Spinbad & JS 1 - The Cold Cutz Remixes

Bit of a classic tape this one, as Spinbad and JS 1 rework a bunch of (what are now) golden era joints. This is where that Hip Hop vs Rap remix comes from. Full tracklist here.

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DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Volume 3 (2017)

3 years have passed since the first 2 volumes of this series, which really isn't good enough tbh, so I got my shit together and hooked this up yesterday. It's a simple enough concept: all the tracks are remixes. In this case, they're from 95-96 (and all off vinyl if that sort of thing still matters to you). Get on it...

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Tracklist

AZ 'Gimme Yours' (Erick Sermon remix)

Big L 'MVP' (Smooth Summer mix)

Grand Puba  'A Little Of This' (Stud Doogie remix)

Notorious BIG 'Big Poppa' (Jermaine Dupri remix)

Real Live ft Tragedy & Capone 'The Turnaround' (Thug remix)

INI ft Pete Rock 'Fakin Jax' (Frankenstein remix)

Little Indian ft The Foreigner 'One Little Indian' (Buckwild remix)

D&D All Stars '1,2 Pass It' (remix)

Fugees 'Fugee La' (Refugee Camp remix)

Big Noyd ft Prodigy 'Usual Suspect' (Stretch Armstrong remix)

Kool G Rap ft Nas 'Fast Life' (Norfside remix)

Smif N Wessun 'Soundboy Buriell' (remix)

Common Sense 'Resurrection' (Extra P remix)

Jigmastas ft Skam & The Buildin Blox 'Beyond Real' (remix)

Frankie Cutlass ft Doo Wop, Fat Joe & Evil Twinz 'Boriquas On The Set' (Flip Squad remix)

Above The Law '100 Spokes' (Fresh On D's remix)

MC Eiht 'Thuggin It Up' (DJ Spinna remix)

Pharcyde 'Runnin'  (Jay Dee remix)

Volume 1 and Volume 2 are still available to stream and download if you missed them first time round.

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

I've been sitting on the 93 Til Infinity acapella for a while without finding any beats that really suited it. As with the TROY acapella, its hard to find something that will actually improve the track. Eventually, following a flash of inspiration I put a request out on the DWG boards for some technical assistance, as I've got the ideas but not the studio know-how. Jimmy Green - the man behind those rather popular Beastie Boys and Marvin Gaye mixes - duly stepped up and has come through with something rather dope. A different instrumental drops each time the MC changes and, by no coincidence, all the beats used were big tracks in 1993. Do you see what we did there?

 (go here if the audiomack player doesn't appear)

The more astute amongst you will spot that this is inspired by Spinbad's remix of Hip Hop vs Rap and those Stretch Armstrong and Mighty Mi remixes of 1,2 Pass It, Crooklyn etc. Big fan of those Jackin For Beats tracks and Jimmy definitely took my idea and made it reality with awesome results.

Spread it around and tell the people where you got it from.

INI 'Fakin Jax' Frankenstein remix (1996)

As promised, here's the Frankenstein remix of INI's 'Fakin Jax' that appears on the flip of the Method Man remix below (shout to ego trip for spreading the word on that one)...



Always thought that the mid 90s INI material was a bit of a step sideways for Pete Rock after his streak of classic and genre defining productions in the years previous, It's solid enough head nod boom bap and maybe he just wanted to take a step back from the sort of high profile artists he'd been working with (its worth remembering that although he's held up as an icon of Real Hip Hop by the purists, he made a ton of money remixing the likes of Johnny Gill and Alexander O'Neal). He definitely fell a few steps behind the likes of Premier for a while.The fact the INI album got shelved probably didn't help matters but you can't help thinking he might have ended up working with more A listers if he'd taken a different path after the split with CL Smooth. Wonder if anyone has mentioned to him that it'd be a nice idea to release all his Future Flavas remixes in some of format?

Method Man 'PLO Style' Frankenstein remix (1996)

I haven't come across many bootleg remix 12"s recently but I picked up this 4 tracker of remixes by Canada's Frankenstein last week and his take on this track off Meth's debut LP (and b-side to Bring The Pain) was the standout cut. If you like that dusty mid 90s sound you'll probably enjoy this...



I'm not that familiar with much of Frankenstein's catalogue but 'Sparkin Intellect' remains a favourite from back in the day. Based on that track alone he's almost certainly the best rapper to come out of Toronto.



I'll drop the INI 'Fakin Jax' remix off the same 12" at some point. Unfortunately the record fair where I made the purchase had (intentionally?) pretty poor lighting so I didn't realise the vinyl was a bit more busted than I'd usually find acceptable. The Nas remix is far too crackly to bother digitizing but isn't anything special anyway and I'm not a huge fan of the Das EFX track.

DJ Rhude - NAZ: The Flyest Essence (2015)

The homie DJ Rhude just dropped this blend/remix tape using Nas & AZ vocals...

GO HERE

The venture features remixes from two of The Firm’s cohorts, Nas and AZ, and boasts production credits from legendary beat-makers including Pete Rock, Salaam Remi, Large Professor, The Alchemist and more. On the genesis of the mixtape, DJ Rhude stated, “Nas and AZ’s chemistry in the booth is undeniable as evidenced by their body of work over the years. Despite said chemistry, the two artists have never collaborated on a full length album despite the fans pleas for it,” he said. “While it probably may never happen, Datwon (Vibe EIC) and I brainstormed about putting together a mixtape as a way of imagining how an album between the two could sound. As a result Naz: The Flyest Essence was born.”

RZA ft Method Man, E40, WC, Crooked I & Jayo Felony 'We Pop' remix (2003)

"this is a Power 106 exclusive..."

I remember getting the promo 12" for the original version of 'We Pop' sent to me and not being particularly impressed with it. RZA and ODB on the same track with no other Clan members to bring a bit of style and finesse to proceedings wasn't really doing it for me at the time. This remix on the other hand, which surfaced some time later, definitely hit the mark. RZA enlists the stellar line up of WC, E40, Crooked I, Jayo Felony and Method Man to do their thing over the same beat...

The odd thing about this is that it's basically a straight jack of 'Bad Boy For Life', and like that track, its also produced by Megahertz. Not sure what the full story is behind that but RZA does take a sly shot at Diddy with his opening line. 

I've only come across the song in 2 places, initially on a Kay Slay tape and then on this bootleg 12", which seems like it doesn't turn up too often judging by Discogs.

Don't Sleep #5: Boss 'Progress Of Elimination' remix (1993)

So far in this series, I've posted songs by artists from Chicago, New York, LA and Miami. This time out I'm going with something from Detroit, and its by a WOMAN. Turns out some of them can rap. They'll be wanting to vote next. Anyway, like most people, I was a fan of Boss's single 'Deeper' which got some heavy rotation on Yo! MTV Raps and rap radio shows back in 93. Unlike most people (I think?) I bought her album 'Born Gangstaz', which featured production by Erick Sermon, T Ray, Chyskillz and Def Jef. The Barry White/Aswad sampling 'Deeper' was the standout track but the remix of the follow up single 'Progress Of Elimination' has always been a personal favourite...



As with some of the best female rappers, Boss had someone write her raps for her. In this instance, the aforementioned Def Jef and someone called Ricardo Royal are on biro duties, with bars that bring to mind 90s Kool G Rap and I actually thought he might've been behind this one until I checked Discogs. Boss' delivery of the street narrative is suitably on point and there's a nice late night G Funk vibe underpinning the track (not that dissimilar to the beat Jef provided for Shaq around the same time). Despite leaving us with a fairly small discography, it's probably fair to say that Boss laid the foundations for Mel B, Alesha Dixon, Rick Ross and other rappers with boobs.

Check previous Don't Sleeps here

DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Volume 2 (2014)

DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Vol 2 (2014) by Soulfocus on Mixcloud

Earlier this year I put together an hour long mix of remixes of 90s tracks. Here's volume 2...

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Tracklist

De La Soul - Ego Trippin Part 2 (LA Jay remix)

Brand Nubian - Love Me Or Leave Me Alone (remix)

A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God (UK Flavour)

Leaders Of The New School - Whats Next (Large Professor remix)

Run DMC - Ooh Whatcha Gonna Do (The Principle remix)

Das EFX - Freakit (remix)

Gang Starr - Code Of The Streets (Kenny Dope remix)

Masta Ace - Sittin On Chrome (Pitkin Ave mix)

Kirk - Uptown Style (Laidback Bounce extended mix)

Slick Rick - Behind Bars (Dum Ditty Dum mix)

Lost Boyz - Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz (Dat Nigga mix)

2Pac - Temptations (Battlecat Hip Hop mix)

Nas - Street Dreams (R Kelly remix)

Rakim - The Saga Begins (Desert Eagle Discs remix)

Dilated Peoples - Work The Angles (remix)

Mos Def & Talib Kweli ft Black Thought - Respiration (Flying High mix)

You can find Volume 1 here

Cookin' Soul remixes

I've known about Cookin Soul for a while but only just discovered that they're Spanish and that a bunch of their remixes are available on their Soundcloud page...

G Unit 'Stunt 101'

2Pac 'Old School'

Big L 'Put It On'

Mobb Deep 'GOD Pt III'

Crooklyn Dodgers 'Crooklyn'

If you've got time to kill go through the whole page. There's also their own original productions for the likes of Freddie Gibbs, YG, Currensy, Yukmouth and more. Good stuff.

DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Volume 1 (2014)

DJ Step One - The Remix Mix Volume 1 (2014) by Soulfocus on Mixcloud

All 90s, all remixes mix. Some well known, others are a bit more slept on or obscure. All seemed to fit together nicely given that it was an off the cuff, one take thing. Enjoy...

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Tracklist
Craig Mack – Flava In Ya Ear (Nashmack mix)

Black Sheep – Without A Doubt (Elm Street remix)

Naughty By Nature – Feel Me Flow (Feel The Funk mix)

Volume 10 – Pistol Grip Pump (Friday Night mix)

Fat Joe – Shit Is Real (DJ Slip remix)

Channel Live – Mad Izm (Buckwild ’95 remix)

Redman – Rockafella (remix)

Keith Murray – The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World (Green Eyed remix)

Jamal – Fades Em All (Pete Rock remix)

Mobb Deep – Temperature’s Rising (remix)

Camp Lo – Coolie High (Ski’s Paradise mix)

De La Soul ft Common – The Biznizz (Vinyl Reanimators remix)

Diamond D ft Cru – The Hiatus (remix)

Gang Starr – You Know My Steez (Dobie remix)

Gang Starr – The Militia (Soul Brother remix)

Jay Z – A Million And One Questions (DJ Premier remix)

El Da Sensei, Pharaohe Monch, Mike Zoot, FT & Prince Po – Frontline (Fat Daddy remix)

Ol Dirty Bastard – Got Your Money (white label remix)

Gang Starr ft Nice & Smooth – DWYCK (1^st Klass Dancehall mix)

Wyclef Jean ft John Forte – We Trying To Stay Alive (Rocksteady mix)

Vinyl Reanimators remixes 12" (1997)

All the Vinyl Reanimators remixes are worth investigating. Here's a 12" they dropped in late 96/early 97 with their takes on 'Drop A Gem On Em', 'Daytona 500' and 'Ya Playin Yaself'. Instrumentals included.

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Ghetto Jams: Urban Series 12" (1999)

Unofficial mash-up blend remix tings here. I posted the Common Sense one on its own ages ago but as I'm currently ripping a load of vinyl (before I get rid of it) I thought I'd share the rest. There's some decent stuff on here. Jay Z over a Beatnuts instrumental works well, as does 'Holla Holla' over the 'California Love' beat. The R&B joints aren't too bad either but even after all this time Fatman Scoop has rendered that Faith Evans vocal unlistenable to me.

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The aforementioned vinyl ripping is partly the reason for the lack of regular updates. I did contemplate stopping the blog completely but I'll try and stay on it for now and see how things pan out. There's always a chance I might come up with some new tapes or unreleased shit for you (although the chances are slim with the way London's 2nd hand record shops are these days).

Audio Two 'Top Billin' Supa Blends remix (1998)

Here's something I picked up on an otherwise unremarkable party breaks 12" a few months ago. Milk's legendary vocal is blended with the 'Phone Tap' and 'One More Chance' instrumentals.



It sounds like a strange combination but as DJ 7L mentioned in an interview for this very blog, tracks like 'Top Billin' were still getting played in the clubs in the mid-to-late 90s, 10 years or so after they first dropped and this works pretty well.

DJ Chase 'Ha' remix (1999)

This is something that Westwood and Flex played a few times back in the day and I'd been on the hunt for a copy for a while. DJ Chase takes the ill-as-fuck Mannie Fresh beat from Juvenile's 'Ha' and adds the 2Pac, Biggie and Grand Puba verses from Eddie F's 'Lets Get It On'

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Previously: DJ Chase 'The Bitch' remix

DJ Cinema 'End Of Summer' (2008)

Posts have been less frequent than usual while I make the most of this sunshine. British summers tend to be over way too soon these days so spending them hunched over laptop isn't really the way to go.
Anyway, this blend by DJ Cinema definitely has a summer vibe about it. I called it a blend but its a bit more than that. He's taken that all-too-short piano and vocal from the intro to Oukast's 'Atliens' and made a whole new beat out of it. Add some verses from AZ, Kanye, CL Smooth, Nas and Tony Gambino (I assume he's Cinema's homie) and you've got yourself a dope track.

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I've kept this in regular rotation since I grabbed it off Cinema's 'The Chronic' mixtape. It works really well not least because he's gone for some different acapellas and they all compliment each other nicely.

The Fat Daddy Hip Hop Remix EP (1999)

Been a while since I found anything like this that was worthy of a blog post. This record had been sitting in the store for a while but there's no listening deck in there and it wasn't cheap enough to take a gamble on until today. A good purchase for £1 though.
The pick of the bunch is the Jane Blaze one which sounds better than the original and flips the same Marcus Miller sample as 'Cant Knock The Hustle'.

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Also, I'm live on Kane FM tonight with The Infinite Hip Hop Show from 9-11pm (UK time). Tune in if you can. Think I'm going 'all 90s' on this one.

DJ M Rock - The Biggie Remixes (2013)

Following on from DJ Rhude's 'Notorious 9' a few weeks ago, DJ M Rock drops this set of 6 B.I.G remixes using his own beats.

GO HERE to check his reworkings of Skys The Limit, Kick In The Door, Come On, Dead Wrong, Crush On You and One More Chance.

DJ Rhude 'The Notorious 9' (2013)

Following on from the post below, the homie DJ Rhude dropped this yesterday...

I’ve always wondered what Big would sound like rocking with some of today’s producers, which was the catalyst behind this project. I’ve taken 9 of his songs and matched them up with some of the dopest producers out now. Some noteworthy beats featured on The Notorious 9 are from Harry Fraud, No I.D., Large Professor, The Alchemist, Jahlil Beats and a few others. Along for the ride are some respected heavyweights from the industry in Datwon Thomas (Exec. Ed. Vibe Mag) Shaheem Reid (The Round Up, XXL, Shade 45), Jayson Rodriguez (The Content King, host of The BQE), Rob Markman (MTV News) and DJ Goldfinger. They all took some out time to share their thoughts on Big. Hope everyone enjoys this tribute to one of the greatest rappers to grace the mic. RIP to the late, great Frank White. Peace. – DJ Rhude

GO HERE

some S. Carter heat....

The OB4ZL resurrection continues with a few Jay Z bits for you and yours....

CANT KNOCK THE HUSTLE (DEMO VERSION)
An alternate version that appeared on the flipside of the original 'Dead Presidents' 12". No Mary J on this one, and there's a different second verse.

WAKE UP SHOW FREESTYLE (1998)
A quick 16 live on Sway & Tech's legendary show 

ENCORE (BOOTLEG REMIX)
No idea who's responsible for this but its nice mash-up of Jay's 'Encore' over the Cheryl Lynn classic of the same name.

ROC THE MIC FREESTYLE
I'm not entirely sure where this is from (possibly Flex on Hot 97) but I've taken it from a DJ F-Sharp 'Top 5 Dead Or Alive' mixtape. Its dope though.