I Must Break You (Rocky vs. Drago Bboy Remix)

DJ Blesone is back, and we mean big time, with the ultimate battle joint “I Must Break You”:

DJ Blesone (@djblesone) is one of the most well-known names around the world in Bboy music, dropping countless mixes and tracks over the years, whether independently as the illustrious DJ Blesone, or with his bands MASH HALL and one of our personal favorites, DON’T TALK TO THE COPS!

The joint he dropped this week ahead of his appearance at “You Got Stallowned” in Los Angeles next month is another pound in the pile of pure dopeness he’s dropped on his Soundcloud and elsewhere.

Anyone that follows Bboysounds knows that something dope awaits when Blesone is at the controls. We were lucky enough to hear from the man himself, so dig it:

CHiEF: Another dope track from DJ Blesone, a perfect battle joint in every way. How did this come together?

Blesone: Mike The Cure (Knuckleheads Cali) & I met in Italy thanks to Bboy Monsa who brought us & Thesis out to Pesaro for HipHop Connection. We instantly bonded over similar tastes in music but mostly for our love of 80s action movies! We’ve talked back & forth a lot about music & mix ideas rooted in these movies we love, so when he asked me to do the event, I knew it was time to start putting these ideas down onto the dance floor. This track is just a preview of a bigger project coming very soon.

I love the original Rocky song, it pumps me up, but it sounds victorious. I wanted to make a version that was about before the victory was achieved. I wanted it to sound like the fight, the battle, the dark energy that pushes you into an “anything goes” war, the first blood. I was inspired by how Brand Nubian used it for Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down, because when they slowed down the record to sample it, the pitch on the horns went down, making it sound menacing. So I pitched down the horns & chopped them up, keeping out the really high points. That big brass bass that comes in already sounds like dark storm clouds rolling over your head & blocking out the moon in a Disney Cartoon so I pulled that out & drew it into a free fall down an endless pit.

The rest was drum work which is my favorite to do. I always try to make my drums dope for bboys just playing the song & breaking, but there’s plenty of sweet spots for a dj to catch wreck on break mixes. I make the break spots for me to make my own patterns, but it’s really up to any dj to decide how they want to cut it up in their own special way.

This track is insane, and you know that as a result, it will be playing in ciphers and battles around the world immediately, if not already. How do you feel knowing that?

I’ll start off by saying it’s the greatest feeling in the world. It’s always been my dream since I was little to create music that would somehow make it into the well of bboy music that people want to break to & djs want to play.

My favorite moments were hearing “Them Team Theme” on a French mixtape in someone’s car, or when Lean Rock breakmixed “djblesOne’s Theme” at the Red Bull BC One World Finals. Just hearing him cut up the break as a raw dj to a song I made, honestly that’s always a dream come true every time I hear something like that!

There are people who come up to me & say “so & so is playing your joint” & I’m like DOPE! I put my music out there for people to break to & for djs to have something new to play or to cut up & get busy, that’s EXACTLY what I love seeing! Because I love being able to contribute something back to the culture of hip hop which has given me my whole life & all my great travels, experiences & friends. I’m here because of hip hop, I wouldn’t be alive if I didn’t have this.

You’re doing shows, playing battles, dropping original joints and remixes all day long. As a DJ, producer, bboy, etc., what gives you inspiration to keep rocking?

I love it all! I love performing, djing & dancing, I love watching others create, but most of all I love music & sounds.

My whole life has always been about “How did they make that sound? Where did it come from? Why does this one sound that way? How did they record it? How did they transfer though the mic, machines, cords, to tape, to vinyl… What are all the interactions that this sound had to make it what it is now?”

[hr]”I love records, I love the b sides & album cuts, the cover art, the smell. I love tapes, I love mixtapes, I love skratching.”[hr]

I just want to see how much I can learn, experience & create with music while I’m here, and maybe I’ll be able to leave something behind for others to experience & enjoy. Hopefully I inspire other people to create music & dance, really any kind of art, even just to inspire minds & spirits.

We always look forward to tracks from DtttC. What’s next for you, Emecks, and El Mizell?

We are about to release a video/documentary for our song “Tattoo My Name” It follows emecks (@emecks) & I & our journey as we get our tattoo pieces for each other on our arms, from beginning to the end.

I’ll premiere it at the same Tattoo shop (Under The Needle (@undertheneedle)) where it was filmed, Saturday March 8th in Seattle (right after the NW Sweet 16 bboy/bgirl battle).

The tattoo shop is also doing free Mash Hall bat & DtttC! tattoos all day in celebration. Then we play March 13th at Neumos on Capitol Hill for our good friends Iska Dhaaf & their album release show. We’re all about family, LOVE FAMILY!

For those that may be hearing you for the first time, what do the people need to know about DJ Blesone?