A dispute erupted early Monday between 55  South and the MOM SJ Players—who together have been producing the popular Motown on Mondays weekly party in San Jose for a little more than a year now.

The first signs of trouble came this morning, when members of the MOM SJ Players—a collective of local DJs and producers—announced that they will no longer be spinning Motown-influenced dance music at 55 South, as they have every Monday for the past year.

Today at 9:40 a.m, DJ Shea Butter—a member of BVMO and the MOM SJ Players—wrote on Facebook: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, effective today, the #MOMSJPlayers will no longer be playing at 55 South on Monday nights. Please stay tuned as this situation develops.”

Following suit, DJ Cutso, a member of the Bangerz and the MOM SJ Players, announced via Twitter in a since-deleted tweet that his group would not be performing tonight:

Effective immediately, the #MOMSJPlayers will no longer be playing at 55 South on Monday nights. Stay tuned. #MotownOnMondays #SanJose

— Cutso (@cutso) March 23, 2015

However, the party isn’t going anywhere, says 55 South owner Paul Chun.

“Motown lives, buddy!” Chun said. “It’s just a parting of ways, a changing of the guard.”

Motown on Mondays (MOM) is not unique to San Jose. In fact, the brand stretches from coast to coast—with official MOM parties held in major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Oakland, L.A., Denver, Chicago and Brooklyn, every Monday night.

Chun said that he has some new DJs lined up to play tonight’s Motown on Mondays party. He added that he has the rights to produce the Motown on Mondays party locally—a claim at least one member of the MOM SJ Players disputes.

Metro reached out to Thomas Ramon Aguilar for comment. In addition to running the locally based live-music production house, Universal Grammar, Aguilar is also a member of the MOM SJ Players—along with members of the BVMO and Bangerz crews.

“We are in limbo right now,” Aguilar wrote in an email. “I cannot comment on this beyond that.

“I can comment more on the subject of the 55 South vs MOM SJ once things have settled.  At this time, both parties have lawyered up. … We own the brand for SJ made permissible by the MOM owners.”

Chun emailed Metro a copy of what he said is the final contract between 55 South and MOM DJs & Events. Chun said that the agreement stipulates that 55 South may choose to end a relationship with a group of DJs.

“Any issues between local DJs and their respective venue should be resolved between those two parties and should not reflect upon the MOM brand or management,” the document states. “MOM DJs are instructed to respect all rules and wishes of their respective venue, or otherwise be terminated by either venue management or MOM DJs & Events.”

Chun said that he reached an impasse with the MOM SJ Players over how the individual performers would be taxed for their services, for which they were paid.

“I have nothing bad to say about these guys. They’re all great guys. We had a great year,” Chun said. “But when it comes to the brand, I’m the one that went out and licensed the party. They can say whatever they want to. At this point, they opted out. They quit.

“For them saying that this party is done is totally off-base.”

Metro reached DJ Cutso by phone but he refused to comment in detail. “This issue is unresolved, and I have no comments at this time,” he said.

Aguilar wrote in an email that “even though 55 South owners are still promoting the event tonight, who ever DJs this has not been approved by the MOM brand owners (Gordo Cabeza, Madrone, SF), or us.”

Reached by email, DJ Donovan Gordo Cabeza, co-founder of Motown On Mondays, declined to go into detail. “Will get back to you as soon as all the details are in, everything at this point is just heresy,” he wrote.

Metro will update as more details become available.

Jazz and funk share similar qualities, anchored by musicianship and the notion of utilizing musical space. Longtime Bay Area rapper Tom Shimura, known by his handle, Lyrics Born, overtly highlights this connection in his songs and live shows.

LB’s crew, Quannum, has producers of astounding influence and musicality; his live performances are internationally celebrated for their exuberance.
“My perspective on jazz and funk, especially from a hip-hop background, is that it’s the musicianship, plain and simple,” he says, relating his own output to his performance August 9 at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. “All I listened to when I was younger was music that was sampled and programmed. When I started to dig deeper and actually listen to what was being sampled, the jazz and funk aspects, of course, stand out. There is a concept of togetherness, cooperation, exploration and defiance. There’s also a rebelliousness to both.”

Lyrics Born emerged from a stable of college kids in the 1990s at UC Davis who went on to make some of the most adventurous and colorful hip-hop the Bay Area has ever produced.

Collectively known as Solesides (currently branded as Quannum, both a crew and functioning label) they shared a college radio show, dorm-room music equipment, and unyielding drive. They recorded songs together but their rep snowballed after branching out as individual artists and sub-groups. Key members, after all, include DJ Shadow, Blackalicious and Latyrx, of which Lyrics Born is a member with Lateef the Truthspeaker.

“It’s pretty amazing to think we were just all in a dorm room together and that’s all it took for us to turn this into successful careers,” Shimura says. “We’re all very fortunate. I look back now and I’ve been making records longer than I haven’t.”

There’s a certain sense of kismet to their intertwining histories, all of which are underscored by the Bay Area. LB is pictured on the cover of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing, a gamechanging, instrumental record that transcended hip-hop, and where Shadow’s legacy will forever stem from.

Blackalicious’ wonderful Melodica EP was recorded and engineered by Dan the Automator, another Bay resident turned successful producer. And the catalyst for Solesides’ initial foray was DJ Zen, now most widely known as Jeff Chang, author of perhaps the most vivid and telling book ever written on hip-hop, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.

Hometown pride is especially poignant on songs like “The Bay” where LB rhymes: “We hold a certain love for our own, known as Bay-love. But if push comes to shove we won’t hesitate to raise-up.”

“I didn’t really see the way I grew up as unique until I left,” he says.

“Once I toured the world and other cities and came back, I really saw how special a place this was. I mean, growing up as an aspiring Japanese rapper wasn’t a big deal at all,” says LB, who started his career as Asia Born.

“I grew up seeing Japanese producers, African American rock bands, Filipino DJs, and everyone just doing their thing, so to me it wasn’t unusual,” LB says. “It’s this concoction of climate, culture, politics, art, and music; it’s a perfect storm of progression.”

Regarding the South Bay, LB is more of a native tongue than a native son. “Oh man, San Jose has the best Vietnamese food. You could put on a blindfold and point to a Pho place and it will be better than 99 percent of any place anywhere else. Forget about it. One thing I know I’m gonna do when I go to San Jose, I have to go eat.”

Another South Bay tie-in is his recent work with hometown heroes, The Bangerz. For the duo’s latest EP, Latryx used beats produced by the crew who, as comparatively younger rap cats, were understandably thrilled.

Says a humbled Cutso: “Working with LB was surreal at first, because this is someone I grew up listening to. It was also kind of intimidating, in a way, because he worked a lot with DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, two of my favorite producers. When Lateef jumped into the sessions, it was like a dream come true.”

LB’s take on the experience working with the Bangerz is equally positive: “Man, those Bangerz tracks are some of my proudest recent recordings,” he says.

Lyrics Born headlines this year’s Summer Fest on Friday, lending his gravelly voiced rhymes to the energy of a James Brown show—complete with a live backing band and backup singers.

“The show is more of a fusion of rap, funk, and jazz,” he says. “We do both James Brown songs as well as mine but it’s more paying homage and mixing things up rather than a straight tribute set. Anyone who is a student of hip-hop recognizes that James Brown was the trunk of the tree. And when you think about it in retrospect, it was just perfect for Rap music; same groove, repeated over and over. Sparse yet visceral, simple and sophisticated.”

After first debuting a collaboration with San Jose Taiko at Subzero Festival in 2010, the Bangerz is working with the traditional Asian drumming performance group again for a joint performance in San Jose.

For the show schedule June 15 at the Montgomery Theater, the two groups want to expand on the original idea introduced at the Subzero Festival.

“I think a lot of people came out of curiosity, but it was kind of like the chocolate and peanut butter effect. It was an epic night,” says Bangerz DJ Aaron “Squareweezy” Aquino.

As of now, the show is mostly finished and will run approximately an hour and twenty minutes with new material.

“We thought it would be cool to merge forces one more time and extend on what we did,” Aquino says. “It will touch on San Jose Taiko’s 40th anniversary and It’s also going to the Bangerz’ 15 year anniversary.”

The plan is to do one show and potentially expand, depending on interest.

“A lot of our music is electronic, 808 drums and hard-hitting synths,” Aquino says. “I think it hits a different note in people when you hear those loud Taiko drums [and see] their choreography combined with the drums, both visually and sonically.”

A Kickstarter campaign, running through May 27, was launched to help offset production costs.

Last November, Latyrx broke a 15 year drought between studio releases with their Disconnection EP. They also have plans for a proper follow-up to 1997’s The Album, the literally-titled The Second Album, set to drop later this year.

For their latest, they give EP cut “Gorgeous Spirits (Aye, Let’s Go!)” the visual treatment. Local DJ/production crew the Bangerz are on the beat, crafting a track made for the dance floor. Their electro-infused, distorted kicks and massive synths set the tone, and Lateef the Truth Speaker and Lyrics Born match the energy lyrically.

The Latyrx story stretches back to the fabled halls of UC Davis in the mid to late 90s, where Lateef and Lyrics Born first linked up with DJ Shadow, Blackalicious and writer Jeff Chang (of Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop fame) while in the Aggies’ radio program. The crew formed the Solesides label, later renamed Quannum Projects in 1997.

Goldenchyld, a member of the Bangerz DJ crew, heard his share of fresh tracks in 2012, spending most weekend nights working clubs and crowding dance floors throughout the Bay Area. Here are his top picks for songs that stuck with him through the year.

Kendrick Lamar – Backseat Freestyle
Kendrick Lamar’s album took the hip hop world by storm this year. It’s been regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums in years, which I’m not quite sure if I agree with, but this track reminds me that if the rapper is good enough, he can take a bare bones bones drum loop, and keep it interesting and fresh.

Mercy (RL Grime & Salva Remix) – Kanye West
This is arguably one of the hottest remixes to come out this year. Every time I’m in a club and drop this one, it’s guaranteed you’ll see hands in the air.

The Don – Nas
This was a refreshing record. Instead of throwing on a pair of zebra-pattern skinny jeans and a pair of pink Uggs, Nas reminded all of us that real hip hop can still be powerful, rugged, and still work in a club setting.

Bad Girls (Switch Remix) – M.I.A.
It was nice to hear from M.I.A again this year. It was even better to hear Switch, one of my favorite producers in recent days really push the boundaries of production and artistry.

Santigold – Disperate Youth
This is one of those songs that you hear and know right off the bat that it’s a timeless song. Dare I say, a classic?

My Eyes – Nero
If someone asked me to put this song into a genre, I’d have to say it’s “Massive-stadium-rock-power-step.” When I put this song on, everything around me goes in to an automatic slow motion and I suddenly have the power to knock out Mike Tyson if he wants to bring it.

Kill The Noise – Black Magic (Kill The Noise Pt. 2)
This is one I’ve actually just come across recently. Kill The Noise comes with something so epic it sounds like it was produced by Hades himself. I feel like this should be on the soundtrack to the movie 300. Listen at your own risk.

Music is always a good Christmas gift, but as record stores continue to disappear, it’s getting harder to find options outside of iTunes download cards. Bands are still making physical albums these days—CDs, vinyl records, and the latest retro trend, cassette tapes. San Jose has lots of bands that have put out stellar albums this year. Here’s our list of suggestions.

Hard Girls
‘Isn’t It Worse w/ EP’
on Cassette, $5 at www.lauren-records.com
Cassette releases are now a thing—maybe not a big thing, but more labels (underground ones, mind you) are putting them out. San Jose’s Hard Girls’ new album, Isn’t It Worse, is coming out on cassette a few months before it arrives out on vinyl. The cassette comes with several bonus songs—their entire first EP, in fact. It’s only been a few years since the Hard Girls released that EP, but it is interesting to listen to listen to the old material side by side with the new. Their debut contained some interesting Jawbreaker-influenced punk-rock songs, while Isn’t It Worse is a downright sophisticated rock album. They mix ’80s post-punk and ’90s indie rock (somewhere between Pavement, Television and Silkworm), all while giving it the urgency of a sweaty basement punk band.

This Friday, July 27, some of San Jose’s finest DJs/producers bring Treatment Sound System back to The Pagoda with off-kilter, booming digital compositions unique to the South Bay Area.

This installment offers a new venue held down by residents DJs and producers Squareweezy, (who has an insane upcoming EP due out), Sheabutter and R-Cade. In addition, the night also includes San Francisco’s own Mophono, along with debuting sets from longtime South Bay producers DSTRUKT (of the BevMo Crew) and WISHONE (of Sub-Ren).

In addition to the whirlwind of button-pushing and sample-triggers, the event also marks a new release by B. Lewis who’ll also be performing in celebration of his newest effort, A Lion’s Aperture.

“Treatment Sound System’s main objective for the last year and a half is to bring the progressive sounds of digital music to downtown San Jose,” says event host Dandiggity. “It is a hub for South Bay creatives and audio enthusiasts to come together to exchange ideas and experience the performance aspect of live, electronic music. This week we have San Francisco’s DJ Centipede (Mophono) performing his unique blend of turntablism and instrumentation, as well as debut sets by DJ Dstrukt and Wish One. To top off the night we also having a live performance by B.Lewis for his new album A Lion’s Aperture releasing the same day.”

Limited edition “Treatment Pins” will also be handed to all attendees.

Info below, as follows:

Treatment Sound System at The Pagoda Lounge
21+ $3 before 11pm $5 after
MOPHONO : http://www.facebook.co/djcentipede.mophono
DSTRUKT: http://www.dj-dstrukt.com/
WISHONE: http://www.w1shone.com/
B.LEWIS: http://blewis.bandcamp.com/

RESIDENTS:
SQUAREWEEZY / SHEABUTTER / R-CADE
Hosted by: DANDIGGITY

Sometimes Aaron Aquino can’t believe what passes for a live show from beatmakers. If it’s some guy fiddling half-heartedly behind a laptop for the whole set, the man better known by his DJ handle Squareweezy is not impressed.

“Is he checking his email, or performing for us?” Aquino says he has to ask himself.

Though he’s best known as part of the tight-knit San Jose crew the Bangerz, Aquino’s been mixing it up lately with quite a few solo gigs. And forget hiding behind a laptop, you’re just as likely to find him writhing on the edge of the stage, wrestling with some bizarre electrical instrument he’s pulled out of his bag of tricks.

Expect the same energy when Squareweezy performs at the Pagoda Thursday, as part of a “Night of Live Beat Performance” that will also feature B-Dot, Professor Panson, Sesshins and Dranal.

For Aquino, it’s all a lead up to the release of his upcoming EP, which he tentatively plans to drop in September.

“They’ve been constantly evolving,” he says of The Weezmatic EP’s bass-heavy songs. He’ll be playing several of the new tracks at the Pagoda show, and even those who’ve heard their earlier incarnations live are likely to be surprised.

As for the live sets, he just likes to practice what he preaches. “When I play, I can’t help myself. I try to bring the art of performance to the show,” he says. “When my name is on the bill, I want to keep it unpredictable.”

SQUAREWEEZY performs an 18-and-over show at the Pagoda in San Jose on Thursday, July 19, 9pm; $5.

It’s been 15 years since Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker recorded together as Latryx. But after performing on each other’s solo releases, they’re back in the studio for a new Latryx album, and they’ve signed on the South Bay’s most successful hip-hop crew the Bangerz to produce some of the tracks. Latryx will also be taking a break from recording to perform at the Pagoda in San Jose on April 28, with the Bangerz’s Paolo “Cutso” Bello opening with his first-ever solo performance.

The collaboration isn’t too surprising when you consider how many connections there were between the East Bay duo and the Bangerz. Some were more abstract, like DJ Mike Wong, aka Mike Relm. He has toured with both Lyrics Born and Lateef, and also directed the video for the Bangerz’s song “Devastating Stereo,” which featured the Jabbawockeez dance crew. It was their collaboration with the Jabbawockeez, of course, that originally got the Bangerz national attention, on the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew.

But the Bangerz also know Lyrics Born and Lateef from the Bay Area scene, and have opened for them. It got to the point, Bello tells me, where “Me and Lyrics Born made a connection after running into each other hundreds of times.”

Bello has been the main liaison for the Bangerz in the studio, recording and working on arrangements with Latryx, and then getting feedback and ideas from Dominic “Goldenchyld” Cueto and the rest of the tight-knit group. Bello says Latryx have been easy to work with and very open-minded (“it was like homies hanging out in the studio”), but everyone knows that a high bar was set by the group’s groundbreaking 1997 debut.

“I try to really get crazy with them, because we have a lot to live up to,” he says.

If a day filled with 25 different food trucks, each offering completely different variations of tacos doesn’t already sound like an excellent way to spend a Saturday afternoon, how about adding to that a full day of cutting-edge, eclectic bands?

The organizers of the San Jose Taco Festival made a concerted effort to book some interesting, up-and-coming bands for what they are hoping will be an annual festival in San Jose. They didn’t want the typical classic rock/cover bands that tend to serve as background music to most food-themed festivals. They wanted the kind of lineup people would check out even if there were no tacos.

“We wanted to book bands that were on the cusp of technology, but also bands that are more organic, really get a mixture of both worlds,” says music organizer Matt Gonzales.

At one end of the spectrum, they’ve booked acts like Turbo Sonidero Futuristico, who mix experimental electronic music with traditional cumbia, and Squareweezy, one of the DJs from San Jose’s innovative hip hop crew, The Bangerz.

On the other end, they’ve booked the Tumbleweed Wanderers, an acoustic Americana group with heartland rock and roll passion, and Los Hot Boxers and a local reggae, dancehall group with earnest doo wop elements.

While the bookings were deliberately diverse, they did want to make sure Latin music was represented. Besides Turbo Sonidero Futuristico, La Misa Negra plays strictly traditional cumbia, with a full horn section and lots of danceable percussion to work off those taco calories.

Probably the oddest nod to Mexican music at the festival will be the air accordion festival.

“They originally wanted to do an air guitar contest, but everyone does that, so they came up with an air accordion contest instead,” Gonzales says.

The Taco Festival will be held Saturday, April 14, at History Park, 1650 Senter Rd, San Jose, 11am-5pm; $7. More info.