On this coming Sunday afternoon, there's an eleven-hour party happening at a dive bar on U Street in Washington, DC. However, in calling the special Tropixxx party co-headlined by Baltimore club legend Blaqstarr (with a special guest who may know a bit about club music, too), Gent and Jawns' Billy the Gent, Moving Castle clique affiliate Manila Killa, other known indie/underground entities Jon Kwest, Des McMahon, rising in renown DJ/producer Mista Selecta and a slew of regular DC area party rockers including 2012 DC Red Bull Threestyle competition champion Spinser Tracy "just another party" is being incredibly disrespectful to one of the most important legacies in all of underground-to-mainstream EDM. No, this isn't just another moombahton story, it's a story about bass music of all types, a culture it promotes, and the likely sound and feel of the future of electronic music culture.
"It got so bad that Dave [Nada] had to buy his own tequila for the 'Dos Amigos' drink special," recalls Marvin Lopez, aka The Clown Prince, who alongside Mathias Brohm (DJ Mathias) are the resident DJs and co-promoters of Tropixxx which started four summers ago as "Moombahton Mondays," the infamous party at Velvet Lounge where alongside downing shots of tequila and inexpensive beer, the aforementioned Nada took ten weeks to expand the size and scope of moombahton from an accidental discovery, to an internet-friendly hashtag-genre to a communal sound with tremendous global viral potential.
This party is a "happy hour," and understandably so. When asking Mathias about the last mega-massive Tropixxx (thrown when the party was overseen by Billy the Gent and Cam Jus - now known as Weii) thrown in December 2012 featuring GTA's JWLS, Dirty South Joe, Nacey, Steve Starks, and others, "I don't remember a lot of the night, but I do remember getting up the next day, going to work in the clothes I wore the night before, and getting written up at work for what I was wearing." The party's vibe can be best understood in viewing the video for Tittsworth and Alvin Risk's indie-legendary moombahton track "Pendejas." While neither Lopez nor Brohm was present for the video shoot, there were cans of Natty Boh beer sprayed on the crowd, three crowd-surfing DJs (Tittsworth, Alvin Risk and Billy the Gent) and easily over 150 people all crammed, sweaty and suggestively gyrating on each other in a room that can comfortably fit a crowd half of that size.
Amazing, ridiculous, and once-in-a-lifetime moments have been a part of the Tropixxx experience since the Moombahton Mondays era when, as Mathias says, "(moombahton staple) DJ Sabo was just this house DJ from New York City in a wifebeater and fedora who was playing these deep vibes." Or, there was the time that Doc Adam had just released his Drop the Lime "Sex Sax" and East Flatbush Project's "Tried by 12" moombahton blend and a saxophonist randomly entered the club and started playing live when Nada played it during a set. There was also that less-entertaining night in front of a smaller crowd at Tropixx when Willy Joy dropped the bass and a speaker caught on fire, too (Velvet's management has since installed a sound system equipped to handle the sound requirements of moombahton and other progressive, bass friendly sounds).
Velvet's location between the 9:30 Club and U Street Music Hall makes it a terrific space to be a DJ in the economically and socially revitalizing Nation's Capital. "There's so many great up and coming DJs in DC right now, and so many of them actually start out at [Velvet Lounge]. (Bar owner) Abdul [Kayoumy] will give you a Monday or Tuesday night to learn and grow, and you can actually take it wherever you want from there." For Moombahton Mondays and Tropixxx residents and guest DJs, "wherever you want" has oftentimes included ending up in the booth as a featured guest at Nadastrom and Sabo's vaunted Moombahton Massive monthly, a tradition continued by The Clown Prince and Mathias for August 13th's 38th edition of the party at U Street Music Hall.
"It was great," both Brohm and Lopez say, Lopez recalling being in the booth and playing a classic Dave Nada Baltimore club edit and Nada, surprised, whispering to Lopez, "damn, my kicks sounded tight on this one." It's the small moments like these that spark large-scale evolution. Of course, moombahton ringleader Nada was a one-time resident at Baltimore's now defunct TaxLo party, an event that also featured then small moments like the development of everyone from Diplo and M.I.A. As a TaxLo attendee, The Clown Prijce "would come [to the party] all of the way from Virginia," and Mathias–while not a TaxLo regular–had his DJ career kickstarted by TaxLo's other local-to-DC resident, Stereo Faith. The similarities between both of these forward-thinking indie dance parties in less-than-optimal spaces is intriguing, and insofar as doing everything from booking club music heavyweights Mighty Mark and TT the Artist, to even featuring DJs playing sets including ambient bass and not-so dance friendly sounds, the future bears a deep resemblance to a very familiar past.
However, for all of this talk of history, Labor Day is all about the future. Velvet Lounge opens to a back patio now, a space that was used for a similar event last July for Moombahton Massive Day, an event that featured no less than 40 well-respected global bass producers visiting Velvet Lounge. As well, there are plans to eventually have DJs playing more frequently in the smaller upstairs rock and roll venue, too. But on Labor Day, at this dive bar that's birthed a culture, said culture's next generation joins with those famous from its past for what should be something seemingly commonplace, but given history and its expectation, truly special.
If needing a soundtrack for this next-level event, Mathias and The Clown Prince have you covered there, too. Enjoy!
Tracklist:
Don Omar - Dale Don Dale
Tinashe & Jubilee - 2 ON (JMX Riddem / Four Color Zack)
TI. - Ain’t About The Money feat. Young Thug
Happy Colors - Maldita Puta (LocoMotive Remix)
Cake Eater - Voodoo
Sant - Tamagotchi feat. Dai Burger
Jillionaire - Fresh (ETC!ETC! Remix)
Schoolboy Q - Man Of The Year
Rae Sremmurd - No Flex Zone feat. Nicki Minaj
Nacey - I Own It feat. Angel Haze
Blaqstarr - Feel It In The Air
Yung Lean - Gatorade (Manilla Killa feat Mark Johns Flip)
Anna Lunoe - B.D.D.
Swick - Total 90
Leftside - Money Biznizz (Wiwek Remix)
Obeyah - Helicopter Riddim
Jon Kwest - Hells Bells
Shy Glizzy - So Awesome
Juicy J - Stop iT
Jesse Slayter - Thick (Happy Colors & G-Buck Remix)
Nadus - Nxwxrk (RL Grime Edit)
Trippy Turtle - Trippy’s Theme
Just A Gent - Stars Beyond Stars (Vindata Edit)
Cash Out - She Twerkin’
Danny Brown - Smokin & Drinkin (DJ Sliink Remix)
Chief Keef - 3Hunna (Gent & Jawns Remix)
Baauer - Soulja
