Chali 2Na (Jurassic 5) tonite with full live band

My operatives in the field have sent through this hot gig, but its happening tonight, no time to muck around, get down to iticket and get in before its sold out!

Thursday 22nd October /// With support from Home Brew (Live), DJCXL & DJ Substance

Chali2Na - MC. Musician. Actor. Painter. Renaissance Man.

Chali 2na at Fu bar tonight

Chali2Na has done it all. From his days growing up on the hardscrabble streets of Chicago's south side, to his subsequent explosion onto Los Angeles' burgeoning hip-hop scene, to his tenure as MC for seminal hip-hop group Jurassic 5, Chali epitomizes the portrait of a 21st century artist.

To be sure, with his unmistakable, beloved baritone, Chali has firmly established himself as one of the most distinctive, charismatic personalities not just in hip-hop, but music in general. Only a select few can say they've rocked microphones in front of thousands at a sold-out arena in Tokyo with Jurassic 5, spit rhymes at Lollapalooza, painted professional caliber oil color paintings in their California home and lent their distinctive bass-heavy voice, to such mega-brands as Coca Cola and Sega Dreamcast.

Now, buoyed by the wide spectrum of socio-cultural and geographical influences that have shaped himóhip-hop's Renaissance man is poised to release his first solo album Fish Outta Water in spring of 2009.

Indeed, this deeply personal body of work reveals a side of the long time Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli front man that his fans have never seen, a story from start to finish of his life, loves, triumphs and let downs, weaving in a powerful selection of beats from the likes of Scott Storch and Jake 1 and memorable appearances from Damian 'Jr. Gong' and Stephen Marley, Anthony Hamilton, Beanie Man and others. "I wanted this album to expose who I am as an artist. The majority of people know me from Jurassic 5 and Ozo, but I felt like nobody knew me as an artist," Chali says. "I want to show you all facets of who I am. Man. Husband. Brother. Father. Son. Painter."

Kirsten Morrell band debut live gigs this weekend

This Friday and Saturday (9th and 10th Oct) are the first gigs with one of my new bands - Kirsten Morrell. (My other new live band is called 'Easy' - more on that later). Kirsten is/was the lead singer from Golden Horse and has also done guest vocals on Andy Lovegrove's totally awesome album "I'm Just A Man"! Anyhow, back to Kirsten, her new album is going to be called Ultraviolet (which is a kick-ass album title) and the first single 'Cherry Coloured Dreams' has been released to iTunes and on YouTube. So get down to the Wine Cellar on Friday or Leigh Sawmill on Saturday, get yours tickets on utr.

Free Stuff: Three double-pass giveaways to the Leigh Sawmill gig this sat - so if you'd like a pair of those please just email back and I'll pick some winners. Congrats to Chrissie from Wellington for winning the 'one million dollars' T Shirt.

DAM NATIVE GIG ANNOUNCED!: Yup, this one in November will have its own blog post shortly once the flyer is designed and so forth! But it will be a banger.