Ren The Vinyl Archaeologist

As a bay area resident (by way of New York), Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist made his mark by curating top notch events featuring hip hop legends and supporting independent artists from the Bay and beyond. In 2000, his True Skool events won the "Best of the Bay" in the SF Bay Guardian. Ren has appeared on numerous publications, such as the XLR8R, 7x7, SF Weekly, SF Examiner, Mugshot and SF Magazine, to name a few. Since True Skool's inception in 1999, his online magazine and newsletter has served as a resource that covers hip hop history, politics, emerging artists and events. As a DJ, he has shared bills with world-renowned artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jeff, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert, Q-Bert, Cut Chemist, DJ Premier, Wu-Tang Clan, Lupe Fiasco, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Michael Franti & Spearhead, Lyrics Born, Masta Ace, Biz Markie, Dilated Peoples, The Coup, KRS-One, Pharcyde, DJ Bobbito, DJ Cash Money and the list goes on. His diverse selections are influenced by his east coast background, from b-boying in the early 80s to attending house parties and New York City clubs. He experienced the New York City underground rave scene in it's heyday at legendary rave parties such as Nasa at the Shelter in the early 90s. Then, the acid-jazz scene at Giant Step parties and the soul/funk revival at Soul Kitchen. Ren is a professional party rocker who can put it down among the best of them with a vast arsenal of vinyl weapons to drop on any dancefloor, ranging from hip hop & soul to electro, house and breaks to trip hop and acid jazz. He has graced many venues with his non-stop seemless sets with regular appearances at DNA Lounge, Mighty, Club 6, Poleng Lounge and the Shattuck Downlow. He has also made appearances at Ruby Skye, 1015, Independent, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Sony Metreon, among a slew of venues in San Francisco. In addition, he has appeared at Michael Franti & Spearhead's annual "9-11 Power to the Peaceful Festival", TV-20's "Distortion2Static" hip hop show, Myx.tv's "Built from Scratch" and KPFA's Hardknock Radio.