CL Smooth - Future Flavas freestyle on Hot 97 (1995)

A brief appearance from CL Smooth on the first Future Flavas show hosted by Pete Rock and Marley Marl. CL drops a verse from Carmel City over the Brooklyn Zoo instrumental. Short and sweet, but good enough to warrant uploading.

Red Alert on Kiss 98.7FM (Dec '89)

Been a while since I posted anything but not really had anything of note to share (mostly been messing around with acapellas on Twitter). My man at Grime & Lime kindly sent me over a couple of tapes including this Red Alert mix on Kiss FM's Mastermix Dance Party from December 1989 so here you go.

I have been trying to source more tapes - they are out there - but it's easier said than done. Hopefully someone comes through soon. If you've got some you'd like to get digitised get in touch.

DJ MK - Bastard Breaks Vol 6 (2021)

Man like MK returns with the 6th volume of his in-demand Bastard Breaks series. You can cop a digital copy direct from his Bandcamp. He's also got limited edition cassette copies available if you're quick. Contact him at emm_kay@hotmail.com for details.

DJ Step One - mid 90s hip hop mix

1 hour, 20 tunes. That 95-96 head nod era when I was picking up all sorts of great records in Handspun and Mr Bongo. Probably my favourite era of rap music. This stuff always sounds good when winter hits too.

Tracklist

Jigmastas - Beyond Real (remix)

Rawcotiks - Hardcore Hip Hop

Nine - Lyin King

Soul Kid Klik - Mortal Kombat

KRS One - Wanna Be Emceez

Blahzay Blahzay ft Smoothe, Trigga & La The Darkman - Danger pt II

Rakim - Shades Of Black

De La Soul - Stakes Is High

Shazam X - Down For The Crown

Jemini The Gifted One - Brooklyn Kids

Tragedy ft CNN & Mobb Deep - LA, LA (Iraq mix)

Jamal - Fades Em All (Pete Rock remix)

Ras Kass - Soul On Ice (Diamond D remix)

La The Darkman - I Want It All

Ill Al Skratch - Don't Shut Down On A Player

Raekwon & Ghostface Killah - Rainy Dayz (remix)

Mic Geronimo ft Royal Flush & OC - Men vs Many

Jay Z - Dead Presidents

Nas - The World Is Yours (Q Tip remix)

AZ - Your World Don't Stop (original version)

Redman, Method Man & D'Angelo on the Radio 1 Rap Show (1999)

On this day back in the 1-9-9-9, Redman and Method Man are in the house with Westwood to promote the Blackout album, kick a freestyle, and we even get an impromptu DJ set from Redman (presumably with Tim's records). On top of that D'Angelo stops by for an interview right at the end of the show.  What more do you want?

Tracklist and download link available at the Hip Hop Radio Archive

KRS ONE, Fat Joe & Lord Finesse live at Rocksteady Park (1993)

This is something that I posted way back in 2009, except then it was by way of a hissy tape rip recorded off a Westwood show in 1995, and ripped to 128kbps. What we have here is the full 15 minutes in considerably better quality taken from the vinyl pressing (it's part 2 of 4 - the sleeves fit together to make a complete graf piece).

It's 1993 in Rocksteady Park for the annual jam and KRS is on stage with Willie D (the BDP one), Mad Lion, Fat Joe, Grim Reaper (aka MF Grimm) and Lord Finesse. Slap Them Up, Black Cop, Sound Of Da Police and Shoot To Kill get an airing. Joe and Grim kick a freestyle (Joe does his verse off Stricktly Roots - Beg No Friends), but this set gained notoriety for Finesse's superb acapella dis of Lords Of The Underground, which has always been a personal favourite of mine, so it was great to finally get a full uncut version in good quality.

The Best of The LOX mixed by DJ Step One

Blogspot for hustlers, I'm back motherf**kers! Got some new things to post and hopefully some tapes coming into my possession in the near future so lets see if I can get back to some regular updates. In the mean time you can enjoy this LOX mix I put together. It's not exactly a Best Of as such, but their catalogue as a group and solo artists is so huge that I managed just over an hour without even reaching for Benjamins, Why, Money Power Respect and a bunch of tracks they performed at the recent Verzuz evisceration of Dipset. That obviously inspired this but I've had pretty much always something LOX related in rotation since I heard You'll See on the Bad Boy Volume 3 tape back in '96. More often than not it's been a Jadakiss freestyle or guest verse but it's impressive that any rap crew can maintain that level of output for so long. There's definitely some notable omissions, and I was a bit pissed off I forgot to include Broken Safety so maybe I'll do a part 2 at some point.

DOWNLOAD

tracklist

The LOX - Wild Out (blend)
The LOX - BARS
D Block - Take Everything (original version)
Styles P ft Pharoahe Monch - The Life
Sheek Louch - Goin Be Some Shit
Jadakiss - Who Shot Ya freestyle
Jadakiss - Kiss Of Death
The LOX - Fuck You (blend)
D Block - Good Times (remix)
Jadakiss - Live in Philly
Jadakiss - Beanie Sigel Dis
The LOX - None Of Y'all Better
The LOX & Black Rob - Chain Gang
Sheek & Jadakiss - Kiss Your Ass Goodbye (remix)
The LOX - Dirty Ryders
Jadakiss - 40 Bars Of Terror
Jadakiss - Incarcerated Scarfaces freestyle
D Block - 2 Gunz Up
DMX & The LOX - Get At Me Dog freestyle
The LOX - Ryde Or Die Bitch (blend)
Pete Rock ft Styles P & Sheek - 914
Kasino ft The LOX - Men Of Respect
The LOX & Black Rob - Can I Live
The LOX - Recognize
Jadakiss & Styles P - The People freestyle
Styles P, Jadakiss & Eve - We Gonna Make It (remix)


I'm still getting used to a new mixer and feeling a bit rusty DJ wise so this isn't flawless but it's decent enough and the selection more than carries it. I banged it out in 1 take and didn't realy overthink or plan the tracklist so it turned out well all things considered.

Who Say Reload mixed by DJ Aphrodite

 

 2 months ago my book Who Say Reload was published. It was really well received and I've had lots of nice comments and positive feedback. It actually sold out faster than expected (within about 2 weeks) but it's finally back in stock after some brexit related nonsense at UK customs that delayed things for a bit. For promo push #2 none other than Aphrodite has put together a 3 part mix using all the tunes featured in the book. Part 1 is below and part 2 and 3 will be following over the next week or so...  

[EDIT: parts 1, 2 & 3 are now all available here]

 

tracklist

Lennie De Ice - We Are I.E

Ragga Twins - Spliff Head

A Guy Called Gerald - 28 Gun Bad Boy

LTJ Bukem - Demon's Theme

Metal Heads - Terminator

Nookie - Shining In Da Darkness

Omni Trio - Renegade Snares (Foul Play remix)

Ray Keith - Terrorist

DJ Crystl - Let It Roll

Foul Play - Open Your Mind (original & remix)

Peshay - Vocal Tune

Peshay - Piano Tune

T Power vs MK Ultra - Mutant Jazz

Having Aphrodite do the mix for me was quite a big deal as when I first started learning to mix and buying drum n bass on vinyl I was hunting down pretty much everything with his name on it, so it was great having him included in Who Say Reload. Having been responsible for the hardcore classic Some Justice in the early 90s, and the massive Calling All The People (as A-Zone) in 1994, he really nailed the hip hop based jump-up D&B style that was big around 96-98 and alongside everything he was putting out on his own Aphrodite Recordings and Urban Takeover label he was killing it with the remixes. The Jungle Brothers, Blackstreet and Luniz ones remain personal favourites to this day.

Once all the work for the book has settled down a bit I do intend to resume normal service on OB4ZL, although that might be dependent on there being more hours in the day than the current 24. I'll be updating the Who Say Reload blog occasionally in the meantime. If you're in the London area at the end of May we have a free launch party at Signature Brewery in E8. Limited spaces as the venue has restricted capacity due to covid etc etc but pass through and say hello if you can.

Radio 1 Rap Show 15.04.00 with Souls Of Mischief

Here's a full 3 hours of Westwood on this date 21 (!) years ago. A strange combo of guests as before Souls of Mischief pass through Prince Naseem is in the house. Shame the latter gets a bit more airtime than the Souls but we still get a freestyle from them at the end. Tracklist below

DMX live in concert (1998)

RIP Earl. This is taken from a Westwood show in October '99 but the tracks are all circa Its Dark and Hell Is Hot. I think this is in New York and it sounds like Big Kap introducing him at the start. The crowd are hyped for this and X run's through a 25 minute set with all his early bangers and brings out The LOX for Money Power Respect and Redman and Method Man for 4,3,2,1. I never saw him live but he sounds like a great performer. If you somehow still haven't seen the video of him at Woodstock '99 go find that.

If you're in the mood for more DMX today, go back and check this tape I posted back in 2016 with a bunch of freestyles from 1996.  

There's also this tape of him guesting on Westwood's show in June 2000

It looks like Black Rob is in a bad way too, let's hope he pulls through. This remix of Mic Geronimo's track featuring Rob and X is dope and somewhat slept on.

 

Cipha Sounds on Hot 97 Throwback at Noon (2007)

Cipha Sounds with the classic selection on Hot 97's Throwback at Noon slot back in 2007...

Organized Konfusion – Stress 

GP Wu – Black On Black Crime 

Wu Tang Clan – Tearz 

Cocoa Brovaz ft Raekwon – Black Trump 

Styles P ft Pharoahe Monch – The Life 

Non Phixion – No Tomorrow 

Tragedy ft CNN & Mobb Deep – LA, LA 

DITC – The Enemy 

Gang Starr – All 4 The Cash 

Blackstar – Re:Definition 

Camp Lo – Luchini 

Jay Z – In My Lifetime 

Smooth Da Hustler – Broken Language 

Doo Wop – Da Bouncemaster 

Saukrates – Father Time 

Royal Flush – Worldwide 

Bash Ton – More Cheese 

Mos Def ft Ghostface – Ms Fat Booty part 2 

The Roots – The Lesson pt 1 

Wu Tang Clan – Wu Gambinos 

Natural Elements – Live It Up part 2 

Indelible MCs – The Fire In Which You Burn

DJ DS Goes Back to School (5th year: 1990)

People on my Twitter TL stay busy dropping mixes. DJ DS with the 1990 selection...

I Am...NasLib

Man like Jimmy Green comes through with a (depending on your outlook, much needed) reworking of Nas' I Am album using beats by Madlib. Sounds dope. I feel like people used to do things like this quite a lot years ago but then ran out of acapellas to use as they don't seem to be released or leaked like they used to. DJs need some new vocals to work with!

Rob Pursey - Boomin In Ya Jeep parts 1 & 2

Southern Hospitality's Rob Pursey drops 2 dope mixes back to back. These are about as OB4ZL friendly as it gets...

Make sure you check out the rest of the mixes on Southern Hospitality's Mixcloud. Some quality stuff on there.

Tape Kingz #10: King Most

Staying out west for TK #10 (and the last one for now), San Francisco's King Most comes through to drop his top 3. You might know him for his Opening Set podcast, or his dope redirections of new and classic hip hop, R&B and soul joints, which are well worth checking out, as are his 45s if you're into copping that kind of stuff on vinyl. He's also been holding it down on Twitch in recent times. Get to know.

DJ Spinbad & JS-One - Cold Cuts Remixes (1997) This is pure King Most DNA right here. It was maybe the first time I was shown the full possibilities of what a blend tape can be: the DJ can now be the producer as well as the selector. JS-One & Spinbad dropped new choruses of precise scratches and tracks with multiple changes throughout the 90 mins of intricacy. I revisited this after Spinbad's passing and it still was enjoyable. What impressed me even more was realizing how lo-fi and basic the technology was at the time this made. Though what was used to make this mix is now obsolete, the entire project is as polished as what comes out of laptops today. 

DJ Babu vs Kankick - Comprehension (1998)

While Spinbad & JS-ONE were patching together entire verses and beats, Babu and Kan Kick were in the trade of repurposing seconds of obscurities and now-classic hip-hop anthems. The result is an entire tape that is still a standard of how cut-and-paste and bedroom beats can sound. Babu's side treats the listener to a run of jazz-funk, turntablism, and the finest ode to Sucker DJs a 1996 Fostex tape recorder can yield. Extra points for unearthing samples that were as rare as any golden-era NYC beatsmith. And speaking of producers like Pete Rock or The Beatnuts, Kankick's side of beats elicits the same head nodding of a Brooklyn studio session but with the ease of a Cali Summer and the haziness of then-crew member: Madlib. A lifetime later, I still would love these instrumentals on vinyl. 

 DJ Zeph & Imperial - Breakbuilders

DJ ZEPH · Break Builders Vol 1 part 1 ---DJ Zeph & DJ Imperial

Though Babu, Spinbad et. al flexed their talents in a pre-recorded mindset, DJ Zeph and Imperial went live on four-turntables and delivered a mix that is as precise. Recording the perfect live mix is a bit of a goal for DJs, but achieving perfection while handling music where tempos drift and dip is an advanced form of musicianship to my ears. I can only imagine the DJ session when this was recorded (BUT WHO HAS A FULL RECORDING THOUGH?! Side A is only on Zeph's Souncloud and Discogs yield nothing. Help!)

Tape Kingz #9: Thee Mike B

Off to the West Coast for Tape Kingz #9, with super talented DJ Thee Mike B. Mike has done too much in his career to cover in the short space I have here but check his recent appearance on the ROAD podcast for his full story. It's a good listen. In terms of why he's a good person to speak to about 90s hip hop mixtapes, amongst other things he was an intern for Jon Shecter and Stretch Armstrong back in the day during the Game Recordings era. Check his stellar Top 3 and some equally dope honourable mentions...

DJ Spinbad & JS One - Cold Cutz Remixes (1997) The most intricate, interesting and simply the DOPEST of all blend tapes.

Tony Touch -Tape 50: Power Cypha (1996) This is one that changed the game. 50 freestyles from 50 MC's over all the dopest beats. Infinite respect to Tony Toca! This shit is so crazy I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. 

DJ Rob One - Can't Be Stopped (1994) This changed the game for me. I might not be a DJ today had I not copped this at 555-Soul on Martel in '94. Shout out Julie Z.

Honourable mentions:  

DJ S&S and Craig G - N!ggaz Don't Give A Fuck (1996). So many exclusives when it came out. The first place I heard Akinyele "Put It In Your Mouth", CNN's "LA,LA" and many, many more classics. S&S is still one of my favorites and has so much swag it’s crazy.

DJ Ev and Stretch Armstrong - Back 2 Back (1996).This is a perfect rap mixtape. I bought it at Fat Beats on a trip to NY in Fall of 1996. I was obsessed with it. Years later, Stretch would become my employer and ultimately, one of my best friends.

Tape Kingz #8: DJ Skully

The 8th in the series and this time DJ Skully steps up. Skully is a former DMC Champion, DJ'd for Klashnekoff's Terra Firma crew and hosted the rap show on Kiss FM for a few years in the early 00s. He's recently been sharing some mixes and shows from his archives exclusively on this site and here's his Top 3 + 1...

DJ Greenpeace - Fat Lace Volume 1 (1998) An important tape for me at a time when hip hop was changing quite drastically and I was favouring that underground sound. It's not really a skills tape, but the selection of exclusive joints on this was incredible and the placement of tracks is just right. Classic Lootpack, Dilated, Medina Green, Scaramanga, Rugged Man and loads more. Heavy rotation for months and months, from a dj/journalist who spread the word on independent artists more than most! 

DJ Riz - In The Mix (1997) Riz was a hero of mine throughout the 90’s and this mix is a great example of why. The choice of underground tracks was exactly to my taste at that point in time, and I rushed out to purchase any vinyl that was available in the record shops. The selection is consistently on point, with a perfect amount of deadly turntable skills. I still get a buzz when Tragedy, Beatnuts or Dwellas drop, DITC gets cut up, or Das EFX gets juggled! 

PF Cuttin - 5 Deadly Venomz of Brooklyn (1997) Even though this is just a small section from a classic mixtape, it still deserves a mention, it’s that good! I owned a record shop around this time and spent most of my days trying to perfect those raw PF skills. From the transform cuts on the intro, to Verbal Hoods, Breez Evahflowin, the Busta juggle, Powerule and everything in between, this short mix has some superb tracks and the sickest, most stylish table techniques.

Honourable mention: DJ Spinbad - Needle To The Groove Spinbad has to be one of the cleanest djs to ever do it, surely? Some of my mates used to be quite stubborn when listening to genres other than underground hip hop, but anyone who heard Needle To The Groove could not help but fall in love with it. Such a great mix of classics, tight mixing and super clean skills. I used to carry this cassette around with me and play it anywhere that had a tape deck, and still play it to this day. A truly superb mix from a world class dj.

Tape Kingz #7: DJ Diablo

Aside from having contributed a ton of tapes from his extensive collection to OB4ZL, DJ Diablo is also a founder member of The Brotherhood, was resident at legendary London club night The Hop, DJ for Roots Manuva's Banana Klan crew and most recently held it down on BBC 1Xtra with a guest spot on the Heartless Crew's sunday night show. Here's his top 3 mixtapes...

DJ Riz on the Capital Rap Show (1994)

No one had ever heard a mix like this before, everything about it was perfect the cuts, the blends, the mixing. Westwood first played Riz's mix in '93 but only dropped 20 minutes of it and due to popular demand he had to play the whole thing. Simply untouchable. 

 Mr Wiggles - Rock Steady Vol 1 (1994)

Another incredible mix for its time influencing many copycats, some good some and not so good. Using a 4 or 8 track mixing classic breaks with Zulu Nation gems. The definitive B-Boy mixtape. 

 DJ JS-1 - Flashbacks  

Another mix that blew my mind. Insane cutting and mixing with legendary tunes that birthed the culture. Flawless from beginning to end, JS-1's masterpiece is still in heavy rotation today.

Tape Kingz #6: DJ Yoda

Tape Kingz #6! Another big name DJ! More classic mixes for your domepiece! In The Before Times, DJ Yoda could be found anywhere and everywhere from mixing on BBC6 Music to a ton of festivals and clubs and making songs with Edo G and the Jungle Brothers, all the while doing some mind blowing stuff with AV that makes your average DJ look rather ordinary and boring. Catch him on Twitch on Wednesday evenings. He's also contributed some tapes to this site and back in the day he wrote a mixtape column in HHC so he's a good person to talk to about this kind of thing. Here's his Top 3...

Q-Bert - Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Muzik (1994)

There's some confusion over whether this tape is called that, or "Pre-School Breaks"? Regardless, this was probably the most influential mixtape for me, because Q and the Piklz were finding all sorts of vocal snippets from movies like The Warriors and Wild Style, and throwing them over the breaks they were cutting up; it inspired me to include movies in my DJing, which I've done since.

DJ Spinbad - Rock The Casbah (1995)Spinbad's recent passing made us all re-assess just how influential this mix was, but it obviously inspired me on a personal level more than others, hence all my 80s mixes I've done since. Spinbad was the first to show me that you could combine the music of your youth with the style of DJing you grew up to love. Plus it's just so insanely clever, every scratch sample is thought out and there for a reason.

Kid Koala - Scratchcratchratchatch (1996)

Kid Koala remains, to me, the most musical of DJs - he just has always had a unique way of really using records as instruments. This tape was so creative - the Charlie Brown "I Gotta Rock" was just so iconic.

Tape Kingz #5: Tobes

 You may know Tobes from the dope Sparkle Motion mixes (with DJ Yoda) and as part of Blood Money (with DJ Dub), or for his work on Spine Magazine back in the day. He's also a mixtape aficionado and has contributed some of his extensive collection to this site in the past. Here's his top 3...

Doo Wop - Spring '94 (1994) 

To be a teenage rap fanatic in the Spring of 1994 was a true blessing. Looking back, I honestly feel so fortunate to have experienced it all. As consumers we were completely spoiled for amazing music on a weekly basis. This tape was a perfect snapshot of the time. Completely unskippable, every track a banger. Plus you had the Bounce Squad intro, and Wop hyping every song like crazy throughout the tape. I listen to this one every now and then and the memories come flooding back. It was an amazing time.      

Ron G - Mixes 12 (1993)  

I have every Ron G mixtape he put out in the 90s. This is probably my favorite along with It's On Pt. II and 187. Mixes 12 featured classic hip hop beats paired with various acapellas, everything from Tina Turner to Buju Banton. It was a big influence for Sparkle Motion's 'Mega Blends' mix which has Ron on the intro. He had the art of the mixtape blend down to a science. The opening Jomanda 'I Like It' / Steady B 'Use Me' blend is so cold. I would play the transformer scratch he did on that over and over and over again, completely mesmerized. It was so ill. Still is. I feel like Ron G never got the props he deserves. His R&B/hip hop blends helped shape the sound of 90's/00's R&B as we know it. Ask Puffy. 

Kid Capri - 52 Beats (1991)  

The fact that this tape was recorded live in one take just makes it so ill to me. When the records skip a few times and Capri jokes "ooops excuse that!" gave it that raw factor, along with tons of tape hiss. I miss tape hiss! It was all breakbeats, but it doesn't get any more hip hop than this. So many break mixes came after, but none were as good. It's a magical listening experience that every hip hop head should be forced to listen to!

BONUS! Tobes and I collaborated on the internet hood classic A Queensbridge Project a few years back which you should definitely check out when  you're in the mood for some early 00s QB raps.