MIXTAPE 40 – BEATTAPE EDITION

So since there’s so much track switching up in here, I’ll just give you a timeline along with some comments.

0’00 – Sam Sever – Tonight (dub joint). Maybe best known for his work with the Beastie Boys back back in the day. Dude has some fucking skills, and from what I understand, he’s still at it and probably available if you’ve got a project. Holler at him at www.myspace.com/samsever.

3’50 – Platonic - Alternate Thursday. Some of you will recognize this from a few episodes ago when I was talking over it. I got so many emails and shit about that joint that I put it up here. www.soundincolor.com.

6’45 – Suburb - Feel Me. The first of the Suburb beat snippets. Kind of a prodigy with this Fruityloops shit. Look out for an interview with the kid pretty soon. His beats are watermarked*, so no jacking. www.myspace.com/suburbproduce.

7’30 – Madlib - Understanding. Three words regarding the record this joint comes off of – BUY BUY BUY. The record is just that hot. Madlib is pretty much a genius. stonesthrow.com.

8’50 – Suburb - Warning. More Suburb, featuring the Juggernaut Bitch!!! treatment by yours truly. Don’t you know who I am?!

9’50 – The Earl – The Earl in Technicolor. This is actually the last 2/3 of the track, and both beats in the track are his. As if you couldn’t guess, Sound in Color has been supporting your boy since way back with all the exclusives. I’ve still got a bag of tricks from these dudes up my sleeve yet…just wait for it. Nice grooves from the Earl on this one though. www.soundincolor.com.

Shoutout from Damon of Tha Faculty on here as well.

12’30 – Dudley Perkins – Funky. Produced by Madlib. I know that this is supposed to be a beattape, but I can bend the rules because 1) this is some hot shit here and 2) it’s my show, get your own assholes. The Dudley Perkins record is another CD with BUY BUY BUY written all over it. Dudley’s half-rapped, half-spoken lyrics really bring something new to the table, which, in case you hadn’t guessed, is kind of what this show is all about. www.stonesthrow.com.

15’30 – Suburb - Brown Study Instrumental. I remember hearing this shit in the summer of 04 and absolutely not believing that anyone would ever be stupid enough to rhyme over it. Turns out Che took the beat and turned it into what we now know as Brown Study, which is, oddly enough, a great song. Kinda weird, but great. The intro on this one is amazing.

Return of the Juggernaut BITCH!!

17’20 – Suburb - Untitled Beats from the Spring Tape. I’m sick of writing, just listen. Do pay attention to what happens at 18’30, though. That might be my favorite Suburb beat in a minute. Dirty as hell. You Fruityloops junkies need to step up your drum programming. www.myspace.com/suburbproduce

20’30 – Alf-Alpha – Solar. I must have had this shit on repeat for an hour before I had the presence of mind to call him up and put this joint on the show. I hear he’s got some CD project in the works that features like 70 tracks, one minute each, all styles of beats. Anyone out there want to hear that? Check Alf-Alpha out at www.myspace.com/alfalpha – make sure to check out “Whore” as well.

23’00 – Cook – Stanley Clark Instrumental. You’ve heard him here before, and representing the Beat Locker once again, Cook (used to go by Captain Cook, now it’s apparently just Cook) brings us this EQ’ed-out soul sample flip. Don’t get me wrong, I am all over that synth driven shit (just wait till I knock yall over with the Southern episode), but it seems like the sample driven shit is really what people have been getting at me with recently. www.thebeatlocker.com.

24’20 – Chester Copperpot – Again. More watermark. You’ve heard Chester Copperpot on here before, and if you don’t know who he is yet, you really need to step your game up. This dude is quickly becoming one of Chicago’s most important producers. Do yourself a favor and check out www.evproductions.net.

* Shoutouts to chinesepod.com, since I used their podcast to watermark a few beats. On the off chance that you’re studying Chinese, this is actually a pretty dope site. Highly Recommended (TM).

All right, that’s it for this week. Be on the lookout for some totally next-direction shit coming your way quite soon, as well as a possible increase of shows per week. Also, I may be doing another one of these beattape editions, if enough people ask me to. Hint, hint. Pay attention.

MIXTAPE EPISODE 37

I don’t think I need to say much about this episode. Happy mothers day to all of you, and hopefully at least one or two of you out there become mothers while listening to this episode.
Intro beat – Hold It Sucka by Alf-Alpha. Hot joint. Be on the lookout for more of his material on the upcoming beattape episode. You can hear the full version of this beat on his myspace.People Under The Stairs – Pass the 40. Off their new album, Stepfather. I slept on this record when it came in for a good week and a half, until the dude John told me to actually listen to it. The whole album is full of good tracks (add this to your pool party soundtrack, trust me), but in the end I just had to go with this one, if for no other reason than because there’s a sample of a kid asking to get a swig of the Mickey’s. Check them out at putsonline.co.uk.

PUTS fans take notice – we’ll be having an exclusive (exclusive! newshit newshit newshit) interview with Thes One of People Under the Stairs next week. Any questions you want asked, feel free to get at me with them in the comments section.

Click “more” to see the rest of this week’s playlist and show info.

Eulorhythmics – Blam. I didn’t know a whole lot about dudes previously, but Jennifer got at me with a couple joints off of their new album, Extended Play, and shit was hot. I’ve only heard maybe one or two of their other joints, but they were dope too – you should pick up the album maybe? Oh, I’d also like to take this opportunity to apologize for the Eurhythmics joke I made on the show. Sorry guys. You can check them out at allnaturalhiphop.com, along with their weird rambling bios that make it fairly clear that someone was smoking that all natural when they wrote them. Jokes aside though, hot shit. Listen.

Modill

- Next Single featuring Diverse. Diverse shouldn’t be a new name to you, but then again, if you’ve been paying attention to the show, neither should Modill. Again, this is another case of trying to pick out the best song on the album, which is sort of impossible here, so I just went with the one I’ve been listening to the most recently. Favorite part on this track – Diverse’s jump-in. K-kruz makes some motherfucking slick tracks, and Racecar is on that weird space shit for most of the album. Here, try this. Buy Midnight Green, listen to the first track. If you don’t like the first beat, you’re broken. modill.com.

Coppershot – Can You Believe. Here’s that project that Chester Copperpot and MC Longshot (coppershot! get it? lololokthxbai) have been talking about since like August. Chess (who, by the way, you all owe a lot of gratitude to seeing as how he gives your boy the hookup on all the EV Productions artists) sent me this record like three times because the shit kept getting lost in the mail or something. Speaking on the track, though, Longshot wasn’t lying when he said that Chess has gone on some next level shit for this record, and Shot himself – well, you already know what to expect from the kid. The record is called Issues, and (again), the whole album is solid. Cop up. evproductions.net.
Oh yes, I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank both K-Kruz and Longshot for forgetting to add your boy to the guestlist for that show at the Knitting Factory. I’m just fucking around, kids. No hard feelings.

Because, you know, money grows on trees for me and shit.

Tommy Danger – It’s A Rap. I have to say that my favorite Tom Danger material is shit like this, where he comes with that laid back, casual/humorous shit, cause he really does kinda have that R&B voice and that goes best with the sort of beat he’s got here. The beat, the flow, the whole vibe on this joint just goes. His Luther Vandross reference on this might be the best quote from this whole episode. Shit is bananas, which is funny, considering that this is off the Cherry Flavor mixtape (but I think he might have a Banana flavor one too). More info available on tommydanger.net – and if you’re in Harlem, catch his TV show. tommydanger.net.

Ghostface and MF Doom - Angeles. I’m going to be real with you. I have damn near zero idea what is going on in this song. I mean, I understand certain bits and pieces of it, but the whole thing is like watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon without subs after taking a half semester of Chinese – people walk in and they say hello and bow to each other and drink tea, then a bunch of gibberish and scribbles written on signs, and then all of a sudden people are flying around and kicking each other and doing flips and hitting each other in the face with baby crocodiles and shit and you just give up and enjoy the show because you don’t know what’s happening, but you still like it. Listening to this song is sort of like that, except, you know, without the Chinese people.

Like I said, though, it’s a good song. It’s off of Nature Sounds, which features a bunch of other somewhat unlikely but still dope pairings of rappers. Shouts to Dennis for making this one happen. More info on nature-sounds.net.

Suburb – Actually, I don’t know what this beat is called. And wrapping it up with the outro beat, we’ve got my man Suburb. If you haven’t heard of this kid, you pretty much need to start paying attention now because he kind of sons about 88% of producers out there. Then again, that’s just my opinion. Then again, we’ve got a special word for dex’s opinion here on the mixtape show, and that word is called “fact”. All of you wack-beat-having rappers that keep sending me demos, please do yourself and me a favor and get a Suburb beat and rap over that instead. I her he’s selling. Check him out on loudminoritymusic.com, and be on the lookout for his material popping up on the all-but-legendary and forthcoming beattape episode very soon.
Okay, I think that’s it for today’s episode of the mixtape show, the hottest motherfucking rap / hip-hop podcast on the internets, and if it isn’t, that’s too fucking bad, because I have to go do my radio show now. See you next week, and feel free to drop comments and let me know what’s good.

Oh, and don’t forget the freestyle hotline – 310 928 6876.

MIXTAPE 26 – LONGSHOT INTERVIEW

Episode 25! It’s been a while. I’m glad I have you all in my life.

This episode features MC Longshot, who has been previously featured in mixtape show episode 21. For those of y’all that have been sleeping, dude is from Chicago, and definitely reps his city something fierce.


The reason I hit up Shot for the interview is twofold: First, he’s been building up a lot of buzz in his hometown, and I keep hearing his name come up. Second, I was pretty impressed with his newest release, Civil War Pt. 2, which is “an album…a movie, a mixtape…a movement, man!” ( (c) Longshot 2006).

Seriously though, it’s damn near the hottest thing that has graced my Volvo’s CD deck in a few months, and beats the fuck out of whatever wack shit you you were listening to in 2005. 31 tracks, over 40 artists, and basically a lot of fucking talent, with Longshot to tie it all together.

In this interview, Longshot breaks down his name, his past, the inspiration behind his poetry (he released a book of poetry before he ever released any albums), the politics of his city, and of course, the Civil War pt. 2 mixtape itself. He also gives us an update on the upcoming Coppershot album (which Chess is mastering as you read), which sounds pretty fucking hot (ETA: March/April).

If you’ve heard the record, you know that Longshot gets on some deep type shit from time to time, and that also comes out in the interview. We also talk about the messages behind a lot of his joints, and suffice to say that Shot has a lot of good things to say.

Basically, this is a good interview. Listen to it.

Respect goes to Longshot and Chester Copperpot at EV Productions.

listen/subscribe in !

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 21

Man, y’all already know what this is. Best, and longest-running independent rap/hip-hop podcast ever. Episode 21, cop the download and read along!

Leading off this episode is Blaq Poet, who might be best known (?) for his bars in Screwball‘s “F.A.Y.B.A.N.”, a song that I have more than once really fucking wanted to play in its entirety on the radio and dedicate to various B.A.N.s in my life. Incidentally that track was apparently his first collabo with the world-reknowned DJ Premier, who returns to bless this joint with one of his signature minimalist beats. Speaking of the “N” in “F.A.Y.B.A.N.”, why does this francois dude prefer the redneck spelling of the “N” word? That’s not really a good look to me. But the song is good, so check it.. Get at Blaq Poet at yearroundrecords.com..

Blaq Poet – We Gonna Ill.

Milano – Hope You’re Listening.

I hope you’re listening to this fucking podcast right now, is what I hope, for your sake. Milano comes through over some rather sick strings and drum programming courtesy of Showbiz. You will like this song. Check out his label at www.beatdownrecordings.com.

Ike fucking Eyes is up on this shit with some majestic horns on the Scram Jones production; and combined with Ike’s typical swagger this made it one of my favorites on his mixtape – so you know I had to get it in here. I’ll be the first to admit I’d been sleeping on dude, but he’s been around. Put it this way – if you’ve heard a Purple City mixtape, you’ve heard his voice. Once we get some time I’m gonna have to hammer out an interview with him and get yall a little perspective, rriiiiiight? “pat myself on the shoulder, good job ike!” Classic. ghettorockstarinc.com..

Ike Eyes – Prince of Kings County.

Respect f/ Smif n Wessun – Crabz.

I hope to Allah that some of these names are ringing a fucking bell for you by now. Smif n Wessun grace Respect‘s latest single, which although it may bring up bad memories of what you got from messing around with that boy down the hall during your freshman year of college, is actually aimed at people trying to hate, perpetrate, and otherwise hold you down. You know, like crabs in a bucket. Jokes aside, track is hot…www.beatdownrecordings.com.

What? Wait, is this actually hip-hop, where’s the misogyny? Yes, kids, this is pretty much a fucking love song, and you’re going to sit down and enjoy it. Cesar and Edgar Allen Floe, whose name reminds me that I’m supposed to be typing an English paper up right now, wax romantic on this one. The beat was pretty much what got this one the thumbs up for inclusion into the show. Play this one for your SO before you go out to cheat on her at some club.cesarcomanche.8m.com..

Cesar Comanche feat Edgar Allen Floe – I Miss You.

Longshot feat Jah Safe & Romello Hill- Quitters Anthem.

Wait, wouldn’t this song have gone better after “Crabz”? Yes, but I’m purposefully fucking with your mind. Next thing you know I’ll be posting Gwen Stefani songs (I’m actually partially kidding). Seriously though, I’ve been pretty fucking impressed with Longshot’s album, enough so that I’m closing this episode with the closer on his album. If you don’t have it yet, go cop it – and if you aren’t convinced yet, wait for the interview – coming soon.www.evproductions.net.

Special thanks to Chester Copperpot, Ike Eyes, all them boys and girls down at Foundation Media, and all those who support! Stay the fuck tuned!

Use the link below to subscribe to this hip-hop podcast in iTunes and never miss an episode of the mixtape show. It’s free, bastards:


one-click iTunes subscription! don’t hate

MIXTAPE SHOW 8 – chester copperpot interview part 2

Well, here it is folks – the long-awaited second half of the interview (check the first half here) with Chester Copperpot, on the only hip-hop podcast y’all need to even be bothering with. This time around, Chess explains why he keeps working with people from the UK, why there are those weird phone messages on his album, why he had to sell his MPC to make rent, and why he hates myspace.

I actually considered posting his myspace account on here, but I don’t know it and anyway that would be kinda harsh considering he hooked you all up with a bunch of tracks this week.

chess chose this picture…i have no idea either. it’s him, anyway.

Oh yeah, and we talk some politics as well. Also I think there’s something in there about frisbee golf and Nintendo, but I forget. Just download the goddamn show, aight?

Anyway, let’s get into it – tracklisttttt
Headtrip w/ Verb T and Kashmere – this one is off Chess’ album, Chapter 7. The rhymes are pretty out there, and the subject matter…well, I’ll let you check it out. The production is probably my favorite of his work though. Recco-fucking-mended.

It’s a Rap remix f/ Pace won and Longshot (exclusive!) – Is this a preview of that Longshot album Chess mentioned? Not sure, I’ll have to ask him later. Still, though, quality work…

The Gypsy f/ Pace Won – (exclusive!) – and closing out the exclusives on this episode, we got this cut. Pretty crazy imagery with the rhymes. Fuck it, just listen, I’m tired. I’d write more now, but I’m hungry and I need to sleep like whoa.

You can pick up Chess’ new album, Chapter 7, from the following sites:

Ughh.com, sandboxautomatic.com, hiphopsite.com, evrecords.net.

Be on the lookout for new ish coming soon…and keep coming back to the site, cause you know we fresh. Next interview is with The Source’s Unsigned Hype artist Akir, who you’ve heard on this show before. See? Y’all ask for something, I deliver.

Stay tuned y’all…

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 7 – chester copperpot interview part 1

Jyeah. You arready know what this is, it’s your favorite hip-hop podcast show, the mixtape. This time on the mixtape show, we’ve got Chicago super-producer Chester Copperpot on the line for an exclusive interview.

Update: Check here for the second part once you’re done with this one…Chapter 7 episode 2.

This time he’s talking about his latest album (Chapter 7), a Tony Hawk freestyle, his origins in the world of hip-hop, his early work, how he had to sell his MPC 2000 to make rent…ah, fuck it, just download the episode and listen for yourself. Quality all the way around.

Check out the two tracks in there also:

Cut the Cake f/ Bamski the Bigot (promo / early copy only!)
This one introduced me to Copperpot – it was the first joint on his radio-only release, Chapter 7, Verses 1 and 2. It can also be found on vinyl (his first ever release), but other than that, I don’t think you’re gonna hear it anywhere else but here. Bam sounds like a real angry dude and drops some pretty ragged lines. Chess can play this one down all he likes, but I still dig the track. Get at me when you remix it, man.

Blow f/ Psalm One (exclusive!) This is mixtape show exclusive, meaning that you are not going to hear this anywhere else, for now, forreal. The homegirl Psalm One jumps through with a catchy as hell hook and damn it, I hate writing about music. Just listen, you will like it, trust me.

Arright, that’s all I’m writing for now. Be on the lookout for episode #8 next week right here- we’ll have three exclusives on that joint, and you know they gonna be hot because your boy dont play no garbage. Peace to Chester and EV for this one. Hit him up: www.copperpot.cc

By the way, how are those 96 kbps files working for you all? Is the sound too lo-fi? Get at me and let me know…we need to keep ish quality…

And start linking me suckers! Tell people! Spread the word…

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 6 – the conscious edition

Damn, this took me a minute to get out.

I’m gonna keep the intro short to this one, considering that I’ve been writing mad articles on this ish lately. Basically I’d been thinking on doing an all-”conscious” mixtape for a minute now. There’s a lot of tracks I’d love to put on here, but I’m limited to what I can get permission for. Fortunately for you, every goddamn song I put out here is quality, and this episode is no exception – this one might actually kinda suprise you. The mixdown is dirty, but the songs is hot, no joke. Let’s have that tracklist…

First off, a beat courtesy of Shudoshi of earbubbles. I got no idea what earbubbles is, but I know that Shudoshi is a cool dude and you can hit him up at earbubbles.com for all your production needs, as well as your general hip-hop listening needs. They got some kinda record they tryna sell…hit em up.

Next is Akir with his week-old single, Politricks. Shit is hot, no joke. I’m gonna put my name on the line here and say that I am expecting big things from this cat. He’s already been in Unsigned Hype, he’s got a collab with Immortal Technique, and shit, you can just go read about him yourself. Bottom line, he’s kinda nice. This single is for sale, by the way, so if you like it, cop it. Be on the lookout for an interview if we can work it out…

Third – Chester Copperpot. I just wrapped an interview with dude the other day so I’m gonna keep quiet about this track – Out The Bunker featuring Braintax. Shit is nice, especially considering that it gets even more relevant as time goes on (it was recorded in ’02). Be on the lookout for that interview coming next week (I mention it near the end) – you do not want to miss that shit. You’re gonna end up playing it for your moms and them.

Moving on, we got the Goats with Typical American, straight outta 1992. I actually found this track via Mattmatical at can i bring my gat?, so peace to him. From there I hit dudes up on their site, asked for permission, and a couple weeks later, here it is in the mix. You can hit them up on their website here. Peace again to the goats.

Next, we got Wrekonize featuring Ras Kass on Bizness as Usual, another really goddamn recent single. I’ve got to say that Ras drops a couple bars that I ain’t exactly down with, but in the interest of creating dialogue and keeping hip-hop as a medium of expression of self, it’s kinda necessary to listen to what other people are saying. And that’s all the intellectualization I’m giving you for today, kids, because you know that shit ruins music. Look what happened to jazz. Still, though, heavy track.

Awwwww, shit. It’s Earatik Statik with Evil is Timeless. I drop this shit all the damn time on radio, and peoples love it. So if you don’t like it, you need to hide ya face cause something is wrong with you. Check the lyrics and the production in here. Harsh. Interview anyone? Sef, get at me.

Last, back again once it’s the incredible Binary Star with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The whole Waterworld/Masters of the Universe thing is hot, and OneBeLo is dropping crazy crazy science on heads on his own nowadays – so much, in fact, that I ain’t even mad at him for being on Warped Tour. That’s saying a lot. So what, y’all want me to track this cat down or what? Check him/them out on subterraneous records dot cizzom.

And that’s it for this week. Be on the lookout, as I said, for episode 7, coming next friday, featuring an interview and exclusive tracks from none other than Chester Copperpot. You absolutely can not afford to miss that shit, trust me.

Peace till then. And tell ya friends, 700 hits a day simply ain’t enough. Let’s blow this shit up. Can you say googlebomb? Help me out, kids.

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 2

What it is, internets? It’s your boy dex digital, back with that mixtape – episode 2. Seven new artists this time, all of them hip-hop, and all of them hot.

Here’s the tracklist. Most of these tracks can be downloaded for free on the artist’s sites.

(intro instrumental) – Anubus – Midnight Slices – deepthinka.com
Hezekiah – Put Your Toys Away – soulspazm.com
Specifics - That’s Just Gold – myspace.com/specifics
Chester Copperpot f/ Earatik Statik – Get Right – copperpot.cc
Trek Life – Doin ‘Em Wrong – myspace.com/treklife
Trek Life – I’m Gone
Rhyson Hall – Still Raw – deepthinka.com
Earatik Statik f/ Edo G - Illstate Massive Pt. 2 earatik.net

Yeah, that’s right. Safe and you knows it.

Also, remember when I was saying that I was gonna get some artists on here for interviews? Well, I wasn’t lying. Next week I got a long-ass interview with underground rap legend , O.C. So if you dig any of these artists here, let me know, and I’ll catch up to ‘em for some exclusives, freestyles, interviews, free candy, whatever.

Indeed, all of this is possible through the combined power of podcasting and the internets.

Peace again to all the artists and management types that linked me up with all this hot material. Oh yes, and for that trek life ish, I got a hot freestyle of his that I’ma drop on y’all one of these days. Ish is major like fantasia (okay, I stole that bar, sorry).

And as always, if there’s anything you think that I can improve on in any way, from track selection to style to whatever, I’d be glad to hear about it. Comment me or somethin, kid.