THE GOLD CARTRIDGE LEVEL 1

Man, I don’t even know how to start this one off. So once, a very long time ago, on this very here rappidy rap podcast, I put out a nintendo mixtape. I didn’t actually think anyone would like it, I just sort of wanted to do it – but the response was actually sort of good. You could call this a sequel if you want, but in reality, this is actually a prequel…

The year is 1998, and our hero is a 14-year old dex digital. I would write out the story here, but I’ll just let Ghosteo take it from here with the mad drawing skills.

And thus opens today’s episode – The Gold Cartridge, Level 1.

Or, if you want the full experience, try it in fullscreen as you listen to the new jawn.

So for those of you who missed the ridiculous 5 minute intro skits – here you go.

Instructionalude
Serengeti Drop.
J Bizness – Denice
Paul White – City Bright Lights
時の過ぎゆくままに(Toki no sugi yuku mama ni) (NES)

Meek Millz – One For The Money. Hoodfamous on the track. I have to say, this is probably the best flip of the Super Mario Bros sample I’ve ever heard. Even beyond that, this beat just sorta goes hard. And anybody who’s seen any videos of Millz knows that the dude is sort of skurry with it. I mean, I woulda liked some mario references in this cut, but I can’t be mad at him. Shouts to JT for the cut. m/hoodfamous215.

Game/Realitylude
Crash N The Boys (NES) – this game was the business back in the day. Most violent pseudo-olympics game I ever played.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Overworld Theme) (NES) – this game was so stupidly hard it wasn’t even funny.

Finale – Motor Music (snippet). When I first heard this cut I wasn’t really sure if I was reading too much into the droning background music – but then I heard One Man Show. Obvious nintendo influence. m/finale

Alchemist – That’ll Work feat Three 6 Mafia (snippet). You know, because I still like Three 6. This cut for some reason makes me think of Castlevania. I can’t really condone how dude prefers to spend his money, though. m/thealchemist

Wow, I forgot how whiny I was as a 14 year old.

Racist Gamealude
Street Fighter Intro. (SNES)

Turbo – Gigaton Punch. Definite shouts to AustinJ for putting me on to this track like two years ago. Now that he mentions it though, I don’t know anyone that actually used Balrog. Personally I started off on probably Dhalsim (long range punches), then Blanka until I realized the electricity thing was only cool until you got hit with a fireball in the middle of your shock attack. Then Guile, then Chun Li, mainly because she can jump off the walls. Why’d they have to make Balrog all useless? On the song though, you can’t even front on it. It’s great. y/scrambletv

Oh No – Lay You Out feat Redman. Oh No was already on the last Nintendo jawn, so he’s already got a record for being a nintendo fiend. And Redman isn’t really surprising either, considering that one episode of “Cribs” where he had like a Sega under his bed or something. m/ohnodisrupt

DJ Tour – Street Fighter Mix feat Mistah Fab. I don’t know, this is sort of a weird choice I guess. Beatwise, it’s actually perfect – they did absolutely nothing to the instrumental except add an extra kick and clap in and maybe some orchestra hits. Fabby himself comes with some sort of ridiculously corny lines, but I like how he says “money” so it’s okay. m/mistahfab

Outrolude
Star Tropics 2 (NES)

Afro Classics – The Follow Through. Maybe a new name for some (I’m actually sorta late with this one, so probably not), but if you remember Scarub of Living Legends – this is him paired up with Very. I haven’t had time to sit down through the whole record yet, but it ain’t bad. I dig the hook on this one. m/afroclassicsmusic

Oh wow, I completely forgot to do this in the outro, but shouts to B on the in-game announcer vocals. You might remember him as Uncle Chester from the Rock Episode.

Anyway, that’s what it is for this week. Apparently there’s a World 2 to this game, so I guess check back next week for another one?

MIXTAPE 68 – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I think if you’ve been keeping up on current [USA] events, you’ll know what the opening skit is about. Shout outs to Derek for creating/voicing the character of Johnathan America.

Other than that, though, this episode is all about first impressions. When you are a child of the MTV generation like I am, and you have crazy ADHD like I do, and you bought a Sidekick for the sole purpose of being able to IM and drive at the same time like I did, you rarely have the attention span for much beyond the first minute and a half or so of a new CD.

And as anybody who has ever sold indie CDs out of a trunk on a busy thoroughfare will tell you, the first impression is the difference between a sale and an angry look.

So this episode of your favorite hip-hop podcast is the First Impressions Episode – nothing but first tracks. Track 01s. This is probably one of my favorites so far. Hope you dig – have fun with this one.

Oh No – Intro. 27 beats in 3 days? Damn. As much as I like dude’s older brother, I can’t remember the last beat that Madlib made that made me want to hit somebody (feel free to refresh my memory in the comments though). This one does that to me, but maybe I’m just violent. myspace.com/ohnodisrupt.

Large Professor – Intro. The tempo might slow down a little on this cut, but your head should absolutely not stop nodding. myspace.com/thelargeprofessor.

J.R. Writer – To Be A Diplomat. I like how the dude fits a good portion of the backstory to his entire career into the first track of his CD, just like he’s trying to bring you up to speed on who he is and why you should care. This track inspired the entire episode. myspace.com/jrwriter

Murs – Intro. This is pretty much a given. If you don’t already own this album, get off of my internet. As soon as you put this cut in, you know the rest of the album cannot possibly be anything other than hot. myspace.com/murs316

M.I.A. – Banana Skit. 30 seconds of weird. I bet a lot of you actually skipped this track looking for “Galang”. Dummies. Get yrself an educayshuuuuuuuuuun! miauk.com

Agallah – Gangster. Summer of 2005 (okay I was late), this stayed in the deck like stupid. I replay this to the point where I should be sick of it, but I’m still not. This joint was my introduction to Purple City, period (again, slow). I don’t know if the mixtape is even available anymore, but if you can find it, there are some gems on Doomsday. myspace.com/agallahdonbishop.

Stanza – Enter In. I wish I had found this CD in my stash before I’d started the Soul episode. Two minutes of telling you who he is, and what you’re going to hear for the next 48. The production and the wordplay are both worth a rewind. Probably the best surprise I’ve found in the mail all month. Recommended. myspace.com/stanzahiphop.

Superiority Complex – Intro. See, these dudes get to talk all cocky like that in their intros, and the second I try things like that, females start looking at me crossways. Not fair. These two invite a lot of criticism based on their name alone (not to mention their insulting the rapping public at large), but I think their opening attack ain’t half bad. myspace.com/superioritycomplexmusic.

Now On – Ascension. I remember kinda being eh on this cut until they brought in them crazy-ass synths and rhodes. I actually have a hard time concentrating on the lyrics because the instro just really goes that hard. And then they drop in the turntablism…feel free to rewind this one as well. nowonmusic.com. [thanks josh]

intro beat: Unagi – Sacred Music
outro loop: The Go Gos – We Got The Beat.

Whoo boy. As always, hit up the comments section.

MIXTAPE 66 – SOUL

So in this week’s hip-hop podcast, lest any of you webternet kids think that I’m forgetting about the “Soul” in “Soultronica”, I bring you some of the more soulful joints I’ve come across recently. This is necessarily South-heavy, because I mean, they’re the ones really making these country rap tunes.

Check the playlist:

intro: Nedelle - I lied. (thanks elizabeth)

UGK – International Player’s Anthem feat Outkast. This cut is ridiculous. There’s a reason that there are no drums on Andre‘s verse. myspace.com/ugk.

Devin the Dude – Anythang Remix feat Rick James (produced by Cory Mo). Shout outs to Cory Mo for linking me up with this exclusive remix. Cory Mo did this joint originally for Devin’s last album, then went back and remixed it with the Rick James vocals. Shit is hot. myspace.com/devinthedude and corymo.com.

Dex – Ponds & Lakes. No, this isn’t me – but like the hip-hop podcast star from whom this artist obviously stole his name, he clearly has talent. myspace.com/thefoundationmusic.

Nicole Wray – Can’t Get Out The Game feat Beanie Sigel. Shoutouts to Krystian for getting this mixtape out to me. I can’t think of that any other singers that would actually make sense on an Aphilliates mixtape. myspace.com/msnicolewray

interlude – Unagi‘s If You Wanna, and two females that I hope never ever hear this episode.

Oh No – T Biggums feat Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow. I never really did listen to Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms – maybe I need to get back on that. Georgia‘s joint too – damn, I’m slipping. Not enough hours in the day to really listen to all this shit. myspace.com/ohnodisrupt.

outro beat – Alf-Alpha – Slam.

Hit the comments and let me know how you felt this one. And if you haven’t done so already, make sure to subscribe in iTunes!

EPISODE 50 – J DILLA TRIBUTE PART 1

What’s good. I know I’ve been extra late with this one, but hopefully this special 50th episode makes up for it.

By now, you’re all undoubtedly aware of the the genius of the late, great Jay Dee, aka J Dilla. However, on the off-chance that you haven’t yet been exposed to enough of his work, for Episode 50, I bring you the first half (part 1 of 2) of the Shaman Work Recordings homage to the master: “A Brief Education on the Musical Genius of Jay Dee“. This is an exclusive joint arranged by DJ 2-Tone Jones, available for free in various stores and put out with the blessing of Mrs. Maureen Yancey herself.

Please spread the word about this mixtape, and be sure to check back in at www.mixtapeshow.net in a couple of days for part 2, featuring exclusive (as in – not even available on the store CD version) audio commentary from DJ 2-Tone Jones on the purpose and inspiration behind this first installment of the series. Shouts to Lamar, 2-Tone Jones, JR, and the rest of the Shaman Work family for making this thing happen.

Check the tracklist for this half (don’t worry, Pharcyde’s “Runnin” is on the next half, coming soon), and the press release after that.

1. Jay Dee – Fuck the Police
2. Jay Dee – Reckless Driving
3. Oh No – Move (remix) feat. J Dilla and Roc C
4. Jay Dee – Think Twice
5. Slum Village – Jealousy
[Pillz (inst.) - JayLib]
6. A Tribe Called Quest – The Hop
7. Q-Tip – Let’s Ride
8. Guru – Certified feat. Bilal
9. De La Soul – Much More
10. De La Soul – Stakes is High
11. De La Soul – Stakes is High (remix) feat. Truth Enola and Mos Def
12. Common – Thelonius feat. Slum Village
[Rock Box (inst.) - Que D]
13. Busta Rhymes – So Hardcore
14. Dabrye – Game Over feat Phat Kat and Jay Dee
15. Platinum Pied Pipers – Act Like You Know (Ge-ology remix) feat. Jay Dee
16. Steve Spacek – Eve (J Dilla Remix) feat J Dilla and Frank-n-Dank
17. J-88 – Keep it On
18. Keith Murray – The Rhyme (Ummah remix)
19. FunkMaster Flex – That Shit feat A Tribe Called Quest and Jay Dee
20. Enjoy Da Ride – Busta Rhymes

Also, please note that because this tribute is free to the public; Shaman Work Recordings is instead asking that supporters donate to the J Dilla foundation by either:

o Sending funds to the PayPal account set up by DJ K-Fresh www.rensoul.com
o Sending funds directly to Jay Dee’s mother Mrs. Yancy at www.jdilla.org

Again, make sure to come back in a couple days for the second half of the CD. In the meantime, the phone lines are always open – 310 928 MTSN [ (310) 928 6876 ] – hit us up with freestyles, thoughts on the show, or whatever. And make sure to subscribe in iTunes, spread the word, and so on…holler.

EPISODE 43 – NINTENDO MIXTAPE

So once again with the concept episodes – this time it’s some shit that I’ve had in the lab for literally a year – the Nintendo Mixtape. Every beat on this joint either uses Nintendo samples or just kinda has that vibe. Trust me, this whole episode is hot.

Also – we’ve been nominated for the Best Music Podcast on the net! Click HERE to vote today – vote every day and help us win and shit! See the details at the bottom.

Dabrye f/ Jay Dee and Phat Kat – Game Over. Do you guys remember the Wu-Tang Forever Wal-Mart version? That shit was off the wall – there’s something about the sword sound effects that just made Hellz Wind Staff that much doper. So even though when I did this edit it was for radio play purposes, I realized that I actually like my nintendo’d out version a bit better. If you don’t like it, go buy the record. Actually you should cop two/three anyway – the whole thing is dope. Features include Doom, Ta’raach, etc etc – very highly recommended. And if you ever find the original 12″ of this song with Magic Says on the back – that’s worth the price of admission alone. Respect to the label for clearing this one for me like a year ago. More at dabrye.com.

Oh No f/ MED – The Ride. God damn this song is tough as hell. The intro is just icing, but come on. Ninja Gaiden. That shit had me trying to slice up dudes in suits and cling to walls when I was twelve like no joke. This joint is really the reason I decided I was going to do a Nintendo episode. The album is obviously hot, and Oh No is just a dope producer. Please go to stonesthrow.com and get educated.

Yo Gotti – North Memphis Freestyle. How can you not win with talking about cocaine over a pac-man loop? Yo Gotti wins here. His new mixtape is also pretty hot – I think Fate cooked up some Beetlejuice loop that is pretty hot. yogottimusic.com.

CX Kidtronik f/ Agallah - What t’ Hell Wit Y’all. I’d never heard of CX before, and for a hot minute I was about to throw his album into the reject bin. Krak Attack is one of those albums that you have to listen to a couple of times to “get”, and then it stays in your CD player for weeks – kinda like the Airborn Audio joint – which, incidentally, both members of appear on the record. The thing that I respect about Ag is that he comes off like he’s absolutely fucking nuts half of the time. He’s obviously way more adventurous with his beats than 90% of other majors, and the fact that he and CX were able to put a droning broken Nintendo sound together with Ag‘s flow and make something that sounds really fucking gangster just speaks to their talent. Thanks to Alex and Sound-Ink for hooking this one up – make sure to watch for Ag’s new album dropping soonish (where’s them exclusives Ike?!) and CX‘s album, which is out now, I think. sound-ink.com.

Cocoa Brovaz – Super Brooklyn. Yeah, the Mario Brothers beat. There’s an outside chance some of y’all have heard this before, but fuck it – Noah hooked me up with the joint, and I’ma play it. More on the dudes at Duck Down Records.

All intro and outro beats on this joint were provided courtesy of Flying Lotus – check his shit out at www.myspace.com/flyinglotus – he was nice enough to hook up the joints via email from his luxury suite in Paris or London or Saigon or something, I forgot. Hot shit anyway.

Oh yes – the bonus track. That’s a remix of Erykah Badu‘s On and On, and permission was given. That’s all I’m really able to say about that.

Oh – now for the important shit. The podcast award. See, apparently the Mixtape Show managed to beat out a few thousand other wack-ass music podcasts in order to get nominated in the top 5 of all music podcasts (including rock, electronic, etc) on the net, PERIOD.

Meaning that if we win, we are officially the best motherfucking music podcast on the planet, period. Not that we already didn’t know that, but it’s good to prove things to people sometimes, yaoming?

So here’s the deal – how to ensure that the Mixtape Show continues to provide the hottest music, interviews, and commentary and shit by helping us all win.

1. Go to www.podcastawards.com
2. Scroll down to the 9th box on the left – it says “Podsafe Music“.
3. Check “The Mixtape Show“.
4. Scroll down, enter your email (you need a valid one), click “submit”, and when you’re emailed to confirm, just click the email link to confirm – and that’s it.
5. Wait until tomorrow, then do that shit again. Seriously. You can vote every fucking day.

Voting is open NOW, and closes on the 11th. This shit ain’t for me – I got better ways to make $50, and most of them include women of ill repute. This is really exposure for the community, for everyone that’s supporting the show – you all make this shit as hot as it is with your input, criticism and support – so us winning this shit is kind of like us creating world peace, except we don’t have to assassinate George Bush in order to win a podcast award.

Seriously though, this shit would be pretty dope if we all won. And if we do, I’ll buy everyone ice cream.

So go vote, go tell everyone else to vote, and while you’re voting, listen to some old episodes. Be on the lookout for more hot shit coming your way soon – peace.

And that’s what it is for this week.

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 22

Chyeyeah. All y’all know what the deal is. It’s your boy back with that fiyah or whatever the fuck the streets say when they have some fucking hype-ass music for you to listen to. And of course, since the show is now included in Apple’s iTunes program, you can just click here to subscribe (it’s free forever).

This time, I’m taking it back to the fucking streets. Slightly shorter show this time, because all of these joints are hard and fast. Y’all know what time it is. Cop the fuck uuuuuuppppp!

I am starting episode 22 with this joint for a reason: namely, it’s fucking hot. If this shit does not get you more amped up than a white boy on a Mountain Dew commercial, you need to get your pulse checked. This joint is just as hot as it was back in early summer when Damon sent it to me on a burned CD copy of the Pok Dog EP. phatduckrecords.com, and looks like dude has a myspace up rachurrr..

Pok Dog – For My Dogs.

Roc ‘C’ – El Capitan.

The homeboy John Kim over at Sound in Color comes through with some extra new shit – good looks! Roc comes through heavy one of those spaced-out, synth heavy Oh No beats. Roc is supposed to be dropping some new shit fairly soon – I’ll keep y’all updated on that. But for now you have the heads up on it – so when that time comes, cop up!! www.stonesthrow.com.

If you haven’t heard the original version of this, consider your hood passport officially revoked. The Ike Eyes interview is coming soon, and to get people prepared, we’ve got one of his spots on the old Purple City mixtapes – this time with the version that shows up on the audiovisualz mixtape that was mentioned in episode 21. Dig the rock beat, which segues right into the next joint…ghettorockstarinc.com..

Purple City f/ Ike Eyes – Hard Life.

Young Hootie – Set it Off.

I did get a copy of the Prince of the Bity mixtape, and while I’m not going to try to pick a favorite joint, I felt like this one had to go in here. If nothing else, you gotta give them boys props for the theatrics. Some of those skits had me fucking rolling. There’s a break in here which isn’t exactly funny, but it makes the song that much better. myspace.com/larcenyent.

Kanyeezy’s own Canadian DJ, Mr. A-Trak is up next. This one’s been around for a little while too, but maybe some of y’all ain’t heard it. And since Hell Rell, 40 Cal, and JR Writer are on this joint, you know that the lyrics are going to be hot. If you haven’t subscribed to the show yet, you need to. djatrak.com..

A-Trak f/ Hell Rell, 40 Cal, & JR Writer – Don’t Fool with the Dips.

334 Mobb – Alabama Ho.

Alabama stand the fuck up! The first time I played this joint in at my flat, the whole place blew up. You should have seen it. Blow, heroin, pipes, legs, rabbits, everything flying everywhere at once. Once the beat drops in it’s a fucking atom bomb and the whole place goes apeshit, trust me. I had to loop this track like five times before everyone finally shut the fuck up and let me go back to the new Jay Chou single. I actually heard about this duo immediately after I had left the 334. Shouts to EV for getting this joint to me.www.334mobb.com.

Rewind my selectah! What y’all know bout the reprise? Yes this is the same joint as the first one, but it’s the slightly more spacey remix. This time though, MED off Stones Throw and Mr. Mondell of The Faculty show up for guest raps. This beat might not have the sheer window smashing quality of the original, but I dig the more laid back synth string instrumental just the same. Plus the guest lyrics are pretty much cute as fuck. Again, check out phatduckrecords.com, and the myspace.com/pokdogzilla.

Pok Dog f/ MED and Mr Mondell – For My Dogs Remix.

There you go! Episode 22, just in time to put on the shiny new iPod nano that Jesus bought you for Giftmas. Labels, artists, hustlers, media types get at me…

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