Cinco de Mayo: Holiday, History, Mashup & Video

The Holiday and its History: Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "the fifth of May") commemorates the Mexican army's improbable victory over French occupying forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Though no longer a national holiday in Mexico ("Grito de Dolores," Mexico's Independence Day of September 16 is much more important), Mexican public school children still get Cinco de Mayo off, and it's a public holiday in the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz. The day has gained much more significance, popularity, and recognition in the United States (especially in the Southwest), and has spread to certain cities in Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, France, and anywhere else there are substantial Mexican minorities or appreciation for Mexican culture. Cinco de Mayo is even celebrated in Tokyo!

Celebrations outside Mexico were started in 1862 by Mexican miners in Columbia, California when they first heard the news of General Ignacio Zaragoza Sequín's victory over the French and spontaneously responded by firing rifles in the air, launching fireworks, singing patriotic songs, and making impromptu speeches. The holiday first gained real steam in the U.S. during the 1940s and the rise of the Chicano Movement, again mostly in California. While Cinco de Mayo celebrations had spread to cities in other states during the 50s, 60s, and 70s, they first became nationally popular when beer companies and other marketers (correctly) sensed there was money to be made and began to promote the day across the country. Since then, Cinco de Mayo has expanded around the world and become not just a celebration of Mexican ethnicity, culture, and pride, but for many people an excuse to party - something akin to St. Patrick's Day. However, as journalist Kenn Rodriguez noted last year, we should never forget its origins:

"Cinco de Mayo may have started as a purely Mexican celebration, but it is much more than that. It’s an American celebration, for all the people of the Western Hemisphere. It’s a day when the people themselves rose up against the tyranny of a foreign invader and fought for their freedom and, against overwhelming odds, won. Because of that, Cinco de Mayo should be an inspiring day for everyone who values freedom and justice. So when you raise your Corona to celebrate on May 5, don’t forget to send a salute to the underdogs — and freedom."

For detailed information about Cinco de Mayo and the history of Mexican America, watch this:

 


And if you have even the slightest interest in military history, please watch this:




Sources & links:
Wikipedia
News Bulletin: Cinco de Mayo Should be Celebrated for the Right Reasons
International Business Times: The Mexican Battle that Became an American Fiesta

The Mashup and Video: As a Mexican-American born in California, I have always appreciated Cinco de Mayo, though not always consciously. I dimly remember enjoying a few Californian parades and parties when I was a small child, but in 1977, my family moved to Washington State where the holiday was virtually non-existent and I was one of the few brown kids around. Yet Washington (or at least King County) has always been a relatively open-minded place, and despite occasional "beaner" jokes, I felt free to assert my Mexican heritage, though I had forgotten about Cinco de Mayo.


Some years ago (in 2009), I decided to remedy this lapse with a special Cinco de Mayo mashup, one I played for the first time at Bootie Munich. Though the show was on a Friday or Saturday, in 2009 Cinco de Mayo fell on a Tuesday, as it does this year, which made me keen to now finally produce a video. The reason is Ween's line featured at the end of the mashup: "Cinco de Mayo's on Tuesday." Here's the audio mashup (featured on Collected Mashups Vol. 4: Sleeper), which blends the music of War, Free, Deee-Lite, Beyoncé, Pitbull, and Ween:




Now for the video: As Warqueen was kind enough to point out on Twitter and as Wardrums commented on Youtube, the history of War (the band) has been complicated, with most of the original members losing a federal lawsuit to use the name, and now touring under the moniker The Lowrider Band (here's their website, facebook & twitter). I was unaware of this and even beforehand couldn't discover any original video of War performing "Cinco de Mayo," though in the meantime I've found this later performance by the original vocalist, Howard Scott with Reign. The War footage I featured in the video is only of original keyboardist, Lonnie Jordan, officially using the name after the lawsuit with a non-original band.

It's all good! Enjoy! ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Collected Mashups Vol 4: The Videos (Part One: Hip-Hop)

Before releasing Collected Mashups Vol. 4, I had produced a few videos for selected singles off the album, and somebody else did one as well. Some of them have become relatively popular. In the meantime, particularly since Sebwax's exclusive album feature on French radio, I've produced several other new videos and there are even more in the pipeline.

This is a good opportunity to feature four of five of them at a time in a series of blog posts, organized by genre, and without specific regard to chronology. This is the hip-hop edition. Let's begin!

1. Michael & Janet Jackson featuring Treach vs. Buffalo Springfield vs. Public Enemy & featuring KRS-One: He Got Scream

This is the most recent video to date, released on April 12, 2015. Like all the others in this series the original audio mashup was produced in 2009, this one a week or two after Michael Jackson's death. The audio blends the acapella from the Naughty By Nature remix of "Scream" (including a rap by Treach) with Buffalo Springfield's seminal sixties folk-rock hit "For What It's Worth," and heavy breakbeat interventions on the refrains sampled from Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise" and "Rebel Without A Pause." I think I may have used P.E.'s Buffalo Springfield-sampling "He Got Game" for the main loop, adding another beat from KRS-One's "You Must Learn" as support on the verses, but as I recall, this was made mostly from scratch. The video of course borrows heavily from the original Jacko/Janet joint, which I didn't want to mess with much, since it was pretty awesome back in 1995, and I think still is.

2. Mobb Deep vs. Wu-Tang Clan vs. Kool & The Gang: Kool Shook C.R.E.A.M.

   

Featuring two of my favorite mid-90s hip-hop groups (Mobb Deep & Wu-Tang Clan) and the jazz-funk grooves of the 70s formation of Kool & The Gang, the mashup itself used strictly vinyl sources and was produced as a throw-back to my early work. This video was produced by Jason Patrick Chavez.

3. Faith No More vs. Queens Of The Stone Age: Epic Wit Chu



Faith No More's cross-over rock-rap from 1989/90 blended with a desert rock ballad from 2007 by Queens Of The Stone Age. Cycling home this evening, the strains of FNM's "Epic" hit me out of an open car window, and there was a much younger person at the wheel. I gave him the thumbs-up and he nodded. This mashup is so simple, yet utterly compelling. I consider it to be one of my best works.

4. Birdman & Lil Wayne vs. Muse featuring Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche: 100 Million Butterflies



This video is another very recent one I made (published on March 29, 2015) with the main vocals supplied by Matthew Bellamy of the English pop/prog-rock group, Muse ("Butterflies and Hurricanes") supported by the instrumental of Birdman's "100 Million Dollars," Lil Wayne's very Dirty South rap from the same tune, and spoken extras by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa.

5. Dead Prez vs. Eastenders: Vino Hip Vino Hop



I've blogged this one before (the original audio blend is actually off Collected Mashups Vol. 3), but I posted this video and remastered audio version for the Sleeper Album. While the audio blends the acapella from the classic "Hip Hop" by Dead Prez with a remix (by Bassface Sascha & Franksen) of German beatmakers, Eastenders, the video is lifted almost entirely from the Dead Prez original.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for the next edition - an electronic music special, or just check out and/or subscribe to my Youtube and/or Vimeo channels to get all my new stuff immediately. Or just check my Twitter or Facebook page to receive the latest news.

Love,
DJ not-I

Collected Mashups Vol. 4b: The Shitcase Cinema Remixes

My musical collaboration with Johnny Shitcase and Professor Bruce of Shitcase Cinema began in 2009. I don't recall the precise circumstances of our initial contact, but I think it had something to do with my search for Youtube footage of Donald Sutherland's notorious eye-roll scene in Virus, the sci-fi-horror flick of 1999, stumbling across a Shitcase Cinema review of the film in the process, and consequently watching a whole bunch of Shitcase. I absolutely love(d) their humorous, do-it-yourself approach to reviewing (mainly) bad movies, which showcased (and still features) John's well-written scripts and thick Yorkshire accent, Professor Bruce's "science" segments and role as comic foil, their silly over-the-top skits often involving a cast of characters such as Caveman Wayne, a heavy dose of Pythonesque absurdity, and (of course) a propensity for creative cursing.

DOWNLOAD (alternate link in "comments").

This led me to contact Johnny Shitcase, and after some friendly back-and-forth messages, I offered (or agreed, I don't remember) to do some mashups of Professor Bruce's already perfect theme song with some soundtrack tunes. Over the course of the next couple years, I did a total of seven short Shitcase Cinema Theme Song mashups/remixes, six of which were featured in various Shitcase reviews. At some point, with the Google takeover of Youtube and its private message system, John going on a long trip overseas, and me having various other things on my plate, our collaboration petered out, so I thought I'd take this occasion to duly celebrate it with this collection. And what better way to introduce uninitiated not-I fans to Shitcase Cinema than with a series of Shitcase videos that feature my little remixes? (See end of post.) DOWNLOAD (alternate link in "comments").

Collected Mashups Vol. 4b: The Shitcase Cinema Remixes is a mini album (only 36 MB) intended for die-hard not-I collectors and Shitcase enthusiasts, which includes the following mini-maxi mix of all the remixes:

DOWNLOAD (alternate link in "comments").

Tracklist:

DJ not-I: Collected Mashups Vol. 4a: The Shitcase Cinema Remixes

1. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Mouth Of Madness Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. John Carpenter and Jim Lang - “In The Mouth Of Madness”

    As featured in “In The Mouth Of Madness - Shitcase Cinema review”)

2. Shitcase Ninja

    Professor Bruce vs. “Shogun: Total War” (computer game soundtrack)

    Spoken samples: A shitload of shitty ninja movies

    As featured in “Ninja Squad - Shitcase Cinema review” (@ 6:42)

3. Shitcase Cinema Theme (L.A. Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. Shirley Walker & John Carpenter - Escape From L.A (Main Title)

    Spoken samples: Johnny Shitcase

    As featured in “Bad 3rd movies - Shitcase Cinema short”

4. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Crookers Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. Crookers - "Aguas de Parco”

    Spoken samples: Johnny Shitcase

    As featured in “Mars Attacks - Shitcase Cinema review”

5. Who Made Shitcase (AC/DC Theme Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. AC/DC - “Who Made Who”

    As featured in “Maximum Overdrive - Shitcase Cinema review”

6. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Commando Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. James Horner - “Commando (Prologue/Main Title)”

7. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Broken Arrow Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. Hans Zimmer - “Broken Arrow theme.”

    Additional beats: A-Trak

    As featured in “Broken Arrow - Shitcase Cinema review”

8. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Mini Remix Megamix)

    Miix of tracks 1-7 with not-I shout-out.

9. Shitcase Cinema Theme (Mouth of Sadness Remix)

    Professor Bruce vs. John Carpenter and Jim Lang - “In The Mouth Of Madness”

    First version.

Produced by DJ not-I @ Mexikotrax, 2009-2011 (except 8, produced in 2014). For promotional use only!

DOWNLOAD (alternate link in "comments").

And now for some Shitcase Cinema (by the way, they have an official page and a very active group on Facebook. And here's my official Facebook page: DJ.not.I).

Love, not-I

1. Crookers Remix (feat. Donald Sutherland's notorious eye-roll scene @ 1:12)

2. Who Made Shitcase (AC/DC Theme Remix) (feat. John on air guitar)



3. Mouth Of Madness Remix




Three more Shitcase Cinema reviews feat. not-I remixes after the jump!

Collected Mashups Vol. 3: The Videos

Here are all the videos for Collected Mashups Volume 3a (Of Love, Hate and Change) and Volumes 3b and 3c (The Shinobi and Enso EPs). Some were made by friends and/or people who liked my work, but I made most of them myself. All of these mashups are available on the albums in the above links or individually on Heartthis.at Enjoy and stay tuned for the next collection in the series as a double album: Collected Mashups Vol. 4! 

Love, DJ not-I


1. Smells Like Futurama (Nirvana vs. Futurama Theme Song)
 


2. Who Do You Love (In The Night)? (Bo Diddley vs. Eagles of Death Metal)
 
 

3. Freaky Undone Hombre (M.I.A. vs. KoRn)



4. Heavy Metal Amour (Jedi Mind Tricks & Ill Bill vs. Rachid Taha)



5. (W)right America (Eminem vs. Optical vs. The Beatles)



Ten more videos after the jump! (Featuring Alicia Keys, Bo Diddley, Cléan, Coldcut, Dead Prez, DJ Vadim, Eastenders, Gwen Stefani, Hexstatic, Jill Scott, Kanye West, M.I.A., Mr. Scruff, Rage Against The Machine, Talib Kweli, and The Go-Gos.)

Collected Mashups Vol. 2: The Videos

Following up on my last post, here are all the extant videos for Collected Mashups Vol. 2a and Vol. 2b (no videos have been produced for Vol. 2c). I made two of these myself, but most were made by people who liked my stuff enough to make fan videos and/or use them as soundtracks to whatever cool things they were doing, and were decent enough to credit them. To me, there is no greater compliment, and I have duly credited these video-makers.

All of the featured mashups are available for free download as part of the albums in the links above or individually via hearthis.at.

Enjoy & Have Fun! Love, DJ not-I

(P.S. My three recommendations are marked with *)

1.* Trans Planet Insomnia (Kraftwerk vs. Faithless vs. Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force) (Video by not-I)


Six more videos after the jump!

Collected Mashups Vol. 1: The Videos

Following the release of volume three of the Collected Mashups series, and with volume four on the way, I thought this might be a good opportunity to post some video retrospectives, starting with the videos for volume one. Many of these were made by me, many were made by others, some of them have been blocked on Youtube in certain countries, and some of them are only available on Vimeo, all of which is duly noted below. 

All of the original audio mashups are downloadable as part of the Collected Mashups Vol. 1 double-album or individually at hearthis.at. Now let's get this party started!

1. Heart-Shaped Sky (Blackalicious vs. Nirvana) (video by GonzoJam)

 
Prom Night Of The Dead (DJ Not-I AMV) from MindlessGonzo Productions on Vimeo.

2. Feel All Apologies (Blackalicious vs. Nirvana) (video by Chrysler76)

 

3. Shimmember Me (Ol' Dirty Bastard vs. Blue Boy) (video by me)

  
   Vimeo version here

Seven more videos after the jump!

Never Call You Bitch Again (Evolution) (video)

This is a video I've just put together as the last promo for Collected Mashups Vol. 1, showcasing an underground classic of mine: Tupac Shakur vs. Cinematic Orchestra featuring Fontella Bass - "Never Call You Bitch Again (Evolution)".

This video was almost finished when the infamous Tupac "hologram" made an appearance at Coachella, but remained on my hard drive for quite a while, perhaps as a sub-conscious protest. Most of the video features images of singer Heidi Vogel, who toured extensively with Cinematic Orchestra, but the original vocals (and audio) are by blues/jazz legend Fontella Bass, who makes a few brief cameos towards the end of the song.

Smells Like Bee Gees (video)

This mashup of the Bee Gees and Nirvana was created over a year ago as part of the ongoing GYBO Weekend Challenge. It was featured on AudioPorn Central and made their 2011 Top 20 of most-popular posts. I've finally made a video for it in memoriam Robin Gibb (1949-2012).

"Smells Like Bee Gees" will be re-released (along with a remastered version) in one of the later volumes of the Collected Mashup series. In the meantime, you can download the original mp3 here.

Unfortunately (but predictably) Warner Music Group blocked the Youtube version, which was up for almost exactly a day. Here's the Vimeo version:


Audio sources: The Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive" (acapella); Nivana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (DJ Schmolli instrumental). Video sources: official videos.

Can I Engel Like That (video)

New promo video #3 for Vol. 1 of the Collected Mashups series. [edit: now available HERE]

Pharrell & Gwen Stefani vs. Rammstein: Can I Engel Like That (2006)

Audio sources:
Pharrell "Can I Have It Like That (feat. Gwen Stefani)" (acapella)
Pharrell "Angel" (acapella)
Rammstein "Engel"

Video sources: official videos



Vimeo version:

Shimmember Me (video)

2012 promo video #2 for the imminent release of MashAnthology (Collected Mashups Vol. 1) of the forthcoming collector's series [edit: now available HERE].

Ol' Dirty Bastard vs. Blue Boy: Remember Me (2005)

DJ not-I: Shimmember Me (Ol' Dirty Bastard vs. Blue Boy) from DJ not-I on Vimeo.

Audio sources:
Ol' Dirty Bastard "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" (Dog Town Remix & Soul Society Remix acapellas & instrumentals).
Blue Boy "Remember Me".
Rant: ODB at the 1998 Grammy's.
Shout-outs: not-I. Original track produced in 2005. Redux produced in 2011.

Video sources:
"Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and "Remember Me" official videos.
O.D.B. MTV interview.

Special Thanks to The Rub.

In The Ghetto Tonight (video)

2012 promo video for the imminent release of MashAnthology (Collected Mashups 2004-2006), volume one of the forthcoming collector's series [edit: now available HERE]

Eric B. & Rakim vs. Phil Collins: In The Ghetto Tonight (2006)

DJ not-I: In The Ghetto Tonight (Eric B. & Rakim vs. Phil Collins) from DJ not-I on Vimeo.
Audio sources: Eric B. & Rakim: "In The Ghetto" (drumapella); Phil Collins: "In The Air Tonight" (Extended Version & '88 Remix)
Video sources: Official videos; Phil Collins (live at Knebworth); Eric B. & Rakim (live at the Apollo)