MIXTAPE 108 – SUBURBAN SPRAWL


MIXTAPE 108 – SUBURBAN SPRAWL

This is for those of you who have been sending emails and leaving comments asking when I was finally going to let go of some of the SuhBURB stuff I had stockpiled up…

As promised earlier (you did see the video, neuropathist right?), ed the new Suburban Sprawl record is out. In case you missed it, Suburban Sprawl = Donwill (of Tanya Morgan) and probably the one producer that gets the most airtime (airtime? do you say that for a podcast?) on the Mixtape Show – SuhBURB.

So yes, the record is out. 40 minutes, 16 tracks, and highly recommended. And it’s on here. In its entirety, for free.

I’m going to keep my comments to myself for the time being, but lest you be wondering whether or not you should click that “play” button, keep the following three points in mind:

1. This is the best thing I’ve heard all year
2. The last time I gave an entire episode to one artist/group, it was Jay Electronica. We all know how I feel about Jay Electronica
3. wow

As you listen, you can check the liner notes featuring ridiculous commentary by both artists, and grab the full hi-fi version from the official site.

Tracklist

00 – Ridiculous-ass Mixtape Show drop by Suhburb. Seriously fam, this is not what I had in mind when I asked for a drop.

01 – The Tiki Torch. I remember when I first got this beat. First time I played it out anywhere, it got a nod from Daedelus. I’m sort of glad they left it as is.

02 – Sittin’ at the Bar Demo. Ha! Tearing apart Ladder Theory from the base, I guess.

03 – Baltimore Bitch. Words fail me.

04 – Diwadiwadonald. Wow, the bongos on this one. I think at this point I remembered why Donwill is sort of dope lyrically.

05 – Salsoul. This is one of the things that, for me, separates SuhBURB from other producers – the soul he puts into the kick drum programming. This obviously isn’t the only song where you’ll notice that, but dig the lows on this one.

06 – Fly Me feat. Von Pea. (you heard this one earlier, but without the Von Pea verse, which is quite possibly the cruelest verse I’ve ever heard in my life.)

07 – Guilty. Damn.

08 – Night Time. Am I the only one who thought of UGK at the end here?
09 – All Right. When I first met Suhburb, I don’t even think he was really making that much rap music yet – he was a jungle producer. I’d been sitting on this track for a very long time – I wanted to drop it as part of the Soultronica Saga. I guess that will teach me to wait to drop a track.

10 – Slipknot. Is this from the Brasil beat tape?

11 – The Words. It’s joints like these that make me respect Don for actually having the nerve to rap on tracks like this. I think Suhburb makes beats that are hard to rap on on purpose.

12 – Dead Ass. Lyrically maybe the most powerful track for me on this project. Check this one.

13 – Maybe. More heavy content.

14 – Audio Visual. This song is sort of ridiculously cute. I mean, I’m not even mad they didn’t get to put Jack Davey on this one. Can we get this “girl at the time”‘s name?

15 – The Champ (LP Version). Seriously, who raps over things like this? Something is wrong with both of these kids.

16 – Funeral March. Propane Pip dropped this one first, but it’s still dope. And by the way, Suhburb – you make fun of me for spinning slab music on my old radio joint, and then you turn around and drop a slowed version of this joint? Explanation? Also, the content here confused me until I read the liner notes – you should probably check them instead of reading this.

And there you have it. Burn it, share it, whatever. I’m still sort of scratching my head over the fact that this isn’t being sold for, you know, money.

So, obviously, I think that this record is dope. Thoughts?

MIXTAPE 101 – ORIGINAL GANGSTER


MIXTAPE 101 – ORIGINAL GANGSTER

Yeah, order this is the story the Source won’t tell you. Consider this a bonus episode. Back in September, Jay-Z and I had put together a really brilliant companion to the American Gangster movie, featuring a lot of talented beatmakers previously featured on MTSN. I was pretty excited – my first A&R project, my first big industry check, everything was awesome.

Then Def Jam heard the final project and freaked. Next thing I know everyone’s scrambling around grabbing beats from no-names like Pharrell and Just Blaze, nobody’s returning my phone calls, and my money is all screwed up. Then the “official” record comes out, and no mention of my name.

So Jay, if you’re reading this, you know our first version would have gone triple plat, easy. I’m putting the first EP version up so people can hear the original. My version is 10 times better than the commercial release, Jay, and you know that.

Tracklist

intro dexalude: Pimpology 101 by Mathematics.

Nas – Hey Nas (remixed by Quincey Tones). We start with the whole remix thing kinda turned on its head. UK beatmaker Quincey Tones got hold of a bunch of Nas acapellas, plus the original joints sampled on the official American Gangster record, flipped them himself and created a new project. myspace.com/quinceytones.

Jay-Z – American Gangster (remixed by Shuko). That’s funny, when I think of the decade in which I was born, I don’t generally think of medium-sized wading birds in the Ardeidae family. To each his own, I guess. Been a minute since any Shuko production has been on the show. Mick Boogie and everyone’s favorite German got together and flipped Marvin Gaye samples and put this out pretty quick, from what I remember. This is probably my favorite cut on his version of the project.

Jay-Z – Ignorant Shit (remixed by Beewirks). Somebody stop this kid. I had this in my inbox a few days before Christmas hit. Pretty much everyone and their great uncle hit me up on some “hey dex look I made my own Jigga album lolkthx”. Beewirks’ version, though, is easily the most consistently great across the board. myspace.com/beewirks.

Jay-Z – No Hook (remixed by Beewirks). See? Kid’s range is pretty impressive. Beewirks brought a lot of nuance out of both this and the previous track that I think people would normally miss. myspace.com/shuko.

Jay-Z – Blue Magic feat Jack Benson (remixed by Von Pea). Yes, dig Von Pea on vocals – dude takes the remix concept one step further and sings the hook himself. Beat is extra dope too. I remember being absolutely bewildered as to why someone would name a song after hair product and then sing about drugs, but turns out Blue Magic is just extra pure heroin. Go figure. myspace.com/vonpea.

Nas - Warrior Song feat Alicia Keys (remixed Quincey Tones). Somebody will probably step in and hit me for sleeping, but this is the first I’ve heard of Quincey Tones. Dude really is not bad with these soul flips.

February should be an interesting month. We’ll talk more about that later. Until then…

MIXTAPE EPISODE 38


MIXTAPE EPISODE 38

All fucking right then. This week we’re getting into some more diverse shit. Check the tracklist, infection and download this shit. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show.

Dwele feat. Che Grand – Lady In Red. This joint is off of the “A Sensual Evening With Che Grand” mixtape. I don’t necessarily want a sensual evening with dude, but the music is generally pretty hot – this should give you an idea of what an indie label is actually capable of. I’d highly recommend copping the whole mixtape, if for no reason other than to hear the skits in between the tracks. Shit is off the wall. loudminoritymusic.com


Sa-Ra
feat. J. Dilla – Thrilla. Oh, how cute – the producer and the track rhyme! Speaking of rhymes, the recently departed genius fucking smashes the first verse of this shit. Body bling like C-3P0?!? ohhhhhhh shit. The man will be missed. Shouts to Jon and everyone else at Sound In Color for giving your boy free reign on this shit. soundincolor.com

Sa-Ra – Big Fame. Okay, I know I made a comment in the show that could be taken the wrong way. Don’t get it twisted – I mean “bootleg” in the best sense of the word. I’m not sure if their record is going to be like this, but the sampler is absolutely off the fucking wall with the skits. Dear Sa-Ra: please do more of that shit. Since when does having a cookout equal “being productive”? All of you can hate all you like, but if Sa-Ra isn’t a part of this new space funk black music shit, then I’m caucasian. soundincolor.com

The Jones Girls feat. Che Grand – Nights Over Egypt. Yes, once again, an unauthorized remix off of the Sensual Evening mixtape. This should show all of you random-ass kids rapping over dead Dre beats over and over again something – namely, that anybody can do that shit. If you can rap over that electro groove shit, you have my respect, and possibly a coveted spot on the hottest rap podcast in the history of womankind. Che is a weird dude, but you can’t deny the talent. Dude rips this joint gently, if that’s possible. Fuck it, just listen. loudminoritymusic.com

Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Drunk Game. As I said in the show, this track really blurs the line between genius and insanity – which pretty much sums up the majority of the dude’s oeuvre. I have no idea who produced this – it could be RZA, or it could be one of those Casio joints that play when you push the red “demo” button. If you actually forget for a moment that it’s Unique Ason singing, you’ll notice that the man actually kinda sons about 80% of R&B singers out there. Which is good!!! which is good…. wutangcorp.com


Tanya Morgan
– She Moved Outta Cincy. No, I haven’t revoked my strict “no female emcees” policy* (seriously, what the fuck is up with the ladies?! The second one of y’all hit me with some heat, I’ll put you on) – Tanya Morgan is actually three dudes that are labelmates of Mr. Che Grand. You might recognize Von Pea’s voice from a couple episodes ago. Is it just me, or is Loud Minority’s catalog full of joints about really horrible shit happening? Well, either way – TM is supposedly hot. If anyone wants more, I’ll see what I can do… loudminoritymusic.com

Damn, I managed to keep it short this week. Feel free to pass the information on, and be watching for the People Under The Stairs interview prolly next week. We all love hip-hop podcasts.

*No, really. For some reason the females have been slacking on me recently. Ladies please step your game up, thanks.

MIXTAPE EPISODE 34


MIXTAPE EPISODE 34

Cheyeah. So this is pretty basic. I got a dope show, prostate and some tickets to give out for next week. This is for the Exile (Sound in Color) Dirty Science Tour, featuring Exile, Blu, Ta’raach (Platinum Pied Pipers), Aloe Blacc, etc etc. Hit me up if you want to get on the guest list for any of the following dates: april 16th – Kansas MO @ PNut Downtown
april 18th – Iowa City @ Gabes Oasis
april 20th – Miami FL @ Sweat Records (In-store, so you dont need tickets. Just go.)
april 20th – Miami FL @ I/O Lounge (live performance)
april 24th – New York NYC @ Rothkow/ Beatminerz
april 25th – Atlanta GA @ Apache Cafe
Now for the playlist. (ps – intro/outro beat = Platonic – Alternate Thursday.)
Exile f/ Blu – Narrow Path. This, combined with the other Exile/Blu joint you heard on this site (check the archives son!) is what made me realize that Sound in Color was running with some fucking heat. Turns out Blu is singing the hook, but you really have to see Aloe Blacc singing it with him to get the full experience. Dope beat, hot track. soundincolor.com.
Scienz of Life f/ MF Doom – Yikes. I think Doom produced this one. This is off the Leak Edition Vol 1 that John Robinson shot me (what up JR). You pretty much already know the story with this one without listening to it. Real simple sampling, esoteric raps. Listen. shamanworks.com. [good looking out Aush]
Modill – Nod (radio exclusive). I don’t know, it said “radio exclusive” on the CD. This was my joint for a little while a couple years back. Modill actually released a new record just recently, and apparently I duped Chess into thinking it would be a good idea to let me play some of that shit on the show. Be on the lookout for that, and cop up kiddies. evproductions.com.
Von Pea – 1st Date. Nicolay on the beats. I don’t know Nicolay, but he’s apparently kina dope. Please don’t drift off on this beat though, because the story VP is telling does not end how you expect it to. I’m not going to say much more than that. God damn this episode is turning out well so far. loudminoritymusic.com.
Chill Will – Freestyle. Straight out of D-town. This one came via the Mixtape Show Hotline at (310)-928-6876. Breaks up in the middle, but that’s cell phones for you. Chill Will is part of the Certified Ballaz – not much info on them yet, but we’ll see… Second southern freestyle though. This should be proof for all you dumb motherfuckers out there that the Mixtape Show is not an LA thing, not a West Coast thing, but a fucking rap thang. Pay attention.Exile f/ Ghostface – Milk ‘Em. Oh, come on, it’s Ghostface. Do I need to write anything about this? Just download and learn. soundincolor.com.
That’s this week’s episode, though. Be on the lookout for episode 35 of the fucking best rap podcast on the entire internets, all of them. Again, if you want them tickets, holler at your boy. yeeeeeeeeeeah