Mixtape Monday: Amerigo Gazaway, Koncept Jack$on, Blu, Donwill + More
Rappers and producers put in work this Mixtape Monday with a gang of time traveling projects that revisit rap classics and points across the map, from NYC to New Orleans and the Left Coast.
Amerigo Gazaway leads the pack with a remix tribute to Gang Starr’s Hard To Earn. Richmond’s own Koncept Jack$on follows with The Tale of the Mutant Root. Blu works behind the boards on The DS Dumb Style Mixtape, and Donwill is on the 1s and 2s to salute J Dilla with a reprise of his set from Donuts Are Forever 12.
Other notable items this week include Polyester The Saint’s g-funk masterpiece American Muscle 5.0, Toronto producer Futurewave’s true school project Wav.God, felly’s atmospheric Winter In Brooklyn EP, and Byrell The Great’s ballroom inspired Chopped Cheese.
Amerigo Gazaway - Gang Starr: Hard To Earn (Remixes)
Amerigo Gazaway follows tributes to Dr. Dre and Slum Village with Gang Starr: Hard To Earn Remixes. The 9-track collection of beats “from the vault” is a tribute to the dynamic Golden Era duo in celebration of their acclaimed 1994 album Hard To Earn.
Here's a few Gang Starr remixes from the vault to help celebrate the 24th Anniversary of their classic LP "Hard to Earn". Stay tuned and subscribe to hear more exclusives like this one.
Koncept Jack$on - The Tale of the Mutant Root
If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be clear by now that Mutant Academy takes no days off. Koncept Jack$on is the latest to drop a new collection of joints, following the March 2018 heater from Unlucky Bastards & Graymatter and his acclaimed 2017 Fly Anakin-assisted collaborative project Chapel Drive. The project produced by Ohbliv, Graymatter, Tuamie and Unlucky Bastards also features verses from Anakin, Liv.e and Big Kahuna.
Blu - The DS Dumb Style Mixtape
Blu takes a seat behind the boards on The DS Dumb Style Mixtape. Billed as "dope underground mixtape beats sent to young lyrical emcees," the 36-track release from Blu features Homeboy Sandman, M.E.D, Illien Roswell, Scienze, King Choo$ey, Local Blacc, Ayun Bassa and more.
Polyester The Saint- American Muscle 5.0
West Coast producer Polyester The Saint amps up the classic g-funk sound with plenty of lyrical heat on the American Muscle 5.0 project. The project from The Dopehouse representative follows the single “In My Zone” and features appearances from Freddie Gibbs, Jack Davey, Krondon, Curren$y, G Perico and more.
Futurewave - Wav.God
Futurewave serves up a different sound from the Greater Toronto area with the release of Wav.God. The project follows the 2017 project Epiphany from The Lost Info – Futurewave’s crew - and his collaborative release Godz Gift, featuring Heem Stogied. Citing influences as varied as J Dilla, Mobb Deep, Wondagurl and Mike Dean, Futurewave combines them all to create eleven tracks of true school gold. Wav.God features verses from Raz Fresco, Flashius Clayton, J Scienide, Hus Kingpin and more.
felly. - Winters In Brooklyn
Breakout spitter felly follows the 20-city Strawberry Season Tour with the Winters In Brooklyn EP. The self-produced project is the seventh release, following his Wild Strawberries album and the official video for lead single “Blanco.” The song and the project capture the essence of the colder months in NYC with effervescent production, cheeky slice-of-life lyrics, and two-step ready production.
QThree - Struggleman EP
Just months removed from the release of Deaf Parade, B.A.K.E.D. Recordings representative QThree drops the Struggleman EP. The 7-track project finds Q spitting with quite a bit of angst and urgency over soulful, sinister production. Features include Wiles Martyr and Matt Ford.
Jay Jones - 2000 Hollygrove
NOLA spitter Jay Jones began 2018 with the release of the 2000 Hollygrove tape. The project followed the success of the single “Go Crazy,” which was buoyed by a blackout verse from Lil Wayne. Thirteen tracks deep, Jay Jones’ latest is a trunk-thumping street manifesto straight from Hollygrove to the world.
Byrell The Great - Chopped Cheese
Producer Byrell The Great takes his inspiration from NYC’s ballroom scene and cult classic Paris Is Burning on the 9-track Chopped Cheese mixtape, which was recently debuted by NOISEY.
‘Chopped Cheese’ mixtape is a chronicles of club hymns inspired directly by ghetto house, ballroom culture, and rap references. Clashing sounds likes Drowning Pool and Busta Rhymes, Byrell The Great creates a soundscape like no other.
Donwill - DAF12: Ruff Pass
Donwill (of Tanya Morgan and The Lessondary fame) takes a trip back through his set for the twelfth installment of the Donuts Are ForeverJ Dilla tribute party.
When I got the OK to spin DAF I was shook. What could I do that hasn’t been done? How do i make my set stand out? Who am I to even take on the task of honoring the genius of James Yancey?! After I shook off the imposters syndrome and finished sifting through his body of work I decided on playing some of my favorite Dilla lyrical moments. Sure his production is front and center of his legacy but when I decided that music was a career option I studied his style as an MC. His rhyme patterns were just as ridiculous as the ones he programmed on the MPC. This isn’t the recording from the night I played Donuts but it’s almost song for song what I did. This is the 5th pass of a real time flaws and all practice session that I recorded for myself to learn the set and not panic while I was on stage that night. I considered it as a road map for the evening and I’m sharing it with you so that you can take the journey with me.
PF Cuttin x M16 - East NY Radio 03.01.18
M16 sits in with PF Cuttin and co-host Millz Murda for the latest installment of East NY Radio. The nearly 2-hour set features tracks from Roc Marciano, Problemattik x Thirstin Howl the 3rd, Agallah x Dirty Diggs, Daniel Son x Futurewave, BigBob x Nems & Tony Gore and more.
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Karas Lamb writes and digs for tunes you haven’t heard yet. She actually wants to listen to your mixtape. Follow her on Twitter @karaslamb or Instagram @blamblamkaraslam.