A Mixtape Of Mixtapes (unreleased heat from the early 00s)

Back in the days of 56K dial-up (which was 2001 - 2005 in my case), downloading a whole mixtape was rarely an option. I might pick up something up on a trip to London from time to time but typically the plan was to check AllHipHop.com to see what was out, and then hit the file sharing sites to try and get any tracks that were of interest. True to form, a lot of these joints were never available in better quality so we learned to live with the low bit rate, tagged versions. I've zipped up a few for you, some of which are personal classics. I'd be more than interested in getting hold of better quality versions that exist so if anyone out there is holding 'em then get in touch...

DOWNLOAD

1 - 50 Cent & Tony Yayo 'CREAM' freestyle
2 - Busta Rhymes ft Raekwon & M Dollars 'NY State Of Mind'
3 - Canibus 'Lean Back' freestyle
4 - Eminem & Royce 5'9 'Renegade' (original version)
5 - Gravy, Juelz Santana & JR Writer - unknown title
6 - Jadakiss - Live in Philly acapella
7 - Jae Hood - DJ Clue freestyle on Hot 97
8 - Fabolous, A Team, Stack Bundles, Joe Budden & Paul Cain 'Desert Storm'
9 - Ludacris 'Tipsy' freestyle
10 - Noreaga & Nature 'Breathe' freestyle
11 - Pharoahe Monch - Never Walk Alone'
12 - Stack Bundles, Jae Hood & Gravy 'New York'
13 - The Game 'Duck Down'

I was a big fan of early G Unit mixtape material (and was a bit disappointed with GRODT) so had to throw the freestyle over CREAM in there to kick things off. Busta, Rae and someone called M Dollars over the Nas beat is taken from DJ L's 'The Game Is Mine' CD, as is Noreaga & Nature over Fab's 'Breathe'. The version of Renegade with Royce instead of Jigga is from a Kay Slay tape and as far as I'm aware is pretty rare. I love the beat on the Gravy/Juelz/JR Writer track but have no other info on it at all. It sounds like a full track but was listed as a freestyle on Cutmaster C's 'Blackout 2003' mix. The live recording of Jadakiss is awesome - he disses Beanie Sigel, in Sigel's hometown. Crowd goes apeshit. Goosebump business. I'd kill for an untagged 320 of the  'Desert Storm' posse cut from Clue's Cherry Lounge mixtape, with its flip of the 'Money Power Respect' beat, but don't think that's ever gonna happen. The Pharaohe Monch track is (I think) from around 2004/05 when he was rumoured to be signing with Shady/Aftermath. Great track and shame it never saw the light of day. The Game track that wraps things up is one of the best he's ever done and as far as I can tell only exists in sub par quality which is a huge shame. If you only listen to one track on this comp make sure its that one.