Free of Style

This is a great little mixtape for those golden age nostalgists out there.  Instead of being the usual mix of classic tracks from established artists, this mix infuses a number of short freestyles over a selection of both well known, and not so well known beats all mixed together by DJ Sav One and DJ Dyllemma.

Dubbed the FreeOfStyle Mixtape - The Underground Come Up: 90's Edition, the whole mix lasts around 45 minutes and kicks off with a nice Lord Finesse track.  There are other DITC offerings from the likes of Big L and A.G. (who goes over a classic Jeru beat to great effect), along with some unexpected inclusions such as Dead Prez and Children of the Corn etc. 

A couple of the freestyles will be familiar to some (hasn't every freestyle by Eminem, Big L, Biggie etc been used to death?), but nonetheless there are plenty of unheard or relatively unknown tracks in here too.  These are frequently coupled with beats that you wouldn't expect, but work well and make for an enjoyable mixtape.  Check Guru over Mobb Deeps Quiet Storm instrumental for example.  The embedded music player and full tracklisting is after the jump.

Mike Check

It's A Demo

I'm often found digging around in the bowels of the internet trying to find rare and elusive stuff that I've failed to obtain over the years, and sometimes I find things that I didn't even know existed until I stumbled upon them.  It's much like crate digging, but I'm not restricted to vinyl, I'm not seeking any holy grails and I'm not in dusty old record shops inducing frequent fits of sneezing!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking crate diggers.  I've happily spent many months of my life in those dusty old dungeons, but that was the old days, I'm mostly digital now. And besides, there isn't a high street store or online retailer that sells that old TV clip, concert footage or demo tape that I'm looking for, so alternative methods must be adopted.

While researching hip hop archaeology via the power of the internet, I usually wind up on some defunct blog page that once shared a rare gem, but the download link is now dead.  This sets me off on a wild goose chase to find that item elsewhere.  Successfully finding what I want is currently about 50/50 (it was higher before the demise of Megaupload!).

There is one minor problem with this hobby and the techniques I employ.  Just like a crate digger, you tend to overlook the main retailers.  This rarely concerns me, but every once in a while I find that hidden gem sitting somewhere fairly obvious and easy to find, which brings me to this post.

I was recently digging around when by fluke I came across a gem of an article on the Complex.com website.  Now maybe in the week this was published I was heavily dozing or on holiday or something, but whatever the reason was, I completely missed it.  What surprises me most though, is that something this good wasn't blogged or tweeted much more widely [if someone tells me it was, then I'll have to admit to being in a self induced coma!]. 

So what is this little gem that I'm banging on about..... well, it's only 30 demo tapes from some of the biggest and most influential artists in the rap game!!!  Each of these tapes has been digitised for your listening pleasure and most of them are essential listening. 

Blogwatch - December 2011

Although 2012 is now here, I've taken the usual look back over the last month of 2011 and pulled together some of the highlights from around the internets various sites and blogs etc.  Although the Xmas and New Year parties have now finished, I've decided to lay on a retrospective buffet of hip hop for you to feast upon, there's plenty more after the jump:

Public Enemy in Concert

The boys over at the T.R.O.Y. blog have found this great recording of P.E. live in concert.  Although it's a recent concert, they showcase many of their hits from over the decades.  Why not digest nearly 2 hours of truly classic hip hop?