We’ve reached the penultimate chapter (big words!) of HISD WEEK, where DJ Soul One literally takes us on a trip. I need to work on my puns. Flash Gordon’s behind the camera. See HISD at The Standard tomorrow.

Background music: Lower Life Form “Move To The Side” (Produced by Soul One)

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Lower Life Form is hosting The Standard. Coincidence? No.

More below:

Soul One was the person that introduced me to H.I.S.D.

I’d already known him for years as one of the “young boys” on the scene, an up and coming DJ who kind of studied under the wing of DJ Cipher. Kind of an interesting read because he started as a DJ with no real affiliation; he made a name for himself through his own accord.

He was part of the crew that played ball at a local YMCA on Sunday nights. This was when I had hops. I think it was one of those Sundays when he first told me about H.I.S.D.:

(Pulled from my fragmented memory)

Me: “So what are you working on these days. I see that you’ve started producing now.”

Soul One: “Actually, i’m working on an album now with this new crew. Kind of like a collective.”

“Anybody I know?”

“Maybe. You heard of Savvi?”

“Yeah, Savvi’s cool. I finally met him not too long ago. I told him we need to work together.”

“Well, Savvi kinda put this group together. It’s like 4 MCs and 3 or 4 producers.”

“Damn – putting together your own Wildstyle!”

{Muted laugh} “Heh. Yeah, it’s really kinda cool”

“What’s it called?”

{Pause to figure out how he’s going to explain it} “Okay. The name of the crew is H.I.S.D.”

“Like… the school district?”

“Yeah but no. It stands for Hueston Independent Spit District, But Hueston is spelled with an H-U-E instead of H-O-U.”

“Okay – I follow you.”

“The one thing we’re still working on is the ‘S’, because it can really stand for anything, like Soul or Slang-”

“Or Southside.”

{Very reluctant laugh} “No – not really.”

I may have embellished the last part of my story, but I credit Soul One with introducing me to this collective of talent. He functions as their DJ, and 1/3 of their production team.

Whatever you do, don’t ask him about the time he tried to throw me an alley-oop; he’s thought little of me ever since.

-Damien-