Friday 25 December 2009

DJ Step One - Head Nod Hip Hop mix














Here's a mix of mid-90s tracks I knocked up the other day while everyone else seemed to be stuck in nightmare traffic due to the snow. Strictly head-nod/boom bap style...

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tracklist
Jemini The Gifted One ‘Brooklyn Kids’ (Mercury)
LA The Darkman ‘I Want It All’ (Fo Real)
Mobb Deep ‘Up North Trip’ (Loud)
Royal Flush ‘Movin On Ya Weak Production’ (Blunt)
Gravediggaz ‘1-800 Suicide’ (Gee St)
Kool G Rap ‘4 Da Brothaz’ (Epic)
Notorious BIG ‘Warning’ (Bad Boy)
Dogg Pound ‘Niggaz Dont Give A Fuck’ (Epic)
Eazy E ft BG Knoccout & Dresta ‘Real Muthaphukkin Gz’ (Ruthless)
MOP ‘Downtown Swinga’ (Select)
Tragedy, Large Professor & Havoc ‘Da Funk Mode’ (25 To Life)
Pop Megga ‘Ghetto News’ (Profile)
McGruff ‘Harlem Kids’ (Uptown)
Children Of The Corn ‘American Dream’ (white label)
AZ ‘Your World Dont Stop’ original version (white label)
Goodie Mob ‘Cell Therapy’ (LaFace)
Boss ‘Deeper’ (Def Jam West)
Wu Tang Clan ‘CREAM’ (Loud)

Tuesday 22 December 2009

Method Man & Redman freestyle (1999)














Method Man & Redman freestyling for what seems like an eternity on Westwood's Radio 1 Rap Show.
The pair were in the UK promoting their 'Blackout' album and go off over the 'Simon Says' beat in part one and Mobb Deep's 'Quiet Storm' and 'Its Mine' in part two.


DOWNLOAD PART ONE

DOWNLOAD PART TWO

Monday 21 December 2009

Canibus - 100 Bars freestyle (1999)
















I've no idea if this has appeared on the net before but I found it on DJ Clue's 'Cant Impeach The President 99' mixtape. Canibus does what he does best and spits pure non-stop punchlines and battle raps for about 5 minutes.

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Sunday 20 December 2009

Tha Alkaholiks ft Diamond D 'The Next Level' (DJ Step One blend)












I've been messing around with some acapellas and beats recently and I thought this blend was worth sharing. The Liks & Diamond D's vocals seem to work nicely over the beat Kanye produced for Common's 'The People'. Hope you like it.

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"coolin out with yo bitch eatin sweet and sour chicken..."

Thursday 17 December 2009

Kid Capri mixtape 6.20.89


This seems like a pretty good snapshot of what was big in NYC 20 years ago. The Kiiiiid Capri serves up some Heavy D, LL, Big Daddy Kane, BDP, "brand new" Public Enemy and Soul II Soul plus some classic breaks including a nice James Brown section at the end of the tape.


Original tape courtesy of DJ MK

Friday 11 December 2009

London Posse on Westwood (1996)


















London Posse freestyling on Westwood's One FM Rap Show back in 1996. Check this recent article for pretty much everything there is to know about them.

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It's occurred to me that I havent really dropped much UK stuff since I started this blog so I'm gonna make a bit more of an effort on that tip.

REQUEST - If anyone has the freestyle London Posse did on Kiss FM (Max & Dave's Rap Show) over the LOTUG's 'Funky Child' beat please contact me!!

Thursday 10 December 2009

"love the crackle on the old vinyl..."


















Cool article at Wax Poetics about the legendary Roosevelt Hotel record conventions in New York

GO HERE

"The Roosevelt was a place where Q-Tip could come and continue his quest, a study hall for a Large Professor, where precious gems lay for Diamond D. Where Prince B could be found making his rounds, where a Lord with Finesse could kick back and rest, and where Busta could continue his Rhyme. Where Pete Rock could find grounds for his newest sounds, and where Egon could come up with ideas to continue his career."

Spotted at Spine Magazine

If you like this kind of thing check out Dust & Grooves, especially their piece on DJ Shame of the Vinyl Reanimators.

Monday 7 December 2009

"Its All About The Benjamins" original unreleased mix (1996)














A few hours digging for vinyl yesterday yielded some interesting results. One of the records collecting dust in the middle of the endless copies of Ja Rule and D12 promos was this white label which includes the original version of the classic 'Its All About The Benjamins'.

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According to DJ Mike Nice this version "was released on a Bad Boy 'Shot Callers' promo tape given out at one of Puff's parties"

Wikipedia has a bit more info:
The song debuted in 1996 on DJ Clue's Holiday Holdup mixtape. This version of the song only featured Puff Daddy and the rap act The L.O.X. (excluding Styles P). The song was later added to Puffy's debut album, No Way Out, in a remix, "It's All about the Benjamins (Remix)", which added two new verses by Lil Kim and Notorious B.I.G. Lil Kim also provided the song with a chorus which the original version lacked. This version of the song also omitted the word "Hebrews" out of Jadakiss' verse, however, the word was left in on the first pressing, subsequent pressings removed the word. Additionally, when it was released on the Bad Boy's Greatest Hits Vol. I album, it retained the word. This single made it to No. 2 on the Billboard charts and its video won a Viewer's Choice award at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards show. Due to the rarity of the obscure mixtape version, the remix featured on No Way Out is often considered the song's definitive version to avoid confusion

Sunday 6 December 2009

something for the people...


















I haven't had much time to rip tapes or make mixes recently but I'm aiming to get back on track this week.
Here's a few things I've come across that are worth checking in the meantime:

Rakim & Biz Markie live at a Wyandance High School jam back in 1985

The best rap singles of the noughties

Good piece on Rap-A-Lot's production team

Dope (and seriously thorough) write up on UK legends London Posse

A seemingly endless supply of classic mixtapes

Shout to all the blogs that regularly update with original content!

Wednesday 2 December 2009

DJ Books presents Nas - The Thief's Theme mixtape (parts 1 & 2)

Another sure shot from DJ Books. This time he's hooked up an exhaustive 2 part mix showcasing the catalogue of Nasir Jones.



DOWNLOAD PART ONE



DOWNLOAD PART TWO













"Peace to the whole mixtape/blog family. Just wanted to pass this your way...This is pure Nas...mixed as a Nas fan would like to hear it. This was done in 2006 right after Hip Hop Is Dead. We thought it was time to pay homage to one of the greatest MC's of all time. Of course its a double...as one mix IS NOT ENOUGH for the hip hop heavyweights IMO" DJ Books