Weekend parties celebrate musical diversity, graffiti art

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Juju headlines tonight's Broken Beats event at Nick's Fishmarket. Broken Beats 10 p.m. today Nick's Fishmarket $10 955-6333 Slick 10 p.m. today Studio 1 $7 550-8701 10 p.m. Saturday The Goodness, Diamond Head Grill, The W Honolulu $10 922-3734 Also: Live demonstrations at Island Snow Ala Moana Center, 5 p.m., Saturday; free.

Tonight's Broken Beats party at Nick's Fishmarket from promoters Alien IQ will feature a mixed-genre lineup of Honolulu DJs and lyricists headlined by San Francisco-based drum-n-bass head Juju. The Alien IQ collective has done much in the past year to pump up the local club scene with some much-needed musical diversity. Jungle, ragga, breaks, abstract hip-hop, drum-n-bass, and interactive mixing and scratching are just a few aural and visual movements Alien IQ has showcased at its events.

Since gaining his first drum-n-bass residency in 1994, Juju has traveled the world, spreading the sped-up garage offshoot's gospel in locales as far-flung as Hong Kong, Venezuela and England. Closer to his Golden State base, Juju still hosts one of San Francisco's most respected and pioneering drum-n-bass weeklies, Phuturo (also the name of his label), and is a busy recording artist and producer.

Broken Beats will also feature DJ sets by Matt Ratt, Steddie, Seeko and Lava, and lyricist performances from Zero Kelvin, Staplemouth, Rise Up and others.

Less information was available about a couple of digital slide shows and art exhibitions hosted by Hawai'i-raised, now Los Angeles-based, graffiti artist Slick at Studio 1 tonight, and at The W Honolulu's The Goodness weekly on Saturday.

Influenced by the art and production design of Japanese action-hero television programs such as "Kikaida" and "Kamen Rider" during his 1970s childhood, among other things, Slick began gaining serious notoriety on the SoCal aerosol (that is, tagging) scene after moving to L.A. in 1987. These days, however, Slick's artistic talents have drifted toward the more law-abiding, with commissions from Stussy and X-Large for murals and logo design work, and sales of individual works.

DJ sets will accompany Slick's Studio 1 and W exhibitions, and the artist will do a live demonstration of his Krylon skills at Island Snow's Ala Moana Center store Saturday at 5 p.m.

Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.