Tonight in Kunming is the official release party of a hiphop compilation album featuring some of China's top DJs and MCs coming together to showcase the rapidly growing mainland hiphop scene.

Envisioned by Kunming-based DJ DSK, The Battle of the Year China 2008 is a snapshot of the state of hiphop in China today. Battle of the Year is an annual international B-boy competition, the biggest of its kind in the world, with more than 20 countries from six continents represented.

The Battle of the Year China 2008 is the soundtrack of the China competition and will travel with this year's BOTY China winners – Guangzhou's Energy Crew – to the Asian BOTY finals in Thailand and, should Energy win, on to the world championships in Germany this October.

Three-time DMC China champion DJ Wordy from Beijing, Red Star and Mr Tsang from Shanghai, Chengdu-based producer Jovian, Guangzhou DJ BMD and Kunming funk outfit People's Rhythm all appear on the album, as does DSK. The mix of different styles and cities comes together like a hiphop hotpot blending flavors from all around China.


The 14-track album is the first release by Kunming label Unity Recordings, which was founded by DSK and business partner Sam Debell to promote Chinese musicians – hiphop as well as funk and electro.

Tonight's release party for Battle Of The Year China 2008 will take place at Speakeasy Bar and will feature the last performance of Minjian Funk plus DJ sets by DJ DSK and DJ Kris. CDs will be on sale for 20 yuan – with a free shot of vodka with every album purchase. Music starts at 10 and entry is free.

Battle Of The Year China 2008 is on sale at Salvador's Coffee House and CD stores around Wenlin Jie and Wenhua Xiang.

MP3s:
Don't F@@k Around - DJ Wordy
Enter The Dragon - DJ DSK & The Yunnan 4

Tags: b-boy, Battle of the Year, BMD, DJ DSK, DJ Kris, DJ Wordy, Jovian, music, People's Rhythm, Red Star, Sam Debell, Speakeasy Bar, Unity Recordings

Friday through Sunday: Thai Festival on Nanping Jie
Thai Festival 2008 is being held daily this weekend on the Nanping Jie pedestrian street downtown. The event features Thai crafts and foods, including a booth catered by Moonlight Corner Thai Cuisine

Friday and Saturday: Second Kunming Loft Creative Fair at TC/G Nordica
Today and tomorrow TC/G Nordica in the Loft compound on Xiba Lu will be hosting the second Kunming Loft Creative Fair. Artists, designers and purveyors of different kinds of handicrafts will be displaying and selling their wares from 11:30 am to 10 pm today and tomorrow. Admission is free.

Friday: Bananas party at Uprock
Shanghai-based Bananas Sound System is throwing its first-ever Kunming party at Uprock tonight, featuring DJs Mr Stokes, Santo Chino and DSK plus MC Cool Disco Tenzin. The music starts at 10 pm and admission is free.

Friday: English movie and discussion at Chicago Coffee
Chicago Coffee will host its weekly English movie and discussion at 7pm. Admission is free with any purchase – call 5389288 for movie details.

Friday: DJs Jezz and Christian at The Hump Bar
The Hump Bar will be hosting an evening of music by DJs Jezz and Christian beginning at 10 pm. Admission is free.

Saturday: Tantrum, Shonny and Echoo at Uprock
Uprock will be hosting local DJs Shonny and Echoo plus UK import Tantrum on Saturday night beginning at 10 pm. Admission is free.

Tags: Bananas Sound System, Chicago Coffee, DJ Christian, DJ DSK, DJ Jezz, Echoo, Kunming Loft Creative Fair, Moonlight Corner, Mr Stokes, Santo Chino, Shonny, Tantrum, TC/G Nordica, Thai Festival, Uprock

The old town of Dali has changed a lot over the last ten years, with one of the biggest changes being the emergence of Renmin Lu as a rival to the once-cool "Foreigner Street" (洋人街).

A mere eight years ago, Renmin Lu was a quiet cobblestone road with barbershops, snack stalls, local restaurants and a host of other small businesses more geared toward the local market than the Chinese bohemians or foreign backpackers that now flock to the street's countless restaurants, bars, cafés, guesthouses and shops. Back then there was only one bar on Renmin Lu - The Bird Bar - comfortably perched at the top of the street.

Owned by artists/entrepreneurs and Shandong natives Zhao Rongjie and Liu Xinmin, the Bird Bar is now the oldest fixture on the Renmin Lu scene. Since the early days, the Bird Bar has expanded, adding a guesthouse and even a villa across the street.

On Thursday the Bird will celebrate its eighth birthday with a buffet dinner provided by Mo (another Dali institution), foosball competition and DJ Xiao Lin, plus DJs DSK and Shonny of Uprock and VJ K-108 playing late into the night.

The buffet dinner is 35 yuan and will run from 6:30 pm until 8:30 pm. The foosball competition – winner gets an unspecified prize – runs from 8 until 10. Music and dancing commence at 10. Aside from the buffet, admission to the party is free.

Disclosure: The Bird Bar is a paid advertiser on GoKunming

Tags: backpackers, Bird Bar, Bird's Nest, Dali, DJ DSK, Liu Xinmin, Renmin Lu, Shonny, Zhao Rongjie

This weekend around Kunming there is will be a good mix of events and activities from the opening of the city's newest club to folk and blues concerts, from Swedish art to free golf for women on International Women's Day. Here's a preview of some of the things to do around town this weekend:

Friday: Exhibition opening at TC/G Nordica
TC/G Nordica will host an opening for Swedish painter Per Johansson beginning at 8 pm. Johansson's exhibition, "Dance of Light" will be on display at Nordica's upstairs gallery from tonight until March 26. Nordica is located within the Loft (创库) art compound at 101 Xiba Lu, near the Baiyao Chang bus stop. Admission is free.

Friday: Chinese neo-folk at Yuansheng Studio
Chinese neo-folk singer Liu2 (刘2) will bring his guitar and quirky lyrics to Yuansheng Studio also inside the Loft art compound. The performance in Yuansheng's theater begins at 8:30 – tickets are 30 yuan or 15 yuan for students carrying their student ID card.

Friday: Uprock Grand Opening
Tonight is the grand opening of Kunming's newest – and perhaps most ambitious – club, Uprock. From 10 pm on, the new split-level club will feature the sonic stylings of DJ DSK in the downstairs lounge plus Mr Stokes, recently transplanted from Shanghai, playing upstairs to what may be Kunming's biggest dance floor. Both DJs will be cutting vinyl only. Tsingtaos and gin tonics will be on special for 10 yuan. Admission is free, and the first 50 guests to enter will receive a free Uprock mix CD.

Saturday: Women's Day at Moonlight Corner
Saturday is International Women's Day, and Moonlight Corner Thai Cuisine, itself owned by three Thai women, has a day of activities and specials for the ladies of Kunming. All women will be entitled to practice their golf swing at Expo Golf Center (located in the same building) from 1-4 pm, with special golf games and prizes. In the evening there will be a party with new set menus and games.

Saturday: Women's Day at the Silver Spoon Cafe
The Silver Spoon Cafe will also be celebrating Women's Day with 10% off all food and drinks for women. At 6 pm the Silver Spoon will also host a free concert by singer/songwriter Nathan Stokland. Reservations are encouraged for groups.

Saturday: Blues band at Yuansheng Studio
Saturday night Yuansheng Studio will host another night of music, this time featuring local blues band Fang (坊). Admission for the 8:30 pm show is 20 yuan.

Saturday: Uprock All Stars
Uprock's opening weekend continues with a nine-DJ party to showcase Kunming's top DJs. DJs Kris, Shonny, Echoo, Jezz, Jiang Nan and Mr Stokes will be playing upstairs with the dance floor while DJs Christian, Menace and DSK will be playing to the downstairs lounge. The free party starts at 10 pm, with Tsingtaos and gin tonics on special for 10 yuan. Admission is free, and the first 50 guests to enter will receive a free Uprock mix CD.

Tags: DJ Christian, DJ DSK, DJ Kris, DJ Menace, Echoo, Fang, Jezz, Jiang Nan, Liu2, Moonlight Corner, Mr Stokes, Shonny, Silver Spoon Cafe, TC/G Nordica, Uprock, Women's Day, Yuansheng Studio

Kunming is known around China for having nicer weather and bluer skies than most cities in the country, but visitors to the city often note that the city's club scene pales in comparison to cities like Shanghai and Beijing, where parties featuring top DJs from around China, Asia and the rest of the planet are commonplace.

A group including Kunming DJs Shonny and Echoo is launching a new club – Uprock – this Friday. Uprock is Kunming's first attempt at a nightclub that eschews bolted-down stools and the ubiquitous whiskey and green tea for an open dance floor and a focus on DJ skills and… music.

Uprock has also enlisted the assistance of Kunming-based UK native DJ DSK who is serving as the club's music and events director. Last year DSK was been cutting wax all over China and Asia, but this year he says he plans on staying in Kunming to focus on new projects, including turning Uprock – and Kunming – into established stops on the Asian club circuit.

"I've been DJing around China and Asia the last few years, now I want to concentrate on doing things here in Kunming, including recording," DSK said over tea in the nearly complete Uprock. "Right now I want to be able to manage a place and record."

The longtime Kunming resident said that Uprock is an attempt to do something different in a city filled with cookie cutter clubs that tend to copy the most successful club at any given moment.

"Uprock is different because it's a venue that concentrates on the music instead of gimmicks," he said.

"The only way to have a proper club is to have proper DJs and proper music. Our goal is for Uprock to be respected for the DJs that perform here and the music played here. I want to prove that you can play good music and make money."

The two-level club is located above a row of piano stores about 50 meters south of the intersection of Xichang Lu and Xinwen Lu, just a stone's throw from Kundu, click here for a locator map (in Chinese).

This weekend Uprock will celebrate its grand opening with two nights of parties featuring live turntablism by DSK and Mr Stokes, who moved to Kunming recently from Shanghai, where he was involved in the Bananas Sound System. The second night is being billed as the 'Uprock All Stars Party', in which DJs Kris, Shonny, Echoo, Jezz, Jiang Nan and Mr Stokes will play sets upstairs while DJs Christian, Menace and DSK perform in the downstairs lounge area. The first fifty guests each night will receive a free Uprock CD – click on the link below for a mix by Uprock DJs.

Downloadable MP3: The Uprock Mix

Click for Uprock contact and map

Tags: Bananas Sound System, DJ DSK, Echoo, live music, Mr Stokes, Shonny, Uprock

Two of the more influential turntable DJs in this part of Asia will be playing a free show at Speakeasy Bar tonight featuring hiphop, funk, breaks, rock and more.

Bangkok-based DJ Octo and Kunming-based DJ DSK will be spinning records from 9:30 until late, while the Speak will be offering Thai-style "buckets" for 50 yuan throughout the evening.

This should be an interesting show for turntable enthusiasts living in Kunming – DJ Octo was recently voted Bangkok's favorite DJ by BK Magazine readers and DJ DSK is arguably one of the hardest-working and hardest-touring turntable DJs on the mainland. Call 13888196245 for more details.

Image: Ace DJs

Tags: DJ DSK, DJ Octo, live music, Speakeasy Bar

DJ DSK is Kunming's top DJ, if you're not into techno remixes of John Denver classics. Not only has he steadily developed his funky and soulful musical style over the last few years for a growing local and foreign listener base, this British DJ has worked to nurture local DJ talent in Kunming and elsewhere in China. GoKunming sat down with DJ DSK via the miracle of email and asked him about the ins and outs of being a foreign DJ in Kunming and the future of music in China.

GK: Let's get the obligatory questions out of the way first, how long have you been in China?

DSK: Around five years; originally I wanted to learn Chinese. I came from Laos and stuck a pen in the map. I first lived in Yuxi then moved to Kunming.


GK: What got you into spinning records?

DSK: My Dad bought me a mixer when I was around 13-14. I started messing with sounds from tape decks and gradually progressed to turntables and slowly to a decent pair of Technics and a mixer when around 16-17.


GK: What is the state of music in China right now?

DSK: Haha, please understand I am talking about the general clubs in China as in a lot of cities there are one or two really good clubs and DJs... I am just talking about the general situation. The situation in Chinese clubs is a bit rough around the edges, but getting better. In Chinese clubs you can hear the worst music in the world but club culture is a new thing and it arrived too quickly. Things are looking great now though with some great upcoming hiphop and electronic music DJs. I just hope people support them instead of fake foreign DJs.


GK: How many DJs are actually scratching records?

DSK: Thousands. Maybe millions.


GK: What is the Chinese reaction to record scratching as opposed to digital DJs?

DSK: In China it's cool to use vinyl because they see it in videos but the general public have no idea what you are doing, they just wanna see a foreign DJ acting like a monkey in a zoo. I try to use some Chinese in my sets so people can understand a bit better what I'm doing. I have had a few clubs in some cities where people understand and go crazy when you start cutting it up.


GK: Where do you get your records? Is there anywhere that sells vinyl in China?

DSK: Yeah there's a few people selling vinyl but most of them charge a lot of money. I use the Internet or friends abroad. I now also use serato ssl which allows me to mix digital files with the use of turntables.


GK: What cities have been most receptive to your music?

DSK: Beijing, Nanjing, Guangdong.


GK: What are your favorite places to spin?

DSK: Anywhere that is fun; I love the Castle Bar in Nanjing and b-boy battles in Guangdong/Hong Kong and also had some great parties in the past at the Speakeasy here in Kunming. I had a fun gig in New Delhi last December and Bandung in Indonesia this past March was great.


GK: In what direction do you see music in China moving during the next few years?

DSK: Hopefully they will stop listening to the awful music that they do at the moment in clubs... if you ever go to Kundu here in Kunming it's disgusting, you never hear any music with soul. I have heard some really good hiphop being produced by people like Sketch Krime (originally from Yunnan but now in Beijing) and DUMDUE aka DEEARNA in Guangdong.


GK: Who are the better Chinese DJs?

DSK: DJ Wordy and Shorty from Beijing are amazing scratch DJs, DJ Fatkit is a great b-boy break DJ in Guangzhou, DJ VNutz is organizing probably the only true hiphop night in China in Shanghai. Liu Yan also tries hard in Kunming to play decent electronic music which is not easy for a local, he definitely needs more support. Soul B in Hong Kong, because he's a good old buddy for over 10 years with a great knowledge of all things funky.


GK: Do you have any upcoming performances in Kunming or elsewhere in China?

DSK: I have many gigs but the only good ones will be Sept 23rd's Back to the Roots Blue Ice in Shanghai, October 1st In Macau with Spyda Monkee (Thailand's top scratch DJ - still being arranged). Look out for the next funk party at Speakeasy and please come and dress up!


GK: Any last words?

DSK: Go listen to Nina Simone's "Funkier than a mosquito's tweeter" - it's amazing.


For more DJ DSK, check out the links below:

Short video of DJ DSK scratching chinese @ la boomba Xiamen - link

Freestyle from 2 years ago in Pompidou Club Wenzhou - link

Headbeats mix cd (relaxing dub, funk) - link

Indelible b-boy breaks, funk breaks to listen or dance to - link

Tags: DJ DSK