DJ Qbert did not come last week. That was not that cool for hip-hop heads but there’s good news this week in the form of the latest act to hit town. DJ Babu is the world renowned DJ and producer for Dilated Peoples, but that’s not all. He used to be part of the best DJ battle team ever –the Beatjunkies –and is part of the Likwit Junkies with Defari, as well as being a DJ in his own right. We caught up with him before his show at Block 8 on Saturday (Dec 13) to get the lowdown.

the Beijinger:What inspired you to start DJing?

DJ Babu: I was very inspired by the explosion of hip hop culture in 1984, at first I was trying to be a b-boy but much later found I had a fondness for DJing, hearing rap groups who had prominent DJs was also very influential; groups like EPMD who had DJ Scratch, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Gangstarr with DJ Premier, the list goes on.

Update: We just received word from the organizer of the show that Qbert's Beijing date has been postponed until next year. More details here.

DJ Qbert is one of the pioneers of scratch DJing and came to the forefront of the scene with his group the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. The crew also released how to guides in the form of Turntable TV and Qbert developed an all-in-one scratching tool called the QFO with Vestax, which combines a turntable with a mixer’s crossfader. When not being a philanthropic DJ he spends his time in the studio and on the road. The Beijinger was lucky enough to get some of his time before his Beijing gig at Mix tomorrow night.

Beijing has had its very own Olympics, it's got its very own cuisine so what else could it possibly need? The people over at Nike thought they had the answer to that conundrum when they commissioned the city’s very own sneaker. You heard right, Beijing has got it’s very own Nike shoe to confirm its place on the world map.

Season's greetings – whatever that season may be for you – from the Beijinger and our December issue. As is fitting for this month, we’ve aimed to get you into the festive spirit with a spirit-lifting guide on how you can give back to the city and beyond. Our cover feature highlights 20 ways for you to feel better about yourself by making others feel better, and if that’s not enough goodwill then we also have interviews with Dr. Jane Goodall and The Click Five, plus a ticket giveaway for the latter's show in Beijing on Dec 4. Meet DJ Harmonic 313 and Queer As Folk Beijing director Xiao Gang, as well as all the usual and not so usual party-hoppers in Scene & Heard. Meanwhile, Stylites bids farewell to fall, and we give you the lowdown on traveling in Kyoto (home of the geisha) and Warsaw (home of Chopin and Marie Curie). Lastly, don’t miss out on all the new scoops on places to eat, drink and shop, as well as the events to keep you busy into the handover – or should that be hangover? – to 2009.

Can't find the print edition? Send an email to 
distribution@thebeijinger.com or download the PDF version here.

It’s official, pop open the champagne, Beijing Guo'an have won the league. As likely as that could be in the strangest season of Chinese football’s bizarre history, it’s not exactly what you’re thinking.

It is the same Beijing Guo'an but they have won the SuperLeague Formula championship not the Chinese Super League. Still not entirely up to speed? They did so in a car in a recently set up rival to Formula 1. This was the first year of the competition  in which professional football clubs sponsor the cars  and over the course of six race meets Davide Rigon representing Beijing took the title. Will he be able to defend it next season when it expands to nine races, including one outside of Europe? Will Beijing get that non-European race, or will it go to the fast money and faster lifestyle of somewhere like Dubai? Most importantly, will the fact that Beijing Guo'an have finished in a league table above Liverpool, AC Milan and Corinthians appease fans of the football team?

The biggest story of the week regards everyone’s favorite football club, our very own Bejing Guo'an. Not content with appearing in the match that led to Wuhan Guanggu quitting the league entirely, or with inflaming Shangai Shenhua fans so much that they torched a Guoan mascot, last week Beijing’s finest excelled even themselves. How? By getting involved in what has variously been described as a “brawl” and “handbag waving” the majority deciding that the fracas was toward the tote-carrying end of the violence spectrum. That’s right, a wee bit of pushing and shoving with Tianjin Teda was all it took for domestic television’s powers-that-be to decide that there will be no more Chinese Super League broadcasts.

James Pants will perform in Beijing this coming Saturday and thanks to the good people at FREE the WAX, we have quite a few copies of Pants' Rhythm Trax! CD to give away. To win these ten tracks of instrumental goodness, all you have to do is pretend for a moment that you too work for Beijing's expat press and are about to publish an interview with the popular Mr. Pants - what clever title would you use to headline the piece? Feel free to either leave a comment or send your ideas to blog@thebeiinger.com before 2pm on Friday Nov 21 for a chance to win a copy of Rhythm Trax! Keep reading below for the Beijinger's nightlife editor Jonathan White's interview with Mr Pants that first appeared in the Nov issue of the Beijinger magazine.

Nov 22
James Pants
RMB 70.
10pm. White Rabbit (133 2112 3678)
 

The James Pants story starts in Texas on the night of James Singleton’s high school prom. Eschewing the usual post-prom rituals, Pants sought out Stones Throw Records founder (and DJ) Peanut Butter Wolf at a gig he was playing in town and asked if he wanted to go record shopping. Pants may have missed out on kissing his date but that moment led to an internship at the label and, over time, he was put on the roster. Since then, his eclectic first album – think Too Short meets Cameo meets Serge Gainsbourg – and humorous videos have been winning over fans and critics alike.

the Beijinger: As the first artist from Stones Throw to come to China, do you feel a sense of responsibility for representing such an illustrious label? Do you feel like a trailblazer?

James Pants: Now you've made me nervous... I don't know if I'm a trailblazer, but I'm definitely the most excited artist on the roster regarding the dim sum.

Above & Beyond placed as number six in DJ magazine’s Top 100 disc jockeys in 2007. Now they have risen to number four for 2008. They play at GT Banana on Friday November 7 and we were lucky to catch up with Tony from the trance trio for a chat before their debut set in Beijing about weddings, Radiohead and DJ teams.

the Beijinger: When did you start Djing, what made you start and who were your early influences?

Xinhua dubbed them the "National Peasants' Games" (though they called it the 7th not the 6th) but a lot of foreign media have taken to calling the 6th National Nongmin Sports Meeting the "Peasant Olympics." The games wound up on Saturday in Fujian's Quanzhou and attracted more attention than you would expect due to the presence of non-typical sporting events such as rice transplanting and even rice throwing. AFP have done a nice little video roundup here. The event, like the Olympics, is held every four years, the first was held in Beijing in 1988.

Halloween isn’t all fun and games, it’s also tricks and treats, and you’re in for a treat if you are in the city this weekend. Whether you go as Sherlock Holmes or Dracula you can count on capers galore all around town.

Costumes, and costume contests, are the order of the day for those willing to let their inner-child out. Bling are top of the contest pile as they are offering RMB 5,000 to the best-dressed party-goer at their event. It’s free to get in so what do you have to lose?