MIXTAPE 132 – CASSETTE JAWNS

So yeah, gonorrhea I’m not dead. As I mentioned in the intro, this is a quick throwback to how a lot of us used to make mixtapes, complete with pause edits, bits of the song bleeding through five seconds early because of the source tape deteriorating, radio static, questionable sound quality, and so on.

Oh yeah, and this episode is composed entirely of tapes I found in a bargain bin at a Wherehouse when they went out of business in like 2003, and never listened to until last month. A lot of these groups/acts aren’t really around anymore, hence the lack of links.

Shoutout to anyone still actually listening to the show.

instrolude: Norse Horse – Hidden Place. Beatflip by me, whatever.

Busta Rhymes + Phife – Freestyles. 1996, off of DJ Cash Money Presents WKIS: Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. This isn’t exactly Busta Rhymes’ most skillful performance ever, but he gets points for managing to somehow screw up the most famous line of the most famous opera ever. Also for referencing Zack the Lego Maniac. Then Phife comes on and starts talking about Shaq being on the Orlando Magic, and starts seriously hating on MC Hammer, which is pretty hilarious in 2010. Then again I can sort of understand, because I seem to remember him showing up in a music video in a zebra print speedo on some total seriousness.

Also, yes, I cut out Q-tip’s freestyle, because it was boring. Also the Roots, because it was boring, and Bahamadia’s, because it was boring, and Biz Markie, because I just couldn’t fit it. It’s pretty hilarious, though – worth hearing.

Dana Barros – Check It. Yes, Dana Barros the basketball player. This comes from the infamous 1994 compilation B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret, which also brought us Shaq’s awful ‘Mic Check 1-2′, which was basically Ill All Skratch interrupting Shaq’s rhymes in mid-verse in an attempt to save him from embarrassing himself. Seriously, though, why is Barros’ song so good? He’s got a sort of scary amount of skill on the mic considering this is just a sidebar for him, and looking through the liners, dude actually wrote his own lyrics. Listening to his shoutouts, he also has pretty good taste in music. I don’t know anything about the guy basketballwise, but man, he probably could have had a decent underground career if he felt like it.

Critical Madnez – Sumthin’ Sumthin’. The compilation – or at least I think it’s a compilation – this came off is sort of weird. It’s got 4 tracks from 4 artists, and none of the selections are very good, except this one. Of course, the sample probably helps, but I genuinely dig this one.

Brotha Lynch Hung – West Coast Parlae feat D. Dubb. You know, I never really listened to Brotha Lynch Hung, but this is pretty great. The cover to this compilation, however, is seriously laughably terrible, and the inset picture is some dude in a hospital gown or something. Of all of the tapes I raided for this episode, however, this was probably the most consistently listenable.

Blu – Hide & Go Get It feat E-40. Note that this isn’t the Blu from LA. But okay seriously E-40 totally ruins this song so hard that he actually makes it better. I found this on a caseless compilation called “Whoop Ass”. Seriously, though, the R&B part makes zero sense, and the E-40 part makes negative sense.

B-Boy K – Funkin’ Up The Scene. 1994 Bay Area slaps, from a record label that was apparently right down the way from where my moms grew up. The rest of the tape itself isn’t that great, but this one just slaps way too hard. It’s mainly comprised of various Parliament/George Clinton samples, which is always good – and the rhyming just goes hard.

Ghetto Twinz – Sho No Luv. 1995. The only real bounce tune on this album, and easily my favorite. It’s sort of weird though – I’m pretty sure that these two can sing, but the singing they do on the hook is pretty bad. This is also the most brutal song in this episode.

That’s it for this time – hollerrr

MIXTAPE SHOW 69 – THE ROCK EPISODE

Yo. Welcome back to the program. I’ve actually got an interview/feature in the works (I’ll give you two guesses as to what the topic is), nurse but in the meantime, pharm here’s another concept episode.

This time, it’s all about rock-influenced tracks. Now I obviously could have gone with mashups (thanks for the tip on that Modest Mouse+Weezy track, Robin), but that would be cheating. Check the tracklist, and if you need more information on the DVD giveaway, check the post below.

Hevi Medal – 730 [dex ADHD edit]. The video for this cut is wild on some serious skurry insanity shit. If you want the full version of the song, check out their myspace page. myspace.com/mophevimedal.

Deaf In The Family – Southern Man feat Bavu Blakes. Apparently the original sample was what inspired the penning of Sweet Home Alabama, but fuck that song. Mr. Bavu, who I think dropped the “Blakes” thing, breaks down some race/class knowledge on some college-educated shit. You can listen to the whole album on the site, deafinthefamily.com.

Lil’ Flip – Rockstar. This song is pretty ridiculous. But don’t act like it isn’t catchy. This is why I love mixtapes – you always get these ridiculous-ass joints in the end of the CD that are better than half the rest of the tape. myspace.com/lilflip.

RJD2 – Exotic Talk. Please, Def Jux, don’t sue me. I have been fucking with RJD2‘s shit for a very long time now. I liked The Horror and alla that, but really Since We Last Spoke was the one that spent the most time in my Volvo, including that weepy-ass “Making Days Longer”. I hear he has a new album out, which I unfortunately haven’t heard, but I’m hearing positive things about it. He’s actually on tour now, so some of you herbs might want to catch him live. myspace.com/rjd2.

Deaf In The Family – Mr Blue Sky feat Scavone. I never thought someone would have the balls to flip this one, but these dudes actually did a pretty fucking bang-up job on this one. After you finish listening to the show, and entering the contest, get thee to a record store and cop the original ELO version. 7 minutes of overwrought, multithematic, hairsprayed rock godditude. Can I get a amen. deafinthefamily.com.

DCNY - Skye Blues. See that? Mr Blue Sky, Sky Blues. I am really, really clever, ouxu. Really clever. This is another group I used to rock back on my college show, and for some reason when I was mixing this show down the CD just jumped out at me. Recommended for the boom-bap fans. myspace.com/tresmons.

Outro I – Black Sabbath
Outro II – Calamine – Sealab 2021 Theme.

Swimmers – The Unofficial Swimmers Bootleg feat Lil Jon, E-40 and Keak da Sneak. Actually I don’t have a title for this. The Swimmers are not responsible for this soundclash. Thank you, nxt. myspace.com/swimmersband.

And that’s all for this one. What did you think?

MIXTAPE EPISODE 55 feat BARTHOLOMEW JAMES

This week, capsule I (dex digital) take a break and Bartholomew James of the Quiet Storm on KPLT 92.7FM makes his hip-hop podcast debut.

Dem Franchize Boyz – Lean Wit It (Don Vito remix). Yes, seek you know this song, and yes, it’s a simple remix. But that won’t stop you from playing it out. majormoneyentertainment.com.

DK – Mask On. Apparently Bartholomew got a little confused, because this isn’t Luther, this is one of the strongest players in the East Coast mixtape game, DK. If you don’t listen to the words, you might actually miss what’s going on. myspace.com/dk730

Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys – Get Low (Ghosteo Remix). Another ridiculously simple remix, but I mean come on. Between the Sheets + anything = instant classic. I’m not sure where this “Gap Band” nonsense came from, but I can see why Bartholomew James would pick this cut out. myspace.com/ghosteo.

E-40 and Keak da Sneak – Tell Me When To Go (Trackademics remix). It’s hard to match the original, but if any of the myriad remixes that came out are close, this one’s right up there with them. myspace.com/trackademics.

Gwen Stefani, 4-Ize and Ludacris – Payback. Aaaaaand there goes our credibility. I’m actually not sure why Bartholomew played this one, considering that he didn’t even like it and he swore to me beforehand that he wouldn’t put any white people on the show. On the other hand, y’all know my weird tastes in music, so it’s not that I mind it going in here. 4-Ize has been a little slow with releases recently, maybe he’s working on something nowadays…soularsausage.com.

outro track: MR. MAKK – which is Kenny Keys’ band – Phrase 72. I had this one sitting on my desk, I’m guessing that ol’ BJ picked it up and took a fancy to it. myspace.com/kennykeys.

Well, I’d like to thank everyone for putting up with Bartholomew James this week – assuming I get over my cold and get my shit together in time, I should be back next week with a normal episode. Mr. James asked if you all could holler at him with some comments though, so if y’all feel like it, feel free to drop some here.

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 52

As most of you are aware, patient I get so much music on a daily basis that it’s not possible to put even a tenth of it into a show. Thus, anemia a lot of good shit never ends up getting out, due to a combination of my tendency to sit on joints until I feel like it’s ready and my ADHD kicking in and me getting bored with the stuff I was going to put out. It’s not an easy life, trust me.

So with that said, I’ve tried to put some of the joints that really caught my attention over the last few months on this podcast. Don’t call it “leftovers”, cause it ain’t that, but just because sometimes I just can’t fit a song into a particular episode shouldn’t mean that it never gets out.

Here’s the track list.

Dabrye – Air feat MF Doom. Regardless of what I might have said about that Dangerdoom project, I’m still a Doom fan – and I’ve always liked Dabrye’s shit. If you feel this joint, I’d actually recommend going out and picking up Dabrye’s Two/Three – it was a long time in the making and there are at least five joints that spent forever in my Volvo CD player. dabrye.com.

Nicolay – The End Is Near feat Black Spade. I was actually so swamped a few months ago that I never actually got to listen to this record until I was in Hong Kong. I remember the overall record – Here – being sort of hit or miss sometimes, but for the Black Spade joints are definitely worth checking out. Cop up. myspace.com/nicolay.

Justin Timberlake – My Love (Benja Styles remix with Vybz Kartel). I realize that probably most of you have had this song played the fuck out by now, but I really couldn’t let this remix sit any longer. The dude Benja Styles threw a Vybz Kartel verse on top of the original, and for me, there’s really no point listening to the rest of the joint because that’s simply the best part. myspace.com/benjastyles

Diamond D – An Untitled Percee P Joint
Jaylib – The Ruckus

Both of the above joints were shamelessly stolen from the Stones Throw Chrome Children podcast. I actually lifted these when the joint first came out – too bad, they would have fit perfectly in the Nintendo Mixtape. The CD/DVD is out right now though – check out stonesthrow.com for more.

E-40 feat Big Gipp and Big Boi – Ham Sammiches & Coup Devilles. Straight from the source:
On the subject of songs that vaporize into the ether, this, from an interview I did with 40 Water on June 1, 2002, best I can tell, so happy anniversary and shit: “That song right there was a winner. At the time Outkast was going through some type of merge [LaFace/Arista] the same time my album was coming out. Jive neded a response about the licensing, and all I remember was they were saying $50,000, no video, no packaging, no single rights. No disrespect to them, they might not have even known this…”.

It’s a hot joint. Listen to it.

Nas and Lauryn Hill – If I Ruled the World (Wale Oyejide Black Gold Remix). Courtesy of the Shaman Works family, a pretty brilliant remix of the what – ’96? – classic. I’ve got the rest of the Black Gold album, and trust me – the remixes are hot. Wait until you hear the Dead Prez remix.. shamanwork.com.

Aight then – till next week.