Hip Hop Don’t Stop 11 at Night Life Bar: Presented by Scientific Sound Asia

Event Details

This event took place at Night Life Bar, 8/21 Đường 49B, Thảo Điền, Thủ Đức, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, from 8 PM on 21 June 2024 until 2 AM on 22 June 2024. The venue has since closed, but the original location has been retained for archive accuracy.

After a short break, Scientific Sound Asia returned to Night Life Bar with another edition of Hip Hop Don’t Stop. The series brought Hip Hop, Rap and turntablism back to Thảo Điền with a music policy stretching from the 1970s and 1980s through the 1990s and into the 2000s.

The event kept the format deliberately simple, combining classic records, affordable drinks and free entry in a smaller neighbourhood venue. Technics SL-1200 turntables remained central to the presentation, keeping the night connected with the DJ culture that had shaped earlier editions of Hip Hop Don’t Stop.

DJ Psycho-UK led the night for Scientific Sound Asia alongside special guests. His background in East London Hip Hop, turntablism and underground club culture made the series a natural place to return to the records that first influenced him as a teenager.

He began DJing at the age of fourteen and developed through the period when Hip Hop was expanding rapidly across London. Public Enemy, KRS-One, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys were among the artists that shaped his early listening before Acid House, Hardcore, Jungle and Drum and Bass widened his musical direction.

That wider history has always given Hip Hop Don’t Stop more scope than a straightforward Old School night. Rap from different decades can sit beside Funk breaks, turntablist routines and records connected with the wider culture around sampling, DJing and beat production.

For this edition, the focus moved across several generations rather than concentrating exclusively on the golden age. Early Hip Hop and 1980s records could sit beside 1990s Boom Bap and material from the 2000s, giving the night a broad chronological range while keeping the core musical identity intact.

The use of Technics SL-1200s reinforced that connection with traditional DJ practice. Manual mixing and record-based technique remained part of the attraction, particularly for a series rooted in Hip Hop culture rather than purely contemporary digital club presentation.

The event followed earlier editions of Hip Hop Don’t Stop that had appeared across a variety of Ho Chi Minh City venues and formats. Pool parties, daytime festival editions and late-night club sessions had all been used while the underlying emphasis on Rap Music, DJs and Hip Hop culture remained consistent.

One of the most substantial earlier editions was Hip Hop Don’t Stop 9 at The Local Saigon, which expanded the idea into a daytime festival with DJs, food, clothing and wider cultural activity. The Night Life Bar edition returned the concept to a smaller and more direct club format.

The series had also reached its tenth edition with the 50 Year Anniversary celebration at The Local Saigon in 2023. That event placed the history of Hip Hop itself at the centre of the programme, while the June 2024 edition continued the same multi-generational approach on a much more intimate scale.

Night Life Bar had also become connected with Scientific Sound Asia’s bass events during this period. The venue hosted the early DnB Saigon sessions, allowing different strands of the organisation’s programme to share the same compact Thảo Điền space.

That crossover reflected the broader musical background around Scientific Sound Asia rather than forcing every night into one style. Hip Hop, Jungle, Drum and Bass and House all appeared through different dedicated series, each with its own identity and audience.

For Hip Hop Don’t Stop, however, the brief remained clear: Hip Hop and Rap from multiple decades, played on proper turntables in a relaxed setting. Cheap beer, affordable drinks and free entry helped keep the night accessible without turning it into a heavily produced headline event.

The special guests were not identified in the surviving event information, so the archive retains that wording without attempting to add names retrospectively. Preserving incomplete information as incomplete keeps the page accurate while reflecting the way the original event was advertised.

Scientific Sound Asia’s wider activity connects these events through its radio station, DJ agency, events programme and music news. Hip Hop Don’t Stop remains the platform’s dedicated outlet for the Rap, turntablism and DJ culture that formed part of its musical foundations.

Night Life Bar has since closed, but the June 2024 edition remains part of the Scientific Sound Asia archive as another compact Thảo Điền session built around classic records and DJ culture. DJ Psycho-UK and special guests kept the focus on Hip Hop from the 1970s through the 2000s, free entry and the simple pleasure of hearing the music played properly on Technics SL-1200s.