Today is Ari Up's Birthday, she would have been 63. Glad I got to play and make music with her near the end of her life. In early 2000s, She would always show up at some of our Semiautomatic shows unannounced, even to us, to sing on some instrumentals, and she would take her giant beehive dreads down and whip em around like a lasso, hitting us and the crowd. We made some dancehall songs with her on our last record on 5RC. One time she told me to bring her a small practice amp for a show she is playing at Luxx, so I bring her one of those tiny 15 watt practice amp. When I got there, felt so embarrassed that her guest that was going to use that amp was Dez from Black Flag, didn't bother him though, he said they'll have to mic that tiny amp. Only regret is I wished I flipped all Ari's story into a book. They were amazing, learning bass from Joe Strummer at 13, her mom dating every member of Yes and ending up with Johnny Rotten who raised her twin sons. Her dad the polka king, her life after leaving all the fame in the UK and moving to Jamaica at a young age. Hendrix staying with them when he was starting out, so many stories. Those were fun times with her in Brooklyn in the early 2000s. They missed Ari's Medusa alter-ego that made some killer 12" records in Jamaica on her @hardcore_legends_trading_cards stat. Happy Birthday and rest in Peace, Ari Up!
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#ariup #theslits #ripariup #happybirthdayariup
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