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The Roc Boys Family Reunion…

treatment on Flickr”>Roc Boys Reunion in Indiana

Ughh, physician on my last little world wurlwind Run, I made a stopover in Stockholm sweden. 1st Time out here rocking solo actually. But not my 1st time here.

The 1st Time I was here in Sweden was with Jay-z and the Roc Boys Band.

In fact, my time here was the 1st Blog Post I ever made when I used to have this tour blog up for LTD Magazine. Peep myself, with Members of the Horn Section site seeing in the Old City Below.

Now of course, this brought back many a memory for me.

If ya’ll been paying attention to my recent journeys, I actually missed doing the last tour with Jay as my schedule went from working with the 3 stripes of the Blueprint, to the Three Stripes of Adidas. I’m not really sure if I ever will go on tour again to be honest, you know when its time for the kid to leave the parents nest, your success is when you make your own path, when you find your own home.

I did a lot of travelling when I was on tour, and did many significant groundbreaking events . Being the First Hip Hop Representative on the 1’s and 2’s to celebrate the inauguration of A U.S. President. Backing up Jay for tons of Rock Festivals all over europe, helping him hold down the headline spot at the Glastonbury Festival, the 1st Time A Hip Hop Act ever did that…

I actually DO NOT miss a lot of it. The Touring life… It’s a hectic one. Every nite you sleep in a different bed. You live your life on buses and airplanes, and trains. You are gone from the place you are visiting before you even get there . It seems glamourous, but that lifestyle is meant for a strong chosen few, not everyone is meant to handle it.

You leave your friends and your family behind, constantly surrounded by unfamiliar faces with the exception for the people that are on the road with you. So the People you travel with… they become your family. The Roc Boys, they became my family, for better and for worse ;) .

Now , the Roc boys have gone through some personnel changes throughout my time with Jay – mostly the Horn section changes, and now my man Young GURU is on the 1’s and 2’s . The last time we were on tour, this was the lineup, and mostly its stayed the same –

Out of everything on tour I could miss, chillin with the roc boys on the top of that short list.

l to r : me, tony royster jr, Shaun Carrington, Omar Edwards, Tony chicago Russell, the core of the roc boys

Now don’t get it twisted. I was The Asian Dude with a bunch of black Folk on tour… so best believe I got a lot of heckling. But its like a tour of duty when you go to war I guess… You go through a shared experience that no one else has, you end up making brothers.

When we made a stop in Indiana last month, I did an afterparty for one of the concerts, and for the 1st time in a while I got to see the Roc Boys,and it was like I said above… A family Reunion ….

Roc Boys Reunion in Indiana

When we got together, it was all pounds and smiles… A lot of, “we miss you brother neil”, and I mos Definitely missed them… even after all the crap they would give me ;)

Roc Boys Reunion in Indiana

The Roc Boys ARE :

Omar Edwards – Musical Director / Keys
Shaun Carrington – Guitar
Tony “Chicago” Russell – Bass
Tony Royster Jr – Drums
Brett Baker – Percussion
Jeff Bradshaw – Trombone
Aaron Goode – Trombone (current)
Lamont Caldwell – Sax
Monty Reynolds – Keys
Lee Hogans – Trumpet
Matt Cappy – Trumpet (current)
YOUNG GURU – DJ

And me ;) Yours truly, gets to say he Rocked with the Best. Here below are some of our greatest hits ;)

The Roc boys on the way to Nigeria – on the G4 ;)

Roc Boys at the All Points West Festival

Roc Boys at the Inauguration of President Obama

Roc Boys Horns at Electric Lady Studios

Hazing the Roc Boys

Me And Matt Cappy At Wimbledon

The Roc boys and Jay are about to head out on tour again soon. Right now they are gettin ready to tear down COCHELLA . Myself… well my own wings are spread now… and I got a bit of touring to do of my own ;) CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII… HERE I COME.

Roc Boys. Salute .

From Flushing to Madison Square – me & my old boss in some new documentary…

This year I’ve moved on from the 3 stripes of the Blueprint to the 3 stripes of Adidas, sovaldi but there are still remnants of my days wearing all black everything surfacing in the public consciousness on the daily.

Recently a new Short Film has been making its rounds –

ABSOLUT® VODKA UNVEILS “NY-Z” – A SHORT FILM FEATURING LEGENDARY ARTIST AND NATIVE NEW YORKER JAY-Z
Director Danny Clinch and Hip-Hop Icon Pay Tribute to New York City with Black & White Short Film; Latest Creative Collaboration from World’s Most Iconic Vodka
NEW YORK (March 22, 2010) – Today, as part of an ongoing creative collaboration with JAY-Z and Madison Square Garden (MSG), ABSOLUT® VODKA introduces “NY-Z” – a 14-minute short film featuring JAY-Z and directed by popular music and culture photographer Danny Clinch. Featuring exclusive footage of JAY-Z and John Mayer as they prepare for the September 11 benefit concert at MSG, NY-Z offers a rare glimpse into the life of native New Yorker Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter as he discusses his hometown and what it means for an artist to “arrive” with a performance at the world’s most famous arena. The short film is available for viewing at facebook.com/ABSOLUT.

At that time I was still running around the world on the 1’s and 2’s for jay, so yours truly has appearances peppered throughout the documentary.

NY-Z

NY-Z

NY-Z

NY-Z

From Flushing to Madison Square ;) Roc Boys 4Ever….

Adidas Originals & Neil Armstrong Welcome y’all to the neighborhood….

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNOA3Veod8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNOA3Veod8s

So you guys have most likely seen the Imperial March Recreation we did in NYC with me and Snoop Dogg, drugstore and hopefully the Star Wars X Adidas video short that hit the internet last Jan – I put a post up about it in this here hypebeast blog so if you haven’t seen it for shame for shame!

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZooYDKIDOaQ

Well, buy this is the FULL length add, cure introducing you to the street where originality Lives – with a plethora of Adidas Representatives across the Entertainment plane. And your’s truly , Neil Armstrong is one of the Hip Hop Representatives holding it down for adidas and for Originality – and you know this ;)

Quite a list. Peep my cameo where I kick in the door… they had me set up in all this crazy gear just to get like… a half second shot ;)

Screen shot 2010-03-17 at 8.11.58 PM


Welcome to the street where originality lives; the adidas Originals neighborhood. This is where athletes, musicians, skaters, artists, entertainers and more all come together to show their colors, their style and their originality.

Our neighbors include Adrienne Bailon, Agyness Deyn, Ana Ivanovic, Calle 13, Cheer Chen, Ciara, David Beckham, DJ Neil Armstrong, Fernando Verdasco, Hyori Lee, Ian Brown, Jay Baruchel, Jeremy Scott, Louise Roe, Mr. Hudson, N-Dubz, Noel Gallagher, Snoop Dogg, Tallulah Morton, Whitney Port and, most importantly, YOU!

Visit: http://www.adidas.com/originals
Become a Fan: http://www.facebook.com/adidasoriginals

The Next Chapter Begins…

What a year its been so far.

2010 has held only one constant for me, malady and that is that things are CONSTANTLY CHANGING.

Here we now have for the 1st time, a website for the brand – http://djneilarmstrong.com.

I welcome of y’all to the new site, which will be the homebase to get a taste of all my future projects and endeavors. But lets take a quick sec back to about a month ago, when the next chapter of my life started.

Time to reflect.

What has happened in my life over the last two years is nothing short of incredible.

2010 is poised to be a boundary-pushing year for me–new horizons and new creative challenges. Above all: the start of the next chapter.

If in January of 2008 you told me that I would travel the world with Jay-Z, perform at the Olympics in Beijing and at President Obama’s Inaugural Ball with the Roc Boys, have bagels on Damien Hirst’s boat, represent the elements of hip-hop alongside Kanye and Coldplay, perform at MSG for the firefighters and police lost in 9/11–and now be featured in a global TV campaign for Adidas and Star Wars (with David Beckham and Snoop Dogg nonetheless)–I would have said, “yeah right.” Didn’t you know: I’m just a turntablist?

But that has all happened. Now in 2010 you will see me embark on a new chapter in my life: as a Global Spokesperson for Adidas.

I’ve gone from the three red stripes of the Blueprint 3 and onto the three white stripes of Adidas. From the premier face of hip-hop to the kicks that rep it best: my adidas.

For Jay’s upcoming tour, my familiar face will not be there behind the 1’s and 2’s. Hov will be “Armstrong-less,” but I’m sure that he and the Roc Boys will be more than alright. And who knows, maybe if my schedule and Mr. Carter’s coincide, and the stars align for the right reasons, you might see me at a stadium near you — once again throwing up that almighty diamond.

But for now , my seemingly impossible career, has led me to the brand that coined the term ‘Impossible Is Nothing’.

While the Roc Boys and Mr. Carter are poised to travel far and wide in the name of the music I love most, I’ll be on my own award tour repping for Adidas and rocking parties for you the people. And when I’m not on the road, I’ll be back in the lab, back in my creative space making new mixes and an array of other musical treasures. (**I know a lot of y’all new fans know me as Jay-Z’s tour DJ–but previous to that I was known for the “gourmet mixtapes” that I would drop every so often).

Now let the story begin with this … a project I have been working on for quite awhile which I was planning on dropping right before this next tour started…

Download here for free – The DNA of the Blueprint. A tribute mix to thank Mr. Carter for all the amazing opportunities he has given me.

Signing off, two handle slaps and a Navy salute,
DJ Neil Armstrong
One of Jay-Z’s Tour DJ’s
Founder of the Almighty 5th Platoon
Global Spokesperson for Adidas and Aerial 7

2010 till infinity ya’ll

Aerial 7 Celebrates the new website….

site on Flickr”>aerial7

Above is a pic from the last time I was out in England – at a show with Jay-z and Coldplay at Wembley Stadium.

My headphone of choice for a while now has been Aerial 7.

For the Website Launch, sovaldi sale they are helping me celebrate by offering my fans a discount on their fine audio producto –

neil_aerial7_featured

Thats right, seek you can save 20% on your entire headphone order.

When you check out use the code – NEILA7 and you will get that automatic discount.

Pretty Sweet huh ;)

Happy Shopping – I promise, your ears and your wallets will be happy!

Visit the aerial7 site at http://www.aerial7.com.

complex mag / g-shock party at vanity

FREE Download – the DNA of the Blueprint : Jay-z X Neil Armstrong

On March 3rd I released the project that I’ve been planning on dropping since Sept 11th of 2010 – A tribute mix for Jay-z’s Blueprint series.

Well, stuff after a VERY Hectic Touring schedule with jay across North America and Spot Dates in Europe, treatment a solo run out in Australia, search and running around with stormtroopers and Darth Vader for Adidas, I was finally able to see the project come to fruition.

Here it is, presented FREE , http://djneilarmstrong.com/DNABP3.

This mix is a thank you message to Mr. Shawn Corey Carter, Hova, Jay-Z, for the opportunity he gave me to Rock along side him and the rest of the Roc Boys.

It should at the least remind all of y’all, why he’s the King.

Make sure to catch the BluePrint 3 Tour when it hits a town near you… this mix I did should get y’all warmed up properly.

A Day in the Life…

Neon Gorilla presents A Day In The Life of DJ Neil Armstrong, try the Official DJ of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 Tour. The Neon Gorilla crew documented Neil during the tour’s stop in Toronto, drugstore which was also the official release day of our Ransom by Adidas Footwear Collection.

Take a look as he stops by the shop, the concert, afterparty, along with an interview.

www.ransomholdingco.com
www.livebeaumonde.com