Music: Dego - Live in San Francisco / Fresco

Well the Fresco boys brought another heavy hitter last night... Dego of 4 Hero, 2000 Black fame. An absolute legend... from old school hardcore to jungle to broken beat to hip hop to future jazz. This cat has been a great influence on a generation of fans who like there beats shaken and their riddims twisted.

I must admit, the Fresco DJ before Dego, stoled the show from Dego playin a super selection of crowd movin broken beat. Dego, went in a more chilled and jazzy direction. It was an excellent show but I was hoping for a rump shaker and he did play a couple cuts that you just couldn't deny... hell if the dj was on the dance floor I woulda been trainspotting half the night. He did drop some shit from Madlib's blue note album and immediately followed it up with 2 incredibly sick pristinely EQ hip hop instrumentals I've never heard before but fuck me they were dope. I had to throw my hands in the air. Easily worth the $10 cover, as are all Fresco shows.

Here is an interview with Dego on KCRW Radio outta Santa Monica from 2003.

Dego - KCRW Interview

So… Dego is one half of 4 Hero along with Mark Mac aka Remarc. They have an incredible body of work. Probably their most well known cuts would be the track they did on Jill Scott's Experience album or the 1991 rave anthem Mr. Kirk's Nightmare (best believe original vinyl is worth some serious $$$).

I won't post either of those here cause you have already heard em (own em hopefully). But here are some Dego cuts you probably missed...

4 Hero – The Scorcher (Dance Mix) Reinforced (12004) 1990 … 19FUCKIN90!!! and 4 hero is already dropping bombs...

Internal Affairs – Find A Way Reinforced (12046) 1993 – This is an early collaboration between Dego, Mark Mac and… up and coming drum and bass star and Metalheadz honcho… Goldie

Jacob’s Optical Stairway-Fusion Formula (Metamorphosis) R&S 1995 – One of Dego and Mark’s many aliases, pushing the boundaries of Breakbeat and Jungle. This is one of my favorite tunes by the duo.

4 Hero – Planetaria (A Theme From A Dream) from the aptly named Pioneers EP on Talkin' Loud 1997

Tek 9 Feat. Capital A - Stand Clear SSR 1999 – This is Dego’s foray into hip hop… if you don’t know Tek 9 they you best hit your local Amoeba now… This is not a project you wanna miss… The Tek 9 remix of King Britt’s Sylk 130 - Gettin' Into It is REQUIRED LISTENING. SICK. SICK. SICK.

The most recent Dego project is his Daz-I-Kue and Kaidi Tatham colabo as DKD. The new album is entitled Future Rage. Out now on Bitasweet Black.

RESPECT.