MIXTAPE 115 -YOU AINT EVEN GOTTA GO TO SUMMER SCHOOL

All the education you need is right here on the Mixtape Show.

Okay, maybe not – but I’ll keep the written short and say this – if you don’t get something out of every track on here, rewind.

iLLiTe – Intro. Courtesy of CDR. Easily coulda made the First Impressions episode, if, you know, it was out back then. New artist to me, but sounds good thus far. Side street it on empty. myspace.com/eyedouble.

Jay Electronica – Exhibit A (Transformations). The early may have heard this a bit earlier this month, but hey, I’m putting in work here and things take time. Not much needs to be said here. myspace.com/jayelect.

Also this might sound sort of weird but something about the way Jay says “Nirvana” strikes me as kinda endearing.

Mr Scruff – After Time. Not necessarily representative of all of dude’s work, but yeah. Short clip. Go dig. myspace.com/mrscruffofficial.

Wu-Tang – I Can’t Go To Sleep feat Isaac Hayes (Live Version). Okay, I get that you invented the crying flow, fam, but serious? A little far maybe? I can’t front though, this one sort of goes hard.

DJ Sprinkles – Midtown 120 Intro. I discovered this earlier this morning. Sort of a counterexample to the intro. This one might change the way you think about house music – which should make you start thinking about hip-hop, considering the family tree. Check the release page here, which includes the words to the track. 日本語訳もあるので、是非チェックしてね。

Jay Electronica – Posers. I’ve been holding onto this forever with the intention of putting it into a different themed episode that I sort of tossed. No information on the vocalist though. Anyone care to fill us in before I start having to write emails?

Saroc – Motorbike. The title won’t make much sense until the end. Sol – who was kind enough to send me this cut direct from the studio last week – on production.

Shaun Boothe – Unauthorized Biography of Bob Marley. Seriously, this is like running through a Wikipedia article set to a beat, in a good way. Maybe if those stupid Multiplication Rap tapes my 2nd grade teacher gave me thinking I’d like it because I was Black were this good, I wouldn’t have gotten that D in Calculus senior year. I’m sort of looking forward to this Muhammad Ali joint. myspace.com/shaunboothe

Madlib – Disco Break. Yes, you’re supposed to learn something from this too. No excuses. myspace.com/madlib

Wiley – I Was Lost. I could never play this one on the radio back home because it had curses in it. Not the end of the world though, because I could still play Pies and Wot Do You Call it, and maybe that is making some of you UK kids roll your eyes but anyone who has the sheer nerve to end six consecutive bars with the words “no girlfriend” instead of thinking of actual rhymes on the first cut of their debut record is okay with me. www.myspace.com/eskiboywiley

e.s.t – Still (Radio Edit). In lieu of an outro, I guess. Shouts to Giant Step for the hookup.

Jay Electronica – Exhibit A (Transformations) – Final Version. Or at least that’s what it says on the tin. This sort of adds another level to the first mix, with more audio tweaking (but still a little reserved compared to old episode 82) but I like both, so here you go. Dig the outro.

Oh, also, supercali, there is a section in here that I absolutely expect you to identify.

Pencils down, put your answer sheet inside your test booklet, and pass your packets forward and to the left.

MIXTAPE 83 – BEATJACKS & REMIXES VOL 2

First off, thanks to those that voted in the Podcast Awards. They should be announcing in a few days, but regardless of the outcome, I appreciate the support.

This episode we return to the Beatjacks & Remixes concept – if for some reason you didn’t catch the first one, you can hear it here - right after you check this one. Let’s get into it…

Paul Wall – And Then What Remix feat Coota Bang and Archie Lee. I don’t know that this is the official title for this thing, but this came off of the People’s Champ sampler, which stayed in my CD deck a lot longer than his actual CD did. Say what you want about his nursery school rhymes, I find Paw Waww to be a pleasant listening experience, thank you very much. This joint shows what kind of shit Swishahouse was (is?) really capable of. djpaulwall.com.

Superiority Complex – Butter. Yes, as in they re-did the old Tribe joint. This takes balls, and apparently they have these in, uh, large, uh, supply. Some backpackers out there might scream sacrilege, but I dig this one. You’ve heard them here before – check them out in the First Impressions episode. myspace.com/superioritycomplexmusic.

Hell Razah – Freestyle. Off of his pre-album sampler, which somebody decided not to tag the filenames on, so I don’t know what it’s supposed to be called. But got-damn the opening bars on this one go hard. “I’m sick of marching in these rallies“…Cosign. myspace.com/razahrubiez.

Nas/Dextrus – Made You Look (CMP Remix). Got this joint a long time ago from Dextrus. Dude’s a software engineer by trade, but that doesn’t stop him from getting down behind the boards. myspace.com/dextrusdalabassistant.

Jay Electronica - My World (Nas Salute). The mystery kid shows up again, courtesy of Andres pointing out some of his leaked work. A little less surreal than the last offering perhaps, but still pretty damn out there. myspace.com/jayelectronica.

Pharrell – When Skateboard Came. Off the mixtape he and DJ Drama did some time back. I’m not sure what it was that made me like this cut so much, but it’s just ridiculous. There’s a reason that Skateboard P stays behind the boards most of the time, but when he comes out, it’s pretty entertaining. The rest of the mixtape ain’t bad, either. myspace.com/pharrell.

Pharrell – Liquid Swords. Apparently dudes really like Wu-Tang.

Jay-Z – Encore (Block Burners Remix feat Z Nuff). Am I crazy, or is this instrumental ridiculous? This instrumental is ridiculous. True story – I never actually listened to the whole Black Album until I’d heard its multiple reinterpretations via people like DJ Lt Dan and Danger Mouse. But this version sons most of the other cuts out there, easy. I have absolutely no information on these people, though.

DJ Virus – 2004 ITF World Championships Set. There’s a good reason that there isn’t a whole lot of turntable wizardry on the Mixtape Show – it’s just not really my flavor. This guy kinda kills it though – pay attention to the end. myspace.com/sdvirus.

Intro beat –
Iain Haywood – Bad Motherfucker. Finally got a myspace for this dude! myspace.com/12pads.

So – as usual, hit the comments, link up on the facebook group, and just generally holler at a scholar.

MIXTAPE EPISODE 53 – BEAT TAPE VOL 2

And as promised, back by popular demand, it’s the Mixtape Show Beat Tape Volume 2. No Juggernaut this time, but plenty of dope instrumentals. Listen:

RZA – Flying Birds. I think this was a secret instrumental on a soundtrack. I mean come on, it’s the RZA. It’s short, but you’ll like it.

Kenny Keys – A Woman’s Gotta Have It. You should recognize this name from the Eulorhythmics interview – the dude is really that ridiculous. This joint in particular stayed in my mp3 player for a miiiinute. myspace.com/kennykeys1987

Jay Dee - A Man’s World Flip. This one didn’t make it into Episode 28, but I had to get it out there. I’m not sure if this one was ever officially released – I don’ t think it was – so ignore the title I gave it. jdilla.org

Suburb – selection from the fall tape. If you weren’t aware, the man Suburb is my favorite beatmaker at the moment – which, given my impeccable taste in music, should really say something. If you don’t feel this joint right here, you don’t have a soul. myspace.com/suhburb

Kenny Keys – F Minor. An interlude before we switch up the tempo a bit…myspace.com/kennykeys1987

Mathematics – Track 1. Yes, Mathematics of Wu-Tang Clan fame. I’m actually not sure what this track is supposed to be called. It’s the first track on his “Soul of a Man” release – shouts to the people at Nature Sounds for getting/clearing this one for me, forever ago.nature-sounds.net

Count Bass-D – All In. This joint is from the Beatology Vol. 1+2 record that J.R. sent me what, months ago? I unfortunately couldn’t find a copy of “Mister Magic’s Wand”, so I couldn’t flip that for you all. countbassd.com

Exile – Move On Em. I like this song – and it seems that Ta’raach did too, since he spit over it on his latest album. soundincolor.com Oh PS – Jon, where’s that mix?

Daz-I-Kue – Melon Bounce. Never would have thought somebody would have the nerve to flip some Herbie Hancock, but Daz did it. I like. www.myspace.com/dazikue

Earmint – All City. This came out forever ago (are you noticing a pattern here?), but that’s not going to stop me from letting you all get up on this Earmint dude. He’s also from EV productions – should ring a bell if you remember the Chester Copperpot and MC Longshot interviews – and his debut album – Another Early Evening – was pretty much the business. I’ll probably be dropping another joint in the not so distant future, so keep your ears out for that.evproductions.net

Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician – You Are. This is an old joint off of Lightweight Heavy. Really the whole album is worth owning, and if you dig this cut, I’d recommend doing some research and finding more of this cat’s work.

Mumbles – unlabeled. I forget how I got this, but I think Jon of SIC sent it to me – any chance of somebody IDing this one for me?soundincolor.com

And that’s it for this week. Again, if you have a moment, be sure to drop a comment to let me (and the artists) know how people are feeling the show, and the material.

MIXTAPE EPISODE 38

All fucking right then. This week we’re getting into some more diverse shit. Check the tracklist, 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 32

Hectic as fuck here, as usual. Since we were on that education tip last week, I figured we’d continue the domination of the hip-hop podcast world this week with some more of the same business. Focus this week: politricks and other “conscious”-type shit. I actually don’t really like the label “conscious”, since it seems like we’re patting MCs on the back for being sentient beings. I don’t really know how I feel about that. Does anyone have a better word we can run with? Feel free to leave a comment about that.On with the show. (click “continue” to see the playlist for this week’s show!)Saigon, dead prez, and Immortal Technique – Impeach the President. Not that this beat hasn’t been done before, in fact somebody did it like last year, but the joint is hot. Too many quotable lines in this one. Really, come on. Saigon, dead prez, Immortal…you know this joint is going to be fucking hot. Please download this, because if you don’t the terrorists will win. saigon on myspace, deadprez.com, immortal-technique.com.Oh yeah, by the way, XXLmag.com, I really hope you paid the dude that you jacked the flash player from. Also feel free to credit my site as your inspiration (see above, then check out xxlmag’s ‘bangers‘ section). Word.
Fred Knuxx – Dear Iraq. This came in literally like four hours ago, so maybe it’s a good thing this week’s episode was delayed. Familiar sample? Yeah. My man B. Sayre’s been shooting me basically nothing but quality material for the past month or so, about time we got one of his people on. Knuxx is new to me, but definitely is on the right track with this one.

Sin Sizzerb – Black Helicopters (Kill Like America 2). Sin is kinda new to me, but his latest mixtape made him the Official Favorite Mixtape Show Rapper of the moment. I’m going to lay off the praise and state simply that this song is my favorite one on this entire episode, which given the undeniable quality of everything I’m bringing to the table this week, should say a lot. Sin himself is doing some real interesting things – really all them boys out there have a good movement going. Please check this shit out, and listen to it at least twice. check out sizzerb.com.Damn.

Promise – Outside. Yet another joint out of the Mumbles Hip-Hop camp. That compilation CD they sent me is really full of fucking classics, but if you want the full dig on that you’re probably just going to have to cop that shit yourself. This one is yet another example – bringing shit back home. Don’t forget though, kids, the struggle is universal. Dope beat on this one, by the way. mumbleshiphop.com

9th Wonder and Buckshot – Slippin.Hey, look! It’s ol’ One-Drum. Just kidding. 9th is probably the best thing to happen to fruityloops users everywhere, showing us that we, too, can stop making cheesy Eurodance tracks and produce great hip-hop, you know, assuming that we have talent and shit. Which both of these artists do. Shouts go to Noha for shooting a big pack of Duck Down shit to me. Look for more of the same in the near future. duckdown.com

Jus Allah and GZA – Pool of Blood. Oh, come on. This is obviously on some next level shit. And it’s GZA, whose lyrics, as everyone knows, generally take about 3 months of careful study to properly decipher. Honestly the god could rap about Dunkin fucking Donuts and you would learn more from it than you did your entire first semester of junior college. wutangcorp.com

Well! That’s it for this week. As always, feel free to pass this show around, link up the site, tell your friends, etc etc etc. Next week.

I really haven’t got a lot to say about this. Via lyrical swords, I caught this link to a 1 hour, 8 minute guest appearance by The Abbott himself at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. It ain’t exactly your fav hip-hop podcast here, but it’s recommended by your boy, so I suggest that everyone sit down and take a good listen to this.
(click image to listen!)

He addresses some major things here. He gets on the chess-kung fu-5% thing without getting too spacey, he talks about his musicianship, and so on. He also has what I think is a really healthy outlook on the rap world today – I liked his McDonald’s analogy. When you’re ready for real food, you stop eating junk, nahhmean? It’s a cycle. Real talk.

Really, RZA just breaks shit down for you on a lot of fronts, and he comes this close to breaking down himself when he starts talking about the late genius, the Big Baby Jesus.

I’m not totally sure what to make of it. Hip-hop in an academic or otherwise non-street setting usually comes off as pretty stupid, square, and/or patronizing, but somehow this seemed sort of appropriate. Just listen.

Edit: At the request of some people at the wu-tang forums, I’ve gone ahead and converted the file to a downloadable mp3 format. You can get it here (hi-fi 128kbps, lo-fi mono (smaller file) version here. Welcome wu-tang corp forum members, and while you’re here, check out the rest of the site – plenty of good hip-hop to keep you busy.

(original link to ram file is (or check the original link to the R here)