"Three key steps to leading a rewarding and enriched life: (1) wake up, (2) be awesome, (3) LISTEN TO PRESERVATION," as charismatically explained by Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def himself. Preservation is, in fact, a native New York DJ and producer, as well as a photographer and cinematographer, who actively records and releases music and was formerly known as Dj Jun. Preservation used to run and operate New Jersey-based Cloud City Studios and currently runs his own label imprint, Mon Dieu Music, which prides itself on "presenting a variety of cross-genre projects." Preservation has been part of a variety of groups and crews, over the years, including Dr. Yen Lo with Brownsville emcee Ka, Sonic Sum with Rob Sonic, Fred Ones & Eric M.O. and T.M.E. PRO with Fred Ones & Omar Agurto. As many of you may already well now, Mos Def is my all-time favorite emcee and for many years (maybe, even still?) Preservation functioned as Mos' in-house/touring DJ and submitted some of my personal favorite beats for inclusion on True Magic (2006) and his "last" proper release as Mos Def, The Ecstatic (2009) prior to his name change to Yasiin Bey and supposed "retirement" from both music and film.


Nearly six years ago, Preservation unleashed his full-album remix of The Ecstatic, fittingly titled The REcstatic, which, I believe, was Yasiin Bey's first proper release under his then-new nom de plum; there's a phenomenal REcstatic track-by-track breakdown + LP stream, penned by Preservation himself, over at okayplayer, which I would strongly suggest perusing through, if you haven't already. Preservation's lengthy list of production credits and past collaborators, also, includes Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, GZA, Raekwon & U-God, Aesop Rock, Sean Price, Jean Grae, Chris Dave & The Drumhedz, K'NAAN, Roc Marciano, KRS-One, Ed O.G. Lord Jamar, and Mach Hommy. Preservation's Bandcamp page boasts a wide array of self-released projects including his 2013 debut "solo" compilation, OLD NUMBERS with many of the aforementioned collaborators, his 2013 instrumental Barry White tribute, SePtember 1200, last year's February 4th EP with Mach Hommy, and most recently, "East Winds Calling." The latter is a nearly 9-minute Instrumental Hip-Hop medley that Preservation produced solely in Hong Kong with an array of sampled multi-layered breaks lifted from local Chinese records.


DJ Preservation's Bandcamp page describes "East Winds Calling" as "a colorful kaleidoscope of East & West. Enter the sounds of Hong Kong with "East Winds Calling." ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT THE CHARITABLE WORK OF MOTHER'S CHOICE HONG KONG." It appears as though "East Winds Calling" was released to coincide with The Chinese New Year, as Mon Dieu Music's Facebook page posted the proclamation, "Kung Hei Fat Choi!!" I was able to deduce, with a little investigative journalism (read: Google) that "Kung Hei Fat Choi" is, in fact, a blessing commonly exchanged on the first day of The Chinese Lunar New Year, according to Urban Dictionary. I personally spoke with Preservation late last year and through an exchange of emails back-and-forth, it appears as though "East Winds Calling" is just the tip of the iceberg of what's promised to be a full-fledged return to form after a self-imposed period of sabbatical. From what I can gather, it appears as though "East Winds Calling" is merely the first installment in what's poised to be an ongoing series channeling the traditional sounds of Hong Kong infused with Western Hip-Hop. DJ Preservation's "East Winds Calling" is currently available to stream or download from Mon Dieu Music's Bandcamp page with 100% of proceeds raised going directly to Mother's Choice Hong Kong.