"fool I got them bomb ass tapes..."

RIP Crazy Toones. Ice Cube and WC's tour DJ and general West Coast OG. Thought I'd throw this one up in his memory as I still play it from time to time and I think it probably went under alot of people's radar...

DJ Emynd & Eastside Stevie - Boom Bap Trap Shit (2011)

I've got a couple of big tapes ready to be posted but there was a change to our scheduled post after hearing the sad news about the death of A$AP Yams earlier today. I traded a few tracks with him in the pre-A$AP days when he was killing it on his Tumblr page and he'd shown this blog some love on social media over the last few years so I thought I'd pay homage and re-up this mix he did alongside DJ Emynd under his original alias of Eastside Stevie. This got a fair bit of attention when it dropped as it takes classic acapellas by your more "traditional" rappers (CNN, Mobb Deep, Camp Lo etc) and throws them over some dirty south instrumentals. Not for everyone (purists should approach with caution!) but definitely an interesting concept and it works really well for the most part.

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http://yamborghini.tumblr.com/

Eazy E megamix (1995)

Thanks to The Martorialist for reminding me that today is the anniversary of Eric Wright's death. This seemed a good opportunity as any to re-up this Megamix that dropped as promotional 12" for the 'Eternal E' album.

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While 2Pac and the Bigs (Smalls, L and Pun) get a full Twitter timeline takeover on their respective anniversaries, Eazy E seems to be overlooked by the Hip Hop community. Its possibly due to the fact he died of HIV instead of something more glamorous like getting shot the fuck up for no real reason. Also, he'd made his impact before the online generation (for whom Rap starts with Illmatic and Reasonable Doubt) were really paying attention.
All those rap fans who constantly whinge that their favourite artists never gets their due should consider this: Jay Dee (or Dilla if he 'changed your life') gets mixtapes, t-shirts and club nights in his name when all he did was drop a few decent beats here and there and turn A Tribe Called Quest into the blandest group imaginable. On the flipside, Eazy is one of gangsta rap's godfathers, is responsible for the careers of Ice Cube and Dr Dre, and by extension Snoop Dogg. So thats 4 of the best albums of the early 90s under his belt right there, and Ruthless was getting paid off all of that. He also signed Bone Thugs N Harmony, a group who at one point had back catalogue sales rivaled only by 2Pac. If you really want to take it there, you could say he inadvertantly facilitated the rise of Eminem and 50 Cent, and even the fucking Black Eyed Peas. despite being dead by the time all that happened. Imagine a world today, where all those dudes were signed to Ruthless and pay homage!

(NB: I originally posted this Megamix up about 3 years ago without the lengthy pro-Eazy rant)

Heavy D R.I.P (1967 - 2011)

Rest In Peace Heavy D. Can't believe he was only 44. He doesnt really get mentioned much when people talk about the late 80s/early 90s era but apart from being pretty solid on the mic, he helped put Pete Rock on and you could see his influence on rappers like Jay Z and especially Biggie. He was also definitely a pioneer as far as his style and image went. He was only in the UK a couple of days ago and was a guest on Tim Westwood's show on 1xtra...

Just A Moment

RIP Guru - One Of The Best Yet...

Sad news today. Gang Starr are probably my favorite group ever. I can't really say much that hasn't already been said but if you need some music to play today and you don't have Matthew Africa's recent Gang Starr mix, go and get it HERE


















Also, if you missed it when I originally posted it, here's a freestyle by the man when he was up on MK & Skully's Kiss FM show back in 2004

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UPDATE: Mister Cee dropped a Guru tribute mix on Hot 97 earlier today

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Spotted at DJ MK's blog

Derek B RIP (1965-2009)

UK Hip Hop pioneer Derek B passed away from a heart attack in the early hours of this morning. For those that dont know, he was the first UK rapper - and one of the first rappers - to perform on Top Of The Pops, had a series of big singles around 88-89 and was the first UK artist to be signed to Russell Simmons' Rush Management company (home to Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run DMC).
He was definitely a favourite of mine when I was growing up and I was fortunate enough to meet him a couple of years ago when he was selling off some of his vinyl. He came across as a nice bloke and even bust a verse of 'Bad Young Brother' acapella for me and my mate!

Condolences to his family.