Monthly Archives: January 2007

MIXTAPE 58 – AISHAH SIMMONS INTERVIEW on DJ DRAMA / CANNON ARREST

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MIXTAPE 58 – AISHAH SIMMONS INTERVIEW on DJ DRAMA / CANNON ARREST

What’s good. So by now many of you have heard of the 16th January arrest of DJ Drama and DJ Cannon on racketeering charges, discount for nothing more than putting out a popular series of artist-(and generally, rehabilitation label-) sanctioned mixtapes. And while this event may very well have chilling effects on the industry and the way we get music, I think it’s important to not overlook some of the fundamental issues behind this event: the refusal of an industry to let its originators – artists and businesspeople of Color – to create and market our own art on our own terms.

Fortunately one of the first people to speak out against this arrest and its justifications was DJ Drama’s own sister, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who penned an editorial that appeared, among other places, on allhiphop.com. We managed to connect a little while ago, and what resulted is the interview you are about to listen to here.

And as Aishah mentioned in the interview, one of the first, best, and easiest ways to do something about this is to let your voice be heard.

Here’s the contact information for the RIAA in case you want to reach out and touch somebody:

RIAA Contact Information*

Mitch Bainwol: Chairman and CEO of the RIAA
mbainwol@riaa.com

Cary Sherman: President of the RIAA
csherman@riaa.com

Matthew Kilgo, the person who oversaw the raid (as seen on this newscast).
mkilgo@riaa.com

or the default address: webmaster@riaa.com

RIAA Phone Lines

These phone numbers are guaranteed to work:
RIAA Headquarters – (202) 775-0101
RIAA Miami Offices – (305) 444-3114 extension 11

Again – your purchasing power pays these people’s salaries, so you have a right to voice your opinion about how your music is made available.

As always, feel free to link this site up, direct link to the

Listen to
of the inteview, share it, burn it, whatever – and your comments are welcome in the comments section. Also, this program is FCC clean, so program directors, feel free to re-air this on your local college/community station.

You can learn more about Aishah Simmons, including her acclaimed documentary, NO!, at her personal site, myspace.com/afrolez. Aishah, again, thanks for your time and insight.

Well, that’s enough troublemaking from me for today. Let me know how you felt this episode. And of course, the MTSN phone lines are always open – (310) 928 MTSN. Peace.
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MIXTAPE 57 – SOULTRONICA VOL 2

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MIXTAPE 57 – SOULTRONICA VOL 2

And as promised, pilule Soultronica Volume Two. If you haven’t caught the first installment in this ongoing sideseries, you need to go back and get a bar – once you’ve caught Soultronica Volume 1 in its entirety, come back and check this one out.

This volume finds our heroes back in space, and your boy back in Cali with the official studio – don’t get me wrong, the Macbook mic is fine for what it is, but nothing beats recording into a mic that’s worth more than you are.

D’Angelo – Devil’s Pie (Kenny Keys remix). I was so impatient to share this joint with the listeners when I first got it that I damn near made a one-song episode of your favorite hip-hop podcast. Keys shows us where his name came from on this joint, and the production is hot as well. Brilliant remix. myspace.com/kennykeys

J*Davey - Let It Bleed. There’s so very little I can say about this duo without simply reiterating what everyone in the know has been saying for what, going on a couple years, at least, now? Production is funky, soulful, and futuristic, the vocals ooze intelligence and well, sex. jdaveybaby.com

J*Davey – Gangsta. Damn. Do not let the lyrics slip by you on this one, trust me.
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back back to cali cali

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Okay, health kids, hemorrhoids your boy is back. Not that half of you were paying attention, remedy but I just touched down at LAX about 10 hours ago, and I will be in the studio recording the next joint very soon.

You all don’t mind if I actually start, you know, blogging on this thing, do you? Just asking, because I’m considering it.

In the meantime, check out this new Pharoahe Monch video. I know I rarely post videos on here, but this is one of the first videos in a long time that I actually bothered watching the whole way through. It takes like 2 minutes to get to the actual joint itself, but when it does, it’s pretty hot. Check Pharoahe’s appearance in the first scene – that shit he does with his eyes when the gun goes off the first time damn near made my heart jump.

Pharoahe Monch – Gun Draws



What do you all think of this one?

MIXTAPE EPISODE 56

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MIXTAPE EPISODE 56

As noted in the last post, epidemic this episode was delayed because the earthquake that hit just off the coast of Taiwan not only put several cracks in my apartment wall, tablets but knocked out Southern China’s internet for a couple weeks. Sorry and shit, gynecologist on with the show.

J Blow – Cali Jam 3 w/ Busy Bee. J hit me up with this on my request – the beat was just that nice. allupinyourearhole.com.

C Monts and Jonny Simps – Inner Mind’s Eye (remix). I somehow fucked around and lost the email that this came with – I’ll have an update on the artist’s site later.

Sway – Little Derek feat Baby Blue. Sad to say, I slept on this – as in was totally unaware of its existence until Suburb put me up on it. The joint is ridiculous catchy, and this Baby Blue chick rips it up as well. I know it’s more than a few UK listeners on this site – how is Sway being received in the streets over there? Hit up the comments, I’m genuinely curious. In the meantime, I definitely recommend hitting dude’s site and copping the full album. swaydasafo.com.

Che Grand – Work Flow (The Beatmaker Clock Out Remix). About time for Che to make a reappearance on the show. I think the original of this joint passed me by, but the remix really has that soul to it. Shouts to Che – when’s that next album out man? loudminoritymusic.com.

JR – All Behind Me. Off the Sessions 2 album. I’ve said enough about JR here, so I’ll keep quiet on that, other than to say that this new album is definitely worth picking up. shamanwork.com.

Johnson&Jonson – Wow!. On the exclusive tip from my man Jon at Sound in Color, this is a side project from Mixtape Show veteran Blu. Pretty much the whole album is Blu ripping up funky-ass samples like this. I haven’t had a chance to really sit down with the whole thing, but I can say that it is ridiculous. No idea when/if this thing’s coming out officially, but it’s hot. soundincolor.com.

JR – Grandz. See above. Dig the sample on this one.

Akir – Again (unofficial remix featuring John Legend). Akir hit me with like 4 new exclusives two days ago – expect to hear all or most of them very soon. I like how Akir is switching up the flow on this joint. Again, if you haven’t caught dude’s album yet, you need to. myspace.com/akir.

(outro – James Brown – Give It Up or Turn It Loose). Rest in Peace.

Run DMC – Christmas in Hollis (DJ Slice Remix). I couldn’t help it. Shouts to DJ Slice and CYN for getting at me with this one.

There it is – hopefully I move out of this building before it collapses. Hit up the comments section and let me know what you thought about this one!