True Skool

About me:

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, Mugshot and SF Magazine, to name a few. Since True Skool's inception in 1999, his online magazine and newsletter has served as an information resource that covers emerging artists, hip hop history, politics, and events. As a DJ, he has shared bills with world- renowned artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jeff, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Red Alert, Q-Bert, Roc Raida, Z-Trip, DJ Premier, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Masta Ace, KRS-One, The Coup, Lupe Fiasco, Lyrics Born, Pharcyde, DJ Bobbito, DJ Cash Money, Dan the Automator and Cut Chemist, to name a few. His diverse selections are influenced by his east coast background, from b-boying in the early 80s to the club scene in NYC. He experienced the New York City underground rave scene in it's heyday at legendary rave clubs such as Nasa 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 and KPFA's Hardknock Radio. "Ren has blown up big-time with his roving club, True Skool, to become one of the Bay's foremost curators of hip-hop culture, scoring umpteen legendary artists to appear at his events... He mines his crates for crafty gems, rocking solid gold and soulful academics into mixes aimed to spark your thoughts and move your feet." - SF Guardian (2/9/05)

"...we owe the underground's success to organizations like True Skool, which represents the voices that are neglected, or muzzled by commercial radio." - SF Guardian (11/26/03)

"DJ Ren the Vinyl Archaeologistâ€,,s hip-hop night, True Skool, has transformed the SF club landscape from mundane to magic as it presents the cream of international rhyme sayers and beat-slangers." - XLR8R Magazine (Oct. 2002)

"Best of the Bay 2001" - SF Guardian

You can find out more about me and True Skool at http://www.true-skool.org