House Rules ft DJ Dirty Cursive

Accra’s party scene is one of the most explosive in west Africa. From club parties and BBQ’s, day parties have entered the scene and Accra Premium and their Day Party is taking over. DJ Dirty Cursive, the Day Party’s resident DJ, creates this fire three part mix for House Rules, and shares his first memories of music and DJ-ing.

 

Where are you right now? Describe your surrounds. What do you see? What do you hear? What can you smell?

I’m in: My bedroom.

Surrounded by: a minimalist mess

I see : Microsoft word,  my ashtray, my phone

I hear : A/C mixed with I got your back by Flipmode Squad

I smell : a spliff

 

 What do you imagine people doing as they listen to this mix

Getting sucked in and zoning out. They could be on a car ride, at a pregame or wherever. Once you put this on and let it ride; you end up vibing with it.  By the time you hear the final fade you’re stuck and want more.

 

 If this mix were a meal, what meal would it be

It’d be a three course heart attack lmao. Each one represents a block in my mix.

The first course would be some wings & fries

The second course would be Waakye

The third would be late night after the club pizza

 

 What is your first DJ memory? Where did you first DJ?

I’d say growing up to hot 97 and Funkmaster Flex when I was 5. I remember my mom had one of his 60 Mins of funk tapes and that’s when I first saw a DJ set up.

My first gig was at 17 at Rockstones in Accra GH. Reggie Rockstone let me play a small set for D Black’s mixtape release party. I burnt 2 cd’s to play on this large ass console they had. I had my set written down song by song. After waiting and arguing with other DJ’s for 3 hours I started playing. I remember Diddy-Dirty Money’s song “Angels” had just dropped and D Black kept asking for me to repeat it. Once I was done everybody started dapping and showing extra love. I got offered mad shots & j’s that night lol.

 

You get to go back in time and be a DJ for one 90s – early 2000s musician, who would it be?

Damn that’s hard. I’d have to say Busta Rhymes in 98 because of his energy.

 

Describe your life with three songs

That’s even harder. I couldn’t narrow my whole life into 3 songs. I could choose 3 that shaped my life as a listener

Hate Me Now Nas (98-00 were my favourite years of rap that I lived. My mom bought Nas’s I Am album because we used to trip off Hate Me Now. I always loved dramatic beats with strings or weird ass synths. When I first heard this I was stuck. The megaphone effect on Puff’s adlibs heavily influenced my sound. It’s the reason why I love distorted vocals on songs. I took violin lessons for a bit because of this track lol.)

Never Change Jay-Z (This is one of those songs that will never hit me the way it did when I first heard it. I got a CD player & The Blueprint album as a gift. I’d been a huge jay fan for a minute so I figured I knew what I was getting into. When I first heard this beat it tripped me out.  Something about the sample hit my core and I was hooked.  I was 9 trying to decipher his lyrics lol. I was too young to really grasp rhymes so they became important to me after I heard this)

Victory Puff Daddy (I was 6 riding down the down 233^rd& Broadway in the Bronx when I first heard this. The strings, production and everything hit me the same way Hate me now did. I can’t even put into words for real what this track means to me. All I remember was the feeling. It felt grand & haunting. I always try to find that with each song I hear.)

 

Name 2 musicians people should look out for 

There’s too many to name and too many I love. To answer I’d say Copta & Alex Wondergem. Copta hands down is the nastiest MC to me in GH. Alex Wondergem pushes the boundary to where GH music can go. I could go on for both but I’ll leave it here.

 

 You get in a car with B.I.G. and he tells you to play the hottest hip hop song right now, what are you playing?

Sofa By Marc Andre.

 

 How do you think DJs can benefit from this sudden interest in African music?

It adds to their palette. African culture & music is the wave now. You can see it from the tempo in songs out now or the fashion. From Amsterdam to Brooklyn you’re bound to hear someone blasting Afrobeats. It’s naturally taking over here so DJ’s could benefit off adding some Afrobeats just like they would a euro house or edm track.

 

Name 3 things every DJ needs.

You need a USB Cable, Laptop Charger & Speaker cords of any kind. You’ll need one if things go left at a gig.

 

TRACKLIST 

(Block 1)

Feels So Good (A$AP Mob)

Pegasus (Rae Sremmurd)

Sauce It Up (Lil Uzi Vert)

Sweatbox (The III aka DirtyCursive)

Butterfly Effect (Travis $cott)

 

(Block 2)

Rock Ya Body (Burna Boy)

Calling (Maleek Berry)

My Wave (Juls Ft Sona & Odunsi The Engine)

Naughty Ride (Wizkid Ft Major Lazer)

Pere (Davido Ft Rae Sreemurd & Young Thug)

 

(Block 3)

A Lie (French Montana ft The Weeknd)

What You Gon Do(Rick Ross Ft Diddy & Notorious BIG)

East Coast Remix (A$AP Ferg Ft Busta Rhymes, Dave East, Rick Ross A$AP Rocky & Snoop Dogg)

Pills $ Automobiles(Chris Brown Ft A Boogie Kodak Black & Yo Gotti)

AIR (Reprise) (The III aka DirtyCur$ive)

 

Experience DJ Dirty Cursive