Heatwolves asks the question again - this time with ex-LA and now Shanghai resident DJ Caution before he plays the Love Bang #8 hip-hop special at DADA.
DJ Caution moved to Shanghai from LA last year, after the collapse of the financial industry. Hes been DJing for fifteen years, and grew up in the era where vinyl was king and DJs could only play at clubs if they could get their hands on the right records.
I met Caution at Lawsons last Sunday, after he DJed/drank for eight hours at El Patio. We did the interview in my living room, where the discussion ranged from Chinese TV to technology to the question of why DJs in Shanghai dont get on the microphone. Hes playing from 10:00PM midnight at Dada, along with China DMC Champion hBd, MC One Consciousness, and Heatwolves the Overlord. Check out all the info on the events pages here
Caution: Oh yo, where'd you get the bagels man?
Heatwolves: Cityshop, like 12rmb
Caution: Oh damn, they're pretty firm...I've gotten some bagels here in China and they're not like bagels. They're like bread with a hole in them. Fuckin let me down man.
Heatwolves: In Shanghai?
Yeah man. One of those 85s or whatever. Like "oh ill! bagels!" but oh, fuck it's bread
Heatwolves: You want a bagel?
I'm good man, I just came back from Family Mart. Got back to the crib like fuck I gotta go to Family Mart.
Heatwolves: What's your favorite Family Mart Snack?
Family mart snack dude...I really like that Tofu with that green chilli. They got a pepperoncini in there. It's like chewing a tire but it's pretty tasty. Family Mart's the shit man.
Heatwolves: So you just finished DJing at El Patio?
Yeah man. It's pretty chillit's like...yeah, fuck, it's chill. [Caution is pretty drunk at this point]
Heatwolves: What's that like being a resident brunch DJ??
For the most part everyone's just chillin. It's more like I'm going to a restaurant to eat brunch. But yo, there's girls there.
Heatwolves: So it's a patio?
Outside is a patio. Umm it's like half in half out. You know, just the tip.
Heatwolves: Haha just the tip - you can't get pregnant if it's just the tip. We were trying to make a track about that.
(Caution gets a text message)
(yelling, referring to text message) How you know me...Aww man what the fuck man.."ETA?" I told you mofucka 10:30 god damn (starts speaking Spanish)
Heatwolves: You speak Spanish? What's your background?
Haha Im speaking Mexican. I'm Filipino but no one can ever figure that out. People always get it fucked up like "yo you're..."
Heatwolves: Racially ambiguous?
Haha yeah man I'm universal. People think I'm Samoan, Hawaiian...or like, half black half Japanese. I got that one time like 'what the fuck? half black half Japanese? Ya'll mofuckers be smokin some shit.' And then here in Shanghai, a lot of Chinese people think I'm Chinese. Actually I was talking to a Chinese girl a while ago and she's like you look Burmanese or Burmasian or some shit and I don't know what those mofuckers look like. So that's my ethnic background but I'm just an American dude. Like the guy on the couch from that movie.
Heatwolves: True Romance?
True Romance!? Holy shit...naw man...Half Baked. Shit are we gonna do the interview?
Heatwolves: yeah man, weve been recording for like twelve minutes.
Oh, shit! Yeah I've been drinking since like twelve. Ok I'll be serious.
Heatwolves: No no, just keep doin what you're doing. This is great; half black half Japanese
Yeah shits crazy, like I only know one Japanese person, and I don't even look like them. Like I get the black part because of the way I dress and maybe the way I talk. But it's funny though, you know, Chinese people will try to be white, and then you got Japanese people going to tanning beds. They got lowriders over there; they're even trying to look Mexican. I saw this lowrider magazine once with all these super tan Japanese people. There's a lot of Mexican people in LA. Coming from around the block, I used to kick it with them. Mexicans thought I was their own people man.
Heatwolves: So how did you end up in Shanghai? You were DJing full time in LA?
Yeah man I had a day job too, selling subprime mortgages and shit but at night Im DJ Caution. DJing took me here. They flew me out from LA to DJ at a place in Hangzhou. And umm...that place was a shithole and I said 'fuck you I'm out of here.'
Heatwolves: No shit, they flew you out here to be a resident DJ?
Yeah and they were treating me like shit so I was like 'fuck you, your business is gonna go under.'
Heatwolves: What was the name of the place?
Medusa. And I said ok this is dope. Im gonna Explore China. I went to some places like Wuhan, Tianjin, Xiamen, some other cities, and then landed in Shanghai. I didn't really know anything about China but Shanghai seemed more like the place for me...you know, people speak English out here.
Heatwolves: Yeah man I just heard your Chinese at the convenience store.
Haha yeah man, they're all laughing at me. But it's like, whatever. It's fun. Every single day in China is a new adventure for me. Every fucking day I run into a problem I have to solve. Like walking down the street. I'm not used to the elderly lady with fifty bags of fucking vegetables coming at me, on my side. China's like "one people" and that's cool, but stay on your side. It's like a DJ playing a song and he turns off the wrong fucking record. You fucked up my flow. I was enjoying this.
Heatwolves: Haha I've done that shit before.
Me too but now I've got my safety precautions. But the cool thing is, if you're a DJ who gets on the microphone, you can cover that shit up easy like "yo yo check it out...oh fuck my bad..REMIX!" But a lot of DJs don't get on the mic anymore...
Heatwolves: Yeah what's up with that?
It's a lost art man. I don't know what it is, if people are scared or what. I really don't fucking know. Since I've been in Shanghai I've never really heard a DJ get on the mic. Like what the fuck, you don't big up yourself, see how people are doing, holler at girls on the mic? Like what the fuck, shit is fucking wack. I don't know if people are concentrating on their shit or because they play techno. I come from the hood man...
Heatwolves: The only DJ I know in Shanghai who really gets on the mic is Trix.
Caution: Ohhhhh word, yeah I haven't met him yet. Yo! So I was at the market today, you know that jam out in Pudong Science and Tech museum, trying to get some hats. I went to Lids man, what the fuck is that...
Listen to our DJ Trix mix here :
For more exclusive mixes go to our mix series page here
Heatwolves: Yeah it's all sparkly NY Yankees hats there
Yeah like is everyone in China from fucking New York? So anyway we go to this electronics shop or whatever and I'm like "yo you got the iPhone 5?" and this motherfucker is like "YAHHHH! WE HAVE. iPHONE 5!!" and I'm like "what the fuck are you talking about dude?"
Heatwolves: They didn't have that shit?
Naw dude, they ain't got no fucking iPhone 5...
Heatwolves: Did you buy any hats?
Naw man...cause they looked all fucked up. I don't get it man, all these fitted hats are made in China and I can't even find one here.
Heatwolves: Let's talk about hip hop who are your top five favorite rappers?
Everyones gonna say Nas; I'm gonna say Nas too. Guru's this shit, that's two. Rakim is the shit. KRS is the shit. All the people I'm naming are legends. Supernatural, that's four. And actually, I'm gonna go commercial on this, but Jay-Z. These cats are the epitome of hip hop - these cats are ill. Oh shit, I'll add six. I'll say Biggie. I'm from the West coast but I'll say Biggie.]
Heatwolves: Yeah Tupac was kind of a ho. Biggie owns. What's going on with the hip hop scene in the states?
It's fucked up. Cause everybody's into this Top 40 Commercial shit. There is a scene, but not like back in the day, late 80s early 90s, when everything was combined. After that the industry took over and they said fuck we can make money off of this. Now it's a niche market. Like real hip hop, underground hip hop is a niche market. They don't even play that shit on BET [Black Entertainment Television] anymore.
BET really used to be really BET..haha. And I think the main reason is that people nowadays don't really have time to pay attention to what's going on, to music. And our duty, as DJs, is to show people some music. And it's a neverending story man, we're always gonna have to educate people about new shit, old shit, where this shit came from. As far as hip hop back home, if you're at the top of the food chain in the niche market, you're making money, and if not - you ain't makin shit
Heatwolves: How about that track "Teach Me How to Dougie?"
Yeah when I first heard that track I was like what the fuck, this shit is wack. But you knew, it blew the fuck up. Kids nowadays don't wanna listen to something that has lyrics or content, Because no one has time to listen to the content. People gotta get paid, gotta focus on other shit like their wife, their girlfirend...
Heatwolves: People didn't have to do that before?
Well they did, but they were more conscious of what was going on. Since times have changed, it's like people don't really focus on an artistic way of expressing themselves, it's more like yo I just wanna get fucked up because I had a long week. I wanna get some girls cause I had a long week. My wifes a bitch, my girlfriends a bitch, I gotta get laid. I'm not saying that people didn't struggle back then, but it wasnt as hard as it is now.
Heatwolves: I've been living out here for four years so I'm a bit disconnected with what's going on, is shit really that bad back in the states?
I think so man, I mean my industry basically collapsed and I got an opportunity to come out here so I said fuck it, peace out America. It's chill out here. If you make like 2Gs (US) a month, you can chill. If you're makin 10Gs a month here, you're running the world man.
China's cool as hell man, because you get to meet people who actually come from the countries they're from. You know like, real Italians, from Italy, real French people from France, back in the States everyone is an American-Italian. I met this girl from Italy and I was like holy shit this girl is from Italy and she sounds like fucking Mario. And it's crazy cause they actually talk like that. And they actually have the hand movements and shit like they're throwing pixie dust in the air. Like every time they say something there's pixie dust everywhere. They're really nice people man. It tripped me out man cause what i see on TV is what I see here.
Heatwolves: Do you watch Chinese TV?
Naw man...actually when I first came here I was like fuck it let's see what's on the local channels and I was like whoa this shit is wack. I thought I was gonna see nothing but Bruce Lee movies all day but...
Heatwolves: It's always against the Japanese
Yeah man. And the talent shows, and the showcases with the pop stars. It's hard to fucking watch cause these dudes are so wack.
Heatwolves: It's bad. It's next level wackness.
It's like they're trying to copy Americans, but they're trying to copy Americans and Japanese at the same time. It's like these dudes on the streets with these fucking K-Pop haircuts. Like, get over it dude - it looks fucking wack, like you got a birds nest on your fucking head. Take a shower, I don't know.
But yeah, I've seen some TV, but I don't watch that shit anymore. Number one I don't understand what the fuck they're talking about, number two it's all this wack ass talent, and number three it's all about killing Japs. Oh! and number four it's all about missiles like check out my guns and shit. I don't give a fuck if you got a nuke, just don't blow me up man. Like they just keep running these missile videos in the metro all the time. That's cool though. China's coming up, States is falling off haha.
Heatwolves: How about the clubs here?
Oh fuck dude. Well, if we're talking Shanghai it's a different story, but let's just talk about Chinese clubs. When I first saw one I was like yo, where's the dance floor? There's just nothing but fucking tables. And I've learned that everyone just dances at the table and that's wack. Number one, there's no dress code. Number two, you don't have to pay to get it.
Heatwolves: There's always dress code in LA? No hats no hoods?
Yeah. For the most part. No hats, no white t-shirts. You can't look like a fucking gangster.
Heatwolves: No white-Ts?
Yeah no plain white t-shirts, cause a lot of gangsters just wear big, baggy plain white-Ts and shit like that so the clubs don't want trouble. In LA you gotta look fresh, like all the time. Except sometimes the beach area, cause it's the beach...Yo why the fuck does every club in Shanghai have chandeliers?
Heatwolves: I don't know man, haha. So tell us a bit about this mixtape you gave me.
It's a New Jack mixtape, most of the music came out in the 80s, early 90s. But it's not the normal shit. Some of it's a bit abstract, some is a bit you might know. There's no scratching it's just like enjoy the music, it flows really well.
It comes from this dude Teddy Riley, he's the king of New Jack. It's like hip hop/R&B mixed with pop. It's like the glam rock...you know like The Scorpions. But it's the glam rock of the R&B, and Top40 of the time...for you know, ethnic communities. Ethnic Glam Rock, that's what New Jack was.
Dude on the Couch: Yeah man cause that's like Bobby Brown, motherfucker...
Heatwolves: Do you play this shit out a lot when you DJ?
I wish I could, when I throw it on people are like "oh shit!"
Heatwolves: What kind of music are you gonna play at Love Bang #8
More underground New Jack Ethnic Glam Rock shit haha, and some breaks, like James Brown breaks, some hip hop. We'll see what happens.
Heatwolves: What kind of dumb shit do people come up and ask you when you're DJing?
Oh man, all day every day. Like do you have the song that sounds like this? 'doo-doo-DOOOOO-doo-do.' Like get off my dick, I don't know what that shit is. Ok that's one. And if i'm playing some real hip hop shit, people ask for some Lady Gaga, and I don't play that. Ummm, another thing is like what are you doing after this?
Heatwolves: Damn, I never get that
Hahaha! I'm always like yo I'm gonna be here till 6am then I'm sleepin. I get a lot of the where are you from shit."
Heatwolves: I used to DJ a little...
Haha yeah.
Heatwolves: So you've been DJing for fifteen years right?
Caution: Yeah about fifteen. I come from a background where vinyl was king. If you had the illest shit that you just picked up from the record shop, or your homie tossed you a promo record, that was the shit. Nowadays it's like fuck it i can produce my own tracks and play them and you don't need to press vinyl or anything. But thats cool.
Heatwolves: You produce too?
Caution: Yeah man, I just finished remixing this Steely Dan song. It's ill. Actually, since I've been in Shanghai I've been producing house and techno. It's weird man cause back in America I was not in touch with that at all. But out here everyones Euro, so I gotta conform to the society haha. I've been producing since back in the day. I've even got some super wack shit from when I first started producing.
Heatwolves: What do you use?
Now I'm just on a laptop, two turntables and a mixer, Ableton, Logic, and a mixer. Oh, and this LPD-8 controller. I used to have Pro Tools and a huge PC but technology is nice now.
Dude on the couch: How about technology, shit is so easy nowadays.
Yeah as far as production, it's easy to produce. There's so many samples. You don't need to find ill records; you can just download shit. What's fucked up is that people don't get paid for the work nowadays.
Dude on the couch: What you're really saying is, the money isn't in production anymore, it's in the live show?
Caution: Number one it's in the live show, secondly it's in appearances and interviews and all that shit. Like, the record and the music is a promotional tool at the end of the day.
Heatwolves: Why is shit like Justin Beiber hot right now?
Like I said earlier, no one wants to think about good music anymore, people just wanna have a good time. And mass marketing. It's propaganda.
Heatwolves: How about Party Rock Anthem, and Dirty Bit, and this kind of high-tempo Electro House as mainstream pop songs, thats a new trend
Oh fuck man...yeah everything is like 120 beats per minute plus now. Like back in the day, you could play a fucking slow jam and everyone would go crazy. You could play R. Kelly and everyone would be like "fuck yeah."
Dude on the couch: That's cause back in the day sexy was sexy and now sexy is just a fucking commercial.
Caution: Yeah it's like dick-in-a-box...yeah back in the day you could drop a song by Total at 12am and everyone would go crazy. And now it's like it's too slow, we gotta keep it going but it's like, when the slow jam comes on, that's when you should be talking to your girl. Back home now everything is like Electro-pop. So when I DJ some of the top 40 places/commercial clubs, it's not that enjoyable but I'm still practicing my skills, showing off my skills.
Dude on the couch: So what you're saying is, it's like being a classical guitarist, but also knowing how to play Metallica. Speaking of skills, I've seen a lot of train-wrecks here. I'm not talking about high-speed rail I'm talking in the club. I'm talking about DJ Hitonme.
Caution: No dude Hitonme didn't trainwreck, because she didn't even DJ.
Dude on the couch: Yeah when she wanted to play a new track she just pressed pause and then play.
Heatwolves: Back up, who is Hitonme?
Me and my boys went to this rap battle at this place called Paramount a few weeks ago. It was a fixed battle, whatever, and this chick was DJing. Her name was "DJ Hitome" and my boy's like "DJ Hitonme" and she's a good looking girl but she just played this mixtape.
Heatwolves: Hitome? Is she Japanese?
Dude on the couch: No dude she's Chinese. She's Shanzhai Japanese, and I know that cause I tried to talk to her in Japanese and she didn't understand, and that's when she got my wrath. She's like a fucking dual-SIM iPhone.
Caution: That's like the iPhone 6. Naw man, the thing about DJs nowadays, it's so easy nowadays, people think they can just start DJing and get girls or whatever. At the end of the day though, it's all about making people move, making people happy. Because a lot of these people [the crowd] have long-ass days, long-ass weeks, long-ass months.
Heatwolves: You think there's more DJs now than before?
Oh EASILY man. It's so easy to get some software and be a DJ. Back in the day you had to get the record. If you didn't have any money or connections to get the record, you wouldn't be DJing.
Dude on the couch: I had to interrupt, but when I come over to someone's house, and they say "I'm a DJ," and if they don't have a pair of decks somewhere in their house...I'm like "yeah ok..."
Caution: Here's the thing though, you gotta conform to technology. That's why I use Serato its basically like vinyl. If you're just mixing two tracks, you shouldn't need software to do that. But if you're mixing four tracks/remixing on the fly, that's cool. But if you're just mixing A and B...what the fuck. If you gotta automix you gotta be creative with it.
Heatwolves: One last question, what do you think of the overall skill level of DJs in Shanghai?
Most of the DJs suck, cause they're N00Bz. They don't know what it's like to come from an analogue era to a digital era...well, I don't know if I'd say they suck cause I come from a turntablist background and a lot of DJs out here come from house and techno.
Dude on the Couch: But what would you say about the lack of showmanship?
Caution: Oh man, there's no showmanship out here...like I said, no one gets on the mic, everyone is paying attention to their own shit. I don't think they pay attention to what the crowd wants. Theyre just like "I'm just doing my thing, this is what they hired me for." Like, these people [the crowd] are not necessarily super music lovers. Maybe they are but they just wanna have a good time.
Heatwolves: Word. Do you wanna give any shoutouts?
The Elements Crew Hangzhou, DJ Dragon XL holding it down in Las Vegas and beyond, my Killionaire DJ's Fam, Rotations, DJ Virman, DJ Cracker, DJ Pre, DJ Capitalize, Diego Le Croix, MC Kid Flomatic, DJ Phat Albert, Richard Vaughn and crew at Cakedout Clothing, RS-1, Shauny B, Gary and Curtis from the Dunkxchange, RTD, Dace, Patrick Mai
Too many people to mention so I'll stop right there. If I forgot you, you know who you are. And last but not least - the listeners and the people who help me keep doing my thang.
Heatwolves: What is New Jack Swing?
back in America I was not in touch with that at all. But out here everyones Euro, so I gotta conform to the society haha. I've been producing since back in the day. I've even got some super wack shit from when I first started producing.
