“Poet Gettin’ His” by Molina of SOULAJU w/ DJ Icewater
Switchin’ up the vibe and pulse. Recent weekly Retrospectives have explored the lighter side of my work. A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively now moves back into harder-hitting territory.
Everyone’s heard the song “Gettin’ Mine.” Every rapper’s got a Gettin’ Mine track. The world is in a Gettin’ Mine state of mind. This is my version of Gettin’ Mine.
I was in Brooklyn when DJ Icewater sent this beat. This was before Aju and I were SOULAJU, before we decided to make an album together. It was a winter day in January 2009. I had the track on loop in my headphones, staring at the thick snowflakes falling outside Aju’s apartment window in Bedstuy. No doubt about it, this was a love song…
I had no interest in releasing love songs when I began making music.
“Dee-Jay RMX” – SOULAJU w/ DJ Icewater (2010)
SOULAJU hosted a youth DJ workshop at the end of January 2010. The workshop was one of five community-oriented events we hosted in celebration of the coming SOULAJU album release.
As SOULAJU unveils new album tracks one-by-one, I am focusing more and more on the visual aspect of the music. In recent months I edited footage from our Youth Jam / Youth Climate Justice Workshop and made a music video for “In Sight”.
With “Dee-Jay” I wanted to tell a broader story about the power of the Dee-Jay, who is the heart and soul of Hip-Hop culture. In 1986, Rakim declared that his DJ “Eric B. Is President”. Looking forward to 2020 the sound selector still reigns supreme.
Download “Dee-Jay RMX” and other SOULAJU tracks by clicking the bandcamp icon below. DJs down to remix “Dee-Jay” email us at soulaju@gmail.com.
A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively is a 52-week blog series in 2010, focusing on 5 years of music by your man Molina of SOULAJU. Follow Molina @ http://www.twitter.com/MOLINAspeaks.
“Dee-Jay, say you give the people what they want / take head of the culture, give the people what they need / Indeed, we the children of the break beat sound / push back, let the truth rise from the underground”
“Dee-jay, say you give the people what they like / word sun then shine, give the people space to fly / Indeed, you da key, get the people on dey feet / let em shake loose, breathe, make sure they dance free”
FREE DOWNLOAD OF “IN SIGHT” by SOULAJU w/ DJ Icewater.
Icewater sent the beat track in February of 2009. Aju was living in Bedstuy, Brooklyn NY. I was living on the northside in Denver at the time, traveling back and forth between Denver, New York City, and Oakland to work on the Shine Flow EP and SOULAJU album projects.
Shine Flow – title track off Shine Flow EP by Molina Soleil & Aju w/ DJ Icewater (2009)
This was the first track I recorded with DJ Icewater in October 2008. I was a few months into my Up Before the Sunrise tour. I decided to head to the Bay Area and do some volunteer work for Youth Speaks during their Living Word Festival.
I called my friend Jeff Chang and told him that I’d be in town. Could he hook me up with any producers?
The arrival of SOULAJU: Soul flows like water. The long awaited album is finally complete. 15 solid tracks available for $5 mp3 download.
This story has many beginnings. This moment is a culmination of past reflections. The focus is on the Present, in these times, as we shape what will be.
SOULAJU is a fusion of lives, stories, styles, and cultures; this fusion is personal and universal. Each track stands on its own, but the true jewel lies in the journey of the album, start to finish.
In the words of photographer Ric Urrutia, “Soulaju is creative, conscious, energetic, sexy, intellectual, and overall: bad ass.”
The reviews, the hype, and the celebrations will come in waves. The album will soon be distributed by Itunes, Amazon.com, and other major distributors. For now, as independent, community-based artists, we are excited to share this release with our friends, our supporters, and your networks and communities.
Thank you for your support. Please help us spread the word.
Official SOULAJU album release: 15 tracks, $5 download: http://soulaju.bandcamp.com/album/soulaju
In celebration of International Women’s Day, March 8th, I would like to share a song with my fellow WeMoons that orbit this extremely complex yet extremely beautiful home, our planet Earth, and also to the men that support and nurture humanity’s 
most sacred resource: the life givers.
WeMoon is a trance floetics dedication to the divine feminine powers embodied by all mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, granddaughters, cousins, aunties, nieces and roots. It is a song to all the women that have fought, danced, worked, sang, organized, loved, and planted seeds of all forms for the rights of women, for the rights of all humans, for the rights of our animal-relations, for the rights of the environment — for justice, respect, equality and for the joy of living.
“Da Indies”, Shine Flow EP — Molina Soleil & Aju w/ DJ Icewater (2009)
Download this MP3 – (Right Click)
“I strut, I flow, my style I’m all mine / I shine my truth / I chop, mash up time / you work, you grind, you climb with no interlude / your push, your pull, you rise high, it’s all you…”
…the first words heard from my first collaboration with Aju and DJ Icewater. It was a big shift in style and presentation from the more gritty Up Before the Sunrise album.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20th, 2010
Peace to our fans, friends, and supporters. We came to a difficult decision this week. We will be pushing back the release date of SOULAJU with DJ Icewater until March 23, 2010.
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