Saturday 24 December 2011

Black Rob 'Permanent Scars' (2004)


I love this track. I was only made aware of it last year and recently Mike Nice has been kind enough to hook me up with the full length, untagged version. I was originally put onto it by esteemed blogger The Martorialist so its only right I hand over to him on this one...

Realistically, I only have 2 claims to fame in this internet-Rap shit : originating "Hennessey/enemies" 2pac jokes and being the first person to upload Permanent Scars by Black Rob to the 'net after my friend Bradley brought me the Kay Slay mixtape it originally appeared on back from NYC in summer 2004. I've since managed to lose the CD but, for the record, it was the same 'tape that Juelz's Red Bandana freestyle debuted and the 2 songs were mixed together as a shining beacon in amongst a plethora of shitty freestyles by Papoose, Grafh and J-Hood.

Permanent Scars, the original title of Black Rob's shelved 2nd album, ended up being rebilled as Live From The Eastside when it reappeared on Kay Slay's essential The Return Of Black Rob collection in late 2004 (which included many of the tracks recorded for the B.R album like Business Never Personal; probably the only time you'll hear a Neptunes production being used as a hookless storytelling joint) and it comes with some prime Rap-nerd trivia since Heavy D resold the beat to Beanie Sigel for Feel It In The Air after the B.R song ended up in mixtape purgatory, and Feel It.. went on to become a minor hit as well as one of the greatest Emo-Rap jams of the last decade.

Beanie's take is the superior cut, but Permanent Scars/Live From The Eastside is a mixtape classic and there are enough differences between the two songs that you can enjoy them both as separate entities anyway. Thanks to Mike Nice for unearthing this untagged version, although it's pretty weird to hear it with no Kay Slay bellowing after it's been a personal favourite of mine these past near-eight years.



Thanks to Mike Nice and The Martorialist on this one.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Its tha links baby, its tha links...


As I'm still without a tape deck and am quite busy with other stuff at the moment, updates have been a bit less regular than usual so I thought I'd keep the blog alive by following the path of anyone who's ever had a hard time dropping new material and go on a retrospective/best of tip.
Theres 370 posts on this blog from the last 2 and a half years so if you haven't been down since day one, here's a few things you might have missed...

Lord Finesse DJ set on WBAI's Underground Railroad

The original unreleased version of 'All About The Benjamins'

Snoop, Kurupt & Daz freestyling on Westwood's Capital Rap Show in early 1994

A couple of blends I did using Mobb Deep acapellas and DJ Premier beats

An interesting interview with DJ 7L aswell as a dope mix of old school Hip Hop from the man himself

DJ Clark Kent in the mix on WBLS in 1989

That should do you for now. I've been pretty thorough with the search tags at the end of each post so they're worth using.

Monday 5 December 2011

DJ Step One - The Infinite Hip Hop show on Kane FM


Here's Sunday night's Infinite Hip Hop show, broadcast live on Kane FM. The first hour (above) is mainly new/recent tracks including Cam'ron, Lupe Fiasco, Smoke DZA and Scram Jones.
For the second hour I went in the mix and pulled out some 90s/early 00s bits...



UPDATED:
DOWNLOAD PART ONE

DOWNLOAD PART TWO

Saturday 3 December 2011

King Of Da Crates: the DJ Mike Nice interview


If you've been following the blog for a while you'll know that occasionally I speak to DJs or rappers who were around back in the day and get them to speak on how they came up in the game and generally reminisce a bit. This time out the focus is on a man best known for his mixtapes of insanely rare demos and unreleased material: NYC's DJ Mike Nice...

Who You Be?
I am the original DJ MIKE NICE, formerly of Upstairs Records NYC. I am known as the King Of Da Crates in regards to my mass assortment of unreleased material and demos, and a record collection of 40,000 at last count back in 94!
At present I’m the A&R of Venom Records and DJ and produce for my group The Faculty (EI8Trak & L.Y.F.E)

What was your ‘Day One’ ?
The first record that got me open was around 1981: The Gap Band ‘You Dropped A Bomb On Me’. I was 6 years old at the time.
The 1st Hip Hop record that I recall getting me open was 1984 Rockmaster Scott ‘The Roof Is On Fire’. Shortly after that, ‘La Di Da Di’ and ‘The Show’ by Slick Rick & Doug E Fresh. I was born in 1975 and growing up music was always playing in the crib. My parents played a lot of Disco, Soul & R&B so I heard a lot of breaks early on, even if I didn’t know the name of the song.

Saturday 19 November 2011

Ghostface Killah 'Good Times' part 2 (2002)


To be honest I had no idea this existed until I found it on 12" recently. It's not really a 'Part 2' as much as remake or remix of the original 'Good Times' which was one of the tracks left off 'Bulletproof Wallets' and heavily bootlegged as a result (although there is an official promo 12").


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This differs from 'part one' in that the beat is a bit more polished, theres no Raekwon, and theres some additional lyrics from Ghost. Personally I prefer this version.

Yungun 'Jack The World' (2011)

The new project from Yungun has finally dropped, mixed by the ever reliable Mr Thing...

GO HERE

"Yungun a.k.a. Essa reunites with DJ Mr Thing for the Jack The World mixtape, weaving the common thread through hip-hop, disco, soul, house, afro-beat, jazz and electronica. A treasure trove of new, exclusive and unreleased Yungun material, it reminds us how good a mixtape sounds when it's actually mixed ... by a real DJ ... with real records!

Oh, and for all you DJs out there - you can grab the radio edits here:

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Grandmaster Flash 'The Message'
(Soul Focus remix)


This remix of 'The Message' was actually made back in 2002, using the same mixing desk that this was recorded on (true story!). We'd found the acapella online, quite a while before it appeared on the b-side of the Paul Nice remix although our version eventually coincided with that release. As with some of our other efforts, its done 'jackin for beats' style...

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Check out Werner's blog for the backstory on the original mix and its subsequent follow ups.

Big up to dirt dog for my new logo!

Saturday 12 November 2011

Jazzie B on Kiss FM (1997)

Jazzie B of Soul II Soul fame on London's Kiss FM back in July 1997. This is the first 40 minutes of his 'Funki Dred Show' and its all ragga over Hip Hop beats: Bounty Killer over 'Hell On Earth', Lady Saw over 'Hypnotize', plus tracks by Frisco Kid and Sleepy Wonder amongst others...



I'm still without a tape deck but I preserved this on CD years ago as for a long time it was the only place I had all these tracks. Jazzie rarely used to mention track names and it was only by taking an educated gamble on certain 12"s (usually white labels) over the years that I've managed to get hold of most of them. Anyway, this was probably one of my favourite and most played tapes so go get that.


Wednesday 9 November 2011

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...

The first Infinite Hip Hop show on Kane FM!



Last month I introduced you to Kane FM, a new (legal) radio station that recently launched near me in a town called Guildford, which is just outside London. This past Sunday I hosted my first 2 hour show and here it is!


The idea behind the show is that it will cover all types of Hip Hop whether it be old, new, US, UK, East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South or whatever.
For the first hour I wasn't mixing, just dropping a few of my favourite tracks from the last couple of years alongside a few new bits. The second hour I went in the mix with some mid-90s classics. Nothing too adventurous as I was trying to keep it simple so I could check texts/emails and host the show etc. Its a bit rough around the edges but thought I'd throw it up on here just so I can look back on it in the the future when I've hopefully improved a bit.
The show is monthly at the moment but I'm also going to be doing a fortnightly 'Throwback' old school slot playing a bit of everything. Hopefully by the next time I'm up there BT will have sorted the studio broadband out and we'll be streaming online.
All constructive feedback welcome. Shout to @TeamTorae for the radio versions. Thanks to Masta Ace, Mystro & Fallacy for the drops and Deeflux, Subterra, DJ Mystery and the whole Kane FM crew for helping to makw it happen in one way or another!

(Sorry if I'm rambling but my own radio show is something I've wanted to do since I was about 10 years old so it's kind of a big deal and I'm gonna milk it for a bit)

Friday 4 November 2011

Masta Ace - Kiss FM freestyle (2008)


Masta Ace live on DJ MK's show on Kiss FM, freestyling over the 'Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers' beat...

DOWNLOAD

On this same visit, he rocked a great show at London's East Village, which is where I took the above photo (admittedly it could've been a better pic but I'd had a few beers and was bouncing around like a goon).
Almost unbelievably, its now 10 years since the release of the dope 'Disposbale Arts' album and Ace is putting togther a documentary on the making of the album. Should be interesting.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Bars N Hooks ft Prodigy 'Aint Nobody' (2003)


Earlier this year you might remember me posting this 12" by Mobb Deep affiliates Bars N Hooks. I'd been looking for the Gap Band sampling 'Mind Blowin' for about 10 years at the time. A few weeks ago I stumbled across this 12" by the duo, which I was previously unaware of...


DOWNLOAD

As with the other release it features Prodigy and it also samples a well known 80s soul classic. This time around production is handled by Just Blaze but the release was confined to indie label Sure Shot (although it comes in an AV8 sleeve with AV371 inscribed in the run out groove). If you like early 00s East Coast thug rap on top of instantly recognisable samples - which I do - you'll enjoy this.



I had planned on dropping a few tape rips this week but my tape player has died. Bit awkward as its not technically mine but I've had it on loan for about 2 years now. Not really sure where that leaves me as far as compensating the owner. Chances are if I gave it back without saying anything he's never gonna use it and might never know. Personally I'm more concerned with where I can get a fucking tape player from in 2011. Hopefully I'll be back on the tapes soon anyway.

Thursday 27 October 2011

DJ Lord Vidal remixes (1995)


4 bootleg remixes from DJ Lord Vidal, courtesy of the label that bought you the Cypress Hill Megamix that I dropped some time ago. Mobb Deep, Frankie Cutlass, Montell Jordan and Total all get re-worked...

DOWNLOAD

Sunday 23 October 2011

theres more to life than rap music....



I'm sure I'm not the only person who occasionally needs a break from all that Rap stuff so in the interests of displaying my versatility as a DJ and providing an outlet for my non-Hip Hop mixes, here's a few things you might want to check out when your Karl Kanis and Jansport are in the wash...

Those of you old enough to remember the early days of House music might enjoy this...
88-89 CLASSIC HOUSE MIX

Old school UK Garage, 97-98 style. No 2-Step, more on that Tuff Jam/MJ Cole/Grant Nelson tip...
CLASSIC UKG MIX

One for all the Original Junglists! Taking it back to the days of AWOL, World Dance and Dreamscape. All the anthems on this....
MORE FIRE: JUNGLE CLASSICS 93-95

Some funky/vocal/liquid Drum & Bass from the early 00s. If you're into stuff like High Contrast, Nu Tone and DJ Zinc you'll probably enjoy this...
VIBEZ N STUFF VOL 3

And last up a mix of some of my favorite Funky/Soulful House music, inspired by my time at Suncebeat in Croatia this past Summer...
NOW THATS WHAT I CALL SUNCEBEAT 2011

All these are also available to stream on Mixcloud

Now that I've alienated half of the subscribers to this blog I'll invite those remaining to follow me on Twitter. I only signed up yesterday and haven't really got my head around it all yet so I might lose interest. It depends on how successful my initial attempts at harrassing DJs for untagged, full length versions of mixtape-only tracks go.

Friday 21 October 2011

AZ 'Dont Know' (2001)


Another AZ 12" that I recently aquired. Its a decent 80s soul flavoured track which suits Sosa's style down to a tee...

DOWNLOAD

The b-side is labelled as 'Whatcha', which I assume is 'Whatcha Day About' from the '9 Lives' album. I say assume because its actually a printing error and instead you get a clean version of 'Dont Know'. Ah, the joys of unofficial vinyl releases.

If you like this you might want to check this other AZ 12" I posted a while back

For those of you wanting some more tape rips, I'll be back on that tip soon. They're kind of time consuming though and I'm busy with a few other things right now.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Stylah 'Crash Course 2' mixtape (2011)


One of the few UK MCs I still check for, Stylah has hooked up with DJ Snips for the 'Crash Course 2' mixtape. I've been bumping it for the last few days and it just got Mixtape Of The Week on 1xtra so give it a go...

DOWNLOAD

DJ Miracle - Kane FM promo mixes (2011)



Kane FM is a new legal radio station thats launched in my area, having originally started life as a pirate station in the mid 90s, and then gaining a 1 month RSL back in 2004. After a lot of hard work behind the scenes they were granted a permanent licence to broadcast and have been running test transmissions on 103.7 FM for the past few weeks. They plan to go live this coming weekend.
These are 2 of the mixes used for those test tranmissions, courtesy of DJ Miracle. Some superbly mixed golden era Hip Hop for you...

DOWNLOAD MIX ONE

DOWNLOAD MIX TWO

Kane will mainly focus on everything mainstream radio doesn't, so expect Hip Hop, Drum & Bass, House, Dubstep, Reggae and every sub-genre in between. Stay posted for more info...

Friday 14 October 2011

EPMD 'Im Housin' Soul Focus remix


Erick and Parrish's 'I'm Housin' gets welded to Young MC's 'Shaft'/'Apache' sampling 'Know How' and some other funky breaks.

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This was a biggie as far as our remixes go. It was the first one we released through Juno and it featured on Ali B's Kiss FM show and picked up plays from The Rub's Cosmo Baker. Its a good party rocker basically. Enjoy!

Friday 7 October 2011

Nas 'Stillmatic' freestyle (2001)


I've had a few requests for this following this post, so here it is in its full length, untagged glory.

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If you haven't heard it before, its Nasir going off over the 'Paid In Full' instrumental, and it did the rounds on radio and mixtapes prior to the 'Stillmatic' album dropping.
It's probably the least referenced track from the Nas vs Jay Z beef, probably because it didnt get an official release like 'Ether' and 'The Takeover' and as far as I know it wasn't subjected to a rather overblown premier on Hot 97 when it dropped like 'Super Ugly' was. Either way, it serves to remind that Nas sounds great when he's given a good beat to rhyme on.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

DJ Emynd 'Best Of Heiro' mix (2011)


New mix by DJ Emynd out of the Crossfaded Bacon crew...

"The other day, I was on a quick road trip listening to Extra Prolific’s now classic “Like It Should Be” and it dawned on me that I needed to put together a collection of my favorite Hiero songs. And… so I did. 27 of my favorite Hiero joints, all of which come before the year 2000. This isn’t because Hiero stopped putting out good music after 2000. Frankly, I have no idea if they did or didn’t because I haven’t been paying attention… but these joints all bang and this mix is a fun trip down memory lane with a lot of great rap that has aged extremely well. I’d like to think this is a good introduction to the Hieroglyphics crew for those who aren’t familiar with their work, but also a fun listen to those of us who grew up listening to them. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy it!"


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Tracklisting
1. Souls of Mischief – Batting Practice (Demo Version)
2. Casual – Lose In the End
3. Del – Miles To Go
4. Casual, Opio, and Tajai – Rippers
5. Souls of Mischief – Souls of Mischief
6. Del – Thank Youse
7. Extra Prolific ft Casual – Cash Money
8. Souls of Mischief – Step To My Girl (Demo Version)
9. Casual – It’s Like That
10. Souls of Mischief – That’s When Ya Lost
11. Del – Don’t Forget
12. Extra Prolific – Never Changing
13. Dinosaur Jr & Del – Missing Link
14. Souls of Mischief – Anything Can Happen
15. Extra Prolific – Is It Right?
16. Souls of Mischief – Ya Don’t Stop
17. Pep Love and Jay Biz – Can I Kill Em?
18. Souls of Mischief – Make Up Your Mind
19. Casual ft Del – A Little Something
20. Souls of Mischief – Our Secret
21. Del – Catch A Bad One
22. Souls of Mischief – Cab Fare
23. Extra Prolific – One Motion
24. Souls of Mischief – A Name I Call Myself
25. Souls of Mischief – Live and Let Live
26. Casual – I Gotta (Get Down)
27. Souls of Mischief – 93′ Til Infinity

Tuesday 4 October 2011

The Funhouse @ Soundcloud!



Those good peoples over at The Funhouse have set up a Soundcloud page where you can stream or download some of their highlights from the last couple of years, including mixes by J Rocc, Mr Thing, DJ MK, DJ Kofi and Skitz...

GO HERE

Sunday 2 October 2011

Queens OG: exclusive J-Love interview



I haven't dropped an interview in a while so here's a quick Q&A I did with DJ J-Love, best known for his mixtapes being packed with exclusives and his work with NYC's Hip Hop elite...

OB4ZL: Who You Be?
I’m the magnificent, glorious J Love. Mixtape Kingpin, MC extrodinaire, producer executioner for Queens, New York and if you don’t know who I am or my history its possible you don’t belong in Hip Hop!

Saturday 1 October 2011

Method Man & GZA - J Love remixes (2003)


Ahead of the J Love interview I'm about to drop, I thought I'd post up these 2 unofficial Wu Tang remixes he put out on a 12" back in 2003. First up is Method Man's 'Uh Huh', the original of which was featured on the 'Def Jam Vendetta' soundtrack. The flipside is GZA's 'Fame' which originally appeared on 2002's 'Legend Of The Liquid Sword'.

DOWNLOAD

Wednesday 28 September 2011

DJ Step One - 90s R&B mix



DOWNLOAD

Tracklist
Aaliyah 'Back And Forth'
SWV ft Snoop Dogg 'Gettin Funky'
Mya ft Raekwon & Noreaga 'Movin On' (remix)
Horace Brown 'One For The Money'
Mary J Blige 'Love No Limit' (Puff Daddy remix)
Shai ft Jay Z 'Dont Wanna Be Alone' (Marley Marl remix)
Total 'No One Else'
Allure ft Nas 'Head Over Heels'
Stephanie Mills 'Something In The Way..' (bootleg remix)
Whitehead Brothers 'Forget I Was A G'
Monifah ft Heavy D & McGruff 'I Miss You' (remix)
Soul For Real 'Candy Rain' (Heavy D & Trackmasterz remix)
TLC 'Creep' (remix)
Blackstreet ft Dr Dre 'No Diggitty'
Monica ft Biz Markie 'Just One Them Days' remix
Janet Jackson ft Q Tip 'Got Til Its Gone'
Groove Theory ft Brand Nubian 'Tell Me' (remix)
Domino 'Sweet Potato Pie'
Adina Howard 'Freak Like Me'
Yvette Michelle 'Everynight And Everyday'
Mariah Carey ft Mobb Deep 'The Roof (Back In Time)'

I hadn't really planned on doing this but I had a bit of spare time last night so I pulled the vinyl off the shelf and knocked it out in one take. Its turned out pretty well I think. There's some less familiar tracks and remixes alongside the classics and unlike past attempts it hasn't ended up being 95% Mary J Blige. Hope you like it.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Doo Wop 'The War Report' (2001)



One of the lesser spotted Wop mixtapes, this dropped in late 2001 and features more than a few rappers who'd qualify for XXL's 'Milk Carton' feature (is that still going?). There was a time when Ali Vegas, Poster Boy, Dutch & Spade and Littles were all vying for the position of NYCs 'next to blow' but never quite made the cut in the ensuing Roc/Dipset/G Unit era that followed. Anyway, if you like your early 00s NYC Street Hop this is worth a look...

DOWNLOAD

Saturday 17 September 2011

One FM Rap Show 'Top 10 At 10' (1996)


Here's Westwood's 'Top 10 at 10' from 6th January 1996. I was going to do a tracklist but thought that might spoil it...

Thanks to Richard for the original tape.

UPDATE 29/04/18 - full 90 mins from this show re-ripped in better quality:



There's a good article on the man's early days HERE, covering his start in the early 80s onwards. Well worth a read.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Ghostface & Raekwon
'Good Times' (DJ Step One blend)


Here's a quick blend for you: Ghost & Rae's 'Good Times' acapella over the instrumental of LL's 'Fa Ha' (produced by DJ S&S)...

DOWNLOAD

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Doo Wop 'Gangstas Paradise' (2000)


I've been meaning to rip this for ages as anything Doo Wop related seems to go down well round these parts...

DOWNLOAD

There's some great stuff on here, my personal favourite being Treach ripping it over the 'Keep It Thoro' beat, which serves to remind that a solo album from the NBN frontman could've been dope with the right production. Journalist spitting over 'Mass Appeal' is nice, as is Nature over 'So Ghetto'. There's also 2 Prodigy joints, one with him dissing Jay Z over the 'Hail Mary' instrumental and the other a collaboration with E-Money Bags over 'Phone Tap'. If you need any more convincing head for the Lord Tariq and Big Daddy Kane tracks.

Demon Boyz on Kiss FM (1992)


UK legends the Demon Boyz on Max LX & Dave VJ's Kiss FM show in 92, promoting their second LP 'Original Guidance'...

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Tape courtesy of Mr Lawson

Sunday 4 September 2011

Soul Focus vs Uptown 'Dope On Plastic'


Another Soul Focus remix for you. This takes Uptown's 'Dope On Plastic' acapella and blends it with the instrumental of Dizzee Rascal's 'Pussyole', with a bit of King Bee thrown in for good measure. Works a treat if you're a DJ...

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Monday 29 August 2011

Jay Z, Memphis Bleek & Geda K
'Murda Murda' unreleased version (2001)


This track first did the rounds on mixtapes and bootleg vinyl around mid-2001, and was known variously as 'South Philly Niggaz', 'Murder Marceyville', and - on one white label - 'Chill'. It re-appeared in early 2002 with new verses and Beanie Sigel replacing Geda K. Then it all went quiet again until it finally got an official release on Memphis Bleek's 'M.A.D.E' album in December 03.

DOWNLOAD

The original version has Jay dissing Jayo Felony (I forget why, as I expect everyone else has, apart from Jayo who will probably be dining out on the story for years) and Bleek taking a shot at Nas. Geda K, who at the time was signed to Rocafella's short lived spin-off label Carter Faculty, comes in to wrap things up with a solid verse. The version that made it to retail is equally as strong, as you'd expect from The Roc in 2003. Sigel kills it "for real".
As for the 12" you see in the picture, it was probably a bit optimistic for the bootleggers to go with the 'Blueprint 2' tagline as that wouldnt hit shelves for another 18 months. The only track to make it onto the album was the frankly awesome 'Show You'. The others were mixtape staple 'Addicted To The Game' and personal favourite 'Early This Morning'.

I wish Jay Z still made records like this.

UPDATE 30/08 - Here's 'Addicted To The Game' and 'Early This Morning'

DOWNLOAD

The LOX - Hot 97 freestyle (2007)


Rediscovered this recently, tucked away on a DJ Envy CD. Jada, Sheek & SP on Flex's show a few years back...




Thursday 25 August 2011

Tim Westwood - Capital Rap Show (1994)


Ah, June 94: I'd just finished my exams and discovered getting stoned. 'Illmatic' had just dropped and Westwood's show was still a must on the weekends.
Theres some good stuff on this tape - 'Cuz Its Wrong' by Slick Rick for one, as I'd completely forgotten how much I liked that track. Also, theres LL's elusive (although allegedly dropping soon) 'Year Of The Hip Hop', Nice N Smooth, Rampage, Guttersnypes, OC and Kurious. Side 2 is more smoothed out with some Snoop, Warren G, Blackstreet and Hi-Five.




Thanks to Mr Lawson for the tape.



Monday 22 August 2011

DJ Jay Ski - The Rebirth: Volume 30 (1999)


Another Jay Ski tape for you. Gang Starr, Common, The Roots and Slum Village are all featured, aswell as a couple of Buckshot freestyles.

DOWNLOAD

(click on the image to enlarge the tracklist)

Tuesday 16 August 2011

MC Shan 'The Bridge' (Soul Focus remix)


As promised, I'll be making all of the Soul Focus remixes available and here's the next one; it's our take on MC Shan's 'The Bridge', done in a similar style to the Roots Manuva one I dropped last week. This time we've used a different 80s Soul classic on each verse...

DOWNLOAD

Saturday 13 August 2011

Jazzy Jeff live at The Do-Over (2011)


Up until now it had completely slipped my mind to start checking The Do-Over site for any uploads from their parties this summer. Here's Jazzy Jeff doing his thing, with Skillz on hype man duties...

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Thursday 11 August 2011

DJ Jay Ski - Volume 25 (1997)


Have to admit that Philly's Jay Ski wasn't a DJ I was familiar with until recently, but having been sent a stack of his tapes (shout to Richard!) he's definitely up there with the best of them. Not too heavy on the scratching and with a good mix of big names and indie joints, this is well worth a listen...



(click on the image to enlarge the tracklist)

Monday 8 August 2011

Foxy Brown, Cam'ron, Mase & Pretty Boy
'Baby Baby Baby' part 2 (1997)


I picked this 12" up at the weekend, mainly on the strength of the other side, which is a Nas & Foxy Brown cut called 'Firm Members' (insert your own porno joke here). Unfortunately when I got it home it turned out to be that freestyle I uploaded a few months ago, albeit without DJ Clue yelling on it. 'Baby Baby Baby' on the other hand, I hadnt come across before. Its a bit of strange one really; the quality isn't exactly A1 and the lack of a chorus, or any real song structure makes it seem more like a cipher recorded for a mixtape. Even stranger given the song's title.

DOWNLOAD

An initial search didnt reveal too much info about 'Baby Baby Baby' so thinking I had a bit of a rare one on my hands I ripped it, scanned the label and was about to post it when I thought I'd dig a bit deeper. As far as I can tell, 'Part One' may have been a solo joint by Pretty Boy, or possibly a collab with Foxy (his sister) and Mase. This version featuring Cam'ron was actually posted on the Just Dipset blog back in March. But I'm guessing our audiences dont overlap too much and I'd put too much effort in at this point not to post it myself. Either way its a bit of an obscure one.

For more Fox Boogie business, check this recent Martorialist post

Sunday 7 August 2011

Jungle Brothers, Chill Rob G & Queen Latifah freestyle


More late 80s freestyle action from Westwood. This time its a Flavor Unit - Native Tongues cipher with The JBs, Latifah and Chill Rob G...

DOWNLOAD

Saturday 6 August 2011

Roots Manuva 'Witness' (Soul Focus remix)


Over the next few weeks I'm going to be making all the Soul Focus remixes available for free download. First up is our 'jackin for beats' take on Roots Manuva's 'Witness (One Hope)'. This originally dropped back in 2009 and was one of our most popular releases...

DOWNLOAD

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Ultramagnetic MCs freestyle


Another one out of the Westwood vaults: Kool Keith, TR Love, Ced Gee and Tim Dog freestyling on the Capital Rap Show back in 1988-89...

DOWNLOAD

The Show






For those of you who need to be told, these are old flyers - not adverts for upcoming events! Im not sure if the Busta flyer is for the show that ended in The Forum getting torn up, or for the comeback show (when he actually performed). I have a feeling that the Raekwon show might've been cancelled at the last minute. I'm still a bit gutted I was too young to reach Flava Of The Month...

Monday 25 July 2011

One FM Rap Show 'Top 10 At 10' (1995)

First up out of the pile of Westwood tapes I received last week is this 'Top 10 At 10' from August 1995...


Obviously there was a lot of great music dropping back then but the thing that really time-stamps the era is the banter between the songs - there's a lot of 'keep it real', 'represent' and 'no diggedy', because thats how Rap People spoke back then...

tracklist
Notorious BIG – One More Chance (Stay With Me)
Junior MAFIA – Player’s Anthem
Method Man – The Riddler
Luniz – I Got 5 On It
AZ – Sugarhill
Doug E Fresh – Where’s The Party At
Method Man & Redman – How High
GZA – Labels (remix)
Keith Murray – This That Hit
Raekwon & Ghostface - Criminology

Thanks to Richard for the original tape of this one.

Sunday 24 July 2011

DJ Step One 'Early 00s Rap Stuff' mix


So, before I get my shit together and start ripping some of these tapes I've acquired I thought I'd post up this mix I knocked up during the week. There's no real theme to it, I just wanted some stuff I hadn't heard for a while to listen in the car. I suppose it could be best summed up as 'East Coast hood shit that you might have found on a Clue or Kay Slay tape'. I only used vinyl, for those of you care about that kind of thing.

DOWNLOAD

STREAM @ MIXCLOUD

Tracklist
Game ft G Unit 'Hate It Or Love It'
Mobb Deep ft Big Noyd 'Double Shots'
Capone N Noreaga 'Invincible'
Freeway ft Peedi Crack 'Flipside' (blend w/ 'Nothin')
Beanie Sigel & Freeway 'Roc The Mic'
Beanie Sigel & Memphis Bleek 'So Whatcha Sayin'
Nas 'Made You Look' (blend w/ '2 Gunz Up')
Nas 'Thiefs Theme'
Phillys Most Wanted ft Fabolous & Clipse 'Cross The Border' remix
Jay Z, Memphis Bleek & Geda K 'Murda Murda'
Kool G Rap 'First Nigga'
Clipse ft Ab Liva, Rosco and Pharrell 'Hot Damn'
Cam'ron & Juelz Santana 'Harlem'
G Dep, P Diddy & Black Rob 'Lets Get It'
G Dep ft Keith Murray, Ghostface & Craig Mack 'Special Delivery' remix
Gang Starr 'The Ownerz'

I originally posted this on Saturday without realising that the recording levels were way too loud and it was distorting. If you were one of the 18 who downloaded it between then and last night you might want to delete and cop it again.
I'm very much aware that I need to step my game up as far as artwork to accompany my mixes goes.

Thursday 21 July 2011

Media Assassin


Mark 563 has set up a new tumblr dedicated to posting up scans of classic Hip Hop magazines like HHC, The Source, Represent etc. GO HERE

On a similar tip, the ever reliable Martorialist shared this article from the November 93 issue of The Source with rappers and journalists selecting their favourite music and memories from back in the day. Highly recommended as there's some great anecdotes in there.

I had a ridiculous amount of mags from the first issue of HHC in 88/89 onwards but had to ditch the lot when I moved so its good to see things like this appearing!

I've been lucky enough to receive a nice batch of tapes in the post recently(lots of Westwood, along with a few others) so expect some treats to appear very soon. I'm off on on holiday next week so I'll try and throw a few bits up before then.

Saturday 9 July 2011

Funkmaster Flex
'Big Truck Series Volume 1' freestyles (2001)


This 12" a is collection of some of the highlights of Flex's 'Big Truck Series' mixtape. It kicks off with Nas 'Stillmatic' (the dis track over the 'Paid In Full' beat) and is followed by 2 short freestyles by Fabolous and Kurupt. The flipside features Redman and some weed carriers, Busta and Rah Digga, a Foxy Brown freestyle recorded live on Hot 97 and Benzino wraps things up.

DOWNLOAD



I've got the 12" of the Nas track if anyone is need of a good quality/no DJ version.