Positive Vibes at Sept JUJUMOJA

Members of Umoja Hi-FI and Soul Children

The Umoja Hi-Fi and Soul Children DJ crews met for the third time at Umoja’s monthly Friday event Stereo Hi-Fi. Owing to both group’s longevity and friendship within the LA music scene, this meet up has now been solidified as a quarterly event re-dubbed JUJUMOJA.

The September session saw the respective DJ collectives showcasing their deep record crates to full effect. Here’s a run down of the tunes and crowd reaction.

The Soul Children’s Alex a.k.a. MCDJ1ONE was first up to bat on the turntables. His all vinyl set the mood with some soulful crackle and pops of Quiet Storm soul classics and reggae gold.

Next was Umoja Hi-Fi's very own Monalisa who dropped a delicious neo-soul set with tunes from Musiq Soulchild, Zhane and Koffee Brown. JUJU resident DJ Sacred was up next and displayed his eclectic tastes in fine fashion jumping from soul to banging instrumentals and otherworldly sounds.

Destroyer came on after Sacred with some classic Gang Starr to kick of his set. Also in his mix was some potent Afrobeat and Latin dance track; the set then morphed into some modern funk, disco and deep house. The room started to get a lil’ busy and a dance floor was beginning to form.

Soul Children's Al Jackson slowed it down to some banging head nodding hip-hop and soul. Slowing the rhtyhm didn't distract the floor but instead made it more active, with some crowd-pleasing classics and new joints.

Umoja heavyweight Deejay Daz scanned his righteous laptop and put down a set of dance classics like Roy Ayers’ "Running Away" and NY SOho’s “Hot Music,” which set the floor off into a blissful state. Rounded it out with some deep sounds that had the floor bubbling nicely.

The Soul Children’s DJ Rome always comes thru with his trademark luggage bag of vinyl and he didn't disappoint. Hip-hop bangers and dancehall vibes crushing the sound and setting the stage up nicely for Culture D who this time left the Serato at home and brought out a box of 12"'s that was nothing but pure fire raga that kept people bouncing and jumping.

DJ Jun quietly got his record bag in order and like a true stealth warrior he appeared out of nowhere to basically channel the spirit of Ron Hardy, Larry Levan and Walter Gibbons Jr. with long ride mixes and morphing blends that had both crews nodding their heads in appreciation.

With about 15 minutes to spare both crews teamed up on a “dub fi dub” or 1-for-1 tune selection to close out the night. As the last song closed out both crews were met with a rapturous applause and was thanked by the remaining dancers.

JUJUMOJA takes place quarterly at Stereo Hi-Fi, and you can catch Stereo Hi-Fi’s eclectic guests and riddims from the Umoja crew every first Friday of the month.