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MIX NOTES

Vibes (beat) – Kicked off side B with a simple Pete Rock instrumental and a stern warning about my “beat laboratory.”

Real Love – Back in the 90s, quite often if there was a big Hip Hop song running the clubs, some R&B singer would release a bootleg on the same beat to ride those coat tails and up their profile. This Rell joint came out on a Rocafella promo and white label bootleg in 2004, 11 years after the Quest track, but it’s basically the same idea. Alison pointed out that he sounds damn near identical to Music Soulchild, which works, cuz I love Music Soulchild.

God Knows – a really nice soul/funk track from Dornik‘s self-titled 2nd LP, released in 2017. Despite having the first name of some sparkly-robe-wearing diplomat on Deep Space 9, Dornik Leigh has a really classic vocal quality that gets compared to everyone from Miguel to Shuggie Otis to Michael Jackson. Keep an eye on this kid from Croydon. Bare talent, bruv.

In & Out – Another sweet soul record out of London, this time from a The Ephemerals, a septet with 3 LPS under their belt. This came out on Jalapeño Records. To their credit, going way back to bands like Loose Ends, The Brand New Heavies, and Jamiroquai, the UK has always made room for actual live bands to exist alongside their mainstream electronic acts. It’s a musical open-mindedness that you gotta respect and one which has always compelled me to pay attention to what’s going on over there. Check out The Ephemerals whole album HERE

We Are At War (beat) – just a little interlude beat that Primo made for Freddie Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles a few years back.

Two Lips – Joey Bada$$ flowing nicely over an old Dilla beat. This came out in 2013 on 45 as a means of raising money for buying musical instruments for kids in Detroit. Pretty cool and a nice track.

Axis Blue – Another instrumental excursion, this time from 25 yr old British Jazz drummer Moses Boyd. It’s hard not to hear A Tribe Called Quest in something like this. Makes me happy that Hip Hop, which borrowed so much creativity from the record collections of their parents, have now in turn influenced the kids of the Hip Hop generation, who are reinterpreting it all over again. Great music lives on. Or as Tip might say, “God lives through.”

4 More – One of those De La cuts from Stakes Is High that I totally forgot about, but now feels like having a good drink with an old friend. What up fellas!

Forget – Speaking of how the UK always makes space for soul singers, look no further than Lianne La Havas, who simply never lets me down. This is an old song, from her 2012 debut “Is Your Love Big Enough?” Still sounds fresh today, and shakes things up a bit on this mix, if I do say so my damn self.

Yere Faga (Natureboy Flako version) – dubbed “The Songbird of Wassoulou”, Oumou Sangaré has been a major star in Mali for nearly 30 years. Wassoulou is a West African culture that straddles the borders of Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. Wassoulou music is primarily sung by women. I first became acquainted with her through bootleg Shelter remixes that lifted her vocals. Naturboy aka FLako aka Chilean DJ Dario Rojo Guerra played up Tony Allen‘s drums to give this a solid Afrobeat remix that is right up my alley.

Can We Pretend – Manchester DJ and producer Trus’me aka David James Wolstencroft teamed up with Detroit’s Amp Fiddler back in 2009 to record this wonderful interpretation of an old Bill Withers tune. Sounds very different than the original, but stands on its own two feet nonetheless.

Raw – Some Big Daddy Kane in your face, cuz why the hell not? Still in my top 5 MCs! Disagree? Fight me IRL! : D

Girls @ – Thank god somebody on this godforsaken planet remembered how to make a club record in 2017, or was it 2016? Chicago’s Joey Davis aka Joey Purp brought along his homey Chance The Rapper from their brilliantly named Savemoney Crew, and they breathed a bit of 110 bpm-life back into the dance floor, if only for a few fleeting months. Or at least they tried(!?) – maybe nobody even played it…

I Can’t Go For That (Pomo remix) – Canadian producer Pomo is rock solid when it comes to remixes like these. I just step out of the way and let the track do the work. Hall & Oates even greenlit this as an officially sanctioned remix, a rare honor in the age of limitless mediocre youtube remixers.

Packing for Chicago – Detroit multi-instrumentalist Lorenzo Ferguson records under the name ZO! And likes to make dope-ass collaboration records with all his dope-ass musician friends. This is from his 2016 album “Skybreak”, but you should peep his whole catalog. Muhsinah Abdul-Karim does some nice vocals on this joint. The Howard Alum transplanted herself to Brooklyn years back, and has worked with all kinds of cool dudes like Phonte, Common, and Oddisee, to name a few.

Close The Door – Brooklyn’s own DJ Spinna played this on his podcast recently, and it was like hearing it for the first time. This is from Rufus & Chaka’s 1977 LP “Ask Rufus”, which I have lying around somewhere, but never ever listen to. Thanks again, Spinna. Whether online or in da club, I always leave your sets musically enriched.

Let Me Show You the Way To Go (Onur Engin EDIT) – The edit king of Istanbul Onur Engin very respectfully puts a beat under the Jacksons classic. Did it need it? Hell no. Do I like it anyway? Why, yes. Yes I do.

Take Me I’m Yours – A slice of soulful disco sung by Mary Clark and produced by Patrick Adams in 1980. Before it got reissued via compilations and bootlegs, this was one of the rarest disco records on the planet, with only 200 copies original pressed. This is The Reflex edit, and it gives you enough of all the right parts, without stepping on the track too much, as a proper edit should.

Dassit mayne.

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