MIXTAPE 113 – SKEETER WAS BLACK

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

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 46 – THE BOUNCE TAPE

Hey, assholes. Remember Katrina? Apparently nobody in the news seems to.

If you like golden-age-crusty-breakbeat-conscious-hip-hop-head type shit, then please don’t listen to this episode. It is not for you.

If you like shit played 30 BPM faster than it’s supposed to be played, if you like London, if you like bounce, if you like snap, if you like dirty and inexpert mixes, and most of all, if you like cocaine, then this episode is for you.

Here’s a briefly annotated tracklist.

Juvenile – Powder Bag*. Yep. Bounce music. This is less brick-rap ala Rick Ross and more coke-rap.

Durtville – Durtbike. I’m trying to imagine the dance that goes with this, since you know that every song that comes out nowadays has a dance. Beat is hot though. Try it normal speed at myspace.com/durtville

Lady Sovereign – Random (Menta Mix). This is the best track on the record, mainly because Riko is rapping on the phone, from prison. This song wins.
*T.I. – What You Know instrumental*

M.I.A. – Galang (Diplo Mix). The Piracy Funds Terrorism Mixtape pretty much >’d anything on Arular. But then again, I like Diplo. miauk.com.
*E-40 – Tell Me When To Go instrumental*

About The Money aka ATM - Get Jiggy. I actually found this one on the recommendation of Black TK a while back. I’ll leave the comments on the track title alone, but you really can’t front on this beat. Try listening to the real version if you don’t like mine. myspace.com/atlatm.
*Rick Ross – Hustlin instrumental*

2 Blakk – Second Line Jump. More bounce to close this shit out. I also have to shout out noz from cocaineblunts for (unknowingly) providing two tracks and a lot of the inspiration for this episode. Even if you don’t like shit-talking about rappers or are illiterate, you should go to his site and look at the pretty pictures.

This week’s episode was actually mixed live, by me, at some weird house party a week or so ago that I have absolutely no recollection of. That, combined with the broken laptops I was using to do this, should explain the amazing quality of the mix. That said, it’s sort of fun as it applies my personal philosophy on music: Faster = Better. Consider this one a bonus episode.