Tape Kingz #2: DJ Ayres

 Next up in the Tape Kingz series is DJ Ayres, perhaps best known for co-promoting legendary Brooklyn club night The Rub. Along with the acclaimed History Of Hip Hop mix series he has also DJ'd for no less than  Ghostface and Bun B. In these uncertain, unprecedented times you can check him out on Twitch and you can also check out his Top 3 mixtapes right here:

DJ Daze - Hip-Hop From the Good Old Daze Vol. 2 DJ Daze is a bit of a mystery to me. I bought this cassette at Fat Beats in the 90s, and I know he did scratches on some High & Mighty songs.  The cuts and arrangement on this tape are super clean and sharp, and the tracklist is golden age 80s rap perfection.  Daze is very democratic in his selection, mixing some bigger names like Special Ed, Heavy D and NWA with lesser-known singles from Sid & B-Tonn, Markey Fresh & Bizzey Boys.  The JVC Force album cut he chose, "Stop-N-Listen," sent me on a mission to find their underappreciated second album.  It's a perfect mixtape to me.

Green Lantern - Best of 2000 (Cornerstone) Cornerstone is a marketing agency which is probably best known because the founders also started The Fader magazine, but their monthly mix CDs were legendary.  They tapped mixshow DJs from all over the US to record mixes, which went out to tons of DJs, creative people and music journalists.  Because they were recording for an audience of their peers, the DJs put a ton of work into the mixtapes, and it's hard to think of one more creative than this Green Lantern set.  At the time, monophonic midi ringtones were extremely hot, in some cases outselling the music itself, and Green Lantern recorded them into Pro Tools and arranged them over the songs, which was mind-blowing at the time.  But the section that fucks me up to this day is when he mixes Cam'ron "What Means The World To You" -> The Police "Roxanne" -> Outkast "Bombs Over Baghdad" -> Foreigner "Cold As Ice" -> M.O.P. -> "Cold As Ice," cutting the Outkast drums into halftime and back to 150 BPM to bridge the whole thing together.  The Evil Genius! 

P.F. Cuttin - Da 4-Oh 

 

This tape still gets me so hype! P.F. Cuttin is best known for producing Danger for his group Blahzay Blahzay, and his mixtapes were right up there with Tony Touch and Mister Cee.  'Da 4-O' is my favorite, with huge street anthems by Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., O.C. & Jay-Z alongside more underground 12"s by Brainsick Mob, Goodie Mob, and, well, Mobb Deep.  What I love about this mix is the layering, with long blends, instrumentals teased over choruses, and little sound effects scratched in; plus his doubles skills approach the levels of the X-Men or the Beat Junkies without losing the flow of the tape. 

This mix is available on PF Cuttin's bandcamp page

Green Lantern - The Best Of 2000

The always dope GL mixes up the year's bangers on this one - Dre, Outkast, Prodigy, Royce, Wu Tang, Big L and loads more. Superbly put together as you'd expect...

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Green Lantern - The Best of 2000 by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Green Lantern - The Best Of In The Lab Vol 1 (2003)

Hard to believe that this is 10 years old already. I copped it on my first trip to NYC in August 2003 and it captures that era perfectly: G Unit, Dipset, D Block, Neptunes and The ROC all present and correct and delivered in that unique Evil Genius style. Everything is pretty much exclusive to this CD which is why it still stands out today. There's some dope freestyles, including Lloyd Banks over Jigga's 'Show You' (with a Tony Yayo drop straight from the bing) and some great ''Green mixes" like 'Dipset Anthem' over 'What Up Gangsta' and MOP & CNN over 'Straight Outta Compton'. You need this.

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The Evil Genius! Green Lantern blends and freestyles

During the mixtape boom of the early 00s, Green Lantern was absoloutely killing it. Whereas other DJs had their niche in exclusives, blends or dis tracks, GL would drop mixes filled with all 3. Its like Rectangle, Kay Slay and Dirty Harry combined. His knack for selecting dope beats enhanced the freestyles on his CDs and his attention to detail when he puts his blends together is ridiculous. With that in mind, here's a compilation of some of my favourite moments from a few of his mix CDs.

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Tracklist
1- Green Lantern 'Many Men'
Fat Joe, Eminem & Nas verses over one of 50's finest moments.
2 - Cam'ron & Jay Z 'Welcome To NYC' (Green mix)
Green chucks Cam & Jay's only collabo over the 'Can I Live' beat. There's not much I wouldnt do for an untagged CDQ version of this.
3 - Fat Joe 'U Dont Know freestyle'
A good example of the beat making or breaking the freestyle. Joey Crack over one of the better tracks from 'The Blueprint'
4 - CNN & MOP 'Stompdashitoutyou' (Green mix)
This 03 collaboration was on the Def Jam Vendetta "soundtrack". Turns out it sounds rowdier and better over the 'Straight Outta Compton' instrumental.
5 - Ghostface Killah 'Survivor freestyle'
Tony Starks over 'Ambitions Az A Ridah'? Its a wrap.
6 - Green Lantern 'The Throwback Mix'
Pretty sure I've mentioned on more than one occasion that everyone sounds dope over the 'Ikes Mood' piano break. This is no exception. Jigga, Styles P and Pac all get a run out on this one.
7 - Gang Starr 'Freestyle'
Because I had to get a Primo beat on here somewhere didn't I?
8 - Pharrell 'The Ice Cream Man'
Skateboard P over 'Ice Cream' and 'CREAM' (you see what I was saying about attention to details?). This is something of a guilty pleasure. It shouldnt work but it does. Just dont focus on the lyrical content too much.
9 - Green Lantern 'Addicted To Retail'
I don't recognise the beat used on this one (anyone?) but Biggie, Kanye and Foxy Brown all sound right at home on it.
10 - Jay Z 'Got Me On My Shit'
Another one that might aggravate hardcore Wu Tang-ers a bit. Jay over a beat that's basically 'Shadowboxing' with a few changes. I think the raps are off something on 'Blueprint 2'. Works.
11 - Redman & Paul Wall 'Freestyle'
From Green's show on Shade 45. This is pretty much settles the "writtens vs off-the-dome" debate. To his credit, Paul Wall rhymes off the top of his head, albeit with mixed results but then Redman steps up and kills it.

Green Lantern 'The Mix'

Bit of a strange one here. Its a 7 minute megamix of 90s classics by DJ Green Lantern, taken from this 12" which looks - and in places sounds - like a bootleg (it ends quite abruptly!). I suppose it could be that someone recorded Lantern's interlude slot on the Eminem tour one night and then pressed it up, adding some of the accapellas and instrumentals on the b-side. Either that or they just jacked his show vinyl and this is a straight copy. Anyway, it features Da Bush Babees, Nine, Mary J, Method Man, Craig Mack and Channel Live and its worth a listen.

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