I, along with millions of other Americans, was completely shocked at the passing of DJ Am last Friday, August 28. I had heard his name previously and new he was in the hip dj crowd, but had never exposed myself to his creative interpretation of music. After his passing, I wanted to listen to some of his work and downloaded Fix Your Face Volume 2, a mixtape that he and Travis Barker released. First, I must make note that the mixtape was free but you had to “pay” to get it by sending a tweet. Definitely a savvy social media move! Back to the music – this mixtape has to be the BEST mixtape I have ever heard! NO LIE! Never have I heard a mixtape in which the dj goes from The Beatles to Biggie to Warren G to Metallica to Jay-Z to The Mamas and The Papas to Lil John + more. I’ve been listening to Fix Your Face Vol 2. nonstop for the last few days and every time I feel as though I need to be in a club with some strobe lights – and I don’t even go out! It was only natural that I had to go back and download Fix You Face Vol.1 too!

Another part of my research informed me that DJ AM, Adam Goldstein back then, was a member of the group Crazy Town. Their most popular single was Butterfly and was one of my jams back in the day. It’s super ironic that in the Butterfly video, one of the band members was rockin a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) T-shirt :/ DJ AM had previously been addicted to crocaine and ecstacy as was currently working on his own drug recovery series for MTV called Gone Too Far. This whole story is so sad, but serves as an example for other people who struggle with drug addictions. I want to celebrate not only DJ AM’s life, but the impact he has and will continue to have on people’s lives.

We can celebrate the music too! The following is a produced video of TRV$DJAM (Travis Barker + DJ AM) from Fix Your Face Volume 1 = absolutely amazing talent!