It was a wednesday afternoon in the middle of June...

It's actually an evening at the end of June but whatevs. Been slacking on my blogging due to exams, there not being enough hours in the day, and more recently, the country collapsing and everyone generally losing their shit. Here's some stuff to keep you entertained 'til I get back on it...

DJ Snips '45 Live - Classic Hip Hop 7"s' mix

DJ Cable is going to be giving away a few remixes and re-edits. Here's his mash up of Missy's 'Work It' over the '93 Til Infinity' instrumental

DJ Filthy Rich has blended Biggie's Party & Bullshit acapella with Lil Shawn's 'Dom Perrignon' instrumental (which samples Biggie) Go here for that one.

I recently re-upped a couple of old Westwood shows onto the mixcloud page: Check this Radio 1 Rap Show from March 1996  and a Capital Rap Show from June 1994

The good dude at the Simply Dope soundcloud page recently posted a 1 track version of DJ Rectangle's excellent 'OG Style' mixtape from 1994. Probably deserves a post of its own but it's not my rip so I'll leave it here.

The LOX 'Kiss Of Death' (unreleased)

Inadvertantly came up on this the other day after adding it to a Discogs order without really knowing what it was. Turns out its not Kiss Of Death off the first Ruff Ryders album (which is what I was hoping for) or the track of the same name off the second Jadakiss album. What we have here is an apparently unreleased LOX track which I'm guessing is from sometime in the late 90s...


(for some reason the audiomack embed isn't showing up so go here if you can't see it)

I'm guessing its from that era mostly due to the design of the label which is similar to a few other unofficial released from that period. Also, the fact its under the name 'Goodfellaz' makes me think it might be something the group put out while they were still under contract with Bad Boy, during the well documented Let The Lox Go campaign when they trying to move over to Ruff Ryders. It's definitely the sort of grimey mixtape joint they'd have gone for when they were trying to get away from the whole shiny suit image. It sounds as though it might not have been mastered propely thats all part of the deal with these things.
If anyone has got any info on it drop knowledge in the comments. Also, if anyone can confirm that a 12" of Kiss Of Death from Ruff Ryders Vol 1 definitely exists that would be splendid. I've heard the instrumental at the beginning of this Cipha Sounds mix on Westwood so it must be out there in some format. The fact there's 2 songs (and an album, plus the track above) with the same name makes searching for it a bit awkward.

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.

DOWNLOAD

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.

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.

Biggie & Mase freestyle (1997)

I liberated this from DJ Absolut's 'When Disaster Strikes' mixtape. Biggie and Mase rhyming over the 'Benjamins' beat at Angie Martinez's birthday party in 1997. Quality isn't flawless but I hadn't heard it before so here you go. Shout out to Grime & Lime.

Was 3 days into the month before I realised I forgot to upload May's First Of The Month mix. I had one ready aswell but as it was a mid 90s House mix you can probably live without it. Might throw something on here soon if I get time.

Don't Sleep #11 Lace Da Booms 'Cut That Weak Shit' (1996)

This came out as the first release on Guesswhyld, back in 1996 when indie rap wasn't an entire sub-genre in itself, and the records still looked 'indie' - no glossy covers or barcodes. If you were one of those people propping up the counter at the likes of Mr Bongo or Handspun (or in the US, Fat Beats) you'll probably be familiar with it, but for the uninitiated...



There's a few different mixes on the 12" but the go to one has to be the NYC mix. It uses the beat from Kane's 'Young Gifted And Black' and has an early guest appearance from Royal Flush, who drops a dope verse. It's some proper traditional mid-90s East Coast rap and should not be slept on.
If you still buy vinyl, this is represents pretty good value for money - L's version used the same Kane beat but has different lyrics and no Royal Flush, plus you get the instrumental. The b-side has the Buckwild mix which is in a similar style to his remixes of Mad Izm and Daaam. Not entirely my bag but alot of people seem to enjoy those beats. The Domingo produced 'Aint No Secret' ain't bad either.

Additional notes: If you check the label, you'll see this also features Quasi Modo, who is/was part of Flush's Wastelanz crew and nothing to do with Madlib.
Also, I've just spotted that the label says Guesswild and not Guesswhyld, which became the label name for future releases. Not really important but record nerds enjoy that kind of thing.

BONUS! I recently picked up a cheap copy of this Guesswhyld compilation as I wanted a CDQ of Cut That Weak Shit. Turned out it was the Buckwild mix so here it is if you want it.

DJ Clue - Cluemanatti part 2 (1997)

Some nice stuff on here, in particular the intro to side 2 which is some sort of special done for Steve Stoute's birthday by Nas, Mary J, Noreaga and Femme Fatale. There's also freestyles by Cam'ron & Cardin and Jay Z & Sauce Money aswell as joints by The LOX, Puffy, Foxy Brown, AZ, Mobb Deep and CNN.



Think the rip came out ok but there might be one or two parts where the sound jumps. Haven't played it back in full yet so if its unbearable let me know.