The Get Down to the Champion Sound

DJ Esef, Selector KDK and Ras Matthew Give Sacramento a Weekly Dose of Reggae

By Nicole Martinez | Photo By Dominick Porras

Every week, right here in Midtown, reggae dancehall music gets put into heavy rotation at the Capitol Garage. Any Friday night you can walk into an atmosphere of dark lights and percussive rhythms that emulate the human heartbeat. You can hear DJs and music selectors spinning crates full of 45s that vibrate a mix of dub and dancehall music, as well as new and classic roots reggae into the air. That’s the “sound” at The Get Down to the Champion Sound. Together, host DJ Esef, Selector KDK and vocalist Ras Matthew have been sharing their enjoyment of playing and performing all forms of reggae music for four years. They often feature guest performers and occasionally an entire live band. Here is what they had to say about reggae and their personal stories behind their music.

How did The Get Down to the Champion Sound all start? Give us a little background.
DJ Esef: I got a message from a promoter who knew I spun reggae and asked me if I wanted to DJ a reggae night at the Capitol Garage. So we started from there. I came out here with a friend; we were all ready to DJ, and we ended up being double-booked. They already had some other gig going on that night, and we didn’t even play. Then it happened again the next time and so finally I just talked to the owner, and he gave us the responsibility of Fridays here at the Capitol Garage. Then I called up Kevin [Kinnard (KDK)] two or three weeks after we started and asked him if he wanted to do this with me every week, and he said sure. We printed up flyers and worked to get the word out. Kevin and I just started keeping it consistent until we started attracting more and more of a crowd until finally we were able to pack the place up every week. We started asking people to do it with us and inviting performers from around the West Coast and Nor-cal to come out. We built it up and got it more solid. Our sound system has played with Jah Warrior Shelter, Tribe of Kings Sound, Wokstar, Shortkut, Skatalites, Lutan Fyah, Afrika Bambaataa, Rankin Joe, and just all kinds of guest DJs. It’s funny. At first I wasn’t gonna do it. But I listened to my inner soul and knew that I had to at least try my hardest.

RM: There was Sunday night reggae at the Blue Lamp that was going on with Wokstar but nothing else. Then these guys [Esef and KDK] started it up and I started coming through every week and singing a little bit here and there. We just started building together. We all had similar interests and were telling each other about what music we liked. We got new stuff every week trying to keep people interested. We play the old hits and the new stuff and try to get a good selection.

How did you start DJing?
Esef: I used to play reggae music from CDs at house parties and take over the CD player all night. This was before I had turntables—when I was about 14. Then one time this dude was like, “Why don’t you just get some turntables and DJ the whole party, if you’re gonna do that,” so I was like yeah. I just put my mind to it and went and got some turntables. I remember I traded my Super Nintendo for one wooden pioneer mahogany turntable and my mom found me another one just like it. I got some records and I just made it happen. I started doing house parties with my friends and then got asked to DJ a variety of situations. It’s been over 10 years now since I started.

Selector KDK: I just started buying records. And Steve [Franklin (Esef)] was like, “You got a lot of records, why don’t you DJ and select?” I was like, “Well no, I don’t want to DJ, I just want to have my records.” And he was all, “No you got to fucking DJ if you’re gonna have records.” So I was like, “Alright, I’ll fucking DJ then,” and that’s how I started.

Why do you choose to play reggae?
Esef: The reason that I play reggae music mostly is because it is the music I relate to the most. It’s shown me a lot of positivity. I’ve met a lot of people through it. And, I find reggae to reflect every kind of feeling and memory in my own head. There is a reflection for everything and reggae feels the best to me. It brought me up and showed me the light when I was in the darkest moments as well as the most beautiful ones. Ska, dub and rocksteady reggae were basically the soundtrack to my life from the ages of 12 to 16.

KDK: I always liked punk rock and there was a time when reggae and punk rock kind of mixed for me. Out of all of it, I just love reggae music.
RM: Reggae is good to relax and dance and have a good time. It’s mostly about the unity vibes and a good feeling. I really appreciate it. It crosses over from all the hip-hop I was used to when I was young.

What has been your favorite part or the best thing about The Get Down to the Champion Sound so far?
RM: It’s really nice to meet a lot of people, and it’s a good time.

KDK: I just love being able to play music for people. I like being able to put something new that someone hasn’t heard into their heads, or play
something they have heard and make them dance.

Esef: I remember we invited Afrika Bambaataa, a legend in the music field, out and it was great. Even Sha1 and Borg1 came out; they’re both Elder Northstar Zulus, and there were a lot of people feeling good. Bambaataa was using Serato, and for some reason it wasn’t working. I felt bad because I couldn’t fix it, and I wanted to make sure his stuff was working. I was like, “I don’t know Bam, looks like there is a problem. Let me try and jiggle this wire some more and see what happens.” I was sweating it and he was like, “It will be all right.” [He was] just calm. I’ll never forget: he just looked at it and it’s like he zapped a vibe right into the hard drive with his physical being. He made it work with his mind and energy. It just showed me not to stress out and don’t freak out. You have to maintain your vibe, stay focused and productive then things work out. That’s what I do now.