag’s Top 10 list, what made you guys decide that Shanghai is the place to be? Why is it a DJ hot spot?

DG: The thing is, I’ve been waiting for … I’ve been everywhere touring, but let’s say that Asia is a really exciting place because it’s totally new here and you can feel that it’s going to blow, and it’s exciting to be there at the beginning, you know? It’s been like two years since I’ve wanted to come, and I couldn’t. There are just too many places in the world, and I’ve been pushing it, and pushing it and now we’re finally here. And we’re glad.

CG: And also we hear from people who have come from Shanghai, they say to us, “You need to go there because it’s an incredible city.” After that we were really just so excited to come.

CW: You just got in tonight but will you have a chance to look around?

[DG and CG banter in French]

DG: Not so much, unfortunately the thing is, we do one city per day, so we don’t have so much time. We are able to come here [Bar Rouge] though and get the vibe. You get the feeling from the people you see around you like here in the club and restaurant.

Transcript of interview provided by Jessica @ :

If you’re a DJ lookin to learn how to scratch and do bodytricks and more advanced shit… checkout the Grandmaster Roc Raida from the X-Ecutioners in this exclusive video on DJViBE TV.

DJ Yuki from Tian Jin rips up the 1s and 2s at the 2007 China DMC Finals. Checkout Chinas top female turnablist in our exclusive DMC coverage..

来自天津的DJ Yuki 在2007年的DMC中国赛区总决赛中脱颖而出。这里是我们关于2007年中国DMC 总决赛的独家报道，来看一下目前中国实力最强劲的女DJ在这次决赛中的精彩表演.

Checkout DJ Grandmaster Roc Raida from the X-Ecutioners break down the how he does his DMC winning Beatjuggling. Roc Raida rips his winning DMC Scratch DJ Routine Live @ the LAB in Shanghai 2007..

If you’re a DJ lookin to learn how to scratch and do bodytricks and more advanced shit… checkout the Grandmaster Roc Raida from the X-Ecutioners in this exclusive video on DJViBE TV. Roc Raida rips his winning DMC Scratch DJ Routine Live @ LAB in Shanghai 2007.. the is the first episode in a 3 part series.

Granted, more renowned international acts have passed through this fair city in the last year than ever before, but the scene has not necessarily moved forward, as Gary Wang laments. Upon his return from Japan in 1999, Shanghai nightlife was mainly focused around Maoming Lu with the old dkd (now Buddha Bar) as its epicenter. Hip hop back then didn’t enjoy the massive commercial success it does today, but the audience was a lot more appreciative of the music.

These days, crowds generally expect commercial chart hip hop to be played. This is precisely why as a promoter Wang has brought to China artists, like Roc Raida and Kid Koala, who he feels possess musical merit rather than immediate commercial appeal. Moreover he endeavors to keep ticket prices as low as possible so that local kids grasp the opportunity to attend, as opposed to just the affluent crowd that sweats the bubbly more than the music. Now Wang’s efforts to take hip hop back to its roots have intensified with The Lab, where gear is available for established turntablists and novices alike. A quick rundown: 10 Technics SL 1200s, an assortment of Pioneer mixers (909, 707, 400 and 800), three Krohn amps, two 15-inch JBL bass speakers, four regular ones, two Akai hardware sequencer/samplers, a Mac G5 running E-magic, Logic 7, Soundforge and Protools, and a live drum set.

Alternatively, there’s ample space to kick back, surf the net through WiFi or hang out on the absolutely massive rooftop terrace, which will soon be hazed by graffiti artists. The best part is that all of it is free. Of course any contributions, whether time, skills or money, are warmly welcomed.

The Lab’s musical policy covers any noncommercial styles that are underrepresented in Shanghai. This includes any music, as long as it’s “good,” as Wang smilingly puts it. The focus mainly falls on hip hop, funk, soul and downtempo. Anyone is invited to come have a go and someone will always be around to give out some pointers. Wang is quick to mention that he aims to create a welcoming environment where people can get involved, share experiences and expand the community. “The Lab belongs to the people!” he says.

And the people have been showing up in respectable numbers, even though the vast majority of them are foreigners. Perhaps this indicates an underlying problem with local attitudes — rapid development and increased affluence have been accompanied by a see-and-be-seen mentality. “Most local kids like mainstream hip hop, and they’ve come to expect that the music involves drugs, sex, money and other negative elements. And when they come to The Lab and don’t see that, they think it isn’t real,” says Wang. “But the regulars who do come here don’t care about the bling bling mainstream. They care about music. Here you can be yourself.” The fact that it’s free might also throw some Chinese off and paradoxically scare them away.

Nevertheless, as The Lab progresses it will without doubt gain popularity and attract a wider variety of people. American DJ Daddy Dog from New York found his way here during a four-month work gig. He heard about The Lab from friends and came to practice as he has no turntables in his Shanghai home. “The best part of The Lab is that everyone shares something. I’ve taught beat juggling, where you rearrange percussion, kind of like live remixing. And in turn the others have taught me different kinds of scratching,” says Daddy Dog. “I’ve even learned to play the drums.”

Even non-musical artists have been cropping up at The Lab. Canadian graffiti artist John Leslie, a.k.a. Plus One, cannot believe his good fortune. “I call this place ‘The Wall’,” he excitedly says. “My painting partner from Canada is coming, too. I called him up and said, ‘they’ve even got scaffolding!’” By the time Plus One lays down his aerosol can at the end of summer, the terrace’s concrete wall will stand testament to the power of alternative art.

Indeed, it’s exactly this exchange of knowledge and the laidback community feel that will propel The Lab into the summer and help it achieve its aim of establishing a music and art center of the people, by the people.

Schedule

Mon-Tue: Closed

Wed: DJ Practice 2pm-9pm

Thu: MC/DJ Practice 2pm-9pm

Fri: DJ Practice 2pm-9pm

Sat: [1st Sat: DJ; 2nd Sat: MC; 3rd Sat: Live Musicians; 4th Sat: Graffiti & Visual Artists, all from 3pm onwards.]

Sun: [1st/2nd/3rd Sun: Live Band Practice; 4th Sun: BBQ (BYOB & food)/ Movies, all from 3pm onwards.]

Address:

5/F, 343 Jiaozhou lu (near Wuding Lu)

·3435¥(䶨·)

Tel: 5213-0877

Website:

http://www.thelab.cn