the mixtape show

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Been busy recently. I’ll give a better update later, but yeah.

In the meantime, a couple of things before I forget them:

Iain Haywood interviews Dex Digital, podcast supremo* and founder of the internet music phenomenon The Mixtape Show…:

I was interviewed, forever ago, on Durham21, which is apparently like an online college student mag on steroids. This is seriously the most ridiculously well-written and designed student site I’ve ever seen, so being on here is sort of an honor, I think. It’s mainly me being all self-important and egotistical, but it might be funny to read, because I actually meant most of what I said. I am usually on the other side of the mic in an interview, so I appreciate how well this one was done. Thanks to Iain for taking time out to do the interview.

Note that I haven’t said “supremo” since I was about eleven, and the same probably goes for Iain. The title was someone else’s editorial decision, I think.

Feature on Foundation Media:

Foundation Media was kind enough to feature the show on their front page in the Featured DJ/Artist slot. JJ and them have definitely supplied the show with plenty of music in the past, so this was also a cool look.

I feel like an ass putting these things up on the site, but really, I just want to thank people for the extra push. It’s really appreciated.

Apologies, I think my English is seriously starting to deteriorate.

New things soon.

(click the image below to listen!)

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You all ever heard of this thing? Type A personality? It’s like I can’t even slow down here. Start up this episode, take a deep breath, and try to see the big picture here - it’s bigger than just your issues, kids.

Aside from that, though, I got two pairs of tickets to Nicolay + Kay shows to give away - one in each of these venues:
April 12 – The Forbidden City, Hollywood, CA
April 18 – The Black Cat, Washington, DC

So, I guess I’m supposed to do some sort of “contest” or something. I’ll make this one easy - just write me an email or leave a comment and tell me the number of the last Mixtape Show episode in which Nicolay appeared. Extra consideration given if you make the comment interesting. I’ll pick the winners pretty much asap. This will also be going on the Facebook thing too, so…get moving. Enough of that, let’s do it…

Intro beat - CL Smooth and Skyzoo - Perfect Timing instrumental.

Big Boi - Royal Flush feat Andre 3000 and Raekwon. It’s like the three of them sat down and said “Listen here, Andre. You rap good. Have like seven verses.” And Andre said “Okay”. And it was good. myspace.com/outkast.

The Roots - 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction). I didn’t count them, but if there are 75 bars here, they are all good. Suburb put me up on this one and I’m still kicking myself for taking this long to actually get to it. I’m sometimes not too big on The Roots’ recorded material, but this is just kind of great. Even if there are probably more niggas in this song than bars (bonus points for anyone that counts them up!). myspace.com/theroots

Percee P - Untitled Percee P Track. Or at least that’s word-for-word how it was labeled on this CD. Dig the rhyme patterns that dude uses, and the Billy Jack quotes (I think I should check this film). Once again, kids - the bigger picture. “Payback’s a bitch, America / Karma too” myspace.com/perceep

Jay Electronica - Colors. Seriously, fam? 45 seconds? Don’t worry, kids, I got more.

Guilty Simpson - Pigs. I don’t think I really forsaw anyone attempting to rap over this Madlib jawn. Can’t hate on this dude for taking this one on, because he kinda tore it up. Quotable lines abound. myspace.com/guiltysimpson

Rhymefest - Mentor Mike feat Michael Jackson. What could I possibly have been doing that was so important that I didn’t listen to this song until this morning? Wow. myspace.com/rhymefest

Spec Boogie - Bed Stuy. The beat is just ridiculous. This one came highly recommended from our good friend Suburb, who is currently too busy eating Hot Chee-tos or something to let me listen to his new record. That’s fine, buddy. Spec, though - this is a great track. Plenty more of the same on his myspace. myspace.com/specboogie

Nicolay and Kay - Grand Theft Auto. Yes, the subject matter matches the title. If you dig this cut, hey, maybe try to get yourself a couple tickets. I really shoulda saved this for the next edition of the Nintendo Mixtape, but hey, who knows when that one’s gonna actually drop…myspace.com/nicolay.

Outro beat - Amplive / Radiohead - Weird Fishez. You all have the Amplive remixes of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, right? Good.

Shouts to Aimee, and everyone else that made this episode possible. Bedtime.

(click the image below to listen!)

embed this episode in your myspace/blog/whatev:

Been a long time coming, but here we go with yet another installment of The New Soul (see whole series lineup here), hosted by Mixtape Show comrade Black TK. This time, TK introduces - or re-introduces, us to two of the true pioneers of this soultronica sound - Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. What they did with their drum programming and synthesizer lines was groundbreaking - and continues to influence producers of progressive music to this day.

For you old heads out there who remember these joints, take off those rose-tinted glasses and really listen to what these dudes are doing with their instrumentation, basslines, and production. Then compare with the next installment of the Soultronica Saga…coming quite soon. Or while you’re waiting, go listen to some of the old Soultronica episodes and hear whence people like Sa-Ra, J*Davey, and hell, Pharrell are taking their cues.

Tracklist:

Cherrelle - I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On. The bassline on this is mean!
Janet Jackson - Nasty. The clarity of the snares on this cut is brilliant. I remember hearing this as a young child and thinking Janet was talking about boys that played in the muddy part of the sandbox.
The S.O.S. Band - No One’s Gonna Love You. Check the processed 909 work and basslines on this one.
Janet Jackson - Making Love In The Rain. I’ve always dug the muted trumpet sound, regardless of the genre. I think I have a Suburb beatflip of this one, now that I listen to this again.

Note that this is also a continuation to the Origins Episode - highly recommended for some more early Soultronica sounds.

And on another note, I have some Black TK material that is going to absolutely blow your mind. I’m dead serious on this one. Blow your mind. Watch for that.

And in this week’s installment of jayelectronica.com the when-is-act-2-coming-out:

Jay Electronica and Erykah on a photo shoot for URB. Watch:

I should preface this by saying I was sorta tipped off to this thing coming out. My good friend Jolie, who was recently promoted to Chief Coffee-Getter and Blogger of Shiny Things at URB, mentioned to me during a Girl Talk (most hilarious white guy ever, 5 stars) show that the 11th March cover of URB was going to be Jay Electrackalack. Apparently URB was preparing for the photo shoot, and lo and behold - Erykah just sort of shows up.

Not that I’m complaining, of course. Brilliant musicians, the both of them.

I’ll give a free secret present to anyone that can guess my favorite quote from this video. Like I’ll write you into the next show.