Hip Hop Don’t Stop 5 Wu Dawg Edition

Event Details

Hip Hop Don't Stop 5 took place at Sky 9 Bar, 41 Đường Số 41, Thảo Điền, Quận 2, Ho Chi Minh City, from 9:20 PM on 18 July 2020 until 3 AM on 19 July 2020. Scientific Sound Asia returned to the rooftop venue for Hip-Hop Don’t Stop – Wu Dawg 5th Edition, continuing the series with Old Skool beats, New Skool flavours and another free-entry night overlooking Saigon.

The fifth edition followed the success of Hip-Hop Don’t Stop Vol. 4 at the same Thảo Điền venue and kept the format deliberately familiar. Rather than changing direction, the Wu Dawg Edition returned to the combination of Hip Hop, turntable culture and rooftop energy that had already become central to the series.

FREE ENTRY remained part of the appeal, allowing guests to arrive throughout the night without an advance ticket. Sky 9 Bar’s rooftop gave the crowd space to dance, socialise and take in views across Ho Chi Minh City while the music carried through to 3 AM.

The musical policy once again connected different generations of Hip Hop rather than concentrating on a single era. Old Skool records sat alongside New Skool selections, allowing classic rap, breaks and party cuts to meet newer production without losing the identity of the night.

As with previous editions, Scientific Sound Asia used Technics SL-1200 turntables behind the decks. The equipment had become a standard within Hip Hop DJ culture, giving the series a visible connection with vinyl mixing, scratching and the physical traditions that helped shape the genre.

The SL-1200 format also suited an event where DJ selection remained more important than elaborate staging. A pair of turntables, a strong record collection and a rooftop crowd gave Hip-Hop Don’t Stop all the ingredients it needed.

DJ Psycho-UK, also known as Bearhead, returned for the Wu Dawg Edition with another raw Hip Hop selection. By this point he was in his thirty-second year as a DJ, bringing more than three decades of record collecting and underground music experience into the series.

He began DJing at the age of fourteen in East London with a pair of Soundlab DLP1 turntables and a four-track mixer. Hip Hop formed one of the earliest foundations of his musical background before his interests expanded into House, Acid House, Hardcore, Jungle and Drum and Bass.

Growing up in East London placed him close to several major changes in underground British music. Hip Hop, imported House records, pirate radio, rave culture and the later emergence of Jungle and Drum and Bass all became part of the environment surrounding his development as a DJ.

Rather than abandoning earlier influences as new scenes emerged, his collection continued to expand across them. Hip Hop remained an important part of that history even when his performances moved towards rave, Jungle, Drum and Bass or House.

DJ Psycho-UK also played on London pirate radio stations including AXE FM and Fantasy FM. Those stations formed part of an underground network through which new records, DJs and emerging styles could reach listeners without depending on mainstream broadcasting.

His wider activity also included warehouse events, squat parties and underground party networks associated with Outcry Syndicate, OTT and London Overground. These environments strengthened his connection with independent music culture and placed turntables, sound systems and DJs at the centre of the experience.

The Hip-Hop Don’t Stop series gave him a dedicated setting in which to return fully to his rap roots. Instead of moving through the complete range of styles associated with his career, he could concentrate on raw Hip Hop, breaks and records chosen specifically for a party audience.

That approach suited the Wu Dawg Edition because the event did not need to rely on a major touring headline artist. The focus was on the records, the Technics decks and the relationship between the selector and the people on the rooftop.

The Wu Dawg name gave the fifth edition its own identity while keeping the playful naming style that had developed across the series. It suggested another nod towards classic Hip Hop culture without forcing the night into a strict tribute format.

By this stage, Hip-Hop Don’t Stop had already developed through several editions in different parts of Ho Chi Minh City. Earlier nights had taken place at The Lab - Shots & More in District 1 before the series moved across to Sky 9 Bar in Thảo Điền.

The third edition introduced Sky 9 Bar as a new home for the concept, while the fourth Overlord Edition confirmed that the rooftop setting suited the series. Returning for a fifth event demonstrated that the venue had become closely associated with Scientific Sound Asia’s recurring Hip Hop nights.

The rooftop gave Hip-Hop Don’t Stop a different character from an enclosed club event. Guests could move around the bar, enjoy the city views and stay close to the music without the night becoming overly formal or performance-driven.

That open setting also complemented the free-entry format. People could arrive specifically for DJ Psycho-UK or simply discover the party while already spending an evening in Thảo Điền.

The six-hour programme gave enough time for the selections to move between different periods of Hip Hop. Older records could establish the foundations before newer material, harder beats and party selections raised the energy later in the night.

The emphasis on both Old Skool and New Skool remained important because the series was not intended to become a nostalgia exercise. Hip Hop’s history could be represented while newer records showed how the music continued to change across generations.

DJ Psycho-UK’s background made him particularly suited to connecting those different periods. Having started long before digital DJ systems became standard, he could approach newer material from the perspective of someone whose original technique had been developed entirely around turntables and physical records.

At the same time, the event remained focused on entertaining a contemporary Ho Chi Minh City crowd. Historical significance mattered, but the purpose of the night was still to make people move rather than turn the rooftop into a lesson in DJ history.

The fifth edition also arrived during an unusual year for nightlife after the first major disruptions of 2020. The return of recurring events gave DJs and audiences another chance to reconnect physically after periods when normal club activity had been interrupted.

Scientific Sound Asia continued to support those gatherings while maintaining its wider underground music activity. The organisation combined events with its radio station, DJ agency and music news coverage.

Hip Hop occupied an important place within that broader programme alongside House, Techno, Jungle and Drum and Bass. Hip-Hop Don’t Stop provided the genre with a recurring local platform rather than restricting it to occasional international bookings.

Scientific Sound Asia had already presented international Hip Hop and turntablism events involving artists such as Too Many T’s and JFB. The recurring rooftop series complemented those larger bookings by giving the music a regular free-entry home for local audiences.

That combination helped create continuity around Hip Hop within the organisation’s events programme. Touring artists could bring major individual nights, while Hip-Hop Don’t Stop kept the records moving between those larger occasions.

The Wu Dawg Edition therefore relied on simplicity rather than spectacle. Free entry, Technics SL-1200s, a rooftop and a DJ with thirty-two years of experience were enough to give the fifth edition its identity.

Hip-Hop Don’t Stop – Wu Dawg 5th Edition returned to Sky 9 Bar on 18 July 2020 with the same basic ingredients that had made the previous Thảo Điền events work. DJ Psycho-UK supplied raw Hip Hop, Old Skool beats met New Skool flavours, and the rooftop carried the music over Saigon until 3 AM.