DJ Step One - Golden Era Rap Biz

First Of The Month mix for October. No real plan or theme for this, just a bunch of records I felt like playing this morning. It's just under an hour but I cut them up a bit quicker than I usually would so the track list is pretty long. This is how I used to do when I recorded mixes straight to tape...

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Tracklist

A Tribe Called Quest - Footprints

UMCs - Any Way The Wind Blows

LL Cool J - Eat Em Up L Chill

Diamond D - I'm Outta Here

Cypress Hill - Hand On The Pump

D Nice - Time To Flow (12" mix)

Brand Nubian ft Diamond D - Punks Jump Up... (remix)

Black Moon - Act Like You Want It

FU2 - Boomin In Ya Jeep

Nas - Halftime (instrumental)

EPMD - Brothers From Brentwood, LI

Kenny Dope - Supa (Deep In Brooklyn mix)

Dr Dre ft Snoop, Daz & Nate Dogg - Deez Nuuuts (Benny B edit)

Scarface - Mr Scarface

Das EFX - Kaught In Da Ak (DJ Premier remix)

Zhigge - Toss It Up

Zhigge - Rakin In The Dough (Uptown Bounce beats)

Slick Rick - Mistakes Of A Woman... (Daily Diggers remix)

DJ Quik - Tonite

ESP - Give Me The Night

Funkdoobiest - Bow Wow Wow (instrumental)

Shante - Big Mama

Gang Starr - Who's Gonna Take The Weight

3rd Bass - Product Of The Environment (Marley Marl remix)

MC Serch ft Red Hot Lover Tone & Nas - Back To The Grill

Snoop Dogg - Aint No Fun (instrumental)

Souls Of Mischief - 93 Til Infinity (Step One & Jimmy Green's 93 Beats remix)

DJ Step One - The Best Of Ice T

One day late but here's the First Of The Month mix for September and it's a good one (if I do say so myself). Ice T is one of my favourite rappers and as most DJs that post mixes online seem to be content with dropping the 39,873rd 'Best Of Premier/Pete Rock/Dilla' mix I'd thought it was about time someone paid tribute to rap's
original OG. Here's 1hr 10 mins of tracks covering Ice's peak period from 1986's '6 In The Morning' to the Home Invasion LP in 1993. There's a few blends, freestyles and live tracks in there too. Fortunately you can just stream/DL it so there's no danger of shooting anyone in an argument over the cassette...

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Tracklist

Intro

Home Of The Bodybag

I Ain’t New Ta This

You Played Yourself

Drama

Heartbeat

Mind Over Matter

Addicted To Danger (Beatnuts remix)

C4 News interview

6 In The Morning

Combat Jack Show acapella

Colors (YGB blend)

Ziplock / Ricochet (live in NY 1992)

High Rollers

I’m Your Pusher (AMW blend)

Last Wordz (w/ Ice Cube)

New Jack Hustler

Power

Radio Suckers

Capital Rap Show freestyle 1989

That’s How I’m Living

Original Gangster

This One’s For Me

My Word Is Bond (w/ Donald D)

Evil E What About Sex?

99 Problems (w/ Brother Marquis)

Bitches 2

Peel Their Caps Back

Soul On Ice

Ain’t A Damn Thing Changed

A few things about this mix then:
 - There are some omissions. Due to time restraints and things not "fitting" I had to leave out Lethal Weapon, Somebody Gotta Do It, Fly By, Girls LGBNAF and several other classics from the man's catalogue. I enjoy pretty much everything on Power, Iceberg and OG so there always had to be some things that didn't make the cut.
 - Although I've never been a massive fan, I've become slightly more appreciative of Home Invasion after doing this mix. At the time it seemed like it should've been a lot better - particularly on the production side - but Ice's voice seems a bit off at times and he does a lot of  tracks in a whispery flow/lower register. It's a solid enough set though.
 - Although it's rarely mentioned, Ice is one of the genre's best storytellers. Up there with Slick Rick and better than Kool G Rap imo.
 - The acapella taken from his Combat Jack Show interview is fantastic, as is the interview itself.
 - Donald D's verse on My Word Is Bond >>>
 - Think I'm going to check his later albums from Return Of The Real onwards - there has to be a few gems on those, although the less said about this cover the better.

DJ Step One - Street Sweepers Vol 1

First of the month. New mix. This one takes it back to that early 00s mixtape era - Clue, Kay Slay (hence the title), Green Lantern, Custmaster C etc. There's no shouting, drops or distortion but hopefully you enjoy...

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Tracklist

AZ 'Problems'

Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg 'The Wash'

G Dep 'Doe Fiend'

Mobb Deep ft Vita & Big Noyd 'Burn'

50 Cent ft Nas & Nature 'Too Hot'

Da Ranjahz 'Wear It Out'

Beanie Sigel 'Beanie (Mack Bitch)'

Eminem, Tony Yayo & Lloyd Banks 'Bump Heads'

The LOX 'Dirty Ryders'

Fat Joe ft Jadakiss 'My Lifestyle' remix

FT 'Stand Up'

Scarface 'Safe'

Big Pun ft MOP 'New York Giants'

The Game & Obie Trice 'Growin Up In The Hood'

RZA ft Method Man, Jayo Felony, WC, Crooked I & E40 'We Pop' remix

Ghostface Killah 'Good Times part 2'

Cam'ron ft Memphis Bleek & Beanie Sigel 'The Roc (Just Fire)'

Jay Z 'Show You'

DJ Step One - So 90s Volume 3

First of the month so here's the mix for July. Back firmly in my comfort zone for this one. Chucked in a few treats like the original version of Ghostface's 'Box In Hand' and Pac's 'Got My Mind Made Up' with the full Inspectah Deck verse.

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Tracklist

The Alkaholiks ft Q Tip – All The Way Live

Mad Skillz – The Nod Factor

LL Cool J – No Airplay (bootleg version)

Kenny Dope – Get On Down

Ten Thieves – Black Reign

Beatnuts – Get Funky

E Rule – Listen Up

Gang Starr ft Jeru The Damaja – Speak Ya Clout

Group Home – Suspended In Time

Kool G Rap – Blowin Up In The World

Extra Prolific – Go Back To School

OC – What I Represent

Big Jaz ft Sauce Money & Jay Z – Foundation

Mobb Deep ft Raekwon – Nightime Vultures

Tragedy – The Judas Theory

Dobie – The B Boy Anthem

Erick Sermon ft Keith Murray – Hostile

Goodie Mob – Dirty South (West Up blend)

Mic Geronimo – Hemmin Heads

Heltah Skeltah – Operation Lockdown

Notorious BIG ft Sadat X – Come On

Ghostface Killah ft Streetlife & Method Man – Box In Hand (original version)

2Pac ft Dogg Pound, Redman, Method Man & Inspectah Deck – Got My Mind Made Up (full unreleased version)

DJ Step One - Technics & Chill

Back with a new mix for the first of the month, bit of everything on here really, just pulling some records that sounded good in the sunshine over the weekend. I didn't want to label it a 'BBQ mix' because thats what every other DJ on the internet is going to do over the next couple of months (and they will all inevitably be a mix of 90s R&B standards and a couple of G Funk tracks with some Roy Ayers and 'Summer Madness' chucked in). This would please the same demographic those mixes are intended for though, perhaps more so. Basically, you can put it on and enjoy some Herb McGruff and Slick Rick without it bothering your missus too much.

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tracklist

Leena Conquest - Boundaries

Armand Van Helden - Hot Butter

Taana Gardner - Heartbeat

McGruff ft Mase - Harlem World

Sade - Paradise

Troubleneck Brothers - Back To The Hip Hop (Summertime blend)

East Side Hoods - Funky Smile

Keni Burke - Keep Rising To The Top

Leon Haywood - I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You

Masta Ace - Born To Roll (instrumental)

Notorious BIG - Juicy

Mtume - Juicy

Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin

Slick Rick ft Doug E Fresh - Sittin In My Car

Skeme ft Rodney P - UK Bubblers

2Pac & Alton Ellis - Nothin Like Rocksteady (Phatmix bootleg)

Mariah Carey ft The LOX & Mase - Honey (Bad Boy mix)

Change - Lets Go Together

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Back On The Block

Amerie - 1 Thing (Boom blend)

R Kelly ft Jay Z - Fiesta (remix)

Martine Girault - Revival

The inclusion of Martine Girault at the end serves as a reminder that although she only had that one significant hit (and it wasn't that big a hit really), Revival is a better than anything you'll find in the combined catalogues of Beyonce, Adele and Rihanna. Its flawless and undoubtedly in the OB4ZL non-rap top 5.

DJ Step One - Serious Rap Shit

First of the month today so it's a new mix from me. Been listening to a fair bit of late 90s rap over the last few weeks, and picked up a few new records on a recent trip to London so I delved into that section...

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Tracklist

Kasino ft The LOX - Men Of Respect

Mack 10 ft Fat Joe & Big Pun - Let The Games Begin

Nas - Hate Me Now (Power remix)

Phat Kat - Don't Nobody Care About Us

Mic Geronimo ft DMX & Black Rob - Nothin Move But The Money (remix)

Natural Elements - Live It Up

Ghostface ft Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Method Man & Redman - Buck 50

Sauce Money - Against The Grain

Luniz ft B Legit & E40 - The Highest Niggaz In The Industry

Black Rob - Life Story

Scarface ft 2Pac - Smile (MF Doom blend)

Common ft Sadat X - 1999

Missy Elliot ft Nas & Eve - Hot Boyz (Xxplosive blend)

Gang Starr ft Inspectah Deck - Above The Clouds

Wu All Stars - Soul In The Hole

Mobb Deep - The After Hours G.O.D pt III

A quick run down then. 'Men Of Respect' is one of my favourite LOX tracks (I think Kasino was originally a member of the group at one time but don't quote me). Also, I'm pretty sure its the song where Jadakiss coined the phrase "top 5 dead or alive". Mack 10 is distinctly average but had a good eye for a collaboration and has a few gems in his catalogue. The bootleg remix of 'Hate Me Now' is from a 12" I picked up last week and gives the song a more subtle vibe so it works quite well in a mix like this. Phat Kat's 'Don't Nobody Care About Us' is an awesome early Jay Dee production that I was after for years and finally got a few months ago. The Natural Elements joint is borderline jiggy and sounds slightly Neptunes-ish. Been enjoying that since hearing it on a J Grand tape I posted last year. The blend of Scarface & 2Pac over Doom's 'Red & Gold' instrumental works nicely (considering I hadn't done it before) although the chorus comes in mad loud and drifts off beat slightly. Might work on that and post it as a seperate track. Mighty Mi's remix of GOD Pt III using the Doug E Fresh sample is great and possibly better than the LP version. In hindsight I would probably have switched the sequencing round a bit and had the Luniz & Missy next to each other but the whole point of these mixes is that its a one take mix that serves as a playlist that might put you on to some music you might not know, rather than something I've agonised over for months.

I've had a few problems recording audio recently as the programme I use keeps buffering. As a result there's 3 or 4 glitches where the song skips slightly. Working on resolving the issue (think its to do with latency - any tips let me know) but didnt want to not post anything in the meantime. if you fund any tape rips  I've dropped in the past few weeks where its particularly bad then leave a comment in the relevant post.

DJ Step One - Old Skool Jungle Roll-Out (2016)

The March edition of my First Of The Month mix series and I've gone to the bottom shelf, for that is where the old skool jungle lives. One hour of 1993-95 selection on this, and it's mostly on that rolling, more musical tip rather than the tear-out/ragga style . Bass heavy, amens chopped up, and just right....

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Tracklist

Cloud 9 - Mr Logic (Moving Shadow)

Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows (Ram)

88.3 ft Lisa May - Wishing On A Star - VIP dub (Labello Blanco)

Wax Doctor - Kid Caprice (Metalheadz)

Danny Breaks - Droppin Science Vol 1 - side b (Droppin Science)

DJ Krust - Set Speed (V Recordings)

Tom & Jerry - Maxi(mun) Style - Nasty Jungle remix (Tom & Jerry)

Omni Trio - Together VIP (Moving Shadow)

Roni Size & DJ Die - Music Box (Full Cycle)

Rude Bwoy Monty - Summer Sumting (Frontline)

DJ Crystl - Perpetual Motion (Payday)

P Funk -  P Funk Era (Frontline)

Omni Trio - Thru The Vibe - 2 on 1 mix (Moving Shadow)

Apollo Two - Atlantis (I Need You) - LTJ Bukem remix (Good Looking)

Lennie De Ice - We R E  - Hyper Crew mix (Armshouse Crew)

Omni Trio - Renegade Snares - Foul Play remix (Moving Shadow)

Not my finest mix as far as technical skills go but in my defence I'm a bit ill (off work sick today)  and I haven't played some of these tunes in years (or ever in couple of cases as they're recent purchases). Some heavy tunes on here still. One of the reasons I thought I'd drop a mix every month this year is to try an put you on to some music you might not know about otherwise. Hopefully this does the trick. Enjoy.

DJ Step One - early 90s Rap mix

Wake up, wake up, wake up its the first of the moooonth and - almost unbelievably - I haven't flopped in my attempts to drop a mix at the beginning of each month so far. I'm currently 2/2 and February's edition draws for the early 90s selection (apologies for the lack of a creative title for the mix)....

DJ Step One - early 90s Rap mix by Djstepone on Mixcloud

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Tracklist

Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg - Lil Ghetto Boy

King Tee ft Ice Cube & Breeze - Played Like A Piano

Diamond D - Check One Two

Pete Rock & CL Smooth ft Grand Puba - Skinz

Ed OG & Da Bulldogs - I Got Ta Have It

De La Soul ft Biz Markie - Lovely How I Let My Mind Float

Downtown Science - Room To Breathe (instrumental)

A Tribe Called Quest - Clap Your Hands

Show & AG ft Diamond D & Lord Finesse - Diggin In The Crates

Souls Of Mischief - Disseshowedo

3rd Bass - Green Eggs And Swine

Positive K - Nighshift

Grand Puba - Ya Know How It Goes (T Ray remix)

Ice Cube - Steady Mobbin

EPMD - Crossover (Trunk mix)

Gang Starr - Flip The Script

Armand Van Helden - A Deep Hip Hop Kinda Love

If you missed January's installment, which was on more of a house party tip, you can get that here

DJ Step One - Mash Up & Dance

I've decided I'm going to try and drop a mix on the first of each month throughout 2016, so here's January's installment. The first thing to say about this mix is that it would've been alot more appropriate to drop it yesterday as its a straight house party set. Still, keep it on deck and you never know when it might come in handy. I got busy mixing up the genres and threw in a few acapellas, re-edits and mash ups along the way...

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DJ Step One - Mash Up & Dance by Soulfocus on Mixcloud

Tracklist

Cheryl Lynn - Encore

Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me (A Skillz festival edit)

Ronny Jordan - So What

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It (acapella)

Bobby Brown - Every Little Step

Eli Escobar - Heavenly Break

Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces

Lucy Pearl - Dont Mess With My Man (acapella)

De La Soul - Me Myself & I (instrumental)

James Brown - The Payback Mix

Mystikal - Shake Ya Ass (Jim Sharp edit)

Usher ft Lil Jon & Ludacris - Yeah

Bell Biv Devoe - Poison

Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock (instrumental)

Madonna - Into The Groove (acapella)

Inner City - Big Fun

Dusty Springfield - Spooky (Sonny Fodera edit)

Duke Dumont - Need U 100 (GM extended mix)

DJ Twister - Funky Dance

Carrie Lucas - Dance With You (Marcello Giordami edit)

Indo - R U Sleeping (Todd Edwards mix)

George Morel - Lets Groove

Mary J Blige - Just Fine (acapella)

Toddla T ft Shola Ama - Take It Back (2 Bears mix - DJ Mystery edit)

Missy Elliot vs Daft Punk - One More Lick (DJ Riz mash-up)