DJ Krush - "Krushing Competition"

 Another The Lost Tapes exclusive compilation, this time the focus is on the Japanese super producer DJ Krush. The theme here is his collaborations with US emcees, you'll hear guys like Guru, Black Thought, Mos Def, Method Man, Mr. Lif and a whole bunch of others flow on top of his dense atmospheric instrumentals. The rhythm knocks, punches and swings but the majority of the tracks found here are in the key of ambient music; creating an interesting connection between the hard and the smooth. Filled with jazzy pianos and horns the dark and moody music transforms into a coherrent unit which shows Krush's Japanese herritage as well as his American hip-hop influences. Considering how much the sound of jazz is evident in his music, I made a decision to close the "album" with his take on Miles Davis's legendary "Black Satin", which is a personal favorite of mine. This is music I strongly recommend to anyone familiar or not familiar with the extended work of DJ Krush and hopefully it will inspire you to pick up some of his retail albums (where some of these tracks comes from, other from rare 12" releases or remix albums). I would like to give a shout out to my man Undiluted Karma for hooking me up with his edits of the instrumental interludes found on here (tracks #11 and #17), thanks homie.

01. DJ Krush - "Intro"
02. CL Smooth - "Only The Strong Survive"
03. Black Thought - "Hardware"
04. GURU & Big Shug - "Most Wanted Men"
05. Finsta Bundy - "Supanova"
06. DJ Krush - "Tragedy Speaks... Interlude"
07. Tragedy Khadafi - "Real"
08. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "Back On Da Block" [Remix]
09. Black Thought - "Zen Approach"
10. Mr. Lif - "Nosferatu"
11. DJ Krush - "Interlude"
12. Aesop Rock - "Kill Switch"
13. Mos Def - "Shinijiro"
14. Nigo Ft. Biz Markie - "Something For The People" [Remix]
15. Method Man & D'Angelo - "Break Ups 2 Make Ups" [Remix]
16. The Roots - "Meiso"
17. DJ Krush - "Outro"
18. Miles Davis - "Black Satin" [Remix] [*]

DJ KRUSH - "KRUSHING COMPETITION"