Category Archives: episodes

MIXTAPE 113 – SKEETER WAS BLACK

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MIXTAPE 113 – SKEETER WAS BLACK

I was originally going to talk about something else here, illness but all of a sudden I like felt the holy ghost or something and was inspired to talk about this. Seriously everyone, contagion this is an important issue that I feel strongly about. I’ve actually had serious conversations about this.

Tracklist

Intro: Copywrite – Fuck A Soundcheck (prod RJD2)

Busta Rhymes – Packin Them Things (prod Kev Brown). This is just sort of a given. And even Busta Rhymes voted for Obama. You know where to find Busta, so go check out myspace.com/kevbrown.

Blu and Mainframe – Hold On John. Off of the Johnson and Jonson record, which you’ve been hearing bits of for the last couple years or so. Apparently the joint is actually out now, and it’s highly recommended. I don’t think there’s a single cut on this record that I don’t like. I’ve said enough about this record before, so I’ll leave it at that. Shouts to Steve for this one. myspace.com/jandjbabyproducts.

I mean, think about it. The only dude who seemed to be able to dance. He could beatbox. He wore rappidy-rap style clothing – well, comparatively. Oddly enough, I never felt like this was stereotyping – I just naturally internalized that Skeeter was Black. I seriously can’t wrap my head around the fact that some people don’t get it. To my white friends – I like you all a lot, but sometimes you miss things. Very important things. Like which cartoon characters are which race.

Stanza – Do. As heard previously on your favorite rap podcast, this is another selection off of Name This Album. The lyricism is sort of bizarrely great (trying to imagine the hand contortions in the beginning is alternately funny and amazing) and as with the rest of the cuts on here, there’s actually a message in here. And as I mentioned in the outro, Stanza has inexplicably put this entire record up online for free download – inexplicably because it’s easily worth the money. The record is dope. Go get it here, and check out the rest of the site at mqrt.com.

MF Doom – Rapp Snitch Knishes feat Mr Fantastic. Does anyone actually know anything about Mr Fantastic? I mean, I could google the dude, I guess, but after listening to this, I’m realizing that I haven’t heard much of anything from the dude.myspace.com/mfdoom.

This of course, is all based on when the show was on Nickelodeon. I quit watching when Disney took over. Actually I think at that point in my life I was a little busy to be watching cartoons (okay, it was just on at an inconvenient time. I definitely used run late for school because I wanted to catch the end of Pokemon).

Q-Tip – Gettin’ Up. On the Dilla rework – you might have heard this one, but for those who haven’t – dope. This really is a proper rework. myspace.com/qtip.

Marlena Shaw – California Soul (Diplo remix). For real, when I read the track title before actually listening to it, I was both excited and worried to hear what sort of destruction Diplo would wreak on this classic – but it’s oddly restrained. It’s good. myspace.com/officialmarlenashaw.

Outro: Qwel and Kip Killagain – Heliocentric (Instrumental). I actually like Qwel.

So, really. Doug was clearly white, Skeeter was obviously Black. The logic doesn’t really run across color lines, however – I mean, what about Bee Bee? She’s blue too, but I never got “Black vibes” from her, if that’s an appropriate word. And reversewise, come to think of it, Patti was sort of ambiguous – mixed ancestry, perhaps? She was sort of dark. Connie was Asian. I’m fairly confident about that one.

Am I overthinking this? Any other theories are welcome.

Oh yeah, and thoughts on the music. You know.

MIXTAPE 112 – SOULTRONICA SIDEBAR: MOTHERSHIP DILLALEON

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MIXTAPE 112 – SOULTRONICA SIDEBAR: MOTHERSHIP DILLALEON

What’s good Earthlings – this is an official Mixtape Show Soultronica Sidebar Hijack by your favorite android – Brothertron. What we have here is what I promised you last week (Future Colour Time – we don’t run on your crazy Earth clocks, therapist dig? For us out here, tadalafil this is on time!) – a new (to you!) project by A.Leon Craft (he’s appeared on the Mixtape Show in as a member of Labratz), over J Dilla beats, courtesy of Sol Messiah.

And, of course, since we’re bringing you this tape from the future – you’re the first to get it. Dig it.

Here’s the tracklist for those of yall keeping score:

Project Title: Mothership Dillaleon
Track Selections (Continual Stream Mode):
introlude: Planet New Afrika Cultural Archives Audio Identification.
1. ALeon’s Craft
2. Lite Beam
3. Healing Process
4. Guitars In The Water
5. Concrete Complications
6. Maroons
7. Melanin
8. The Moon
9. Black Dolla
10. Mothership Dillaleon
Possibly more info on the dude also at myspace.com/aleoncraft.

Bonus: The original album artwork from the project:
Front:


Back:

Of course, if you are subscribed up to the podcast, all images are included in the mp3. You are subscribed, right? Not like it costs you any credits or anything.

Dex (2008 version) will be back next week (Earth time, maybe) with a new rap episode – or in the meantime I guess you can holler at him in the “comments section” of this “website”. Brothertron out.

MIXTAPE 111 – HOW WAS YOUR SUMMER

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MIXTAPE 111 – HOW WAS YOUR SUMMER

So this, price I guess, would be the third official Summer Mixtape. For those of you who are in Southern California – it’s probably still summer for you – so feel free to grab the first edition – SUMMER MIXTAPE (2006), the second one – BACKPACKER/SUMMER IN LA (2007), and then put it together with this one, and get on your Dyno with the black mags and bang out, kiddo.

As I said – I had a major hard drive crash and lost hella data (and some music – do your backups, kids, for serious) which caused the 3-week delay, but here we go. Let’s get into it:

Tracklist

Intro – Thad Reid – Cruzin feat Akshan.

Stat Quo – Dear Summer (Part 2). The follow-up to Part 1, which I probably would have put out were it not for the hard drive crash-induced delay. I don’t think I necessarily cared that much about Stat Quo’s life and/or career before hearing this series, but I have to say, this is sort of an interesting series that dude has been putting out. It’s sort of like the rap version of Livejournal. Or maybe that’s Atmosphere. So maybe this is more like the rap version of Caroline’s older sister’s Xanga, because I used to read that all the time and be like damn she’s cool. You ever do that? Interweb stalking is bad, kids. myspace.com/statquo.

DJ Crazy Toones – It’s A Demo Teaser. This isn’t even a song, but I dig this cut. Some of the most ignorant statements on this episode are made by this man. I mean, I fully agree with the sentiment – too many people out there don’t understand how to put together a mixtape/cd/podcast, but come on, did we need that comment about Singapore? And why was the dude in Singapore? I mean, anybody can go to Singapore. I can go right now in probably like a few hours. Is there something special about Singapore that I don’t know? I mean, go to Tibet, fam, and I’ll be impressed. Maybe beat up a monk or something. Aside from that, this demo is just ridiculous. I really want to hear this mixtape now. myspace.com/djcrazytoones.

Birdman – Sun Come Up feat Rick Ross and T-Pain. Nobody really cares about what Rick Ross did before he was a rapper, because 90% of the rap game is lying, ladies and gentlemen. It’s an act. Yes, it has ramifications on what happens out here, and it’s okay to get sucked into the drama on some suspension of disbelief, but 騙されるな、dig? I gave a talk at a high school earlier today and some kids in the audience were absolutely blown away that rappers weren’t you know, actually shooting people in real life. Remind me to tell you about the first time I ever saw the Beef DVD (hint – it wasn’t in the US). That said, I like this cut, and it’s probably the most “traditional” summer rap cut I got on here.

Guilty Simpson – Michigan Nights. Okay, Guilty – “I’m like that cat you never liked but was scared to fight”. I’m actually thinking about this now and I can’t think of anyone I didn’t like to the point that I wanted to physically harm them but I was scared to actually give it a try. That said, I more or less quit fighting around age 12 or 13 (the age when people start bringing knives and guns to school fights). A lot of the time I wish rap songs were shorter – like on the 2 minute range – but this is one of those cuts where you’re glad you don’t have to be satisfied with a cut-up radio version. Cinematic. Dig it. myspace.com/guiltysimpson.

Replife – Do You Want To Pay A MF. Interlude status. The album is good, though. Stay tuned.myspace.com/danielgraykontarisreplife

Double F – I-5 Merge. I alluded to some superbly ignorant statements being made in this episode – and here they are. What is this dude even talking about? You’ve heard a cut off this tape before, actually. myspace.com/mystadub.

U-N-I – Yesterday. I think I was put up on these dudes last summer, and finally they make an appearance on the mixtape show. Kids set aside the A.D.I.D.A.S style swagger stuff for a minute and go somewhat serious for a minute. I like this cut. Shout-outs to Amanda for having the good sense to pick these kids up for Block Party. myspace.com/unimuzik.

Fatlip – What’s Up Fatlip? (Breakbot Remix). Breakbot is a new name to me, but whoever the cat is did a pretty good job with this remix. Fatlip somehow sounds more pathetic on this cut, and the vocal glitching is just enough to be noticeable but not over the top on some Funkstorung (not that I don’t like Funkstorung). Like you can’t listen to this and not really feel bad for this dude. And we all have days like this…right? Right? (I can’t find dude’s myspace.)

Guest Anouncement/広告alude – Jim Jones – Pop Champagne feat Ron Browz and Juelz Santana (instrumental): I’m not going to write about it here since I’m still a little upset about it, but the end of this episode got cut off by someone you’ll probably recognize…looks like next week’s episode I’ll be taking a break.

And before I forget, shout out to Mamiko again for handling the artwork on this joint because I still don’t have any image editing software yet.

So – how was your summer?

MIXTAPE 110 – STATE OF THE RAP UNION

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MIXTAPE 110 – STATE OF THE RAP UNION

So if there was a State of the Hip-Hop Union, generic I think one thing that we could probably count on would be that unlike any previous or current administration, we would get the straight, uncut reality of our current status. I mean, there would still be lying about what sort of dirt people did in the past or how many guns/cars/etc dudes owned – but yeah. I would tune in to watch that.

So the idea behind this is people from different angles telling us what our current situation is – some of them more indirect than others, some of them more violent than others, and hey, some of them even have some recommendations for us. Enough from me, let’s see what they have to say…

Tracklist

Stereolab – Neon Beanbag I think I must have been the one person at KUCR that never actually played any Stereolab. Probably because I never really listened that much – my mistake. Everybody go out and buy Stereolab. Off the 4AD and Rough Trade 2008 Sampler, which is ridiculous. stereolab.co.uk.

Young Jeezy – My President feat Nas. Leave it to Jeezy (yeeeeeeeahhhhh) to make a song where he praises a presidential candidate, damns the current president, and raves about his blue lambo in the same breath. I like this song.

East Coast Avengers – Kill Bill O’Reilly. I really wanted to get this episode out like four days ago, but technical difficulties prevented that. As I say in the episode itself – this track placement comes with zero disclaimers or apologies. I figure that in a genre where threatening other rappers for nothing is the norm – threatening somebody that actually deserves it is pretty sensible. ちなみに、the girl at the end probably deserves an award for best line in the song. East Coast Avengers is made up of Esoteric, Trademarc, and DC the Midi Alien. eastcoastavengers.com.

Mic Legacy – So Ghetto feat Rapper Big Pooh. The instro on this is like the musical embodiment of the Minstrel Show cover plus being in church. myspace.com/miclegacydafuture.

Crooked I – Paper Planes Remix/Block Obama. I’m not exactly sure what the official title of this cut is. About 80% of the stuff this dude is talking about is totally ridiculous – including the random diatribe on claiming that stealing songs is “not hip-hop”. I’m not saying that stealing music is a good thing, but seriously, it seems like every time I turn around someone is telling me that something is “not hip-hop”. Eating broccoli is not hip-hop. And co-opting the “Change” line? There’s got to be something wrong with that, but I can’t hate. Anyway, this song is hip-hop, and it is over the Paper Planes riddim, which makes it extra good. myspace.com/crookedi.

Elzhi – Colors. Come on, it’s Elzhi. There’s something sort of surreal about this song – not just the imagery. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s a great song. You might need to play it back a few times to actually get what he’s doing. myspace.com/zhifi.

Invincible – Locusts feat Finale, wsg Gwen Mingo and Ron Scott. Welcome to the reality that is Detroit. There’s a video to this as well – I’ll leave my commentary on this one out and just let you read the interview. Thanks to Sweeney Kovar for this one (and the one above, come to think of it). Album sounds like it’s definitely worth a purchase. emergencemusic.net.

The Stranglers – Golden Brown. Apparently everyone else and their mom has discovered this song recently and are trying to make beats out of it, but if you want to hear a proper drug song done properly by proper white people (nothing against Pink Floyd, I like you guys too), this would be a good joint to track down. myspace.com/thestranglers.

See, told you I was back on track, sorta.