It's not Epic it's Rocafella!

Live from Sylvia's in Harlem, Westwood hosts Cam, Juelz and Jim who drop a freestyle over The Roc (Just Fire) and What Happened To That Boy and Cam does his lyrics from Down & Out (2 years before that came out). Keith Murray is also in the building alongside 50 Grand for some more freestyle action.

On a related note, another Radio 1 Rap Show from the year before threw up this oddity on the Top 10 At Ten. It's a remix of Oh Boy, that despite being dismissed by Just Blaze* as a "fake DJ trickery attempt", is actually pretty decent and definitely better than the official 'Oh Girl' remix. I've no idea where the Cam verse came from if it wasn't done for this track but he's accompanied by 2 other dudes who despite sounding like State Property, appear to go by Frank Mueller and TD (Ted Dibiase?). Can't find any info on  them or this version so if anyone can help out please do.



*my DMs are hotter than yours

Funkmaster Flex & Cam'ron on Hot 97 (2002)

KFC on Hot 97 around the time Come Home With Me dropped. Baby phones in to the station for a bit of a love-in and we get a couple of Dipset mixtape joints (the Guess Who's Back and Show you freestyles) and the Oh Boy/Oh Girl remix which was never all that but by all accounts still better than the shelved mix that Jay Z did a verse for.

Cutmaster C - Blackout 2003: Stop Cryin Haters!

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I'm off to the US in a couple of weeks so I've been revisiting a few of the mixtapes I picked up on my first/last trips there back in 2003/04. I've posted a few of them  over the years but this one doesn't seem to be mentioned online anywhere. This was back when G Unit and Dipset were running things. Juelz Santana is on hosting duties so there's a few of his tracks on here alongside the rest of the usual suspects from that era.

(I had to make do with someone sending me a pic of the cover on their phone but if you click on it and biggify it you should be able to make out the full tracklist)

Shout out to Mixcloud because despite being hit and miss with IDing tracks, they have been able to put a name to the Juelz/JR Writer/Stack Bundles track that I included on my 'Mixtape Of Mixtapes' a a couple of years ago

"What you know about goin out North West..?"

DJ Envy & Dipset - Bad Guys 14 (2007)

 

Having tape deck problems at the moment so its back to the CDs. This is a bit more recent than what I'd usually post (I say that, its already 7 years old) but the Dips seem to generate a fair bit of traffic around these parts. You've probably already made up your mind on whether or not you'll download this one. All I'll say is that if you're a fan its definitely worth getting...

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There's a few bits on here that I haven't seen elsewhere. Cam only features a couple of times but the SOS Band sampling 'Weekend' is a favourite, as is JR Writer's 'Xtacy' (mainly because it uses 'Moments In Love' which is pretty much fail safe). Its mostly a solid effort all round which is unusual for something like this. Also worth mentioning is that unlike alot of 00s mixtape DJs, Envy actually puts in the effort to drop the tracks in on time and sequence them nicely.

Rap Thangs That Shoulda Done Happened #2

You might remember that a while back I dropped a post called Rap Thangs That Shoulda Done Happened. The effects of this brief yet incredibly insightful piece shook the industry: A&Rs resigned, shamed by their incompetence. Dr Dre shelved 'Detox'. Puffy - who was on the verge of dropping Bad Boy's first legit rap banger for nearly a decade - went back to the drawing board.
But that was 8 months ago now and as today is the anniversary of MLK's 'I have a dream...' speech, here's the second installment:

#1 - Given their superb update of 'Boyz N The Hood', Dipset should blatantly have followed it with a cover of Levi 167's 'Something Fresh To Swing To'. Sparse 80s drums, that "dope, dope...d-d-dope dope" refrain and some coke raps by Cam, Jim & Juelz at the height of their powers would've been a mixtape classic.


#2 -  Outkast should have used the version of 'Da Art Of Storytellin' featuring Slick Rick on 'Aquemini' rather than just confining it to the 12". I don't think I need to explain this one. Dope video though.


#3 - Speaking of Slick Rick, I know everyone loves his debut LP but save for a couple of tracks I always felt it was a bit lacking in the beats department. Marley Marl and Prince Paul are the first two names that spring to mind that could've improved things.

#4 - Treach could've had a great solo album to his name. Instead of starring in straight-to-DVD flicks and warming up for New Kids On The Block on cruise ships full of soccer moms, he should've hit the mixtape circuit, found some decent producers and got busy. The man was a beast on the mic and if his freestyle over 'Keep It Thoro' on Doo Wop's Gangsta's Paradise mixtape is anything to go by then we missed out.

Diplomats Unreleased Throwbacks & Exclusives (2004)

One of a stack of CDs purchased on a trip to Canal Street back in 2004, this Street Sweepers set collates some of the Dip's finest mixtape moments...

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Highlights include the demo version of the unreleased 'That's Harlem', which I later found with an added chorus on this Rocafella promo 12", an always welcome appearance by Herb McGruff on 'Trendsetters pt 2' and the superbly titled 'Keep The AKs At Kay Slays'.
My personal favourite is 'World Reknown', which appeared on 'Come Home With Me' as 'The Roc (Just Fire)' with Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel replacing Jim and Juelz.  Although everyone turns in a worthy performance on both versions, Jim Jones really stands out for me with his verse. Its obviously debatable as to whether he wrote it but put that to one side and he presents a solid argument against those who lazily tag him a wack rapper based on 'We Fly High' and 'Pop Champagne'.
Admittedly he's helped by the beat. The Just Blaze production is one of the best of the era and is one of those instrumentals I never tire of, where you get the feeling it could make anyone that rapped over it sound amazing. 

DJ 7L - Essential Dipset mix (2010)

DJ 7L dropped this 2 hour mix on his soundcloud page a couple of weeks ago. Highly recommended if you're a Dipset fan...

GO HERE

Cam'ron - Tim Westwood freestyle (1998)

Seeing as Cam'ron is making something of a comeback right now I thought I'd post this freestyle he dropped on Tim Westwood's Radio 1 Rap Show.

This is from June 1998, when 'Horse & Carriage' was blowing up in NYC and Cam was just about to release his debut album. He drops a couple of verses over the 'Incarcerated Scarfaces' beat.