Tag Archives: hiphop

Mos Def + Dub Reggae = MOS DUB

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On first listen a couple months ago, I wasn’t really feeling this mash-up album.  But after a couple re-listens, it’s really grown on me.  The tracks work well, and are reworked to an interesting degree, making Mos Dub more than the sum of its parts.  In other words, this doesn’t sound like hiphop acapellas overlaid on dub instrumentals, but a deeper and more thoughful re-working.   The creator of this mash-up, Max Tannone, had this to say:

While listening to these dub tunes, which are often heavily based on the drums and the bass, would also sound great if sampled for hip-hop tracks. Being a huge Mos Def fan (and Mos who sometimes breaks into a Jamaican patois himself), I knew he would fit well over the tracks. His lyrics are often socially poignant – a common theme with reggae music too. He is one of my favorite musicians and I hope he heard Mos Dub and enjoyed it.

If you enjoyed this mash-up, check out Tannone’s other works: Jaydiohead (Jay-Z vs Radiohead) and Doublecheck Your Head (Beastie Boys).

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles – Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers!

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Best hiphop mash-up I’ve heard since Mos Dub.  Period.  I’m gonna let the Tom Caruana, creator of this mash-up, speak on it:

This project came about unintentionally, really. I’d done a Large Professor remix album and an MF Doom one, and then I was starting on a Wu-Tang one. One of the tracks that’s on there, “R.E.C. Room,” I made a couple of years ago. I had this easy-listening record of this orchestra playing cover versions of lots of different ’60s stuff. It had this instrumental version of “Girl,” and the whole thing was just stunning. But I didn’t want to just take a little bit of it. I took the whole song, and sped it up to the right tempo, so it has the complete arrangement and feel of the original Beatles song. Then I made the “C.R.E.A.M.” remix. And then I was like, O.K., I’ve got two tracks now that have Beatles samples with Wu-Tang a cappellas. A few days later I found Ol’ Dirty Bastard talking on YouTube about how he was influenced by the Beatles. And I just thought: This is it.  Being a lifelong record collector of things to sample, I’ve got loads of orchestra records that have got covers of Beatles songs. Once I thought, “O.K., I’m going to do this,” I started going through all my records again. It just then seemed to click.

For more of this interview, check it out at the New York Times.  Otherwise, get your listen on:

Download here (right click and “save as”)
180mb /// ZIP Archive with all tracks /// 320kbps .mp3

Coldcut – 2006 Essential Mix

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The following is excerpted from a larger article, found here:

Matt Black and Jonathon Moore have been creating tracks since the mid-80’s. It wasn’t until they came together as Coldcut and formed the highly innovative label Ninja Tune that they really started to have any success. With tracks such as “Mo Beats”, “Beats and Pieces”, and “Greedy Beat” they helped lay the foundation for hip-hop instrumentalists like DJ Shadow and RJD2. The Ninja Tune label has released albums and singles from DJs and producers such as the deep hip-hop of DJ Food, turntablist extraordinare Kid Koala and Russia’s DJ Vadim.

The mix starts off with some classic hip-hop, including Sweet Tee and A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” with the original Lou Reed vocal over it. The mix then moves in to expiremental electro-house territory, before starting the second hour with some drum-n-bass like DJ Zinc’s “Super Sharp Shooter” and Krust’s infamous roller “Warhead”. Laced in between is Wayne Smith’s heavy “Under Me Sleng Teng”. Finally rounding out the mix is Franz Ferdinand’s “This Fire” over a floating dub reggae track, they then put Bjork’s “Hidden Place” with a backing track that consists of reggae guitar, 808 drums and opera-like vocals.

This is an entertaining mix that keeps you nodding your head the whole time and leaves you in awe at some of the things Coldcut come up with — they prove that even in an era when a kid with a computer can create “Jay-Zeezer” it still takes talent and a knowledge of music and DJing to create truly beautiful music using . It is rare that you get a DJ mix that contains creativity. It is even rarer to find an Essential Mix with longevity that doesn’t just contain the newest and hottest tunes.

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

124 minutes /// 170.21 mb /// 192 kbps .mp3

Track list after the jump… Continue reading →

Shapeshifter – Shift Hop (glitch-hop mix)

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shifthop_cover

Here’s a fantastic new mix from Shapeshifter, a talented DJ and producer whose mixes I have featured in the past.  I’ve been rocking it daily since he released it last week and it’s time to add it to the collection.  In his words:

Here’s a mix that’s been well over a year in the making. I’ve been collecting my favorite glitchy/whompy hip-hop-esque tunes and working them together into a mix. It’s finally finished, and bangs hard.

I honestly love all 21 of these tunes to death, and am thrilled I finally figured a way to mix them all together. I hope you enjoy them as well.

Things start off with some banging glitch-hop, then venture into crazy glitched out & wobbly dancehall/reggae vibes, back into some mindfuck bass heavy killers, and then finally ending with a little moodier funky selections.

Listen now: [audio:http://mister-shifter.com/Shift_Hop_Mixed_by_Mister_Shifter.mp3]

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Full-size track list and artwork after the jump… Continue reading →

Kenny Dope – Hip Hop Forever

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hiphopforever

This will be the last Kenny Dope mix to post for a while, but also the best of all.  There have been many, many DJ mixes that blend these classic tracks, but Kenny’s version will always be one of my most favorites because he lets the tracks play out, smoothly beat mixing from one to the next without lots of juggling and scratching.  This is a tribute to the original songs, not an attempt to show off DJ skills or flip the tracks with new beats, and yet it is utterly perfect in the mixing and track selection.  DJ Jazzy Jeff attempted to put together a second and third volume of this series, but in my opinion they just don’t hold up, for exactly the same reason; too many cuts, juggles, and rough blends break up the flow.  Stick with this one, the original, the best…

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Time: 65:29 /// 119mb /// 256kbps .mp3

Track list after the jump… Continue reading →

Portuguese hiphop: DJ NioSiddartha – Tuga Mix

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Dj_Nio_(zero_Plastica)_-_Tuga_Mix_-_Hip-hop___Reggae_Music_From_Portugal

I thought I knew about Portuguese hiphop because I’ve done two mixes of Brazilian baile funk, but this mix, by DJ NioSiddartha of Italy’s Zero Plastica crew schooled me to a whole new sound.  It’s jazzy, funky, and refreshing; you can hear the golden age influences in a number of tracks that have a distinct “Primo” style to them.  While I don’t know what they’re saying, the featured emcees all have an arresting flow, whether it’s in Portuguese, Italian, or even Wolof.

Here’s some more details that I lifted their press release:

Tuga Mix are 80 minutes of pure music selected by Dj Nio, more than 40 cuts from the classic to the experimental rap, from original reggae roots to the dancehall hits. The mixtape is hosted by the Italian-Brasilian mc Don Simon, of the famous rap group A Mafia (of Sao Paulo). Special guests appearence by Lure, that together with Nio forms Zero Plastica, one of the most interesting groups in Genoa (Italy): “Non è Hip-Hop” (“It’s not Hip-Hop”) it’s a new revolutionary, thought-provoking song on a deadly beat by Fuse (Daelema), the Portughese master of hardcore rap. Plus, even Dudu of the Senegalese rap group Janta-B – now living in Italy and singing with Ohimemì- drops a Wollof joint with his aggressive style. Tuga mix officially starts the collabo between Dj Nio and the American indipendent label Nomadic Wax, specialized in Hip-Hop and underground music from around the globe.

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Tracklist after the jump… Continue reading →

Kenny Dope – Nervous Hip-Hop Mix

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nervoushiphop

As a kid growing up in New Jersey, the music of my childhood, the first music I can remember, was East Coast hiphop.  But by 1995, I was a junior in high school and my tastes had drifted to local punk rock.  It was this mix tape that brought me back.  Kenny Dope blends sixteen of the hottest tracks to ever come from the Nervous Records sub-labels Wreck, Weeded, and Strapped, when Black Moon, Smif n’ Wessun, and Mad Lion were all signed and dropping the most memorable records of their careers.

Along with the classic remixes of “I Gotcha Opin,” “Bucktown,” “How Many Emcees,” and “Who Got Da Props” are some very rare break records by Funkmaster Flex, The Groove Asylum, and Wreck All-Stars.  For heads who really know their East Coast history, there’s a rare non-LP appearance by Nine on “Six Million Ways to Die,” produced by Funk Flex.  Grab some more Nervous rarities here.   Back in the day, I listened to this mix so much that I broke the original tape.  Now it’s out of print, but I got it here.  Full track list after the jump…

Listen now:

Download here (right click and “save as”)

Time: 64:31 /// 88mb ///  192kbps .mp3

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