Wednesday 30 March 2011

Big Pun & Fat Joe 'Twinz' Brooklyn Untouched remix (2000)


















I dont know much about Brooklyn Untouched other than that they dropped a few AV8 style remixes and party breaks some years ago. On this 12" they take the 'simple but effective' approach and drop the 'Twinz' acapella over Dre's 'The Next Episode' beat.



All together now: "Dead in the middle of Little Italy..." etc

Monday 28 March 2011

Max LX & Dave VJ on Kiss FM (1994)












My 300th post is also the first full tape I've dropped of Max LX & Dave VJ's infamous Kiss FM show! Broadcast every Wednesday from 7-9pm, the show kicked off with the Top 20 singles chart followed by an hour of upfront Hip Hop from both sides of the Atlantic. This show is from February 1994 and features music by Main Source, Volume 10, Cash Crew, Ice Cube and Nas. Make sure you check the Rap Report at the start of Part 2 for an excellent story/rumour about Big Daddy Kane!



If you aren't that up on Kiss FM's history it started as a pirate station in London in 1985 and became legal in 1990. The list of DJs that had shows on there reads like a Hall Of Fame: Soul II Soul, Westwood, Coldcut, DJ Hype, David Rodigan, Trevor Nelson, Norman Jay, Tuff Jam, Danny Rampling and pretty much anyone that was killing it in London in the 80s and 90s. I'm sure I'm not the only 30-something who's taste was shaped by its 'anything goes' playlist (a good example of this would be the mix I posted yesterday actually). During the day you could hear anything from Teena Marie, Barrington Levy and Masters At Work to the new Tribe or De La track. Anyway, I'm glad I was living close enough to London to pick it up; the BBC wasn't cutting it.

Thanks to diseone over at the DWG Forum for the tapes.

Sunday 27 March 2011

I Dont Like The Clubs But The Clubs Like Me - Volume 2














This is a mix not too disimilar from a set I played at a friend's house party last week. Not 100% Hip Hop but I'm going to post it up anyway...

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Tracklist
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam 'Let The Beat Hit Em'
MARRS 'Pump Up The Volume'
Groove Armada 'If Everybody Looked The Same'
Parker vs P Zilla 'Rock Dat'
Mooqee 'Pjanoo'
Ducked Off 'Anyway' (Soul Focus re-fix)
Stevie Wonder 'Do I Do' (U Tern re-edit)
Jackson Sisters 'I Believe In Miracles'
Gwen McRae 'All This Love That Im Giving'
Eric B & Rakim 'I Know You Got Soul' (Double Trouble remix)
Hot Day & Mystique 'I Found Love'
Rodney P, Kano, Swiss, Baby Blu, Yungun, Skibadee & MCD 'Rappers Delight'
Incredible Bongo Band 'Apache'
Chase & Status ft Kano 'Against All Odds'
Beatvandals & A Skillz 'Sunshine'
Tensnake 'Coma Cat'
The O Jays 'I Love Music'
Teddy Pendergrass 'You Cant Hide From Yourself'
Roy Ayers 'Running Away'
Raw Silk 'Do It To The Music'
Featurecast 'One More'
Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime'

Tuesday 22 March 2011

DJ Vlad - Classic Blends (2000)


















DJ Vlad is definitely one of the OGs as far as blend tapes go. Standouts on this set include 'Mighty Healthy' over 'Hail Mary' and pretty much all the blends using Dre's '2001' instrumentals.

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(click on the image to biggify the tracklist)


















I've been having a few problems uploading large files recently so haven't posted as much as I'd have liked. Hopefully normal service will resume soon.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Bars & Hooks ft Prodigy 'Mind Blowing' (2001)


















I first heard the tracks on this 12" on a DJ Juice mixtape 10 years ago. A few months back I finally got hold of a vinyl copy on discogs (shout out to DJ B.Cause).

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The lead track features the Mobb affiliates and Prodigy rhyming over the Gap Band's classic 'Outstanding' which is probably why I like it so much. 'Independence Day' uses the beat from 'The Message' and 'YBE' is a remix of the track originally found on Bandana P's 'HNIC' album.
Given how long it took me to track this down I was initially a bit reluctant to share it (old digging habits die hard!) but given the plethora of Mobb-related blog posts following Prodigy's release from prison I thought I'd give you something you might not have yet.








Nate Dogg RIP

Tuesday 15 March 2011

DJ 279 - Friday Night Flava on Choice FM (1993)




DJ 279 has been holding it down on the radio since the early 90s. Unfortunately while Westwood was broadcasting nationally and Kiss FM covered London and the surrounding counties, picking up Choice FM was pretty much impossible if you were off the tube map. As a result, tapes of The Numberman's Friday Night Flava shows are harder to come by than those of his competition (I've been asking around for a while now). Fortunately that man Mr Lawson has come through with a show from June 1993



Hopefully some more tapes will surface soon. If you want to check out more in the meantime, check Big Ted's blog for some audio of Nas on the show in 1994.

Sunday 13 March 2011

The Unstoppable Def Jam Sampler (1999)
















The late 90s saw Def Jam reclaim their spot at the top of the industry following a few years of dominance by Bad Boy and Death Row. The addition to the roster of the Rocafella and Murder Inc imprints alongside DMX and Redman & Method Man meant they pretty much had the East Coast locked down. This promo CD has a few things that weren't available elsewhere and is well worth checking out...

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Tracklist
Def Squad 'Full Cooperation'
DMX & Ja Rule 'I Shot Ya' freestyle
Ja Rule 'Criminology' freestyle
Jayo Felony ft Mack 10, WC, Method Man & DMX 'Whatcha Gonna Do'
LL Cool J 'The Ripper Strikes Back'
Method Man & Redman 'How High' (Live)
Method Man, Redman & DMX '4,3,2,1' (Live)
Onyx 'Freestyle'


NB: I've omitted the snippet tracks - if you really need a 90 second preview of Jay Z's 'Can I Get A...' this probably isn't the blog for you.

Friday 11 March 2011

DJ Soul 'No Ideas Original 2'


















DJ Soul drops the long awaited second volume of his mix of original breaks and samples

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Tracklisting can be found here HERE

Wednesday 9 March 2011

"Its ridiculous, nobody bust one shot for BIG..."


















I try and avoid following the pattern of most other Hip Hop blogs but as the Biggie and Craig Mack freestyle on Westwood was one of the first posts that got this site some attention, along with the fact I actually remembered it was March 9th today, I thought I'd drop a couple of B.I.G related things for you.
Pretty much everything Mr Wallace recorded has already been heard already (although the holy grail seems to his collabo with Onyx and Naughty By Nature - anyone holding that apart from Puffy?) so instead I'm gonna break tradition and come with something a bit more recent.

This is a mammoth posse cut by Busta Rhymes, Maino, Red Cafe, MOP, Uncle Murda, Styles, Sheek & Lil Cease called 'March 9th'. Produced by the UK's Dready, this is probably the most fitting tribute to Biggie. It sounds like it hasn't been mastered/mixed down properly but its still great anyway - nice and rowdy and a million miles away from 'I'll Be Missing You'. Not sure if this ever came out 'officially' but if anyone has a better copy then hook me up.


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As a bonus here's the Green Lantern remix of 'Letter To BIG' by Jadakiss


Artwork by 563 (again!)

If you want an interesting read on the story behind the whole Biggie/2Pac thing, realniggatumblr got something for you.

Shout out to Mike Nice.

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Tim Westwood - Capital Rap Show (1993)














Another one out of Mr Lawson's collection: Westwood on Capital back in 93 dropping some LONS, Black Moon, 2Pac, Erick Sermon and Big Daddy Kane.



Just realised that this blog is 2 years old today!

Tuesday 1 March 2011

A freestyle, a mix, a blend and a remix

Here's a few random bits and pieces I've found, been sent, and in the case of the blend made myself...


Big Ted sent over this Big Pun tribute mini-mix he made following the man's death over a decade ago
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Dirty Waters posted this rare freestyle by Big Daddy Kane, Sir Ibu & Kings Of Swing from around 1989-90.
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Another blend from myself: The Beatnuts 'Props Over Here' acapella over the 'Midnight' instrumental (one of favourite Tribe joints)
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AOL sent me over his remix of Large Professor's 'Rap Professional' which is very good and a must for those of you partial to some 90s boom-bap
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