MIXTAPE 116 – PRIORITIES

Happy new year, view happy new president, diagnosis hope you bought yourself a new hoodie instead of blowing it on chocolates for some dude/female who aint appreciate you anyway. Been a minute.

For those of you who have been curled up in a ball in your room, malady in the dark, whispering silently to yourself “man, I wish dex would hurry up and talk about something he has no business even opening his mouth about for over 12 minutes in an outro”, this is your episode. For those of you who haven’t, it’s all good because you can just loop the tracks instead.

Priorities – we all have them.

Tracklist

Intro – Kev Brown - Keep On Instrumental. myspace.com/kevbrown

Co$$ - Angelic feat Blu. Both of these dudes are dope. I can’t support the Power Rangers reference (never liked them dude(ette)s from the start, Ninja Turtles reigns supreme son), but Blu’s “we in the field tryna kill demons” for some reason makes me want to go play Final Fantasy or something.myspace.com/paidthecoss

Bambu - Crooks and Rooks. From LA to..uh, LA. Really, relistening to this track again, probably all of that nonsense at the end shoulda just been left to a close ear bent at this joint. I know I’m a little late on this, but this joint, along with the video, is some of the best rap music I have heard in a minute, period. myspace.com/bambumusic

Primeridian - Money feat Rashid Hadee and Pugz Atoms. True story – I found this cut, unlabeled, in my iTunes the other day, and dug it. I sent an email to Suhburb to double check that this was okay to blast on the show, and got a “uh, I didn’t write that song, fam” mail back. Lol wut? So I dug through my gmail box and it turns out it’s a Primeridian cut. Make no mistake, being mistaken for a Suhburb production is a good thing (come on, the drum work – doesn’t this sound like 06 era Suhburbia?), but seriously people gotta start tagging their mp3s – this “final mixdown 080707.mp3″ business is getting old.www.myspace.com/primeridian

oh yeah, thanks to mamiko for this ep’s design.

Tor Cesay – The Perch feat Flying Lotus, Phonte, and Oddisee. I got this sampler from (I think) Giant Step and it was sort of great. I really wanted to put some of the more grimy tracks up, but I ended up going with this one. Anyone out there more up on this person, the proper pronunciation of her name? myspace.com/toruk

Royce - Shake This. I’m too tired to remember the original sample on this cut (help?), but I’m actually kinda into with it. The balance and intensity is pretty impressive. I like how the first verse is squeaky clean and then all of a sudden Royce flies into a flurry of curse words near the end of the second verse, and then it’s really all over. Also how his statement regarding his status with Primo is actually affirmed an appropriate sound effect. Seriously guys, Primo-style radio edits are so much better than album cuts.

Pax and Pry – Another group whose name I’m not quite sure how to pronounce. I forget who put me up on this group (they’re from NL, so maybe Ouxu? was this your doing?), but right now I am very thankful for their advice because they are sort of good. And, for anyone wondering how they might implement, sans bandcamp or any other outside party, some of the pushy “advice” given in this previous post aimed at independent rappidy rappers, their site is a good example. paxandpry.com

Outro Instrumental – King Most Yancey Boys Megamix (sliced, looped, etc).

Eskibeat Public Service Announcement – as you probably noticed, that was a cover of the old Wiley “Eskimo” beat as produced by yours truly with a few minutes of spare time and a Nintendo DS. I’m totally serious, I expect to see a hit track pop up from over there produced on a DS. Also sorry about the whole echo effect thing, somebody told me UK people liked that sort of stuff so I was just trying to do some outreach.

Actually, if anyone wants the raw version of that track I can post it up.

And that’s what it is. While I’m not really confident that I expressed myself properly (or concisely) in the outro, I am serious about being worried that people that just randomly support any minority (choose your own definition for that word) artist, just for the sake of “supporting” them, are taking away from and cheapening the efforts those artists within that same group that really are dope and truly do deserve respect for putting out good music.

So yeah, does anyone have any thoughts on that? I’m sort of interested in hearing what people think about this.

MIXTAPE 92 – LITTLE BROTHER + DJ DUB

For this episode, more about your favorite hip-hop podcast brings you a mini-edit of DJ Dub’s new mixtape: Little Brother – Good Clothes. I think I’m pretty much preaching to the choir here, capsule but on the off chance you haven’t heard of Little Brother, then this should give you an idea.

But beyond that, we’re doing a giveaway for the full-length DJ Dub mixtape (full tracklist here). If you want a copy, all you need to do is drop a comment with what you think would be an interesting collab between LB and any other artist. Extra credit if you can explain why/make it funny or interesting, and first come first served. Details in the episode itself, so listen!

intro/outro instrumental: 9th Wonder - My People

links: DJ Dub, Little Brother, Carlitta Durand, Chaundon, Dwele, 9th Wonder, Joe Scudda.

So that’s it – let the comments fly. I’ll post a notice when I’m out of CDs, first come first served. And if you aren’t in the facebook group already, better join now – I give away all the good stuff in there first.

Oh, and here’s that full tracklist for the full mixtape some of you lucky kids will get:

1. Intro
2. Little Brother / Kanye West – Good Clothes (Dub Mix)
3. 9th Wonder / Little Brother – No Time To Chill
4. Little Brother / Skyzoo – Speed Racin
5. Little Brother / Joe Scudda – Lovin It (Live Mix)
6. Little Brother / Jay-Z – Say It Again(Dub MIX)
7. Phonte / DJ Dub – Live On Ridin Big Radio Pt 1
8. Rapper Big Pooh / Joe Scudda / Chaundon – Plastic Cups (J Dilla)
9. Evidence / Phonte / Alchemist – Let Yourself Go (Remix)
10. Little Brother – Cool As A Fan
11. Foreign Exchange / Joe Scudda – Raw Lifes
12. Little Brother – Ain’t Nobody
13. Phonte / DJ Dub – Live On Ridin Big Radio Pt 2
14. Little Brother / Lil Wayne / Carlitta Durand – Life Of The Party (DJ Dub
Mix)
15. Little Brother / Mos Def – Let It Go
16. Little Brother – The Beginning
17. 9th Wonder / Phonte – Too Late
18. Rhymefest / Little Brother – Get Plugged
19. Drake / Little Brother / Dwele – Don’t You Have A Man
20. Phonte / DJ Dub – Live On Ridin Big Radio Pt 3
21. Little Brother – Whatever You Say (DJ Dub Remix)
22. DJ Spinna / Phonte – One For Jay (Dilla RIP)
23. Darien Brockington / Little Brother – I Need You (Cookin Soul Remix)
24. Little Brother / Carlitta Durand – Time Of Your Life

Dub Premium Draft Picks:

3 Tha Hard Way – What Happened To Hip-Hop
C-Note Ave – Holdin It Down
Little Brother / Lil Wayne – Breakin My Heart (Bonus Track)

MIXTAPE 89 – HELLO CANADA

So I got interviewed on the Canada Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio One, recipe on a show called Search Engine. Haven’t listened just yet, ailment but it’s about the Jena 6. Shouts to Jesse for making that connection.

By the way, buy if you’re looking for the Jena 6 episode, you can click here to see the original post.

This episode, we’re pushing forward with more good music.

Jaylib - Mission Remix. There’s not really too much to be said that hasn’t been said about this duo. Dilla on the rhymes as well, and as you expect, he tears it up. The strings in this cut are ridiculous. stonesthrow.com.

Specifics - My Tunes. Straight outta Vancouver – and with this, I believe that I’ve exhausted my supply of Specifics tracks. For some reason I found this on my iPod when I was still in China, and jammed it for like three days straight – then I accidentally deleted my hard drive. They just really have this jazz loop thing down. In case you hadn’t noticed, I like this group. Go Canada. myspace.com/specifics.

UGK - You Don’t Know Me. Wondering why UGK gets so much respect back home? This is one reason. Thanks to cocaineblunts. myspace.com/ugk.

Phonte - Interlude: Wack Freestyles. I couldn’t resist this one. It’s just so…meta. Come on. He’s making fun of mixtapes. And this is a mixtape! Get it? Okay yeah but a good sign of a poor rapper is someone who can’t string together a decent demo without using an established song as a crutch. I’ve got no problem with unofficial remixes and bootlegs (check the archives on this very hip-hop podcast) but unless you have a specific reason for doing otherwise, find your own beats. If you need help with that, ask me – I know plenty of talented producers. myspace.com/mickboogie.

Gif - Alicia Keys Freestyle. And that prior thing was in no way related to this cut, because a) it’s a different flip, and b) it’s hot. Gif, could you explain your name to us? myspace.com/dagif

Wise Intelligent – Go With Me. Another storytelling joint. I won’t ruin this one for you, but check the very end of this cut. myspace.com/wiseintelligent

Polyrhythm Addicts – It’s My Life feat Phonte. I was a bit late on this one, but with DJ Spinna on production, this one’s an easy call. Dig what Phonte is saying about independence as well. myspace.com/thepolyrhythmaddicts.

And the bonus cut: Suburb - Synth + Strings (snippet). Again, the kid is ridiculous. I’ve got more from dude. Anyone want more? myspace.com/suhburb.

Intro beat: Specifics - Life’s Work
Outro beat: Mathematics - Untitled.

And that’s this week. More coming very very soon. Any requests?

MIXTAPE EPISODE 49 – SOULTRONICA

This week – no hip-hop. Yeah, glaucoma you heard me.

I’d like to officially present to the internets – each and every one of them – a nascent genre of new Black music. I don’t know what to call it – I’ve heard Space Funk (or maybe I made that up? I can’t remember), dosage Neo Funk, and TK seems to have settled on Soultronica, which I think is fairly accurate. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to the episode. So, for now, soultronica it is. Check the playlist.

DJ Spinna – Intergalactic Soul feat Phonte of Little Brother. This is sort of a weird record. Spinna starts off with two or three solid space-hop joints – this being the hottest – and then just when he’s got a good momentum going, he turns around and runs straight for motherfucking Chicago. House all the way through. Weird, but good. djspinna.com

J Davey – No More (Donwill Piracy Remix). At long last, after nearly 8 months of talking about it, I’ve finally gotten some J Davey material. I actually have enough for a whole episode, or two – peace to them for getting all that to me. I’d already heard the original joint, but this unofficial remix puts it over the fucking top. If you’re not already on the J*Davey bandwagon, you need to be. jdaveybaby.com.

Steve Spacek – Dollar. A J Dilla production [1]. Jon of SIC passed this to me damn near a year ago, or maybe it was a year ago, shit. Still, the beat is ridiculous. If you’ve already heard it, listen again.

Jneiro Jarel – Breathin’ feat Rocque Wun. In true space-age fashion, both of these artists have names that I can’t pronounce. For some reason I slept on Jarel’s last album for the longest – something about the cover art, I don’t know. Finally someone told me to listen to the goddamn thing, and it’s nice. Nice. jneirojarel.com

Sa-Ra – Second Time Around. Black pretenison personified. This is material done before the G.O.O.D. music thing – I think – some more material from the batch of exclusives Jon for SIC gave me a while back. If it hasn’t hit you quite yet that this whole Soultronica thing is a throwback to Parliament, maybe you’ll get it here – or find their sampler and listen to that.sa-ra.net

Opening beat – Kenny Keys – Starr Step (unreleased) – myspace.com/kennykeys
Outro – Sa-Ra – We Gonna Do It Again sa-ra.net

[1] Be on the lookout for the big Episode 51 – trust me, it’s going to be hot. Shaman Work has a lot to do with it, if that is any clue. Check back with your favorite hip-hop podcast next week for the full joint.