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MIX NOTES

Black Is… – Every time I sit down to plan out a Hip Hop mix, I always have to ask myself “how many Tall Black Guy songs should I limit myself to?”. I truly love his beats THAT much. This is a collaboration with former Lightheaded MC, Ozay Moore, fellow Brooklyn-based DJ and poet extraordinaire Rich Medina, and another MC that I edited out LOL, for time. Rich’s poetry gets better and deeper every time I hear it, and his sexy velvety voice fills me with great envy. AND he’s a dope DJ too. Triple threat for real.

Freestyle – Bassist from the LA supergroup The Internet, Patrick Paige II shares some quick verses with Chicago rapper Saba from Pivot Gang. If all MCs on trap beats could spit like this, I would listen a lot more trap music, but nah. This came out in May of this year, on Patrick’s sophomore solo LP “If I Fail Are We Still Cool?”.

Golden Era Vandals – Newport News, Virginia duo Awon & Phoniks loop up Bill Evans and Eddie Gomez’s “Hi Lili, Hi Lo” (1975) – the sample from Black Star’s “Thieves In The Night” – for an even sweeter beat to flow on. This has a real 90s Fat Beats 12” vibe to me, so I was all over it. Baltimore MC Ill Conscious & Av King Hamilton contribute verses of their own. Throwback boom bap at it’s finest.

Ya Heard Me – This J Dilla-produced Phife track came out in 97 on a 12” under the pseudonym Mutty Ranks, a name you heard, here and there, on Tribe tracks. I know we all miss him, and his voice brings a smile to my face every time. Yours too, huh?

Rollin’ In The Hay – Raleigh, NC MCs Kooley High released this in February as the first single to their very dope “Lazy Sunday” EP, which dropped in March. The group met at North Carolina State University, and female MC Rapsody is kinda their breakout star, but the best of these dudes have plenty to say. This whole record really has a Pharcyde vibe to me and you would probably dig it.

Hate – West Coast beat junkie Statik Selektah is an A-list producer who makes beats that SLAP - on a DJ Premier level – but with a sound all his own. I met him at a strip club in Hollywood once with Dante Ross but I imagine he has forgotten that brief encounter. Avery Marcel Joshua Jones aka Kota the Friend is a Brooklyn rapper who started putting out mixtapes in 2016, and by 2020 was lacing his LP with interludes from Lupita Nyongo and Lakeith Stansfield. These two teamed up in 2020 and released the album “To Kill A Sunrise” in March of this year.

Like Me – If this beat was a little slower and little more muffled, it could really be a dope Smif n Wessun track. Joey Bada$$ and BJ The Chicago Kid released this in 2015, inspired by the Ryan Coogler film “Fruitvale Station”.

We Rollin’ For You – I’m sayin’… This is why above I mention I always have too many dope Tall Black Guy beats for one mix. I just love the whole energy of his beats and his drum programming is off the charts. This came out last year, as a tribute to Swedish DJ & Turntablist, Devastate, who passed in 2018 at the young age of 35.

Figaro (Madlib remix) – MF Doom’s passing in October of last year was another tragic chapter in the legacy of KMD, a rap group who I loved dearly and got to interact with briefly during my days as a grunt at Chung King Studios. This is back when Doom was still known as Zev Love X, and they were recording their second album “Black Bastards”, which was shelved by Elektra over controversial cover art, and the group was promptly dropped from the label – all of this right on the heels of the death of Doom’s brother, Subroc(RIP). This was a painful shock to all of us at the time, having witnessed with our own eyes how much of their souls they had put into that now classic record. The person that evolved into MF Doom sorta became the Andy Kaufman of Hip Hop. Bizarre. Unpredictable. Almost too smart for his own good. Like Kaufman’s Tony Clifton, he would occasionally send imposters to perform under his mask, in his place. He put out so much music as Doom, I could never really keep track, but every now and then I’ll dig around and find more gems that I slept on. I copped this remix from Peanut Butter Wolf ’s 2007 “Stones Throw Ten Years” compilation.

The Rhyme (Dilla remix) – Totally forgot about this song and maybe so did you, but it’s a great Dilla beat and a clear example of why it was kind of impossible to dislike Keith Murray in his prime.

It’s Going Down – Detroit MC Rudolph Rinchere aka Bang Belushi has a nice clear flow and this track has a throwback Beatnuts/Alkoholics-kinda momentum to it that put it in the YES column for this mix.

Little Brother – Another incredibly buttery Dilla beat, with Black Star, from the 1999 Hurricane movie soundtrack. The loop is from Roy Ayers’ “Ain’t Got Time”, and is a prime example of the genius way Dilla would chop up a song top create something brand new.

Next Level (Nyte Tyme remix) – Sometimes I just need to hear a DJ premier beat to remind myself where the bar is set. A.G. may have his limits as an MC, but the straight forwardness of his flow has always worked for me. This record was another 1995 underground classic record – made at Chung King while I was there, and I was always eager look over Showbiz’s shoulder and watch him work.

Ride It Out – Producer Billy Hoyle and vocalist Cazeaux O.S.L.O. make up the duo Man Made Mountain. Billy Hoyle is an independent Hip-Hop producer from Pittsburgh. Cazeaux O.S.L.O. was born in California and transplanted to Melbourne, where he collabs with all kinds of people all over the world, including guest MC LUCFR.

My Jamaican Dub – Every time I hear The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band cover anything, my face breaks into a big grin. What’s not to like? This came out on 45 in July of 2020 and is probably already a collector’s item. The B-side has a dope version of Erykah Badu’s “the Healer” too. Smoke em if you got em.

Doin’ It – I dug up a Grace Jones acapella from the 90s Bounty Killa remix and used it to blend in this LL Cool J classic that needs no introduction.

Glamour & Glitz – This Tribe Called Quest track first appeared on a white label bootleg back in the day, and then the soundtrack for “The Show”, and eventually made its way to a few Tribe remix compilations. Shit still slaps.

The Throwaway – An old Dilla beat, with The Yancey Boys aka Frank Nitt and Dilla’s younger brother Illa J on the mic, from their 2012 LP “The Lost Scrolls”.

Turn Me out – UK house master Phil Asher died suddenly in January at the age of 54, shocking me and a great many of my DJ compadres – many who knew him personally. Lucky for us, he did bless us with an incredible abundance of great music. This is from a 2008 album he put together under the name The Restless Soul Band, with Shea Soul on vocals. It’s a straight loop of the classic Brentford All Stars reggae track, Greedy G, with some beefier kicks and snares.

Jack of Spades – I had it take it back to the first time I heard that Brentford All Stars sample, on BDP’s classic “Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop” from 1989. KRS wrote it for the soundtrack for “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”, which is still kinda great and super corny and yet still great at the same time.

Peace Is Not The Word To Play (remix) – Another throwback from Main Source’s flawless first album “Breaking Atoms” (1991). Whole record really holds up. Give it a listen if you dare doubt me.

Soopaman Luva Pt 3 – The third installment in Redman’s lengthy saga of Soopaman Luva. This was an LP sleeper cut that never came out on 12” but I used to love to drop it anyway. Still outs a smile on my face.

327 – Alvin Lamar Worthy aka Westside Gunn is Benny The Butcher’s cousin and one half of the duo Hall & Nash, out of Buffalo, a town with very disappointing “hot” wings – despite coining the entire name of the food itself. Just go to the Anchor Bar and tell me that’s remotely hot. They are weak sauce, literally. But I digress. This collaboration with Joey Bada$$, Tyler the Creator & Billie Essco came out in the Spring of 2020 and it’s kinda really good.

Cough Cough – Terrance Nickolas Roy Hanson AKA TeedotEinsof hails from Anaheim, Ca. Has been producing tracks since 2018. This spacey track with T’nah & Joey Golden is on his 2021 Ether​~​Net EP, available through Bandcamp.

Father Figure – Nigerian-American Tobe Nigiwe is definitely in his own lane, in just about every way. His videos are awesome and his songs are banging, in this weird middle ground style that totally rides the line between underground and pop. True veterans Black Thought and Royce Da 5’9” deliver the goods, as usual. I rearranged the order, cuz I wanted to hear Black Thought first, cuz he absolutely kills it, as usual.

B.O.B. (Kaelin Ellis remix) – Kaelin Ellis is a beat maker from Lakeland, Florida – halfway between Tampa and Orlando. Yeah that’s gotta suck. Anyway, this half-speed Outkast remix kinda bangs, no?