Every Memorial Day weekend for the past 28 years, UCLA has hosted a music festival called the JazzReggae Festival. Originally, the first day was devoted to Jazz and the second day was devoted Reggae. Though the first day has morphed to a “Jam” day, the festival has always been able to pull in outstanding talent for the price of admission. If you are ever in Los Angeles during the Memorial Day weekend, and looking to enjoy a music festival at an extremely reasonable price, I suggest that you check out the lineup to see if any artists you like are on the bill.
Armed with a photo pass for the event, I was able to take pictures of the artists listed below. Click on the link to check them out!
Working for Snoop, I’ve gone to my fare share of his concerts. One would think that after going to more shows than I can count on my fingers and toes, I’d be bored or indifferent to watching him perform. This is far from the truth.
Snoop’s passion for his art always impresses me. His live show, which features a live band, is always entertaining and is simply superior to those acts who rap over series of pre-recorded beats. Though this performance may have been lacking in some familiar faces (R.I.P. Uncle June Bugg), it was filled with all of his hits spanning his over two decades of hit-making.
Though it was Jazz Day, and not Reggae Day, he opened his set with one of my favorite tracks off his reggae album “Reincarnated”, “Here Comes The King”. He paid tribute to Nate Dogg with his performance of the 213 songs “So Fly”. He performed his verses from 50 Cent duet of “P.I.M.P.” He performed “Lodi Dodi,” “Gin & Juice,”Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Who Am I (What’s My Name)” and on and on and on. He even dropped his verse from Katy Perry’s single, “California Gurls” in the middle of his set.
Snoop, dressed in a custom made, all-black, UCLA jersey with the number 19, stitched on, played to the crowd and used his charming stage-manner to his have the crowd vibing off of him throughout the entire set. It was either that, or the copious amounts of weed that was being lit up while he was performing. As an aside, UCLA has a campus-wide no-cigarrette smoking policy. In fact, I was forced to toss my cigarettes into a trash can before entering the festival grounds, and even noticed security actively enforcing the policy all throughout the day. But weed smoking? Naw. That’s all good. LOL.
When Snoop closed his set with “Young, Wild & Free,” he had the entire crowd singing along. He finally took his sunglasses off to address the crowd to keep singing along. When the music ended, and he hustled off stage to head off to his DJ gig in Las Vegas that evening, the crowd was still buzzing, perhaps still high from the weed that was smoked during the set, but more likely high from the hit filled set that they had just listened too.
I couldn’t find a complete setlist for Snoop’s performance at this event online, so if anybody happens to know what it was, please post it in the comments so that I can add it into this post. Thanks!
Phaze is a 19 year old rapper/singer from Los Angeles whose style and flow had me hooked the first time I heard his demos. He has been working relentlessly on new music and projects to build up his fan base and is planning to release a new album very soon.
His latest project, a video for his track “Limelight” from his forthcoming project “Camping Trips”, is directed by Peter Sobat and has cameos from the likes of DJ Prophet, DJ Melz, Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion aka Snoopzilla, and Daz Dillinger.
If this track/ video are any indication of what’s to come (i.e. unadulterated, west coast, hip hop), I suggest you follow his fan page on Facebook and Twitter to keep his upcoming plans. After all, if Snoop approves of what this young fella is trying to do, you just may too.
My client Phaze has been putting out a lot of dope content these days. The latest two videos he dropped recently are, in my humble opinion, top notch. It starts with the music. Phaze has really been stepping up his lyrical game as of late, and it really comes through with the content and flow. The slick beats certainly add to his game.
Though he doesn’t appear in the video for “Arrival” (released May 24, 2013), the edits and cuts of the video (which was shot in India) are visually amazing. I actually feel that by not appearing in the video, it sets forth a confident statement by Phaze and the director that the music speaks for itself.
The video “Legendary” was released earlier in the month (May, 18, 2013) was shot in Los Angeles and already has over 16,000 views (as of May 31, 2013). Shot at the Tar Pits in Los Angeles, the video again used terrific visual imagery. The beat, produced by C Ballin, is smooth and steady, matching the lyrical flow.
If you like what you see and hear, spread the word. If you want to keep up with Phaze and his music follow him and his label respectively on twitter at @officialPhaze_ and @MrSobat … Ohh yeah … you can follow me too if you’d like here @Methodman13. I’d like to think I post some cool stuff too … LOL.
#DKLPHOTOS 