Fetty Wap & Floyd “Money” Mayweather Shine at LIV on Sunday

Four years in Miami and KFT still hadn’t made an appearance at LIV for their notorious Sunday hip-hop festivities. LIV Sunday has become iconic for rap performances and lyrical shout-outs from Ace Hood, Fabolous, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, and Rick Ross just to name a few. Fetty Wap and the Remy Boyz took South Beach by storm this weekend. Unless you’ve been residing under a rock for the last year, Fetty Wap’s #1 hit single, “Trap Queen” has become an anthem that’s expected to be heard during a night out.I’ve seen everyone from Alesso to Zedd at LIV and never saw the hallowed party grounds as packed as Sunday evening. The lobby was buzzing with everyone jockeying towards the front of the line. With all the hype surrounding Fetty’s appearance, he spent most of the night largely overshadowed by a member in the audience. Undefeated boxing champion, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, brought The Money Team and many friends out to LIV for the celebration of his recent victory over Manny Pacquaio. Along with bottles and models, Floyd enjoyed a 90-pound, $15,000 cake was that contained over 10,000 Swarovski crystals. While that may sound like quite a hefty sum of cash, what’s a night out with the team when the Pacquaio bout added an astonishing $200 million to Floyd’s bankroll.

Enough about the highest paid athlete in the world drawing attention, it was Fetty Wap’s debut night at LIV and he stole the show. DJ Stevie J was on fire all night mixing and mashing the hottest rap tunes of late, setting the perfect stage for Fetty. Tracks like “Flicka Da Wrist,” “I Don’t F**k With You,” “Blessings,” “Posed To Be,” and “Clique” transformed LIV to the verge of combustion. Fetty Wap sure took his time prepping before heading to the booth around 3am to the beat of “My Way.” The soulful intro built up till Fetty Wap and the Remy Boyz went IN over the beat. “My Way” made it’s way to October’s Very Own and Drizzy hopped on the official remix months later.

Fetty Wap rapped his way through the energetic, fast-paced beats of “How We Do Thangs” and “Tim Duncan” before the getting to the track everyone was (not so patiently) waiting for. The instant “Trap Queen” started blaring through LIV’s incredible sound system, the club popped off. From the front to the back, the dance floor to the ceiling, echoes of “Remy Boyz,” “1738,” and “Hey, What’s Up, Hello” roared from the crowd. When the chorus hit, a festival-like atmosphere ensued with countless voices providing back up vocals to Fetty. The crowd could have listened to Fetty Wap rap “Trap Queen” over and over but much to their dismay, Fetty relinquished the stage back to Stevie J for the remainder of the night.

After experiencing my first LIV Sunday, it’s safe to say I’ll be back in the very, very near future. The atmosphere was out of control and Fetty was everything we hoped for…and much more.

*Thanks as always to Jona Araujo for making it possible for us to come out to these shows and review them. 

**Photo credit to World RedEye Photography. Visit the entire Fetty Wap album here. 

Interview: Joel Fletcher @ Lavo NYC

Not too long ago we got the chance to catch up with Joel Fletcher in NYC when he was playing at Lavo. I must say from the beginning I had high expectations from everything I’ve heard about the venue and they were exceeded beyond my wildest dreams. The highlight of the night was Joel dropping his remix of ‘Latch’ by Disclosure, the drop is insane! It’s getting played by some of the top EDM DJ’s in the scene. There’s a bit of drama that went on with the release of this track– Joel talks about it in our interview below take a look. He also reveals a completed collab with one of our favorite guys in the scene to be released in the future (no release date). Read through our kick ass interview with Joel to find out who that artist collab is with and what Joel is all about!

What are your thoughts towards the Melbourne/Aussie scene in EDM music right now?

It’s really humbling its getting played by a lot of the bigger guys and they are even starting to make it themselves. To see a sound that just started in such a small town, really small scene, and its crazy.

How do you think the ‘Melbourne Bounce’ sound is going to integrate in the US, if at all?

R3hab and Laidback Luke are really starting to embrace it.  If they are starting to do it then can’t everyone else? It’s such a fun sound and its very unique. I’ve gone through the Beatport charts and 80% are that big kick drum type sound its time for a change I say.

Who do you think is the coolest artist you’ve hung out with thus far?

Martin Garrix– for sure. He’s a legend mate. To have the success he’s had at the moment, to be as humble as he is. He’s such a nice dude.

Who are your biggest influences up to this point in your career?

Musically– Deorro for sure. I’ve also always liked the way Laidback Luke goes about things. He interacts with his fans, replies to everyone. He’s a down to earth dude and I really like that. I don’t see a lot artists do what he does.

Do you have any collaboration in the pipeline right now waiting to be released?

Yes, I just did a collab with Chuckie which I’m really looking forward to, I don’t know when it will come out though. Another one, with Will Sparks within the next two months.

I had a what was meant to be an official remix through Interscope Records with Disclosure for Latch but it turned to shit, all the big EDM guys are getting behind it so its really a shame. I don’t know what happened, the manager didn’t think it was ‘the right kind of vibe’ which is weird because it’s a remix you know. It’s weird man, I’ve got such traction off that track but it’s not getting signed.

What can we expect to hear in your set tonight…or in your live sets in the future?

Just finished up a new track in LA this week, I’ll be dropping that. All my new stuff in general. I don’t really play my new stuff out recently cause I’m a bit nervous about how stuff gets leaked these days people record your set and leak your stuff out but there won’t be any recordings tonight.

Do you have a specific way going about creating a track? Some sort of studio routine or plan?

I always start with a melody and a break down, I never start with a drop. But its funny when I was writing other genres, a few years ago I would always start with a drop.

Ableton or Logic Pro?

Ableton. Never touched Logic. I started on Fruity Loops then started using Ableton and I love it.

What is a future show you’re looking forward to the most?

Tomorrowland would be the dream that’s the biggest festival. I’d really like to play there in the future. In Australia I have the Stereo Sonic tour so I’m really excited for that one, it’s the biggest festival in Australia.

What ‘s your favorite time of year back home?

Summer. The winter there is crap it’s always raining. I love to chill and go to the beach with my mates or kick it by the pool with some beers. Just hang out with my friends because when you tour you don’t get as much time back home.

How have you been able to balance home and tour thus far?

This is my first full on tour. It’s been challenging at times. It kinda shapes you up to see if you really want to do this it’s tough some people would be like it’s not for me after being away from home for three months. I love it. I’ve had my ups and downs but it’s been amazing!

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Tommy Trash ‘Inspired’ Album + Launch Party @ Ministry of Sound Review

When the word got out that Tommy Trash would be releasing a two-disc compilation album, rumors and hype instantly started building in the EDM community. I’ve heard countless compilation albums in the past few years, but none have been executed or tell the story as well as Inspired. The 29-track album is the first of Ministry of Sounds album series, and stems from Tommy’s musical  inspirations, ionic dance anthems, and exclusive unreleased tracks.  The album is separated by disc where his influences of the past (Disc-1) meet the present and future of dance music. The first disc features songs that had impacts on the Aussie when was coming up, including tracks by Deadmau5, Junior Jack, Chicken Lips, Steve Angello and more. Disc two contains exclusive edits, bootlegs, and mashups from Tommy, in addition to originals from Armand Van Helden, Pryda, and of course his collaboration with Seb Ingrosso and John Martin, “Reload.” As much as I can say about this album, nothing will do it justice till you grab a pair of headphones and spend a couple hours experiencing the masterful selection of tracks and progression of time that is Inspired. Below is short interview where Tommy takes a trip down memory lane and explains the significance of the tracks and why they made the album.

Buy Inspired on iTunes

 

When we managed to get our hands on an early copy of Inspired, upon the first listen I knew it was truly special. There’s no feeling quite like the anticipation and excitement of going to a show right after an artist has released new material. Having followed Tommy Trash for a long time and hearing Inspire, it was awesome to know that he had an incredible night in store for each and every attendee at Ministry of Sound last Saturday night. Patrick Hagenaar and John Dählback were also on the ticket that evening which would have made for an eventful night had Tommy Trash not stole the show between their sets. Mr. Hagenaar has been stealing hearts of party-goers at Ministry of Sound for years, but it only took one set back in January for me to realize why. Last Saturday he released his Colour Code Podcast 002 , which definitely was my mix of the week. Patrick threw down a hell of an opening set that transformed a filing in crowd to a jam-packed frenzy by the time Tommy Trash took over. The highlight of the night was Tommy Trash’s farewell bid of “Reload” before the swede hit the decks at 4am. Nikky and I had seen John Dählback open for Nervo and Steve Aoki in Miami a couple years back and have been avid followers since. Two years later he didn’t disappoint our high expectations and mixed a set full of sing-alongs that had us dancing till our post sunset departure. Trance legend, Dash Berlin will be making his way to Ministry next Saturday, so if you’re in London and didn’t have plans, you do now! A special thanks to Justin at Rephlektor Inkorporated, who made the show and reviews possible.

Fedde Le Grand, dBerrie, Roul and Doors @ Ministry of Sound

I think it’s pretty evident by now that I live at the Ministry of Sound. This past weekend Mike and I had the pleasure of witnessing the talents of Roul and Doors, dBerrie, and Fedde Le Grand. In the past year I’ve seen Fedde twice, once at Ultra Music Fest 2013 and the other at Pacha NYC. Both times were extremely memorable, but from past experiences, it seems that MOS just brings out the best in people. This was going to be legendary.

By the time we arrived, the Dutch duo was already throwing down heater upon heater…a setlist very unusual for an opening set. This is the first we’d heard from these guys, but needless to say we were impressed with their notable tunes “Follow the Sound,” “Sir Ali,” and “Melody and Harmony.” They even chucked out “Antidote” and Cazzette’s “Sending My Love” remix. Of course they managed to sprinkle in a bit of that 120bpm which tends to keep people moving and on their toes. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Roul and Doors are in contention with Third Party (opened for Danny Avila) for the best opening act we’ve seen at in quite some time.

Two in the morning and crowd was primed for their fellow Dutchman. Fedde emerged alongside an exquisite array of lights and a barrage from the smoke cannons. Hands raised high, he greeted us with A-Trak’s “Heads Will Roll” and the rest was history: if BARE’s trap take of “Under Control,” Prydz’s “Everyday,” Showtek’s “We Like To Party,” and Zedd’s “Alive” doesn’t make people scream their hearts out, then I give up. The highlight of his 3+ hour set for me was definitely a seamless combination of John Martin’s two vocal masterpieces “Reload” and “Save the World.”

As if the crowd hadn’t had enough, dBerrie took over the reigns and opened with Audien’s “Pompeii” remix. Those weary attendees who were filing out of the main room did a complete 180 and began dancing their way back onto the floor. Nobody wanted to miss this. The pleasers didn’t stop there; the NY producer’s song selection was flawless. The speakers unloaded songs such as twoloud’s “Red Lights” remix, Cedric’s “Molly,” and “B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe.” Jumping around genres like a rabbit on Adderal, dBerrie played a festival-esque set…I was riveted.

Just another day at the office, as I like to say. Enter when it’d dark, leave when it’s light. Success.