Champs n ting

As this blog is 99% old music I don't tend to indulge in end of year lists and 'best of's, but as Kano's 'Garage Skank Freestyle' has rendered everything else obsolete for the last 2 months it's only right I give it some shine and name it my tune of the year (in a year where new songs I absolutely loved seemed to be in short supply). Its not one for the Purists but when have they ever been any fun?

BUY HERE

Save for a couple of tracks here and there I never really liked any early Grime - the MCing and production was a bit too raw (a nice way of saying it was terrible) but Kano stood out as someone who was a notch above the rest of the Channel U goons and could cut it with "proper" rappers. My mate had text me a link to Garage Skank and it was few days before I got round to checking it while I was stuck in traffic. The cut-n-paste style video was cool but it was Dot Rotten's beat that immediately got me. Chipmunk Soul might be my favourite rap sub-genre so something that sounded like a UK version of an early Just Blaze/State Property album deep cut was right up my street. If this was 2004 Kano could throw Twista on the remix and have a US hit in the bag.

"Your girls pum pum stinks like the A13 Beckton exit" >>> that whole Drake vs Meek Mill nonsense.

Happy Christmas.

DJ Juice - Volume 31 (1996)

DJ Juice. 1996. Legit Harlem Music Hut cover because thats how we do.

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DJ Juice - Volume 31 (1996) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Cutmaster C - New York Undercover (1998)

Another one from the batch Rich donated. Quality isn't amazing on this one but we lived it back then so you can live with it now. This includes the Nas & Noreaga freestyle I posted recently, aswell as some parts of the infamous Hot 97 session with Nore, DMX & Canibus. You also get another radio cypher with Cru & The Lox plus some AZ, Cam'ron, Cormega and Big Pun...

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Cutmaster C - New York Undercover (1998) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

DJ Step One - So 90s Volume 2

I always seem to end up doing one of these mixes around this time of year. Mid 90s East Coast rap suits the winter time nicely so being off work yesterday I pulled out some vinyl and got busy. Here's 56 minutes of tracks from 95-96...

DJ Step One - So 90s Volume 2 by Soulfocus on Mixcloud

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Tracklist

Fat Fluids - Hands Up

Mobb Deep ft Method Man - Extortion

Masta Ace Inc - Top Ten List

Jay Z - D'Evils

Camouflage Large - Cocbacda 9

Jemini The Gifted One - 50 MCs In A Cipher

Onyx - Last Dayz (instrumental)

La The Darkman ft Raekwon - As The World Turns

Mic Geronimo ft OC & Royal Flush - Men vs Many

Jeru The Damaja - Black Cowboys

MOP - Raise Hell

KRS One - Rappaz R N Dainja (instrumental)

Jungle Brothers - The Jungle, The Brother

Lord Finesse - Flip Da Style

Royal Flush - Rotten Apple

Raekwon - Knowledge God

Jamal - Fades Em All

Biz Markie - Studda Step (instrumental)

Ill Al Skratch ft MOP, Nice & Smooth & Nine - Dr Feelgood

You can find So 90s Volume 1 here

Funkmaster Flex - NY Rap Exchange (1995)

Funkmaster Flex - NY Rap Exchange (Sept '95) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

The September 1995 edition of Westwood & Flex's Rap Exchange. As was the norm for me back then, this was edited down with the pause button to fit onto a 90 minute tape. These days the selection on here could just as easily be the set list for a DJ Lay Z B'$t@rd warm-up set at your local 90s rap night - Danger, Drop, Ice Cream, Livin Proof etc but also includes a few (what are now) deeper cuts like Fat Joe's 'Respect Mine' & 'Bronx Tale' and the dope 'Black Reign' by Ten Thieves.

DJ Clue - Springtyme Stickup 1996

As promised, here's the full Clue tape featuring the Prodigy freestyle posted below...

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DJ Clue - Springtyme Stickup 1996 by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Still plenty of Clue & DJ Juice mixes to get through, plus a few Cutmaster C bits. I'll try and mix them up with a few other things in between though.

Prodigy & Ty Nitty - DJ Clue freestyle (1996)

Taken from DJ Clue's 'Springtyme Stickup 1996'. Prodigy and Mobb affiliate Ty Nitty over GFK's 'Motherless Child' instrumental. P was a beast back then. Full tape to follow soon...

Don't Sleep #10 Co-Defendants ft Rob Base 'Get Cha Weight Up' (1993)

The 10th installment of Don't Sleep is something that I first heard on a Red Alert tape in late 1993, and ended up being one of the first import 12"s to find its way into my collection. On a 90 minute TDK that was heavy on the Hoodie & Timbs, East Coast stomp style that was the flavour of the month (Das EFX, Onyx, LONS, Jeru, Wu Tang etc) this track really stood out as something different. A lazy blunted flow that wouldnt have sounded out of place on a West Coast/G Funk beat and a random cameo by none other than Rob Base have made this one a personal favourite over the years...

DJ Juice - Volume 33 (1996)

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DJ Juice - Volume 33 (1996) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Tim Westwood - Radio Rap Show (1999)

Tim Westwood - Radio 1 Rap Show (20.11.99) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

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45 minutes of Westwood on a Saturday night back in 1999. The 20th of November 1999 to be exact, so that makes this 16 years and one week old. This was a great time for #bangers if this tape is anything to by. Vivrant Thing, Simon Says, Next Episode and Whoa are all on here, plus some Rakim, Nas and The LOX.

Speaking of #bangers I've had an unfinished post sitting in my drafts for a while on overplayed songs and the shortcomings of most Hip Hop club DJs . The Martorialist recently beat me to the punch but I think I might have to drop that one soon.

DJ Clue - Desert Storm '98

More Clue. Too many bangers on this one. A snippet of Hard Knock Life (which I still maintain is a great record) sets things off plus there's Fabolous' breakthrough freestyle on Hot 97, a couple of blends and a Kool G Rap freestyle, and you 'Banned From TV' in its spiritual home.

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DJ Clue - Desert Storm '98 by Djstepone on Mixcloud

DJ Clue - Birthday Blizzard '96

Premium golden era mixtape right here. Early-ish tape from Clue as he was starting to make his name as the DJ with the exclusives...

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DJ Clue - Birthday Blizzard '96 by Djstepone on Mixcloud

DJ Juice - Volume 41 (1998)

First up from the recently acquired stash then, here's DJ Juice's tape #41 from '98. Dope intro, some tight blends as usual and an all round solid track list including Noreaga, Tragedy, Half A Mil, Jay Z, Redman and Ghostface...

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DJ Juice - Volume 41 (1998) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

(the end of side 1 has 2 tracks not listed on the cover - this Beanie Sigel freestyle and Ghostface 'Mighty Healthy')

Nas & Noreaga - Hot 97 freestyle (1998)

I got hooked up with a rather large stack of tapes today courtesy of the ever generous RB (he came through with the Jay Ski tapes and some mid 90s Westwood a couple of years back). All in all there was 20 tapes of Clue, Juice and Cutmaster C. Some have been online before, some haven't but I'm gonna rip the lot and get em on here because dead links/poor quality/obscure sites no one checks for etc.
Until I get around to doing that, here's a taster from Cutmaster C's 'New York Undercover' tape. Nas & Noreaga with Flex on the tables on Hot 97 back in 1998



If you've got tapes you'd like to donate for the blog (can be returned if needed) then get in touch.

Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito on Hot 97 (1996)

Another tape I'm surprised I hadn't posted before. This is the first Boogie & The Barber show on Hot 97. No guests (on the 57 mins here anyway) but pretty much every track on here is great. As the S&B documentary has finally dropped (not seen it yet) now seems like a good a time as any to share this one...

Stretch & Bobbito - first Hot 97 show (Feb 11th 1996) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

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Tracklist
Tragedy & CNN 'LA LA' remix
Jay Z 'Dead Presidents'
Keith Murray 'The Rhyme' (white label version)
Saukrates 'Father Time'
Group Home 'The Realness'
La The Darkman 'I Want It All'
Redman 'Funkorama' remix
Special Ed 'Freaky Flow' DJ Premier remix
Large Professor 'Mad Scientist'
Company Flow '8 Steps To Perfection'
MOP 'Raise Hell'
AK Skills 'Nights Of Fear'
Natural Elements 'Knick Knack'
Heltah Skeltah 'Understand'

I bought most of these on vinyl when they dropped but the Keith Murray eluded me for years until I came across it on this white label and I finally copped MOP's 'Raise Hell' a couple of weeks ago. Would like to get that Natural Elements track though if anyone has it?

If you fancy going through the WKCR archives, Serch4Beatz and the Philaflava crew have gathered a mighty impressive stack of them here

Tim Westwood & Max Glazer - Radio 1 Rap Show (2000)

Not sure why I hadn't posted this before as I definitely played it alot at the time. 30 minutes of this May 2000 show with NYC's Max Glazer mixing up some Jay Z, Biggie, Cash Money, DMX, LL, Foxy and various Fatman Scoop club bangaz. Cipha Sounds in the studio aswell. There's lots of promo for Tim's upcoming night at Fabric, which was  around the time the club first opened and was packing its main room with top notch Hip Hop and Drum & Bass line-ups most Fridays.

Tim Westwood with Max Glazer - Radio 1 Rap Show (May 2000) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Currently on the hunt for donations of tapes so I can get some fresh content for the site. I'm currently down to my last few tapes. If you've got anything you think might be of interest get in touch. If needed I can return them to you once I've digitized them. I'm mostly interested in radio shows from the UK and US like Westwood, Max & Dave, 279, Kiss FM in London & NYC, Hot 97 etc. Normal mixtapes are cool too but there's other sites that have that covered these days and it seems like pretty much everything of note has been put out there at one time or another.

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.

Sauce Money - Future Flavas freestyle (1998)

Always happy to post some Sauce Money. Rediscovered this having not heard it for years, and have been playing it all week...



The beat  is lovely. Not something I've heard before so could be an unreleased Marley or Pete Rock production? Speak up if you know different.

Sauce Money on The Combat Jack Show

DJ Rectangle - Behind Bars (1999)

That last Rectangle mix I posted went down well, and rightly so - every mix he dropped back in the day was heat. Here's one from '99. Bangers, blends and acapellas flying around all over the place and superbly mixed as you'd expect...

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DJ Rectangle - Behind Bars (1999) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Blood Money - Pillow Talk (2015)

Another seamlessly mixed set from R&B connoisseurs DJ Wax On and Sparkle Motion's MR TOBES, 'Pillow Talk' sees Blood Money return with a stunning selection of early to mid-80s quiet storm jams, all expertly blended together for your listening/love making pleasure.

GO HERE

Don't Sleep #9 Ill Mannered Posse 'Scanlous' (1989)

Taking it to The Bay for Don't Sleep #9. I don't know too much about Ill Mannered Posse other than they were from San Francisco and lead rapper Cougnut died in 2001. A bit more research for this post reveals Andre Nickatina was also a member and their handful of underground releases fetch a few quid on Discogs.
'Scanlous' came out when West Coast rap still had a recognisable East Coast influence, in this case with some PE and LL samples being cut up in the chorus. It brings to mind early Compton's Most Wanted which is obviously a good thing...



This was discovered way back in 1989-90 when my mate Rob, who was doing reasonably well for himself in the acting biz (considering he was 11) and  was doing a job in London. An American kid he was performing with gave him a TDK that included this song and also served as my introduction to the Geto Boys, in particular 'Do It Like A G.O', 'Gangster Of Love' and 'Mr Scarface'. Safe to say it stayed in rotation for along time.

DJ Step One - The Sunday Coolout (2015)

This is the first mix I've done in ages and as it was recorded on a chilled out, hanogver free Sunday I thought I'd go with some laid back selection. It's mostly R&B with a few lesser known joints and a couple of blends...

DJ Step One - The Sunday Coolout by Djstepone on Mixcloud

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Tracklist

Somethin For The People - Don't Wanna Break Your Heart

Tee Dawg - Hypnotize

Infinite ft Grand Puba - Will You Be My Baby (Daddy's mix)

Naughty By Nature - Written On Ya Kitten (QD III remix)

Mona Lisa ft The LOX - Just Wanna Please You (remix)

Jay Z - Can't Knock The Hustle (demo version)

Allure ft 50 Cent - Let It Be

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

A Tribe Called Quest - Lyrics To Go (Tumblin Dice remix)

SWV ft Jay Z, Mr Cheeks, Busta Rhymes, Smoothe & Trigga - You're The One (remix)

Horace Brown - One For The Money (blend)
Aaliyah - If Your Girl Only Knew (blend)

Faith Evans - You Used To Love Me

Mary J Blige & Grand Puba - Whats The 411

Keith Murray - Hot To Def

Janet Jackson ft Q Tip - Got Til Its Gone

Boyz II Men - Thank You (Untouchable mix)

Marley Marl - In Control with EPMD (1989)

Following on from the last post, here's the other one of A To The L's tape rips that I found in the stash. Marley on WBLS in 1989 with EPMD and DMC in the studio..

Marley Marl - In Control WBLS  with EPMD (12.08.89) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Marley Marl - In Control with Ultramagnetic MCs & 3rd Bass (1989)

Aaaaand, we're back! Everything is unpacked and plugged in at the new place so normal service can now be resumed. I haven't actually had time to rip anything but I found this on the hard drive and thought I'd give it a new lease of life. Marley Marl's show on the weekend of the New Music Seminar back in July 1989. 3rd Bass and Ultramagnetic in the studio. Off you go...

Marley Marl - In Control 14.07.89 with Ultramagnetic MCs & 3rd Bass by Djstepone on Mixcloud

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This must've been one of the first tape rips of its kind online, or at least one of the first I downloaded back in the dial-up days. The file info tells me its courtesy of the homie A to the L so shout out to him.

DJ Riz on Hot 97 (2015)

Hot 97 took a break from being terrible to let DJ Riz get busy for an hour last week. The man is a beast. He has the acapella for I Got Cha Opin for starters. Nice to hear a mix with the Hot 97 drops after all this time too. "The beat was s'posed to drop right there..."

DJ Riz on Hot 97 (28.08.15) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Download at Riz's Facebook page

The more astute of you might notice that parts of this (specifically the opening section) are pretty much identical to the live club set of his I posted back in 2010. Still dope regardless.

DJ 7L & Frank The Butcher present 'Its The Roc' original samples mix (2015)

DJ 7L & Frank The Butcher follow their dope mix of Bad Boy's original samples with this Rocafella themed set. So soulful mane...

GO HERE

French Montana ft Jadakiss & Method Man '88 Coupes' (OB4ZL fix up)

Having fully enjoyed French & Jada's '88 Coupes' and been pleasantly surprised by how good Method Man's recent freestyle over the Harry Fraud beat was, I thought I'd edit them together into one track...



Haven't checked Meth's new album yet. Hoping it has 2-3 decent songs worth copping as I like listening to him rap but he doesn't exactly have a great track record with his solo material. If he got someone like Harry Fraud or Alchemist (or even Black Milk) to do a few beats great things might happen.

Just had a thought that I should've obvz called this '89 Coupes' or something but I can't be bothered to re-up it.

I'll be back but for now just google...

Its a BDP reference. No posts recently due the house move now being in full effect. 20 years ago, almost to the week, I bought my first set of turntables - some Gemini belt drives. Today is the first time since then I haven't had them or my vinyl (or any CDs for that matter) in the house. Having lots of records is all well and good until it comes time to move, and then it's just a total bastard. Especially when you live on the 3rd floor with 5 flights of stairs and no lift. It's hard not to feel envious of the people who have all their music on a harddrive, or the types that just use iTunes and Spotify and occasionally buy a compilation from the supermarket.

Anyway, rant over. I feel like I may have posted something similar before but the point remains relevant. This is going to be one of those placeholder type posts where I put you up on them thangs I've discovered on my online travels. No one really sends me their mixes to post anymore. Feel free to do that if you've got something you want to share. Some decent artwork and being able to actually mix helps btw, although I'm fully aware I never have art for my own mixes. So...

Random Rap Radio continues to be a source of things you never heard before (for..for..never heard before...) like this Pete Rock & Marley Marl Future Flavas mixtape sampler for MCA Records from 1999

Remember The Supafriendz? They were Mad Skillz' crew back in the day. Bad Cop just put together this 'best of' mix featuring posse cuts, solo joints and radio freestyles. Check Supafriendz - Da Supa Mixtape

DJ Semtex shared a couple of old Bootcamp Click freestyles following the sad news about Sean Price (RIP).

DJ MK dropped his 'Watever Mixtape Vol 1' last week.

I recommend checking Big Ted's weekly show on Mi-Soul for new and classic Hip Hop.

Mark 563 has posted his dope 'Whats Real' mixtape from 2005 on Mixcloud, featuring all sorts of mid 90s classics.

If you want something to read while you're listening to these, the homie Stan Ipcus recently hooked up another one of his excellent Mixtape Memories pieces, this time interviewing Craig G.

That should keep you going for now. Have fun and enjoy whats left of the summer.

Edit - just realised that 4 of the 6 people linked above used to work in record shops in London. Weird. Shout out to Mr Bongo, Liberty Grooves, Handspun/Deal Real and HMV Oxford Street!

One other thing. I really wanted to like Compton and aside from the presence of Kendrick Lamar and Eminem the tracklist showed some promise. I can't remember the last time I was that pleased to receive a new release in my inbox, but on hearing it I thought the majority of it was rubbish with one or two songs being tolerable at best. The first track after the intro is particularly terrible. Comments I've read online - and there are many - suggest I'm very much in the minority but then as a general rule, comments online suggest most people are stupid. So there. There's a new Warren G EP out with previously unheard Nate Dogg vocals. I suggest you seek that out instead,

Terror Squad - Hot 97 freestyle (1997)

Big Pun, Cuban Link and Triple Seis going in over the Triumph instrumental on Stretch & Bob's Hot 97 show back in 1997...

Matthew Africa - The Best of Gang Starr (2010)

Just added the late Matthew Africa's dope Best of Gang Starr mix to the OB4ZL mixcloud page

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Matthew Africa - The Best of Gang Starr by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Kanye West - Westwood freestyle (2004)

Kanye on Westwood's show from (I'd guess) 2004ish. Can't really write anything about him that hasn't already been said, but suffice to say he was a lot more enjoyable back then...



Shout out to Dave for sending this over as I'd never heard it before. If anyone has the full show get in touch.

DJ Nu Mark - Nu Crack City (2015)

Cool mix by Nu-Mark. Hip Hop, funk, breaks and whistling all thrown in, interspersed with some New Jack City samples. Check it...

Go Here

DJ Clark Kent mixtape (1992)

Not sure where I got this from (Stretch Armstrong's blog maybe?) but I found it on a battered CDR at the back of the cupboard the other day. Clark is one of those DJs that other DJs rate very highly but seems to be a bit slept  on by the average rap fan. Maybe because he never had his own established radio show like Red Alert or Marley or hit the mixtapes hard like Ron G. Everytime I've heard him he's always on point...

Clark Kent - 1992 mixtape by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Cash Money - Kickin Flava (2006)

I wouldn't usually post mix CDs that got a normal retail release but this one was fairly low key and is long out of print so thought I'd throw it up on the mixcloud for you and yours...

Cash Money - Kickin Flava (2006) by Djstepone on Mixcloud

Tracklist is here

MC Eiht 'Nuthin But The Gangsta' - solo version

The edit of Snoop's 'Afro Puffs' freestyle was what the (metaphorical internet) streets needed, so in the words of the OG of late night regional radio Alan Partridge, "people like them, lets make some more of them".
The original version of MC Eiht's 'Nuthin But The Gangster' was on his classic '94 LP 'We Come Strapped' and featured Spice 1 and Redman, with Eiht dropping a verse at either end. The beat is lovely and I've had the song in regular rotation as of late but it only recently dawned on me how damn great that last verse is and sitting through 3+ minutes to get to it ain't right. The lyrics are also pretty personal and as good as the guest spots are, that final verse deserves optimum shine so reconfiguring this song into a solo track seemed necessary. You won't find this anywhere else...



Additional thought: a version of this track featuring Scarface could've been amazing.

Craig G - Sneakin Up On That Azz pt 1 (1994)

Fat Craig G tape from '94 donated courtesy of DJ Rikki Rick. Includes a bunch of tracks from what I assume was the leak/promo of Ready To Die aswell as 'Flava In Ya Ear', the Primo remix of 'Kaught In Da Ak', some Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock & CL, Method Man, OC and all that kind of stuff...

  STREAM SIDE A   STREAM SIDE B

Snoop Dogg 'Afro Puffs' freestyle (1994) DJ Step One edit

Whilst discussing the merits of going Osborne & Cameron on certain rap songs and implementing some necessary cuts, The Martorialist suggested that Snoop's freestyle verse on the extended remix of 'Afro Puffs' could do with being liberated and made into a song in it's own right...



While we're on a Death Row tip, I'm tempted to have a crack at creating a shorter version of the Let Me Ride remix. I'm using some basic software for this though and its very much a learning curve. Any other suggestions for Austerity Rap re-works are welcome!

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.”

Buckwild - Birthday 9-1-92

Early 90s mixtape by the DITC man with some dope blends, some R&B and some Tim Dog...

STREAM SIDE A   STREAM SIDE B

Totally Iced Out : a compilation of Ice T remixes, features & loose tracks

Ice T circa Power to Original Gangster is probably my favourite rapper ever. I've mentioned before I was a bit disappointed with Home Invasion but he had a good 4-5 year run for the most part. As a bunch of my vinyl and CDs will be going into storage for while, I've been ripping audio like a madman and a result of that is this little comp. It's not meant to be exhaustive by any means - there was really no need to include Dick Tracy for example - but there's some nice remixes, guest spots and soundtrack joints that may have passed you by or been forgotten about...

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We kick off with the Simon Harris Hi-Tech remix of 'Drama', taken from the UK 12" of High Rollers. Harris doesn't mess with the song too much, just adding a break beat and a few samples. One of the few exceptions to the rule that all UK remixes of US tracks are terrible. That's followed by 'Colors' which you'll know but as its probably the best Ice T track not to appear on one of his albums it had to be included. Next up is the remix of 'You Played Yourself' by King Tee & Aladdin, and the dope 12" remix of 'Heartbeat' featuring War. DJ Premier's remix of Lifestyles Of The Rich & Infamous is pretty nice, and the collaboration with Ice Cube for their movie Trespass (initially called Looters but switched in the wake of the LA riots) is a reminder that the whole soundtrack is worth pulling out once in a while. Into the Home Invasion era, I've included 3 remixes from this CD single - the Beatnuts remix of 'Addicted To Danger' and the superior version of G Style. I left out the Ronin remixes of Gotta Lotta Love and Thats How I'm Living though (see earlier comment regarding UK remixes). Things finish up with Tracey's guest spot on 2Pac's 'Last Wordz', from 93's 'Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ' and another West Coast posse cut taken from Spice 1's 'Black Bossalini' LP - the under the radar 'Recognize Game' with Too Short, from 1997.

If you're a fan I highly recommend checking out Ice on the Combat Jack Show, where he pretty much covers his entire life story in 2 hours. Interesting stuff with some great stories.

Tracey Lee, The Reepz, A+, Canibus & McGruff 'Universal MC' (1996)

With the impending house move ever nearing, the vinyl cull is under way. Whilst going through the shelves, I came across this bootleg that I picked up a few years ago on the strength of Biggie & The LOX's mixtape classic 'You'll See' (the original 12" being pretty scarce on these shores but I found it eventually). I overlooked this posse cut with Tracey Lee, A+, Canibus and McGruff at the time, but it's definitely worth copping if you see it for a decent price...

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I hit up Tracey Lee on twitter and he couldn't remember who did the beat but confirmed it was a promo only joint. As far as I can tell it only exists in official form on this Universal Records CD, so I'd say it qualifies as unreleased heat. Enjoy. 

Redman & Keith Murray - Hot 97 freestyle (1996)

Reggie & Keef go back and forth for 15 minutes over a whole heap of beats on Hot 97 back in 1996...

Kid Capri - Live at the Q Club (1991)

The Kiiiiid Capri gets busy live in the spot back in 1991....

STREAM SIDE A    STREAM SIDE B

courtesy of a kind donation. You might also want to check these if you missed 'em

Kid Capri interview on Juan Epstein

Kid Capri Live at The Building, New York City (1990)

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.