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MIX NOTES

JB be easy intro – some schmoove shit to kick things off, courtesy of Oddisee’s “a list of withouts” instrumental track. His album “The Good Fight” is one of the best Hip Hop releases in years.

Easy – QSTN is a San Francisco beat maker down with the Mellow Orange crew. He recently released his album of instrumental throwback beats “Standard Translation” on the Japanese label Introducing. This simple 2013 beat will remind you why you still love Hip Hop after all these years

Bright Lights – Oh snap Camp Lo is back! The specific cadence of their back and forth flow has never been successfully duplicated, so even in 2015 they still sound fresh. You can cop the whole album on July 14th HERE

This Is Dope – some smooth business from Parisian Hazel, who actually relocated to Australia last year. This is from his album “The Lost Tapes” which is conceived as one seamless listening experience. It came out in 2012 on the Brooklyn imprint Beat Down.

Love Is Real – this dude is based in Rotterdam, and made his name strictly thru word of mouth via Soundcloud and Bandcamp. These kids today I’ll tell ya…

Freestyle live on Sway & King Tech – GZA fucking killing it over an obscure but incredibly dope Alchemist beat called “Stupid MF”, from the 1999 group home “A Tear For The Ghetto” LP. Masta Killa’s line “Break a leg like Joe Theisman, Texas Longhorn, Ricky Williams Snatched the Heisman!” is the kind of random reference true MCs know will always garner them a heavy “oooooh” from any cipher.

All I Need – Blackalicious’ Timothy Parker aka Gift of Gab still has it fo days, fo sheezy. L’Orange hails from North Carolina, and has been making beats for underground cats like Blu and Yu, among others. Jeremiah Jae is down with Chicago’s Black Jungle Squad. Peep their whole collabo album “The Night They Took Us In Like Family”. It’s on some Prince Paul type shit, fo real.

4am – this tune is a mere 41 seconds in length but god DAMN is it nice. This whole 2014 LP from McFerrin is really good. Marcus Gilmore, grandson of Jazz legend Roy Haynes (played with Lester Young and Charlie Parker, among many others), tearing it up on the drums.

Get On Down – if there’s one thing my Hip Hop mixes embody, I hope its a clear appreciation for the art of MCing. This is some brand new shit from Baltimore beat maker JSoul and PG County MC Substantial, who is a member of FANOMM (with Chew Fu & J-Cast). Substantial first got on in Japan in the early 2000s, via producer Nujabes.

The Anthem – Speaking of which, the late 90s/early 2000s was right around the time when I really started turning my ears off to Hip Hop almost completely. The commercialism had really burned me out. Hence I slept on a lot of the gems of that era, and I’m only now catching up. This is awesome for me, as I get to stumble across great music all the time. Exhibit A: Madlib’s 1999 Lootpack album “Soundpieces: Da Antidote” on Stonesthrow. The whole thing is great. Get it. It’s never too late.

KRS One Attacks – a solid head nodder from Mr Parker’s 1992 LP, which samples this slow crawler from Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Band.

The Bridge Is Over – couldn’t play a KRS intro tune without at least one classic tune to follow, and it gets no more classic than this. When it first came out, you could only hear it on one place: Red Alert’s show on Kiss FM, since it was a Shan and Marley Marl diss record, and Marley was on the rival station WBLS. And at the time, if you played it in a party, you had to be pretty sure Brooklyn or The Bronx was in there in greater numbers than Queens, or you could have serious beef. I don’t think I even released the melody was a piano riff of Supercat until a few years later.

Institutionalized – Probably the best album of the year. A divine gift from the musical gods, sonically descended from Dr Dre and George Clinton and Outkast and fuck I don’t know just get it. Like, now.

Cold Day – Detroit’s Black Milk tearing up the mic with cool confidence as per usual – from his 2014 Glitches In The Break EP. One of the best MCs out there.

Travels – some easy breezy beats from the UK, from Vanilla‘s 2013 “For What It’s Worth” LP

1,2,1,2 – the new Ghost album is solid from start to finish. No surprises, just the same clever, weird shit you expect from him. Worth picking up if you’re a fan.

Underground Kings – I rearranged the order of the MCs cuz Killer Mike is pretty much my go-to lyricist in 2015. Smarter than most, a political activist on the level of Chuck D, and has a swagger on the mic you simply must be born with. Get both Run The Jewels LPs and you’ll see what I mean. Not to mention, the beat is kind of new territory for Primo.

Beats to the Rhyme – After hearing the chorus to the previous song so many damn times, I just had to hear the real thing. This came out in 1988, when RUN DMC were realizing that they were being fast eclipsed by the new school, namely Public Enemy and the sample-heavy sounds of The Bomb Squad. They quickly got back together with Davey DMX and tried desperately to make a record that was almost completely sample-based. They changed up their flow too, trying to get up to speed with Rakim and KRS. It’s a mixed bag, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this particular track.

When The Last Time – one of the great club bangers.

It’s a Demo – the track that introduced g rap to the world and earned him a spot in The Juice Crew. If you listen real close you’ll hear a scream from Eddie Murphy’s “Delirious”.

Ecstasy – this instrumental B-side from this relatively obscure Scottish new wave band became a random club hit in NY in 1983. I used to hear it on NY radio mix shows and it took me years to track it down on vinyl. I thew a Nas acapella over it for shits n giggles. Made u look. The saxophone solo is from Paul Wishart, who also played with the Scottish punk band The Skids.

Blow The Whistle – too short has always been a very elementary MC. Like, Ice T level of elementary. But for some reason, it never really mattered. Plus, hearing it at last year’s Bellhouse reunion of The Rub reminded me just how dope it sounds in a club.

That’s Love – I wanted to put like six songs from this album on this mix, but “that’s love” is definitely a standout, musically speaking. Oddisee‘s rapid-fire flow is reminiscent of Andre 3000 at his best. Good company to be in. But seriously, get this album.

Charmed Life – a lovely piece of sampling from one of the true masters in the game, Jazzy Jeff. J-Live does his thing, no question. BTW, his latest album is fucking solid.

We Got The Jazz – Shawn Lee is a beat maker and musician from Kansas who collaborates with various people making various good musical thangs. Born in Flatbush, MC Ohmega Watts relocated to Portland Oregon and got down for his crown over there with cats like The Lifesavas. This is a real 90s Jazz Hip Hop throwback but I was all over that shit back then so I ain’t mad.

Only Built 4 Stuck In The 90′s…II – speaking of the 90s, this snippet from Philly beat junkie Small Professor captures the DJ Smash Giant Step era perfectly. This should have come out on 8-Ball. Real heads know of which I speak. If you want to support cats who just make beats, please do so HERE

Can Mind – speaking of snippets, here’s a quickie from James Brown, from one of those weird instrumental albums where he plays organ from beginning to end. Once the loop kicks in you’ll be like “oh word?!”

One For All – I recently had to explain the 5% Nation of Islam to somebody who had never heard of it, When you say it out loud, especially the part about Yacub creating white people in a lab, it really sounds much much weirder than Scientology.

Hate It Or Love It – as silly as 50 cent seems to me, I will never stop digging this jam.

These Walls – I played this on a rooftop in harlem 2 weeks ago and it sounded fantastic. It’s killing me that I can’t find the instrumental. Did I mention that this album rules?

Oh My Darling (Don’t Cry) – Hands down, one of the best Hip Hop albums of 2014. Killer Mike is at the top of his game and only getting better. Just ask Kendrick Lamar.

Mo Better Cool – I’m always a sucker for KRIT’s flow, as he carries on a timeless tradition of giving voice to the pimp game and painting a black velvet picture of Mississippi street life. Oh, and the gripping wood grain thing too.

It Was A Good Day – you just need to hear this song once a year, ya know?

Introducing A Conspicuous Man – just some outro beats to bookend the whole mood. Thanks for listening (and reading!). Peace.