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One Man, Four Hustles: The Lone Star Junglist Who Does It All

One Man, Four Hustles: The Lone Star Junglist Who Does It All


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Emmanuel Pineiro is a local legend in his hometown of San Antonio, TX.  This South Texan not only DJs and is a turntablist, but he emcees, produces, and promotes his own events under the moniker 2Ten Platoon.  While DJing, he goes as Mighty Monkz; when he showcases his skills as an MC, you can refer to him as General Monkz.


Mighty Monkz is a serious part of the community:  he is CEO/General of 2Ten Platoon as well as representing Catalyst DNB, DNB Proper, DNB Heroez, Ramp Up Radio, MIA, AMP, Dancin’ Monkz, Texas DNB Expo, and Rinse & Rise.


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It’s with these crews and the friends within these crews that Pineiro pushes the sounds of drum and bass and jungle to all in the San Antonio area.  Included in this group are Tedd Dancin’, who goes B2B with Monkz as Dancin’ Monkz.  Other DJs include up-and-coming producer 4CR, Marcus Campbell, Flipcyde, and producer Ryuza.  According to Pinerio, “these guys have revived and redirected the way 2TP moves.”  He goes on to say that they aim for pure, positive vibes only.  They want to ensure that they are pushing the sounds of DNB in a fun and safe environment with no division or judgment.


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Pineiro describes his DJing style as “fatherless”—a term he uses to highlight the fact that he very much is self-taught.  Over the span of his decades-long DJ career, he has developed his own style.  He states that he loves all genres of drum and bass and jungle; more specifically he describes his style as a combination of reggae/hip-hop; live, on-the-fly mash ups; and jungle jump-up with a bit of minimal tech. Mighty Monkz’s philosophy on DJing is to “have fun, be yourself, and create your own style.” He goes on to explain that you should “never try and be like someone else.  Express yourself the way you feel good about it.”


Monkz has not only performed all over the San Antonio metropolitan area; he has performed all over Texas, including all the major cities as well as Brownsville, South Padre, and Corpus Christi.  He has had a national presence as well, for a while now, having played in both Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern California, and Las Vegas, NV, as well as having performed in the states of Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, and Iowa.


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Pineiro has shared lineups with many legends, both local and international.  As a DJ he has been direct support for London Elektricity, AK1200, Roni Size, SUV, Saxxon, DJ Dara, DJ Aires, and Dom & Roland.  Additionally, he has emceed with everyone already listed as well as DJ SS, Danny the Wild Child, LTJ Bukem, DJ Craze, Optiv, Bassline Smith, Tantrum Desire, Dave Owen, Dave Shichman, Scooba, SDoobie, and Fury in addition to many others.


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Pineoro first got into music through his family.  His parents frequently played Latin music at home; little Emmanuel also used to play the congas with his father at church.  He states that these moments are where rhythm and percussion were born within him.  He followed his dad’s lead and vibed with him while they played.  Pineiro was then introduced to reggae and dancehall music in 1994.


Monkz inadvertently got into drum and bass back in 1997 after hearing a track on a friend’s Deee-Lite album entitled Sampladelic Relics & Dancefloor Oddities.  He gravitated to one song, which he says shaped his life for almost three decades:  “Call Me (Method One Jungle Remix)”.  Pineiro dug the vibe of the song so much that he listened to it repeatedly, not really knowing what jungle was at the time, and definitely not knowing how this song would lead to a deep and intimate connection to jungle and drum and bass for the years to come.



Mighty Monkz learned to DJ before he became a raver, something that could be considered a rarity in this day and age.  His father was stationed in Panama in 1993, and upon seeing a flyer for DJ lessons at the military recreational center, he signed up.  The year before, young Emmanuel had seen the movie Juice, starring Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, and Jermaine Hopkins, which features a subplot where Epps’ character aspires to become a DJ and ultimately wins a DJ competition.  Remembering that film vividly, Pineiro immediately signed up.  Unfortunately, he did not touch turntables again for four years, but in 1997 another good friend, Phatrix, introduced Emmanuel to the Jungle section at a

local record shop.



As far as emceeing goes, General Monkz kept his rhymes to himself, as he did not feel brave enough to try to jump in with the likes of Likel, Shot, Jaski, Dino, Charles, and a few other emcees he admired at the time.  He says that he used to beat-box reggae tunes for them to rhyme over.  He also attributes the film Juice for his introduction to emceeing.


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Future aspirations for Mighty Monkz are to “spread love and build relationships with those who have the same vision for change and unity.  I aspire to make a difference in the culture by spreading awareness of oneself throughout our community.  We are all existing for a reason and if we love the same music it  should be about passion and love, so I aspire to be a known person of passion to the culture”.  When asked if there were any places he was dying to play, he listed off quite a few:  Respect, SD Union, Torque, DnB Tuesdays, I LOVE LA, Jungle Bells, EDC, Electric Forest, and Lost Lands.


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Mighty Monkz has been busy in the production studio.  He was recently showcased on a Sub Killaz EP on a track called “Bad Boy Bizness”, available for purchase on Beatport.  When the EP came out earlier this year, it hit #1, where it sat for a week straight.  He also has a few releases coming out in the future on Texas label QuaziScience, including one produced by Austin-based J. Augustus.



2Ten Platoon will be releasing some singles and EPs from Ryuza and 4CR as well as some collabs between Monkz and Flipcyde.  Pineiro says that 2Ten Platoon has a lot in store for the future.


You can catch the very Mighty Monkz every Tuesday on Drum and Bass Proper’s Twitch for Twist Up Tuesdays along with the other half of Dancin’ Monkz, Tedd Dancin’.  Every Sunday you can tune in to Rinse & Rise on the 2Ten Platoon Mixcloud.  Pineiro states that these streams help keep the tank moving, so make sure to tune in!


Also, make sure to keep up with Pineiro and his drum and bass goings-on through his links:





Biggest of ups! I'll be back in September with the next installment of drum and bass sample history.


<3

Tally G

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