Benny B (center) partying at The Rub, November 2007 (photo by Ian Meyer)
Benny B has been a F.O.T.R. (Friend of The Rub) for quite a while, from most recently recording a shit-hot Heavy Warmup mix for my series. We booked him for The Rub this month, and it’s really weird that we never had him play before but awesome that he is going to do our final Southpaw jam. He wrote some really kind words about the party in his email newsletter, read it after the jump.
“As many of you know, The Rub is a huge monthly hip-hop and classics party held in Park Slope that has been around for about 10 years I believe. I started going to it in ’04 or ’05 when I was transitioning from DJing informally to DJing professionally (a difficult transition). At the time, I was working as a cook and living in Williamsburg. I couldn’t DJ on the weekend because I would be cooking at a restaurant until midnight or later, and once a month I would show up at The Rub after work smelling like oysters or sausages (let’s just say I danced by myself a lot in those days). I was always impressed by how the party kept up with the times and trends, whether it was old school hip-hop, then classic rnb & disco, then mash-ups, then bmore – you know what I’m talking about.
The Rub is three DJs, Ayres, Cosmo Baker & Eleven who I have gotten acquainted with in the past few years. I first met Cosmo & Ayres in 2005 I believe when I would DJ from 8-10 PM on Friday & Saturday nights at Savalas (RIP) and they had a weekly Friday night party there. I later met Eleven and have DJed with all three at various times throughout the years. These guys are the cream of the crop so to be invited to DJ this party is something I always hoped would happen.
Another thing you may be aware of, is that Southpaw is closing next month and there won’t be another Rub party there – The Rub is moving to The Bell House which is not too far from Southpaw, just a little to the west. Southpaw was cool but The Rub will live on. They wrote a little thing about it here (check those flyers!).
Anyway, I will be posted up in the lounge downstairs all night playing classic hip-hop. Come and say what’s up. Also it is sure to be absolutely jammed – on a normal night, this party has a line around the block by 11:30 or 12 – so I would advise getting there before 11 PM if you don’t want to wait on a long line.”
DJ Benny B – HEAVY WARMUP 8 by thatdjbennyb