MIXTAPE 115 – DO GOOD THINGS

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Here’s Johnny? This is sort of a weird story and I’m not sure if it makes any sense the way I’m telling it, but yeah. This happened, and is still happening.

Fusion Unltd – The Sun feat Little Brother, Nickelus F, Hall of Fame, and Skillz. A producer that is sort of new to me. Lyrics ain’t bad either – “When I write I’m enlightening myself”? That’s sort of profound. myspace.com/fusionunltdfup

H.O.P.E – Can’t Knock the Hustle II feat Raquel Rodriguez. The vocals are kinda on the edge of contributing and taking away from the cut, but overall I dig. myspace.com/f2dhope.

Caltroit – Goatit feat Elzhi and Bishop Lamont. Off that recent Black Milk mixtape. This dude is sort of dope on the production. And come on, “raise your hands and see stars like King Hippo”? I hope I’m not the only one here who caught that. myspace.com/blackmk.

Jim Jones, Noe, and Tom Gist – Christmas Eve. Aside from dude feeling the need to do adlibs at the end of every bar, this is sort of a great song. myspace.com/jimjones

Rhymefest – Breakadawn feat Daniel Merriweather and alpha. I’ve dropped one cut from this tape before, but this is seriously a genius project. Don’t miss the skits. myspace.com/rhymefest.

Wurd Munchaz – Shakespeare. This is actually one of my favorite groups. If you don’t get the reference, I don’t know. You don’t spend enough time on the internet. myspace.com/wurdmunchaz

Okay, here:

original: marriedtothesea
I mean, come on. A rap song based on an internet joke? What’s next?

Cassius Clay – I Am The Greatest. Yes, as in Muhammad Ali. I checked the latest Shaun Boothe Unauthorized Biography joint (you heard the Bob Marley joint here last episode), and he referenced Ali’s recording career. Apparently people have referred to his stuff as some of the first battle raps – and really, listening to this, I can’t disagree.

John Robinson – Don King. Shouts to JR for linking this one up – been a minute since we’ve had some of his material on the show. If we spin Ali, it’s only fair to spin something about Don King, right? Info about his latest project here: myspace.com/thejohnrobinsonproject.

The Thunderclaps – Judgement Day (short preview edit). Shouts to Charlee for hooking me up with this joint forever ago. I have the long edit, but for some reason I dig the quick pace of this one. myspace.com/thunderclapsmusic.

instros:
intro:
Black Milk – Purple Track 3
outros:
Illa J – DFTF
RJD2 – Unlimited
Scarface – In Cold Blood

So yeah. Go out and do something nice for one of your friends, or for somebody you don’t know.

MIXTAPE 110 – STATE OF THE RAP UNION

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So if there was a State of the Hip-Hop Union, 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…

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.

MIXTAPE 77 – NOMINATE US

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Okay – it’s that time of year again. The Mixtape Show is up for nomination in the Podsafe Music category at the Podcast Awards. While you listen to the show, please take 30 seconds out of your day to nominate the Mixtape Show hip-hop podcast for this year’s awards.

How To Nominate This Podcast
Step 1: Click here: Vote for the Mixtape Show
Step 2: Scroll down and fill out the Podsafe Music box (third box from the bottom on the left).
   Podcast Name: The Mixtape Show
   Podcast URL: http://mixtapeshow.net
Step 3: Fill in your name, email (they won’t spam you – it’s just to make sure we don’t cheat) and any comments.
Step 4. Hit “submit”.
Step 5. Ask three friends to do the same!

Phat Kat – Cold Steel feat Elzhi (prod. J Dilla). I swear I don’t know where that “Blue Steel” slip came from. This came in on wax forever ago and I never quite got around to spinning it – until this morning. Haven’t had any Phat Kat on the show for a while. myspace.com/phatkatakaronniecash.

Rob O – Mention Me feat Meccalicious (prod. Pete Rock). Official story from the kids at Foundation is that this was recorded back in the mid 90s, and just recently resurfaced. I don’t know what this says about rap music, but anyway it’s a nice cut.

Guru - State of Clarity feat Common. Off the upcoming Jazzmatazz Volume 4 The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future. Does the sample on this one remind anybody else of Taxi? myspace.com/guru7grand.

Beautiful Mindz – Poet Past The Weak. Dudley Perkins is one of the spaciest people alive. The BeautifulMindz record (consisting of Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley Perkins, and the UK’s own 2Tall) is ridiculous. Seriously. This spent a good two weeks in my car. This record has my official endorsement. Go buy it, or if you need further encouragement, wait until Soultronica Volume 5, when you’ll hear more snippets. myspace.com/jim2tall

bump – Phat Kat – Nasty Ain’t It (prod. J Dilla)

Count Bass D – Jamaicans Get Down. Like some tossed together joint. The balance on this is perfect though. Feel free to rewind this one a few times. myspace.com/countbassd

Bonus Track – Keith Murray – Nobody Does It Better. This treads dangerously close to the R&B line, but the angry, bitter ranting coupled with the smooth crooning makes this one a winner. myspace.com/keithmurray.

So there’s this week’s joint. As always, check us out on Facebook, myspace, and make sure to vote for the mixtape show in the podsafe music section – the bigger this thing gets, the more music, giveaways, and videos we can get out to you all.

Make sure your friends know – myspace bulletins, facebook messages, whatever! get at me.