[DJ Mix] K-DEF Homage by Paul Nice and DJ Toast

Veteran DJ, producer and remixer Paul Nice recently started a podcast with fellow DJ Toast. Each week they celebrate an artist they feel is somewhat underrated despite vast body of work and for Episde 84 the spotlight is on one of my all time favorite producers and beat magicians - K-DEF. From his days working with the SP1200 and digging for samples to his 2006-output onwardw where he composes from scratch using computer software and manages to create fuly arranged, compositional masterpieces that puts any producer working with simple loops to shame. 

This two hour pocast, entitled "Grown Man Rap Show", traces the New Jersey born and bred maestro through his days as Marley Marl's right hand boom bap man to Redef Records flagship man with his digital orchestra. Whether or not you're well aquainted or a nw fan of 'Def this is two hours well spent so crank that volume up and get your grown man on!

[DJ Mix] DRASAR MONUMENTAL - "Vendetta Broadcast #5"

Continuing with Drasar Monumental and Vendetta Vinyl here's a nice DJ Mix put together by the man called "Vendetta Broadcast #5" with the undertitle "2016 Hardcore Mix" so don't expect any watered down shit. This was posted in February so if you're a real fan you obviously already heard it, but since I've basically been taking a break from blogging more or less I want to share this heat with anyone who might have missed it. Crank up the volume!

[DJ Mix] FLYING LOTUS - Dilla Tribute Set

As you might know I have become somewhat disillusioned by hip-hop and its celebriation of the mediocre over the last year so, meaning that I barely even listen to too much hip-hop. That's not to say that there's not a few Hip-Hop artists out there that are pushing the boundaries and are true creative genius whose music will last for generations. J Dilla is one of them; Kanye West is one of them, Kendrick. Ghostface. Pete Rock, K-DEF, etc. Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Robert Glasper and Kamasi Washington is also on that short list so of course a Lotus tribute set to the late, great J Dilla. Check it out below over at Dublab.com, sit back and enjoy and let the music speak the words REST IN PEACE JAMES YANCEY, WE LOVED YOU AND MISS YOU!

FLYING LOTUS - DILLA TRIBUTE MIX
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[DJ Mix] J. ROCC x J DILLA - "DiLLAtronic Mix"

Whenever J. Rocc are in charge of a DJ mix you know it's going to be potent as hell and his "Thank You Jay Dee" series still holds up as perhaps the best tribute mixes to the late, great producer that has yet been produced. Just like he did with Pete Rock's instrumental 2015 banger "PeteStrumentals II" the legendary Beat Junkie has cooked down the excellent instrumental posthumous Dilla compilation "Dillatronic" that was released last fall into a seamless 30 minutes mix of his favorite moments from the original 40 tracks selection. While I did thoroughly enjoy the official compilation some of the beats were definitely drawn out for quite a bit too long so this is a good alternative experience of that same music which Dilla mostly recorded between early 2001 and late 2003 (covering unreleased beats from the period that brought us gems like "48 HRS", "Champion Sound", "Ruff Draft" and his work on projects like Slum Village's "Trinity" and Talib Kweli's "Quality"). Matter of fact given the short running time of both I would imagine playing J. Rocc's sets of this and the Pete Rock one back to back should be a great way to spend an hour of the best instrumental hip-hop avalable at the moment. TURN IT UP!!

MASTA ACE & DONNIE PROPA - "The Ace Tape"

I don't know too much about this mixtape but it is stated to be an official tape made with Ace's authorization so it should be worth checking out. Mixed by Donnie Propa straight from vinyl this collection features 19 songs from Ace's extensive discography and features some of his lesser known heavy hitters as well as some of the certified classics. According to the Bandcamp site it was also available on limited edition cassette but they are all sold out so you'll have to settle for the digital.

[DJ Mix] JIGMASTAS / DJ KENSEI - "The Grasroots Mix"

DJ Spinna is by far the most underrated producer in the game if you ask me. Sure he gets his props but not on the level of say Preemo, RZA, Extra-P, Dilla and Diamond D. For me since I first became aquainted with his works on the excellent Rawkus EP "Heavy Beats Volume One", production work for IG Hazardous, his work with emcee Kriminul as Jigmastas (dropping one low-key classic in 2001, "Infectious", and an equally impressive mini album a few years earlier called "Grass Roots"). This is straight booming hip-hop, with a dark, stripped down aesthetic that heavy as hell on the bass and rhythm aspects of each track. After "Infectious" they dropped the ocassional guest spots, soundtrack apperance or remix as well as apperances on Spinna's terrific solo albums "Sonic Smash" and "Here to There". One of the thing that's so great about DJ Spinna is that he can do a plethora of styles and do it just as dope and authentic sounding at that - whether it's deep soul/house like on "Intergalactic Soul", classic New York boom bap on the aforementioned album and underground singles (by the likes of SPoX PhD and Sputnik Brown), incredible R&B mixes,vintage Soul tracks, powerfully seamless DJ mixes, you name it, he never sounds out of his lane and he has managed to gain respect in all areas he is active in. A true musical wonderchild, and if there's one thing these days it is that hip-hop need more producers and artists like this that are not afraid to truly venture out. DJ Kensei has put together a hard knocking 45 minutes mix of nothing but JIgmasta's classics as a little teaser while we wait for the full EP. Check it out up top!

Still the Jigmasta's suff remains some of the Brooklyn producers' finest works yet, which is equally important to the equation as his distinctive voice and moral street stories is the perfect fit for the DJ's piano driven, bass heavy and eclectic sound. A couple of months ago Jigmastas' finally returned to the scene via a 12" single on Redefinition Records featuring two songs and instrumentals, ""Magnetize" / "The Resurge" (click to check out the very promising sampler). DJ Spinna are back with London based BBE Records (Barely Breaking Even) again; the label who released his "Here to There LP" and a bunch of his offcial DJ mix retail releases. This time the Jig's and BBE have hooked up for a remastered, expanded re-release of their first official full-length release "Grass Roots", for the first time available on vinyl. This is truly a classic release that showcases the duo's incredible chemistry and also shows the pair at their absolute peak so if you don't have this in your collection be sure to don't sleep. It's now called "Grassroots (The Prequel)" and has been expanded with almost twice as many songs than the original. Other songs not present on the original include most of the non-album 12" singles that lead up to their distribution deal, a couple of rare compilation songs, and some previously unreleased remixes by the highly underrated Joc Max. This is hip hop at it's finest... Don't fucing sleep and since this is a run of 500 copies only be sure as hell to cop one while they are still available! Available in CD, digital and 2xLP formats and can be copped @ BBE. You can count on me picking this one up ASAP! To refresh the memories of the true heads, considering it's been a while Jigmastas' dropped anything at this point, BBE has enlisted DJ Kensei to put together a slamming 45 minutes true DJ mix of a bunch of classics, rarities and remixes by Spinna and Krim. Check it out below and be sure to TURN IT UP!!

For a little bonus for the true heads I have uploaded the first Jigmastas' song ever released. The song appeared on a free mixtape entitled "Fat Flavor '93: Unsigned Hype" and features a DJ Spinna produced song for the duo called "Dirty Gutta Butta". A very interesting listen to say the least. Check it out and download the song as a bonus below...

[Bonus] Jigmastas - "Dirty Gutta Butta" ['93] 

J. ROCC Mix of PETE ROCK's "PeteStrumentals II"

The legendary DJ J. Rocc of The Beat Junkies always deliver straight heat when he gets on the turntables and crossfader, and this latest free mix is certainly no exception. As you know Pete Rock hooked up with Mello Music Group to finally release the long awaited sequel to his classic "PeteStrumentals" project (2001), an album that he's been promising in interviews since at least 2011. While the project fails to live up to it's predecessor Pete certainly didn't disappoint and at the moment it's one of my most played LP's. J. Rocc certainly liked it as well as he takes his favorite instrumentals of it and creates a seamless 20 minutes mix that stands on its own as a real smooth head nod inducer. Check it out below and make sure to cop "Petestrumentals II" if you haven't already!

[DJ Mix] FATGYVER - "REDEF Mix" For MixMag

Since its inception a few years ago, John Nortarfrancesco and Earl Davis' (a.k.a. Damu The Fudgemunk) indie label REDEF Records has really grown into one of the strongest and most unique places for fat underground hip-hop - with a lean towards instrumental records. Their roster includes beat masters like K-DEF, Damu The Fudgemunk, Supa Dave West and Kev Brown as well as international talents such as Germany's Klaus Layer and Finland's Fatgyver (also known under his drum'n'bass alias Fanu). The latter was asked to show his DJ talents and compile a one hour long mix of some of REDEF Records finest moments exclusively for legendary dance magazine MixMag. There's a lot of goodies here and whether or not you're already familiar with the catalouge you should definitely press play, just sit back, relax and enjoy. You can download the mix for free here.

And while we're at it, in case you haven't yet heard Fatgyver's 2015 REDEF debut, the boom bap smelling jazz-funk of "Talk to Strangers" you can stream the entire project below, via Redef's Bandcamp where you can also cop a digital HQ copy for 7$. Smoooooth....

[DJ Mix] FLYING LOTUS - "Radio BBC1 Mix"

Flying Lotus is by far one of the most interesting artists out there at the moment if you ask me, and lately I've been listening a lot to his albums and his work with the Brainfeeder camp. Every now and then he pops up on the BBC Radio 1 channel to drop a crazy deep mix of classic beat records, jazz and his own music.  His latest drop was on the 12th of March for a two hour set that also includes a short guest mix from Jonny Greenwood (would love to hear a studio collaboration between those two). You got nine days left to listen so Hurry Up and BUY!

FLYING LOTUS @ BBC RADIO 1 2015

[DJ Mix] PF CUTTIN x THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. - "King Of NY"

PF Cuttin' goes in like a real boss on this tribute mix to the legendary Christopher Wallace, better known to the world as The Notorious B.I.G. Not much more to say than TURN IT UP and LET IT BANG!

[DJ Mix/Interview] DUBSPOT Presents LORD FINESSE

In their latest of their Radio Podcasts the good people over at Dubspot gets down with The Funkyman Lord Finesse himself for a two part set that will definitely bring a smile to any fan of Robert Hall. The first half is an extended interview where Finesse touches on a lot of interesting topics; from his beginnings, his evolution from respected battle rapper to legendary producer, to making his live shows stand out, and of course a discussion about his latest album - the instrumental double disc set "The SP1200 Project" (which is still available in various formats @ Slice-Of-Spice). 

The second half of the segment is an exclusive DJ Mix courtesy of Lord Finesse himself and as always when The Funkyman is on the wheels of steel, you don't want to sleep on this one! I'm about halfway through and this is an absolute goldmine of funk. Lors of respect to Dubspot for this one.

LORD FINESSE INTERVIEW / DJ MIX @ DUBSPOT.COM

[Mixtape] DJ PRINCE PAUL - "It's Not The Size Of Your Mix That Matters, It's How You Use It"

One of the main reason Prince Paul is such a damn good producer, and especially why he's such good at knowing when incorporating skits and who will sound good together, is because he's such an extremely ill DJ. In fact I'd go as far as to say that '90% of the best producers are also DJ:s, there are exceptions but having that DJ ear makes you know what works and what does not in a crowd setting and so on. But enough of that, Prince Paul posted Part One and Part Two of this featuring music that's pretty damn rare, that he want to put some exposure on (meaning the mix is actually new). The DJ mix set is called "It's Not The Size of Your Mix That Matters, It's How You Use it" and the 90 minutes set is uploaded in two parts to Paul's official Soundcloud page. Spotted @ EgotripLand, peace!

Prince Paul's " Its Not the size of your Mix Its how you use it " Mix Tape Vol 1 (Obscure Series) by Prince Paul on Mixcloud

Prince Paul's " Its Not the size of your Mix Its how you use it " Mix Tape Vol 2 (Obscure Series) by Prince Paul on Mixcloud

[DJ Mix] DJ REVOLUTION - RAKIM Tribute @ Wake Up Show

Damn, it feels good being back and updating like crazy, catching up on all the gems I've been missing onsince I barely even checked my mail for a week. This hit the net eight days ago (though t was recorded in 2014) but as The God MC only makes purely timeless music that should be obligatory listening for anyone that dare to call him-or herself a hip-hop fanati. The fast fingered legend DJ Revolution took hold of the turntables on The Wake Up Show and kicked off a masterful 30 minutes deep tribute to The 18th Letter. While any self-respectiing  hip-hop head should be very familiar with these jams it's a great mix, and if you against all odds ain't that familiar with Ra's work it's a perfect introduction to the man and his work. A majority of the selections comes from the Eric B. & Rakim albums but there's joints spanning all the way to ... TURN IT UP!!

[DJ Mix] RZA Set @ Flexx w. ODB (1995)

This is just amazing right here, pure fucking Wu from the days the Wu and The RZA was incapable of making ish that didn't become classics. Jammin from TheCorp are the man for this find and original ripper and uploader RANDOMRAPRADIO is even more crazy for it, huge thanks goes out to you. As you see from the title this roughly 40 minutes DJ set was performed on the air by The RZA on a Funkmaster Flex show on HOT97 back in 1995, June 3rd to be exact. And they also had ODB performing over some of the stuff, including a banging live version of "Brooklyn Zoo". No real heads are allowed to sleep on this one!

[DJ Mix] Rob Pursey vs. DE LA SOUL - "Twelve 12''s"

Southern Hostpital continues their "Twelve 12''s" series with various DJs beyind the wheels of steel, which has previously spawned mixes for The Beatnuts, DJ Premier, KRS-One and Beastie Boys to name a few. For their 50:th (!) mix, the originator of the series Rob Pursey is bringing out twelve of De La's most classic tunes for your enjoynment... And i'll bet you fdo just that, as this mix carries a little something for everyone, whether you only like the Prince Paul assisted "all fun and weird, but deeply lyrical" sttyle, or if you are one of those who only became a fan because of their later stuff. 'Nuff said, press play, sit back and ejoy my droogs.

01. "Breakadawn"  [De La Soul Remix]
02. "Ghetto Thang" [Ghetto Ximer Mix]
03. "4 More" [Junod Clean Mix]
04. "Piles & Piles Of Demo Tapes Bi-Da Miles" [Conley's Decision]
05. "Say No Go" [New Keys Remix]
06. "Ain't Hip to be Labeled a Hippie"
07. "Much More"
08. "All Good" [Lee Stone Remix]
09. "In The Woods"
10. "Mack Daddy On The Left"
11. "Millie Pulled A Pistol on Santa" [FFull Pass]
12. "Itzoooweeezee (Hot)"         

Heavy D Tribute mix by Preem

A few days ago I reported on the sad and way-to-soon passing of rap legend Heavy D (Dwight Arrington Myers) and now that the realization really has sunk in, the tributes are starting to come. Busta Rhymes released a track called "When I'm Gone" (which was supposedly a tribute to the man but more sounded like Busta shamelessly self-promoting his own legacy with lines like "You don't have to wait til' I'm gone to celebrate me..." amongst other inappropriate lines), Statik Selektah conceived a nice blend of Heavy D's "Nothing But Love" over Pete & CL's classic "T.R.O.Y." which was a fitting tribute considering the latter was a dedication to Heavy D & The Boyz late dancer T-Roy.

But the most interesting and worthy tribute to the big man so far in my opinion is DJ Premier's fourty-five minutes set on the wheels of steel in honor of the man and his music. Lots of choice cuts on here, skillfully mixed and plenty of raw turntablism which makes this a winner. If you're not too familiar with Heavy's work since befor, this is a great way to start as Preem focuses on the choice cuts only. Spotted @ DJPB where you can also choose to stream the entire session (click the DJPB link) if that's what you prefer.

HEAVY D - DJ PREMIER TRIBUTE MIX

Mista Sinista - Large Pro Mix CD 2002

That live guy with the glasses from Flushing, Queens has had his fair share of up's and down's in the record industry to say the least. From ghost-producing the majority of the classics that are Eric B. & Rakim's "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em", Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's "Wanted: Dead or Alive" to Intelligent Hoodlum's self-titled debut. But that's part of paying dues, is it not? However, it didn't take long until he formed his own crew Main Source together with the two Toronto deejays Sir Scratch and K-Kut. In 1991 this trio, where Large provided all beats and rhymes, released their debut album "Breaking Atoms" that over the years has grown into one of the most respectable underground LPs of all time. Large's rhymes were just as fresh as the music he created and his beats could hang with the best of producers with those signature hard drums, perfectly weaved together jazz and funk samples, even drawing from obscure records including samba and reagge, The album also introduced a young Nas to the world - a Queensbridge protogé Large Pro took under his wing and a few years later helped create "Illmatic", often considered the best rap album ever.

At this point everybody and their mother wanted a beat or a remix from the glassrocking homie but once he signed to Geffen in '95 things started going wrong. Pro locked himself in the studio with his crates, his weed and his sampler to start work on "The LP". What was to be Large's first official solo album kept getting pushed back and it seemed no matter how dope material he turned in, Geffen felt it to be dated. Eventually the album got shelved altogether and left Large's hard work unheard by the word until last year when the artist finally got his masters back, enabling him to release his hard mid-'90s work to rave reviews.

By 2002, Large Pro released his first "official" solo album via Matador Records. "First Class" featured a few guest spots from usual suspects like Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Nas and Akinyele but the majority was strictly Large Pro solo. His rhyming on here were not what it used to be and the production was less sample-based and more keyboard heavy which dissatisfied many. Not to say that it didn't featre some great songs on there, but as a body-of-work, it's not a stretch to call "First Class" the rhyming producers weakest effort. Probably the best thing about the album was that Matador Records gave away alot of bonus goodies if you were quick to order the album from Sandbox. Besides a T-shirt with that infamous "Midnight Mauraders" quote (haha), buyers got a good sounding copy of the by-then unreleased "The LP", a promo 12" of "Stay Chizzel" and the beautiful mix CD that this post mainly focuses on.

The fantastic Mista Sinista of The X-Ecutioners (who laid down some absolutely superior turntable work on Common's second and third album) together with DJ Crossphada put together an almost 80 minutes long mix of Extra-P classics spanning more than a decade. There's just one track on the CD (which the download provided below is ripped from) but it's a great front-to-back listen so who needs a skip button anyways, right? There's some choice cuts from "1st Class" included but there's plenty of other classic Large Pro productions for the likes of Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Common and many others. And of course a bunch of crazy turntable work from the two DJ's, check it out heads!

MISTA SINISTA / DJ CROSSPHADA - LARGE PRO MIX CD

Bobo vs. Rhettmatic - "The Cypress Junkie EP"

Eric Bobo, the percussionist of Cypress Hill, hooks up with DJ Rhettmatic of The Beat Junkies to bring the world the free "The Cypress Junkies Mixtape" EP. The extended play is divided into two parts; tracks 1 to 3 are the so called Cypress Junkies Mixtape which is basically a DJ mix of old funk, soul and old school hip-hop that have been sampled by Bobo's group at one time or another. The remaining four tracks are the actual mini EP and features four new tracks produced by Eric Bobo and DJ Rhettmatic. The exception is "Rosetta Stone Grove" which originally appeared on Rakaa Iriscience's 2010 album "Crown on Thorns". You can stream via Soundcloud below but if you want to download the separated tracks, head over to Soundcloud and scroll down and you'll find a link for download.

01. "Rosetta Stone Grove" (Ft. Rakaa Iriscience & Noelle Scags)
02. "Astrofunk"
03. "BMR Groove 1"
04. "Uptown Soul" [co-prod. by J. Rocc]

CYPRESS JUNKIES MIXTAPE EP - Long Version by Bobo meets Rhettmatic

DM & JEMINI - "Ghetto Pop Mix" (Extended)

Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, first became known to the world as the genius behind the impeccable Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up "The Grey Album" in late 2004. With that official bootleg, DM proved to any naysayers that creative sample-based hip-hop production should definitely be considered an artform. But even pror to that the UK born musician had recorded a full album with Brooklyn rapper Jemini The Gifted One who some might remember from his classic 1995 EP "Scars & Pain". Although having clearly diferent styles, the duo's love of hip-hop is what brought them together. DM & Jemini got signed to Lex Records around 2002 and the following year they released their criminally slept-on debut album, "Ghetto Pop Life" featuring the likes of Alkaholiks, Xzibit, Prince Po, J-Zone and Sadat X.

If you remember HipHopConnection (really the last hip-hop mag worth reading if you ask me), they ocassionally gave away promo CD's in slipcases with some issues. In early 2003 they gave away a bonus CD in collaboration with Lex Records in anticipation of DM & Jemini's album called "The Ghetto Pop Mix". The mixtape featured some choice cuts from the upcoming album, rare freestyles plus some early Danger Mouse remixes. After popular demand Lex and Danger Mouse released an expanded but very limited edition of the mix. It's all one long track but it features 17 songs all masterfully mixed by Burton himself. Stream or download below and enjoy 35 minutes of obscure record sampling, neck breaking drums and lyrical hip-hop.

Ghetto Pop Mix (extended version) by LexRecords

Lord Finesse / K-Def on WMFU

This one's a real treat for all the beat heads in the building as Lord Finesse and K-Def spun records at the WFMU show "Coffee Break For Heroes & Villains" yesterday. The whole three hour show is available to stream via Ego Trip Land. The Lord Finesse interview and DJ set starts around the 45 minutes mark and features around 60 minutes of ill soul, jazz, funk and hip-hop which is then followed by an equally crazy set by K-Def. Peace to William G for informing me about this monster of a show.

LORD FINESSE / K-DEF (DJ SETS & INTERVIEWS)