David Begun "Premier Magic" (Nas/Premier Blend Album)

The idea of this mash-up/remix tape had me excited off-rip.... Here, David Begun has blended the vocals of Nas (from his latest album, Magic) and the classic production of DJ Premier for his latest offering, Premier Magic. If you've been following along, over the years you've seen similar tapes like Blu and No I.D., The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest, MF Doom and J Dilla, Nipsey Hussle and 2Pac, Black Star and Madlib, Pete Rock and Eminem, and even Nas with Quasimoto. Many of these can be found in the archives. As for Premier Magic, unfortunately since I've posted this, the mash-up tape was removed from Bancamp... however, at last it was re-released through his YouTube account, at the time of this update. Enjoy it while you can! Listen to David Begun's Premier Magic...

DJ Filthy Rich "The Low End Theory" (30th Ann. Mix)

Celebrating 30 years of A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory, Toronto's DJ Filthy Rich is back with another phenomenal anniversary mix! How do you follow up a 5-mic debut album?? With a 5-mic sophomore LP! Everything about this album is a MASTERPIECE... from the abstract cover art, to the jazz-infused production emphasizing the LOW END, to the rhymes traded effortlessly between Q-Tip and Phife (R.I.P.). Genius-level artistry. Filthy Rich shares, "This album represented a defining moment in hip hop, so I HAD to pay tribute with a mix incorporating the original samples, remixes, and blends." 30 years! Wow, it feels like yesterday. Dig into this 30th Anniversary mixtape below...

Hex Murda "Hex Hates U" (Mixtape, 2012)

In September of 2012, Detroit legend Hex Murda presented the Hex Hates You mixtape in conjunction with District 81 and Burn Rubber. It was mixed and hosted by Statik Selektah and Sammy Needlz of Showoff Radio. The mix featured tracks from Random Axe, Proof, Sean Price, Bumpy Knuckles, Ras Kass, Black Milk, Fat Ray, Glasses Malone, D-12, Royce Da 5'9 and more. Hex Murda is a larger-than-life personality that I came to loosely know through Black Milk and his connection as a signed artist to Fat Beats Records. Up in the warehouse, at the store, or at live events, Hex was a presence, to say the least. When a fight broke out at Southpaw, I think Hex took it personally that the idiots were interrupting Black Milk's set... so much so that you didn't realize Hex was the DJ, how'd he get to the foot of the stage so quickly? He had to be held back by another Detroit homie. Anyhow, after a Pontine Stroke almost took his life, things changed but his spirit and reputation remained in tact, perhaps even stronger having survived a stroke with such a high mortality rate. That said, people know him a lot better than the short hellos we exchanged in passing, so I don't want to say too much. Sometimes I revisit projects that seem to be left behind by time, but revisit this mixtape for a lot of dope shit out Detroit and surrounding areas. Oh and a reminder from the caption sent along with the mix, "Fuck George Zimmerman." Also, if you're asking, does Hex give a shit what we think? His answer is probably, "No." (c) Hex. Salute that man. Listen...

Jon Connor "The N Tape" (Mixtape)

In June, Flint, Michigan's own Jon Connor released Best In The World: The N Tape, a mixtape that pays homage to hip-hop legend Nas by reinterpreting some of his most iconic tracks. This latest offering stands as the sixth installment in Connor's "Best in the World" series, wherein he showcases his lyrical prowess over beats from renowned artists.​ In past years I discussed at least two of those projects (The Notorious B.I.G. and Kanye West, for example). Throughout The N Tape, Connor delivers his unique perspective and storytelling abilities over Nas's classic instrumentals like "If I Ruled The World," "We Will Survive," "The World Is Yours" and more. The mixtape features 22 tracks, each offering a fresh take on Nas's timeless beats. ​This is an ambitious offering, but he delivers and doesn't let Nas down. Hit the archives for previous Best In The World mixtape releases.

DJ Clue "The Ruler's Back Part II" (Mixtape, 1999)

The Ruler's Back Part II was released in 1999 by Queens' own, DJ Clue?. As I said when I shared Part 1, DJ Clue was at the top of the mix tape game at the time, in my opinion. We've made it clear that he wasn't the most technical DJ, and his mixes were FAR from DJ-driven, they were impactful on the streets because of the exclusivity of the music. He had his go-to guy, Fabolous, drop an exclusive freestyle, then he took it back to Queens for tracks with Noreaga, Nas, Mobb Deep, Run DMC, 50 Cent, and Mic Geronimo, as well as other tracks from Puff Daddy, The LOX, Foxy Brown, Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Eve, Major Figgas, Raekwon, G-Dep, DMX, Black Rob, Half-A-Mil, Method Man & Redman and more. Maybe it's the nostalgia speaking, but this one got burn throughout Queens for obvious reasons, and I like revisiting that feeling by running it back. You can do the same below...

Mystic "Dreaming In Cursive: The Girl Who Loves Sparklers"

Oakland's Mystic, aka the DU Goddess from Digital Underground, is a GRAMMY-nominated hip hop artist who is also an activist, scholar, community educator, and home chef. She is known for using her art to promote healing, support movements for justice, and build community. Her debut album Cuts For Luck and Scars For Freedom (2001) is easily one of my favorite albums. Mystic released her follow-up LP, Beautiful Resistance, in 2014 and has since been acquiring her masters and getting music onto DSPs. Her podcast series Behind The Journey is a 6-part look into the making of her Grammy-nominated debut. Back once again, her latest effort, Dreaming In Cursive: The Girl Who Loves Sparklers, is entirely produced by Walt Liquor. With a strong IndieGogo campaign, Mystic reached her goal of $18,000 to create multiple visuals for the project, which I'm excited to see. The concept of "black love" is strong throughout and promotes healing through music she categorizes as "healed Black woman music." Experience Dreaming In Cursive: The Girl Who Loves Sparklers below...

Roc Marciano & The Alchemist "The Elephant Man's Bones"

It can be unwise to play favorites in the music biz, but maybe nobody told that to The Alchemist. “I really made an album with my favorite rapper and it drops tonight at midnight,” the producer tweeted ahead of the release of his and Roc Marciano’s The Elephant Man’s Bones. “I’m tripping.” Hempstead, Long Island-originating Marciano is no stranger to peer adulation, however. His time as a recording artist dates at least as far back as a stint with Busta Rhymes’ late-’90s Flipmode Squad collective, but the name he has today was made from the string of gritty and impressive solo projects he released across the 2010s. You do need a specific kind of ear to fully appreciate the MC. Roc Marciano raps in the kind of street code that reveals itself to be genius to those who can grasp its nuances. Take this couplet from The Elephant Man’s Bones’ “Daddy Kane”: “I been getting off that soft white long before shorties was rocking Off-White/Water-colored ice, I call it Walter White/Walk with me like a dog might, I got 44 bulldogs, you ain’t got a dog in the fight.” The bars themselves are less complex than they are both slimy and razor-sharp. These are raps to be heeded and, maybe more importantly, enjoyed at a safe distance. Unless, of course, you’re The Alchemist—or album guests Action Bronson, Boldy James, Ice-T, or Knowledge the Pirate—in which case you can’t wait to add some of your own ingredients to Marciano’s cauldron. - via Apple Music. 

RZA "Digital Bullet" (August 28, 2001)

Digital Bullet is RZA's second album under his latest alias, as Bobby Digital. It's no shock that he brought Bobby back; the first Digital outing, Bobby Digital in Stereo, was a high mark in the Wu Tang Clan producer's prolific career. What is a bit surprising is the sound of this effort, which frequently stretches all the way back to the mystical murk of the Clan's first album, Enter the Wu-Tang. The muffled beats and disorienting, late-night soundscapes of that hip-hop classic have been imitated countless times since its 1993 release, but nobody does 'em like the RZA, and uneasy tracks like "Must Be Bobby" and "Domestic Violence Pt. 2" seem to bring him full circle -- as does the presence of several Clan members, including the jailed ODB. Even the nods to the mainstream -- "Glocko Pop" and the swaying single "La Rhumba" -- seem, like RZA's best work, to have arrived from a slightly different dimension. Meanwhile, there is a storyline to this installment of the Digital story, but as on In Stereo, listeners have to use some imagination to fill it out; RZA's rhymes are often as evocative and opaque as the kung-fu flicks he loves. But as always, he creates tracks that are more about atmosphere than message -- and when he's on his game, as he is here, it's hard to argue with that approach. - AllMusic. As RZA himself put it, “My birth name is Bobby Diggs. So at the time, creatively, I felt like I was in a digital frame…As Bobby Digital, I could use a character to describe some of the earlier days of my own life. Partying, bullshitting, going crazy, chasing women, taking drugs. It was a mixture of fiction and reality together to make a character I thought would be entertaining.” Audiences reacted by driving the release up to number 24 on the Top 200 and a Top 10 position on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Now, revisit the RZA's Digital Bullet from 2001 below...

Admittedly, I didn't get into his solo albums at the time, but they grew on me.