california soul: AM FOREVER

the marquee of the roxy theatre in west hollywood
*courtesy of perezhilton

DJ AM FOREVER

in honor of DJ AM, tonight i am dancing like nobody's watching to one of many favorite mixes of his. truly a talented dj. i still believe he is the one who sparked the fusion and craze of mixing hip hop songs/beats with just about any and every genre in the clubs - rock, pop, oldies, you name it. now it's the norm in most clubs, but just 5 years ago most dj's kept it strictly top 40 hip hop! it was always a GREAT party when he was behind the decks.

i still remember the exact day i first heard DJ AM spin. it was august of 2004 in vegas. he was playing at a pool party at the palms (before summertime pool parties became the norm in town). i was lounging by the pool, enjoying the scene and the tunes when all of a sudden i hear that whistling song from kill bill play over the speakers (the one that plays in the background when daryll hannah's character is walking through the hospital, disguised as a nurse and she's about to kill uma thurman. yeah that one). then i hear the beat from michael jackson's "billie jean" looped in over the whistle. it was all over after that. obsessed. i was like, who the fuck is this dj'ing right now!!! i was blown away. after that it was more hip hop mixed with party rock songs and an indie tune here and there and i was on cloud 9. sigh....such a great music moment.

i can't tell you how many new artists i started listening to because of his mixtapes. lykke li. MIA. the gossip. uffie. just to name a few. DJ AM was like my music ambassador! i just loved how eclectic his music taste was and it showed on every single one of his mixes.

seriously, as someone who loves music as much as i do, this death hurts just as bad as mj's did a few months ago!

for some reason i hate writing RIP and then the person's name after. it just feels too morbid. so instead i shall say, i hope you're at peace now. our thoughts and prayers and love go out to you, your family and your friends. oh and one more thing.........thank you.