Monday 29 December 2014

Bloggin On Chrome


Those Kay Slay CDs are doing big numbers so I wasn't going to post anything else til 2015 but I've come across a few things that might be of interest to you and yours as we're in that part of the year where its likely you'll have a bit more time to kill than usual....

Miami Bass documentary The Bass That Ate Miami 

New Durrty Goodz that dropped (for free) on Christmas day 

Interview with DJ Rei Double R & G Bo The Pro

PF Cuttin on East NY Radio 18th Dec 2014

15 Larry Smith classics

DJ Platurn - The Best Of A Tribe Called Quest part 1

4 Hero classic funk & soul podcast for Rinse FM

Happy New Year!

Thursday 25 December 2014

Kay Slay - Original Gangsters pt 3 (DISC 4)


The 4th and final disc in this set. All freestyles on this one...

DOWNLOAD

Happy Christmas!

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Kay Slay - Original Gangsters pt 3 (DISC 3)

Here's Disc 3. This one is mostly R&B with some remixes and a stack of blends - the Lucy Pearl one is a particular standout - and then gets back to what you'd expect to hear on a Streetsweepers mix...



Saturday 20 December 2014

Kay Slay - Original Gangsters pt 3 (DISC 1)

I just got hold of this 4 disc Kay Slay set that dropped around 2000 so thought I'd share a disc at a time in the run up to Christmas. This mixtape was particularly notable as the Drama King managed to get Harlem legends AZ and Alpo on the phone together and their conversations are used for intros and interludes throughout the CDs. There's also a stack of rare and unreleased joints on here, plus Disc 4 is all freestyles so keep checking back and I'll try and get the whole lot by December  24th...



Saturday 13 December 2014

DJ Three - Underground Flow 2 (1996)

When you think of the indie rap era, it typically brings to mind that period in the late 90s when labels like Rawkus, Guesswhyld and Game and a certain type of sound came to prominence. Independent labels had obviously existed prior to that though, but it was on an even more low key and underground basis, without the additional exposure that comes with something being officially considered part of a new sub-genre or "scene". Limited pressings (as opposed to the five figure numbers Rawkus were probably shifting) and usually in plain black sleeves with limited info - no glossy sleeves and picture covers. It was rare to even know what the artists looked like and for some of them it might have been the only mark they made in the rap world. There was a slew of great, if slightly obscure, 12"s in the mid 90s and a bunch of them are included on this DJ Three tape....


Sunday 7 December 2014

Don't Sleep #5:
Boss 'Progress Of Elimination' remix (1993)


So far in this series, I've posted songs by artists from Chicago, New York, LA and Miami. This time out I'm going with something from Detroit, and its by a WOMAN. Turns out some of them can rap. They'll be wanting to vote next. Anyway, like most people, I was a fan of Boss's single 'Deeper' which got some heavy rotation on Yo! MTV Raps and rap radio shows back in 93. Unlike most people (I think?) I bought her album 'Born Gangstaz', which featured production by Erick Sermon, T Ray, Chyskillz and Def Jef. The Barry White/Aswad sampling 'Deeper' was the standout track but the remix of the follow up single 'Progress Of Elimination' has always been a personal favourite...



As with some of the best female rappers, Boss had someone write her raps for her. In this instance, the aforementioned Def Jef and someone called Ricardo Royal are on biro duties, with bars that bring to mind 90s Kool G Rap and I actually thought he might've been behind this one until I checked Discogs. Boss' delivery of the street narrative is suitably on point and there's a nice late night G Funk vibe underpinning the track (not that dissimilar to the beat Jef provided for Shaq around the same time). Despite leaving us with a fairly small discography, it's probably fair to say that Boss laid the foundations for Mel B, Alesha Dixon, Rick Ross and other rappers with boobs.

Check previous Don't Sleeps here

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Thee Mike B - That Bout To Rain Rap Mix (2014)

I've been a bit slack keeping up with new rap this year so It's going to be a case of keeping an eye on certain people's end of year lists and cherry picking a few goodies. Fortunately the ever reliable Mike B just dropped this new mix so thought I'd link it up...

GO HERE

Friday 28 November 2014

Bobby J - Radio 1 Rap Show (1995)

Bobby J of The Flip Squad in the mix for 60 minutes on Westwood's show back in February '95. Technically, he's not always the most on-point on the 1s & 2s but the selection is decent. This was the first tape I had 'This Is How We Do It' on which meant it was quite in demand with the ladies in the 6th Form common room, back when you had to wait for things to be in shops before you could own them. Along with Montell, you get Biggie, Capleton, Lost Boyz, DaBrat, Mary J and more, plus a few party breaks chucked in.


If anyone can ID the track between Lost Boyz and Who Shot Ya then let me know. I think it might be Natural Elements or something related to them but that's just a guess.

Sunday 23 November 2014

DJ Clyde - Old Skool (1996)

 90 minute TDK biz featuring DJ Clyde out of Paris mixing up some 80s Hip Hop classics. Side A covers the Sugarhill era and stuff like Spoonie Gee, Fat Boys, Treacherous 3 and Kurtis Blow while side B moves it on with some LL, Original Concept, Just Ice and Run DMC...

DOWNLOAD   STREAM SIDE A    STREAM SIDE B

I copped this from MK at Handspun Records in Soho back in the day and speaking of MK, he's just dropped some new music with DJ Go and Piff Gang's Super Dirtie & Phaze What


Saturday 22 November 2014

Mister Tobes & DJ Dub present Heatwavez (2014)

80s R&B kingpin MR TOBES (Sparkle Motion) recruits electronic music mastermind DJ Dub (Invader FM) for an hour's worth of top choice female Freestyle and Electro grooves from the mid to late 1980s...
Featured tracks include the Bernard Edwards produced magic of 'Don't You Want Me (Remix)' by Jody Watley, the Kurtis Mantronik Trap-blueprint-brilliance of Nocera's infectious 'Summertime, Summertime', the Armand Van Helden sampled smash 'Do You Want It Right Now' by Siedah Garrett and the timeless pop classics 'Crush On You' and 'Tell It To My Heart' by The Jets and Taylor Dayne, respectively.
Perfect for the beach, gym or your next B-Boy/B-Girl showdown. Download and enjoy the sizzle...
TRACKLIST:
Shannon - Stronger Together
Sweet Sensation - Hooked On You
Wish f/Fonda Rae - Touch Me (All Night Long)
Jody Watley - Don't You Want Me (Remix)
Taylor Dayne - Tell It To My Heart
Carmen - Time To Move
Brenda K. Starr - What You See Is What You Get
Nu Shooz - Don't Let Me Be The One
Jets - Crush On You
Pretty Poison - Catch Me I'm Falling
Siedah Garrett - Do You Want It Right Now
Eileen Flores - Touch Me With Your Heart
The Jets - Cross My Broken Heart (Extended Version)
Xena - On The Upside
Pyjama Party - Yo No Sé
Exposé - Point Of No Return
Vikki Love With Nuance - Just Love You
Exposé - Come Go With Me (Extended Mix)
Rochelle - Magic Man
Angela - All Hung Up
Nocera - Summertime

Thursday 20 November 2014

DJ Premier - WBLS Thunderstorm (1994)



Primo in the mix on NY radio back in '94.

Not one of my own rips but something I picked up from a blog many moons ago so thought I'd throw it on the Mixcloud page, which is still on and poppin with mixes from the OBFZL archives being uploaded every day.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Mick Boogie - Pretox (2005)

As its now 15 years  - not 13 -  since '2001' dropped, I thought I'd share this Mick Boogie mix of Dre collabos,  productions, b-sides, remixes and unreleased joints. It covers everything from The Chronic era, The Firm, the ill fated inception of (pre-Eminem) Aftermath up to about 2004/05 with stuff like Rakim's 'After You Die'...




Its also over 2 years since this post ...


Sunday 9 November 2014

DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Volume 2 (2014)



Earlier this year I put together an hour long mix of remixes of 90s tracks. Here's volume 2...

DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
De La Soul - Ego Trippin Part 2 (LA Jay remix)
Brand Nubian - Love Me Or Leave Me Alone (remix)
A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God (UK Flavour)
Leaders Of The New School - Whats Next (Large Professor remix)
Run DMC - Ooh Whatcha Gonna Do (The Principle remix)
Das EFX - Freakit (remix)
Gang Starr - Code Of The Streets (Kenny Dope remix)
Masta Ace - Sittin On Chrome (Pitkin Ave mix)
Kirk - Uptown Style (Laidback Bounce extended mix)
Slick Rick - Behind Bars (Dum Ditty Dum mix)
Lost Boyz - Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz (Dat Nigga mix)
2Pac - Temptations (Battlecat Hip Hop mix)
Nas - Street Dreams (R Kelly remix)
Rakim - The Saga Begins (Desert Eagle Discs remix)
Dilated Peoples - Work The Angles (remix)
Mos Def & Talib Kweli ft Black Thought - Respiration (Flying High mix)

Thursday 6 November 2014

Don't Sleep #4:
2 Live Crew ft JT Money 'Fuck A Gang' (1990)


It's hard to believe in 2014, but once a upon a time rappers - and not just the corny ones - made records that were specifically against drugs, drug dealing, gangs and violence. It's fair to say that the last place you'd expect you'd expect to find such a track would be on a 2 Live Crew album (which is essentially what Luke's 'Banned In The USA' LP is). Obviously the Crew's main themes were sex, with a bit of partying chucked in before having a bit more sex while Mr Mixx finished the latest volume of the Megamix to close out the album.
I get the impression alot of people might've passed on this LP back in the day but for a 13 year old me and my mates at school though, tracks like Face Down Ass Up and Strip Club were golden. There is some great rap on there that isn't aimed squarely at a juvenile sense of humour; Man Not A Myth, To Luke From The Posse and I Ain't Bullshittin part 2 were all in contention for this post but I went with Fuck A Gang. There's no outright dis on it but given it dropped at the height of NWA's popularity, and Luke would get into some beef with Dre and Snoop a couple of years later, maybe he was taking a shot at them here. Great song either way.



Check Don't Sleep #1, 2 & 3

Friday 31 October 2014

Sickamore 'Watch Me Do Me' (2003)

NYC, August 2003. I'm walking back to my hotel when I hear some music playing. Looking over I realise I've finally found somewhere selling mixtapes. It's a tiny hole in the wall spot, and as I get closer I hear what sounds like 2Pac rapping over an updated version of 'My Melody'. I ask what's playing and get handed this CD. The track starts again and I hear "Pac" dissing Ja Rule, Murder Inc (but they weren't around when he was alive, I hear you cry) and Jay Z. Weird as fuck but it sounds great, and better than any other official posthumous 2Pac tracks. The rest of the tracklist looks pretty solid so it's purchased...


Once you get past the bizarre opener, you also get some Dipset, G Unit, Jay Z, Snoop and State Property. There's also Cam'ron & DMX 'Pull It 2003', which I don't think ever came out ,Cuban Link dissing Kay Slay on 'Hit Em Up 2'  and, erm, Smoothe Da Hustler rapping over Crazy In Love.

Wednesday 29 October 2014

DJ Premier - The True Heads Merch mix (2014)

A mix of some of the less lauded tracks from Gang Starr's catalogue, put together by Primo to launch the Gang Starr clothing line (seems a bit late, but there you go)




Thanks to Ominous on the Philaflava boards for the download link

Tuesday 28 October 2014

DJ Wreck - Keepin It Gutter part one (2002)

There's a few personal favourites on this CD by DJ Wreck out of Philly. This was the first place I heard Cam's 'Come Home With Me' and R Kelly's 'Shorty' (the version here doesn't have the Jay Z verse that would appear on the Best Of Both Worlds album). 'My Life' by Styles P got a lot of play when it dropped too, along with Jay's 'Show You' and the original version of 'Murda Murda'

DOWNLOAD

Tracks 22-24 listed on the cover aren't actually included so you'll have to make do without those Drag-On and Jae Hood freestyles. Also, the Royce & Twista song is split into seperate tracks for each verse (which will probably please The Martorialist )

Tuesday 21 October 2014

DJ Crossphader 'Another L.I Groove' Tape 2 (2000)

As the name suggests, this is the second half of a doublepack, but I don't actually have Tape 1. Still, its a nice enough mix of head-nod backpack joints. Enjoy...

DOWNLOAD   STREAM SIDE A   STREAM SIDE B

Still rolling through the Junior Pepaseed tapes. This is another one of his.

**DJ Clue voice** Do remember! The mixcloud page is now in full effect. All the mixes I've posted up here over the last 5 + years are being made available for your streaming pleasure (:pause:)


Sunday 19 October 2014

Mixcloud Marauders

Download links get killed off far too quickly these days and I don't really have the time to keep up with requests for re-ups on old posts so from now I'll uploading as many of the old mixtapes and radio shows as possible from the OBFZL archives on this mixcloud page .

I might eventually embed the mixcloud page into the original blog posts. This site will still get updated as normal but once the initial download link has gone, it'll only be streaming audio. There's a few sites out there that will let you convert mixcloud to mp3 so you can still get 'em for keeps.

Alternate title for this post was 'When They Reminisce Over Kim'




Saturday 18 October 2014

Daddy Dog & Doboy - D Day Volume One (1998)

Another tape from the Fifth Platoon crew. Daddy Dog & Doboy take a side each for 90 mins of underground-indie-boom bap rap stuff...



Wednesday 15 October 2014

DJ MK - London Underground 2014

If you haven't heard, DJ MK has re-issued both his seminal London Undergound mixtapes on one handy cassette themed USB stick. For a very reasonable price, you get remastered versions of Volume 1 and 2 along with a host of previously unreleased material from the original sessions.
They're limited to 200 copies so don't sleep and end up having to pay double on E-Bay in a few months  from now (and don't ask me to upload it either!)

For details check Suspect Packages or email emm_kay@hotmail.com

Volume 2 in particular is a personal favourite of mine. Along with Skitz's 'Countryman' album it captures that early 00s era of UK Hip Hop perfectly. Go get that!

Sunday 12 October 2014

I'd rather be live at The Tunnel with Flex...

I'm not usually keen on promoting people who have more than enough resources to fend for themselves but I really enjoyed the recent Juan Epstein show with Funkmaster Flex. Peter Rosenberg and Cipha Sounds did a good job of reigning it in and letting Flex talk for nearly 2 hours on how he came up in the game and the early days of NYC radio and clubs.Highly recommended...

GO HERE

Flex's mixes have been a cornerstone of this blog since it started but I hadn't had access to any tapes of him for a while. Fortunately I've come across a few old Hot 97 shows online in the last week so here you go...

30th January 1993 (courtesy of Jesse Velazquez)

16th April 1993

22nd April 1995

16th December 1995

80s Classics mix from 1994

aswell as...

WBLS January 1990

and courtesy of Craig at Random Rap Radio:

Funkmaster Flex & Cipha Sounds - Big Dawg Volume 1 mixtape

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Don't Sleep #3:
South Central Cartel 'Sowhatusayin' (1995)

Another dip into the collection to pull out something you might have not heard before or just forgotten about. This one is a big posse cut that appeared on Def Jam's 'The Show' soundtrack/compilation in 1995. I never actually bought that back in the day and only discovered this track on an old Westwood tape, as he gave it a few spins when it dropped. The SCC line up alongside West Coast heavyweights MC Eiht and Spice 1, and a rookie Jayo Felony, aswell as an always welcome appearance from Treach (whose unrealised potential as a solo artist I've highlighted previously). You can probably hazard a good guess as to what it sounds like but if you like sinister West Coast joints from the mid-90s then you'd do well to grab this...


Friday 3 October 2014

DJ Step One 'Tape Kingz Vol 2'



1 take all vinyl mix I hooked up this afternoon. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Sadat X ft Grand Puba & Lord Jamar - The Lump Lump (Nubian mix)
Busta Rhymes - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See (blend)
Cru ft Slick Rick - Just Another Case (remix)
Beatnuts ft Big Pun & Cuban Link - Off The Books (blend)
Jay Z ft Sauce Money, Beanie Sigel & The LOX - Reservoir Dogs
Noreaga - N.O.R.E (blend)
Clipse  - Got Caught Dealing pt 2 (We Get Money)
Crush Sounds - Bring It On Back
LL Cool J ft Lost Boyz - Wanna Get Paid
Whoridas - Talkin Bout Bank
Mobb Deep - Quiet Storm (blend)
Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg - Still DRE (blend)
Harlem World ft Snoop Dogg - Cali Chronic (LBC mix)
Charli Baltimore ft Noreaga & Cam'ron - NBC
Gang Starr ft Big Shug & Bumpy Knuckles - The Militia

Never knew there was a video for the Cali Chronic remix...

Thursday 2 October 2014

Rap Thangs That Shoulda Done Happened #5


The return of the wildly irregular feature where I get my Armchair A&R on and do my best to correct Rap's wrongs and come with the ill hypothetical behavior. I've always liked the idea of learning to make beats but I never really had the time or patience and I'm 36 now so it's probably never going to happen. In this edition, I offer up ideas I've had for songs that rappers and producers are welcome to take and run with. If you want to give the blog a shout out on the track that'd be nice. 

Rappers in search of some chunky sample based beats could do a lot worse than bring Rich Harrison in from the cold. Dude had a great run in the mid 00s but seems to have dropped off the radar somewhat. Probably still spending that 'Crazy In Love' money.

A UK rapper (preferably one of the ones I like) needs to sample the "rap with a British accent" line off Ghostface's 'We Made It'. Its begging to be used. Loop that up like Swizz Beatz was doing with all those Jay Z vocals 10 years ago and you're golden. 

Someone needs to make a track using the piano from Ray Keith's iconic jungle track 'Terrorist' (yes, I know he sampled it from 'Nightporter' by Japan). Sample the bassline as well if you're feeling brave. Get the drums right and you've got a classic on your hands. You're welcome.

I need to hear someone (specifically AZ, or maybe Jadakiss) rapping over 'Change Of Heart' and/or 'Lets Go Together'. Don't sleep on Change.

After MOP did a sterling job bringing Tears For Fears back earlier this year, there's no reason that someone can't banish the memory of 'Rule' by Nas and flip that same sample. I nominate Cam'ron, NORE or some new jack out of Cali or the Bay Area.



Wednesday 1 October 2014

Tony Touch - Hip Hop #73 (2003)

Some Tony Touch from 2003 courtesy of Junior Pepaseed. Some things from this era haven't aged particularly well but there's some good tracks on here including Beanie Sigel's 'Once Again Its On'. a couple of bits off Gang Starr's unfairly maligned final album and Meth & Ghost's 'After Party' among others...

Saturday 6 September 2014

Don't Sleep #2
Soul Supreme ft T Max, AG & Pete Rock 'Queen' (2003)


"For all the girls who said 'A, you smoke too much', shut up baby and roll that Dutch..."

This is one of those tracks I've never really tired of. I first heard it on a Tony Touch mix in the summer of 2003. A couple of weeks later I took my first trip to NYC and despite asking for it in every shop, I came up short. I think I eventually picked it up in Mr Bongo (it  have been my last purchase in there). Anyway, as you may have noticed by now, my tastes have a tendency to lean towards the soulful side of things so I'm a big fan of the sped-up soul sample trend of the early/mid 00s. This ticks all the right boxes with 3 solid verses from AG, Pete Rock and T Max and a nice long outro for the DJs among us to mix out of...

DOWNLOAD

Turns out there's a video for it, although it looks like Pete Rock was busy that day



Previously: Don't Sleep # 1 - Melody 'Cool Chillin' (1989)

Monday 1 September 2014

Doo Wop 'The War Report Volume 2' (2002)

I dropped Volume 1 of this about 3 years ago and came up on this CD on a long delayed record buying trip this past weekend. Stand outs have to be the Boss Money freestyles but it's a decent listen overall as you'd expect from a Wop CD...



Wednesday 27 August 2014

DJ Step One - Doctor's Orders/Jazzy Jeff competition mix




I don't really tend to look to DJ out much these days. Partly because of the lack of decent venues in my area, partly because being in my mid-30s I started finding it less fun playing to 18 year olds who only want to hear Rihanna and Rudimental, and partly because the novelty of it all had worn off a bit after 15 odd years.
However, if a good opportunity presents itself I'm not one to turn it down so when London club promoters The Doctor's Orders set up a competition to win a warm-up set on a night when 3 of my favourite DJs are playing I had to step up and get busy with this 30 minute mix. I've very rarely asked for much in return over the 640 posts so if you could all oblige with clicking play on the mix above (as I'm sure you were going to anyway) it would be appreciated.

UPDATE - Having hit the target of 100 plays in just over 24 hours, here's the link to download the mix


Monday 25 August 2014

Don't Sleep #1:
Melody 'Cool Chillin' (1989)

The first in an irregular series of posts where I pick out songs that I feel are unduly slept on. It seems like nothing is really that obscure anymore so don't expect a barrage of rare and unreleased joints. This is more a case of either putting people up on things they haven't heard or just jogging memories. That said, the first one up is a bit obscure...
I loved this track when I heard it back in '89 on the Deep Heat 4 compilation but in the years that followed, searches for a 12" proved unsuccessful. A few years ago I found out it was released on an album by the seminal Chicago House label Trax, which was pretty much the last place I expected to find it. Given the notoriously bad quality of Trax vinyl, I passed on buying it. Telstar's habit of squeezing 8 tracks on each side means the Deep Heat 4 vinyl is a non-starter as well, so I've just made do with an MP3. Anyway, its a great track that uses 'Summer Madness' (although 10 year old me didn't know that, obviously) with some Rakim samples cut-up for good measure. Given their label's House background and the general trend for uptempo Rap tracks back then its kind of suprising that this is so downtempo. As far as the lyrics go, it's not entirely dissimilar to Just Hangin Out by Main Source (another personal favourite)...



I haven't been able to find out any info about Melody but this seems to be their only release. I assume they're from Chicago which might have gone against them in the NY-centric days of the 80s. Still, maybe it'll turn out that dude is Chief Keef's grandpa or Kanye's uncle or something.

Saturday 23 August 2014

AZ 'Red Magic' (2014)


AZ rapping over a sample of 'Strawberry Letter 23'. This is exactly the kind of thing I'd have come up with for Rap Thangs That Shoulda Done Happened.

Friday 22 August 2014

Deven Miles - Kommercial Breakdown (1999)

Carhartt? Check. Jansport? Check. Mixtape filled with 90s indie joints and quirky skits and samples from TV commercials? Check. This is another one from Mr Pepaseed's collection...


This era has been much maligned in some corners of the Rap Internet but there was undoubtedly some gems released around the turn of the century. 
(NB: The new tracks on here all seem to be from '99, apart from Casual's 'I Got To Get Down' which Discogs says is from 2001. Weird.)

Saturday 9 August 2014

Funkmaster Flex - Radio 1 Rap Exchange (1995)


Flex links up with Westwood for the April '95 edition of the Rap Exchange. I rinsed this tape back in the day, mostly because for a while it was the only place I had the remix of 'Resurrection' which has pretty much solidified itself as my favourite beat of all time. Anyway, here's 50 mins (thanks to the lesser spotted 100 minute blank tape) of Funk Flex getting busy...


Tracklist
Lost Boyz 'Lifestyles Of The Rich And Shameless'
Tha Alkaholiks 'The Next Level'
Method Man ft Mary J Blige 'All I Need' remix
Jeru The Damaja 'The Frustrated Nigga'
Common Sense 'Resurrection' Extra P remix
Junior MAFIA ft Biggie 'Players Anthem'
Raekwon & Ghostface 'Can It Be All So Simple' remix
Biggie 'Who Shot Ya'
Mad Lion 'Own Destiny'
Doo Wop & The Bounce Squad 'Bounce Rock Skate Roll'
Funkmaster Flex ft Charlie Brown, ODB, Biz Markie & Kaotic Style 'Nuttin But Flava' remix

Shout out to Yams who hit me up yesterday requesting some 90s Flex tapes. Also shout to @jose3030 who came up on the source of the David Letterman drop that Flex uses. Skip to 5:50 (or watch the whole thing because Rosie Perez)





Sunday 3 August 2014

DJ Ivan6 - The Sooper Doopa Tape Vol 3 (2014)

Hip Hop, Soul, breaks and some other isht courtesy of DJ Ivan6...



Thursday 31 July 2014

DJ Benny B - Early 80s Old School R&B Mix

Recent computer problems (yes, again) and insanely hot weather have meant I haven't posted for a while. Check Benny B's new mix of 80s classics whilst I prepare to resume normal service...


Saturday 12 July 2014

DJ Swing on Choice FM (1995)

45 minutes of the late DJ Swing of London's Boogie Bunch in the mix on Choice FM back in 1995. He kicks things off with some classic Juice Crew/Cold Chillin selection and then runs through some newer Hip Hop and R&B jams...

STREAM HERE

Swing sadly passed away in 2006. There's a good write up on him here.

Friday 11 July 2014

Blufoot - The Resolution Will Not Be Memorised (1999)

Nice mixtape of late 90s US and UK boom bap biz from DJ/producer Blufoot. One for the Mr Bongo/Deal Real crew...

DOWNLOAD

This one courtesy of ya boy Junior Pepaseed

(click on the images to biggify 'em)

Sunday 6 July 2014

Kay Slay & Cutmaster C - Get Down Or Lay Down (2002)

The Drama King teams with up with Cutmaster C for this one. Highlights include the Dipset freestyle and Big Noyd rapping over the Roc The Mic instrumental. Beef was in fashion back then so you also get KRS One dissing Nelly and Jermaine Dupri having a pop at Dre & Timbaland...

DOWNLOAD



Saturday 5 July 2014

Frank The Butcher & DJ 7L - Bad Boy: Original Samples Mix (2014)

Another DJ 7L and Frank The Butcher sureshot. This is the Bad Boy: Original Samples Mix. It's a mix of samples used on Bad Boy releases, obviously...

Wednesday 2 July 2014

J Rocc - The Get On Down Mix (2014)

A bit weird that a DJ as established as J Rocc is entering DJ competitions to win free records but at least he threw this mix of golden era joints together for us....

GO HERE

Friday 27 June 2014

DJ Marvin - Volume 15 (1997)

This tape is nice! Its from '97 so I'm pretty sure I would've bought it from Deal Real Records (possibly on the same day I copped Royal Flush's LP). Marvin was an English DJ. I can't really find any info on him but I've been told that he might've been from Southend and possibly lives in Jamaica now. Anyway, he's got skills....

DOWNLOAD   STREAM SIDE A   STREAM SIDE B

Whu Tang!

Also, shout to DJ MK...


Saturday 21 June 2014

3 "Classic" Records That Aren't Actually That Good...

This isn't about those songs that we all loved when they came out but we've all heard way too often and don't ever really need to listen to again - Hypnotize, Insane In the Brain, It Aint Hard To Tell, Come Clean etc. You know the ones. I'll put my hands up to not immediately liking Simon Says, Flava In Ya Ear or Protect Ya Neck on first hearing them (with the latter 2 it was probably a case of listening to too much G Funk at the time). Those grew on me pretty quickly though, mainly after Funk Flex pulling it back to the beginning for the 8th time. This post is for tracks that were/are really popular but I never liked. Not then and not now. I think I'm gonna be in the minority but feel free to prove me wrong...


Take a bow Drayz and Skoob. You managed to drop a track in 1995 with mixes by Pete Rock and Primo that I don't like. Pick a mix, any mix, it doesn't matter. The song seems to have been given an eternal shelf life by warm up DJs at Rap shows who will inevitably drop a verse and chorus of this before switching into 'Hip Hop' by Dead Prez. Its not fashionable to admit it but I like most of the 12"s from the two Das EFX LPs. Hard Like A Criminal and the Premier remix of Kaught In Da AK are particular faves. This just isn't doing it all though. At the time it was competing against the likes of Biggie, Raekwon, AZ, Mobb Deep so it was always fighting a losing battle. The beat on it just never did anything for me at all, its one of those one dimensional boom bap things that doesn't really build up or do anything for the rappers. It doesn't even work for me as a nostalgia piece in the "well at least its better than Drake" school of thought. Bin it.


This was the first song I'd heard Biggie on that I didn't like. I wasn't DJing when it dropped but as far as I could tell this was huge in the clubs and it was getting rinsed on the radio. The thing is it's just not that good.
BIG's verse is decent enough I suppose but the beat never really hit the spot for me and in '95 Cease and Lil Kim weren't really up to par (as mentioned in the post above, the calibre of the competition meant standard were set pretty high and we were spoilt for choice). If I had to put a positive spin on it, maybe I'd have been into it more if I was playing in the clubs when it came out or if it had dropped in '99 and was produced by Irv Gotti or Swizz Beatz. As it stands though: Meh. Its a glimpse of the sort of thing Biggie might've ended up churning out on the regular if he hadn't been killed. I'm sure there would've been a few Neptunes and Timbaland bangers along the way aswell though.
Sidenote: I never liked 'Get Money' either, although obviously the remix is greatness.


OK, maybe I'm stretching it a bit with this one but I never liked the beat on this. Obviously it's not completely shit and I know that the (obviously superb) lyrics needed an instrumental that wasn't too overbearing but I find it a bit dull. For such a personal song it could do with a chord change or two just to add a bit of feeling or emotion to the proceedings. If you aren't convinced then consider this:
- If it was that good surely Q Tip would've used it on Midnight Marauders.
- The acapella sounds better over pretty much every other beat I've heard it blended with, the best of which was probably DJ Rectangle mixing it over the Deep Cover instrumental on his 'OG Style' mixtape.

Sidenote: I'm sure that at some point a few years after Illmatic came out, some people got the narrative of the song confused and thought Nas was writing a letter to Cormega.