DJEFF AFROZILA PART II
The Afrozila Attacks
As a human morphs into a wolf by the full moon’s light, the affable Djeff has the supernatural ability to transform into the monstrous Afrozila when in DJ mode. The ectopic anomaly occurred somewhere during DJ Roland Clark’s spoken word opus, “I Get Deep” preaching over the percolating Afro rhythms of Black Motion’s featuring Jah Rich finely crafted, “Banane Mavoko” (Dub Mix). The once graceful young man now turned the monstrous Afrozila spewed an infectious assault of bursting flames that spread like a wildfire on the loose throughout the room. For two hours and fifteen minutes the Afrozila weaved in and out of songs; Djeff Afrozila’s presents Gari Sinedina, “Piluka”and Shana’s, “Out” played a cappellas; Rhianna’s, “We Found Love”, Ultra Nate’s, “Free” and Liquideep’s, “Alone” that sang over Afro beats while mixing two entirely different songs at once; Manoo’s, “Kodjo” and Thommy Davis’ & Ron Hall’s, “Fugue In Boston” which can prove a dizzying feat for any bystander but the Afrozila pulled it off without a hint of challenge. Don’t close your eyes to sleep while this monstrosity spins because he is known to entertain the dancing eyes of spectators while mixing. The beast can work a Bozak with finesse precision and execute technical mixing skills beyond his years. Plus, the boy knows his music. Often times, the destructive force sang every word to the songs he played in their indigenous African tongue or maybe in his native Portuguese tongue. During the beginnings of the magnetic set the music sounded muffled or was played well-below volume. On the prowl, the Afrozila took note and adjusted the volume controls and turned knobs that sent Shana’s, “Out” with a clear and forceful bang. A Tambor party/Tribe Records classic, Sister Pearl’s, “Bang The Drum” (Manoo Remix) whipped the dancers into a sweat. Thank God for the working overhead ceiling fans. Unfortunately, the sinister Peven Everett with “Burning Hot” (Timmy Regisford & Adam Rios Mix) was leaked into the mix. On a side note, please house music DJs/producers/remixers throw this artist and his music into the retirement bins, his diabolical ego and cunning tactics precedes his work. Thankfully, Afrozila beat Peven’s vocals into a dizzying swirl and at the song’s climatic peak he abruptly killed the song to make way for the soft finger snaps and mellow vibes courtesy of Atjazz’s Love Soul Mix of “Oh I (Miss You)” by The Muthafunkaz featuring vocalists Sheila Ford and Marc Evans.” Soul-stunner Kem’s, “Heaven” (Marlon D & Groove Assassin Mix) opened to cheers of approval but proved a Catch-22. The deep house anthem of classic material is a beast in and of itself. It resides on the many of deep house DJ’s list “of must play songs” and is the type of song that any DJ can play to guarantee some type of audience response. Naturally, it’s a song to play if you want to wake a crowd from its slumber. On one hand, it’s great to hear the orchestrated rhythms sync to a heavenly climax, but on the other hand, the piece has been played so many times that people tend to become bored with it in mid second verse. Wait one second. Was that Robin S’, “Show Me Love” a cappella vocals committing a quick drive-by?!? Yes it was! The surprise of the party sent the crowd stir-crazy jumping up and down, and screaming, “Oh, no he didn’t!”
The Destruction
As Godzilla trampled Tokyo, Afrozila attacked Atlanta. Afrozila breathed upon the city a fiery rage of musical arsenal of a destructive force. For one hundred and thirty-five minutes, the attacked left no mindset intact or psyche untouched from the monstrous demolition. The beast went on a jolting rampage seeking to destroy all musical conformity. Afrozila’s mission was to annihilate the very fabric of self-destructing inveterate of music ideals, music prejudices and enslaving musical mindsets. Brick and mortar ethos were scorched and evaporated into thin air. Towering walls of musical fragmentations crumpled, fell and crashed to the ground. Steel statutes of music images were reduced to writhed framework. The mind could no longer hold on to anemic musicality but was free to love all music that promotes diversity, encourages change and provides substance. In the midst of the action, Tambor’s denizens freely danced in the rubble-filled streets. They danced, around and atop the rubble of once oppressive musical prejudices and preconceived notions of predictable music genres, glib music stereotypes and frothy music tastes. The city’s horizontal skyline of dancing music notes had been burned into magnetic proportions of ash, dust, and smoke. The Afrozila left behind a chaotic but beautiful mess that beckoned the city to musical change. It was this archetype that could start the ambitious makings of a new musical revolution for the hungry and thirsty of paradigms.
The Aftermath
Onstage, a hesitant looking Stanzeff, with microphone in hand, seemed preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to clean up the rubble after Afrozila’s devastating assault. Handling the adversity like a true professional, DJ Stanzeff assumed mass clean-up duties by playing hits like Quentin Harris’, “My Joy” and Regina Belle’s, “Baby Come To Me” (Shelter Mix) that swept up the debris into neat contained piles. The latter had people in clean-up mode doing handstands, dropping to the floor and collecting debris while rolling around on the floor. Even Djeff back in human form-changed shirts, and wore a grey Tribe Recordings tee-got in on the action. He made the rounds and posed for several photographs-avec hand gestures-and danced in his alter ego’s destructive calamity. The party ended with happy hearts dancing in joy. Sometimes, you just don’t care to clean up such beautiful shambles.
All photography by AJ Dance/Except Photo 11 by Ghostcam
Share this:
Tags: Atlanta Georgia, deep house music, DJ BE, DJ Stanzeff, Djeff Afrozila, house music, Tambor