‘Hip Hop Don’t Stop’ Overlord 4th Edition

Event Details

This event took place at Sky 9 Bar, 41 Đường Số 41, Thảo Điền, Quận 2, Ho Chi Minh City, from 9 PM on 6 June 2020 until 3 AM on 7 June 2020. Scientific Sound Asia returned to the rooftop venue for Hip-Hop Don’t Stop – Overlord 4th Edition, continuing the series with Old Skool beats, New Skool flavours and a free-entry night overlooking Saigon.

The fourth edition followed the success of Hip-Hop Don’t Stop Vol. 3, which had also taken place at Sky 9 Bar earlier in 2020. Rather than changing a format that had already worked, the Overlord Edition brought the same combination of Hip Hop, turntable culture and rooftop party atmosphere back to Thảo Điền.

FREE ENTRY remained an important part of the event and allowed guests to join throughout the six-hour session without needing an advance ticket. The rooftop setting gave the crowd space to dance, listen to the music and take in views across Ho Chi Minh City while the DJs worked through different periods of Hip Hop.

The musical idea behind the series was to connect Old Skool foundations with newer records rather than treating Hip Hop as belonging to one particular generation. Classic rap, party cuts and older break-driven selections could sit alongside more recent production while maintaining a consistent focus on beats, rhymes and DJ culture.

As with previous editions, Scientific Sound Asia used Technics SL-1200 turntables for the event. These decks became closely associated with Hip Hop, scratching, beat mixing and club DJing, making them an appropriate centrepiece for a night that placed the selector and the physical act of mixing records at the heart of the programme.

The SL-1200 format also connected the Overlord Edition with the earlier history of Hip Hop DJing rather than simply using modern digital equipment for convenience. Turntables allowed the night to retain a visible link with the techniques and equipment that shaped rap parties, battles and club sessions long before software became common behind the decks.

DJ Psycho-UK, also known as Bearhead, brought the central Old Skool perspective to the fourth edition. He started DJing at the age of fourteen in East London using a pair of Soundlab DLP1 turntables and a four-track mixer, beginning a career that had reached its thirty-second year by the time of this event.

Hip Hop formed one of the earliest foundations of his musical development. Artists including Public Enemy, KRS-One, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys helped shape his early interest in rap, DJing and record collecting before other underground styles began entering his sets.

Growing up in East London also placed him close to the arrival of House and Acid House in Britain during the late 1980s. As those sounds moved through clubs, warehouses and illegal parties, his musical interests widened while retaining the Hip Hop records and turntable techniques that had originally drawn him towards DJing.

Hardcore later emerged from the rave scene and eventually fed into Jungle and Drum and Bass, adding further styles to his background. Rather than replacing what came before, each new movement became another part of a record collection that already included Hip Hop and House.

DJ Psycho-UK also played on London pirate radio stations including AXE FM and Fantasy FM. Pirate broadcasting provided an important outlet for underground DJs at the time and helped new music circulate through communities that received little attention from mainstream radio.

His involvement extended into warehouse and squat-party culture around crews including Outcry Syndicate, OTT and London Overground. Those events were closely connected with the independent side of British rave culture and gave DJs opportunities to perform outside the restrictions of conventional commercial clubs.

Throughout that period, Hip Hop remained part of his musical foundation even when other genres became dominant in particular sets. The Hip-Hop Don’t Stop series allowed him to return directly to those roots and concentrate on rap, breaks and party records rather than moving through his full range of underground electronic music.

His DJ career later extended beyond Britain through performances in the West Indies, Australia and Vietnam. In London, appearances included venues such as Scala, Bagley’s Film Studios, 491 Gallery, 291 Gallery and 333 before his later activity became increasingly connected with Southeast Asia.

After becoming based in Ho Chi Minh City, DJ Psycho-UK played at Piu Piu, Basement, Indika, Cargo Remote, Pogo Beach Club, Dragon Beach and other venues around Vietnam. His performances ranged from Hip Hop and Drum and Bass to House and related underground styles depending on the event and promoter.

For the Overlord Edition, however, the focus returned to raw Hip Hop and the records that had accompanied him through more than three decades behind the decks. The format gave him room to move through Old Skool selections while retaining enough flexibility for newer records and party cuts to enter the programme.

That history made the fourth edition more than simply another rooftop playlist of familiar rap songs. The music was being selected by a DJ whose involvement with Hip Hop and underground dance culture stretched back to the period when several of those scenes were still developing.

The use of the Bearhead name added another identity associated with DJ Psycho-UK’s Hip Hop activity. It suited an event where the focus moved away from the Techno, House or Drum and Bass heard at some Scientific Sound Asia nights and concentrated instead on beats and rap culture.

Scientific Sound Asia had already established the Hip-Hop Don’t Stop series through earlier editions at The Lab - Shots & More and Sky 9 Bar. Each event kept Hip Hop at the centre while changing the balance between Old Skool material, New School records and the selectors appearing behind the decks.

The first editions in District 1 used The Lab’s rooftop and multi-floor setting before the series crossed into Thảo Điền for its third event. Returning to Sky 9 Bar for the Overlord Edition showed that the venue had worked well enough for the concept to establish a second home outside central District 1.

Thảo Điền offered a different nightlife environment from the crowded streets around Phạm Ngũ Lão. The rooftop setting at Sky 9 Bar gave the party a more open atmosphere while still allowing the music to remain strong enough for a proper late-night Hip Hop session.

The six-hour running time also gave the night space to progress naturally rather than relying on short sets and rapid changes. Old School Hip Hop could establish the foundations before newer records and harder party selections raised the energy as the night moved towards 3 AM.

The event arrived only weeks after the first major interruption to nightlife in 2020. For Scientific Sound Asia, it formed part of the return to physical events after a period in which restrictions had temporarily removed club nights and social gatherings from the city.

That context gave even a straightforward free-entry Hip Hop party additional significance. DJs and audiences were once again able to occupy the same space, and the rooftop format gave the night an appropriately open setting for people returning to nightlife.

Scientific Sound Asia’s activity around this period stretched far beyond Hip Hop. The organisation also promoted House, Techno and Drum and Bass events while developing its radio station, DJ agency and wider underground music network.

Hip-Hop Don’t Stop provided a dedicated space within that broader programme where rap and turntable culture could remain the main attraction. This distinguished the series from mixed-genre events where Hip Hop might appear only as one part of a much wider musical programme.

It also continued an event history that included live Hip Hop acts and internationally recognised turntablists. Scientific Sound Asia had previously brought Too Many T’s and JFB to Ho Chi Minh City, while local editions of Hip-Hop Don’t Stop gave the genre a recurring platform without depending on touring guests.

That balance between international bookings and regular local nights helped build continuity around the music. A headline artist could draw attention to Hip Hop, but smaller free-entry events allowed audiences to return to the genre more regularly and hear selectors working from deeper collections.

The Overlord Edition therefore relied on simple ingredients rather than elaborate production. A rooftop, free entry, Technics SL-1200s and a DJ with more than three decades of experience provided enough structure for a night devoted to Hip Hop.

Scientific Sound Asia now preserves this period through its events archive, music news, radio programming and artist activity. Pages such as this one document the smaller venues, resident DJs and recurring concepts that existed alongside the organisation’s larger international bookings.

Hip-Hop Don’t Stop – Overlord 4th Edition brought the series back to Sky 9 Bar on 6 June 2020 with Old Skool beats, New Skool flavours and the familiar Technics turntables behind the decks. With DJ Psycho-UK entering his thirty-second year as a DJ, the night connected East London Hip Hop roots with a free-entry rooftop session overlooking Ho Chi Minh City.