Mixtape Monday: Jazzy Jeff x Mick's 'Summertime 6', Cookin Soul, BamaLoveSoul, Chairman Mao + More!
Mixtape Monday has returned and we're bringing you one of our most-anticipated releases of the year: DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick's latest Summertime release. The sixth iteration of what's become a perennially excellent warm weather series, the mix is loaded down with brilliant gems from the last 20+ years of hip-hop and R&B, all sewn together with a level of attentive care that could only be matched by a proud father manning the grill on the Fourth of July. And speaking of Independence Day, are you feeling extra American? Have you recovered from your long holiday weekend, whether you poured on the festivities or stood solemnly in protest? Whatever the case, we're bringing you BamaLoveSoul's latest "Diamond Soul XXXperience" set, new P-funk jams from Chairman Mao, plus DJ Cuzzin B's latest caucasian soul selections. This might very well be the seasonal mixtape event of the season, so clear your schedule, extend that vacation and get right on down to it.
At long last, it's finally here. DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick never fail to disappoint, and on the newest edition of their Summertime mixtape series, they once again find a way to exceed expectations. Using the smirking, deep-grooving mentality of a certain Fresh Prince joint as inspiration, Summertime 6 calls up some of the best deep cuts from the last 30 years of hip-hop and R&B, and with their astonishing skills Jeff and Mick thread them together in just the right ways, making a mix that must truly be heard to be believed. This is the kind of thing mixtape-lovers wait for all year: a perfect blend of fun and ingenuity that deserves both a kicked-back party and dedicated headphones listening. From the early LL Cool J to Kenny Dope, Public Enemy and Slum Village, the mix is just right in every way and demands repeated listens. Summer music doesn't get any better than this.
Download Summertime 6 in full here.
DJ Rahdu of BamaLoveSoul has once again rolled out one of his time-tested Diamond Soul XXXperience mixtapes, and this one is as great as any past edition. Opening with the maximalist R&B of Nicolay's "The Secret" and then proceeding to twist, wind and groove through some of the finest hip-hop cuts available today, the mix is an invigorating shot in the arm for anyone who's grown a little weary of the scene lately. Great stuff is out there--you just need to know where to look for it, and thankfully Rahdu has done quite a bit of that work all on his own. Enjoy.
Tracklist:
Nicolay - The Secret
Seek - Before You
BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Ray Gun ft DOOM
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drome Mix)
Jidenna - Classic Man (King Most Redirection)
Beatsofreen - Bloom feat Joanna Borromeo
Bishop Lamont - Ahh
Mecca83 - Open
Teedra Moses - Be Your Girl
A Tribe Called Quest - 8 Million Stories
Skyzoo - Luxury feat WestSide Gunnn
Sup Nasa - Dooinit
Common - Aquarius
Golden Rules - Never Die feat Yasiin Bey
Amiri - Echoes
John Robinson & Chief - Deep Inside feat Stan 1
Moka Only - Gordon Gartell
Kerbside Collection - Red Clay
Opolopo - Monolith
The Rurals - Cinnamon
Tyler, the Creator - Find Your Wings
Patrice Rushen - Didn't You know
Brittany Nacole - C'mon Thru
New Sector Movements - She's Got Soul
Dam-Funk - Rise
The Politik - Feel it feat Bahamadia
Pete Rock - Air Smoove
Bhonstro - Red Velvet
Curtis Mayfield - The Other Side of Town
Brandee Younger - Dorothy Jeanne
Bilal - Holding It Back feat Kimbra
Eulorhythmics - Hot n Nasty feat Proh Mic
Melodiesinfonie - J A $ $ pt.52
While we don't condone racial divisions here in Mixtape Monday, we're not about to stop rocking to DJ Cuzzin B's "Average White Mixtape" series, which documents some of the funkiest, most soulful music to be made by artists of the caucasian persuasion. For his latest set, Cuzzin has picked out favorites new and old including Tuxedo, Thomas Dolby, Phantogram, Chicago, Robert Palmer and so many more. It's a bold argument for the sake of blue-eyed soul and is all molded together with a wild sort of genius. When was the last time you really kicked it proper to Christopher Cross? (Download the full mix here.)
Tracklist:
1. Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me w/ Science (US Mix)
2. Christopher Cross - Ride Like the Wind
3. Huey Lewis and the News - Heart and Soul
4. The Rapture - Sister Saviour (DFA Vocal Remix)
5. Tuxedo - R U Ready
6. Todd Terje - Swing Star part II
7. Chromatics - Cherry
8. St. Vincent - Digital Witness
9. Benny Sings - Straight Lines
10. Brayton Bowman - Runaway
11. Nicolay - The Chase
12. Sia - Chandelier (BASECAMP Remix)
13. BASECAMP - ATSW
14. Phantogram - Fall in Love
15. The Bird and The Bee - Recreational Love
16. Tears for Fears - Shout (DJ Topspin Blend)
17. Bread - The Guitar Man
18. Ned Doheny - I've Got Your Number
19. Korgis - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
20. Malice Sweet - Try You
21. Little River Band - Reminiscing
22. Chicago - Women Don't Want to Love Me
23. Robert Palmer - Sneakin Sally Through The Alley
24. Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get Right
25. Dr. Hook - Sexy Eyes
26. Boston - More Than a Feeling
Art by Impe Corp
There's just no end to the pitch-perfect warm season vibes in Cookin' Soul's latest "Summer Waves" mix, which focuses on breezy mid-tempo grooves that still bring plenty of punch. Between the Lonnie Liston Smith, Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers and Sly Stone, bossa nova classics, rare disco grooves, sunkissed funk and Spanish soul all gently waft over you like Mediterranean waves in this brilliant hour of sound. Pack some extra SPF and find the nearest body (of water).
As if there weren't enough excellent "new installments of classic series" already in this week's grip, Chairman Mao recently shared the latest volume of "Across 135th Street." Always a thoughtful and deeply-sourced batch of music, this latest set pits "Pre Funk" against P-Funk with a look at the work of George Clinton and the records that made it possible for him to do his thing. Get a little background on Mao's relationship with Clinton by revisiting their Red Bull Music Academy conversation, and read what the Chairman himself had to say about the new "135th Street" below:
Before launching his crew of mega-talented singers and musicians into the funk cosmos via p-funk’s musical excursions, George Clinton wrote and produced many a great unheralded 60s soul tune. Unheralded, that is, until several of these same compositions (initially recorded by the Parliaments and other performers on the fringes of Detroit’s Hitsville-dominated soul circuit) would enjoy revival in far more overtly bugged (and heavily amplified) form as Parliament – Funkadelic favourites. On the latest episode of Across 135th Street, host-selector Chairman Jefferson Mao A/B’s these tracks in a set appropriately dubbed Pre-Funk vs. P-Funk. Listen and compare as the northern soul stomp of the Parliament’s Heart Trouble is reinvented as the Cosmic Slop vocal round-robin of You Can’t Use What You Can’t Measure, Roy Handy’s randy Holland/Dozier/Holland-style paean to after hours recreation, Baby That’s A Groove, morphs into the trip-tastic Funkadelic b-side Fish Chips & Sweat, Pat Lewis’ resolute I’ll Wait is transformed into the classic mournful Eddie Hazel guitar shred showcase that is Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On’s I’ll Stay, and so on. In each case the funkin’ lesson is how fundamentally sound these tunes remain in their evolutions from the Motor City to the Mothership.
Tracklist available via egotripland.
The great minds at Bedford Box Office have unveiled the second set piece in their new "Dope" series, and it's a thing of brief beauty. Ophelia Cache's "Vaccine" slowly quivers over a deep river of bass and draws you in with every passing bar; "Dope" side B is an immersive study in some of the most current R&B getting made today. Consider it your pain-free homework and turn it up in your headphones.
Tracklist:
Tangina Stone - "Cops"
Ophelia Cache - "Vaccine"
MEGA - "How Do You Know"
Von Luciano - "Say It Aint So"
MEGA - "Power"
Taylor Swift - "I Knew You Were Trouble" (APSPDR+ Remix)
For the hi-life-lovers among us, Duncan Brooker of Strut Records has put together a set of vibrant African tracks, plucked from the deep library of Pat Thomas, who was one of Ghana's most prolific bandleaders throughout the 70s and 80s. We first caught wind of the mixtape over at Okayafrica, who had this to say about it:
Last month Strut Records released Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band, an album that featured full band rearrangements of Ghanaian highlife star Pat Thomas‘s 1980s classics with new contributions from Tony Allen, Ebo Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah and saxophonist Ben Abarbanel-Wolff. Pat Thomas Highlife Selecion, a new mixtape from Strut compiler Duncan Brooker (Nigeria 70, Next Stop Soweto), follows that LP with a 45-minute excursion into rare and classic cuts from the Ghanaian “Golden Voice of Africa.” Highlights include the original 1978 version of Thomas’ recent airy single “Gyae Su” and the tireless 1980 tune “Yamona: Disco Hi-Life.” Stream our premiere of Brooker’s Pat Thomas Highlife Selection mix below and purchase Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band LP, which features hand-drawn artwork by London designer/illustrator Lewis Heriz, from Strut Records.
Tracklist:
1. YAMONA: DISCO HI-LIFE (Pan African Records, 1980)
2. WE ARE COMING HOME (Gapophone, 1975)
3. GYAE SU (Nakasi Records, 1978)
4. MEWO AKOMA (Sankofa, 1980)
5. AWURADE MPAEBO (Gapophone, 1976)
6. ODO A ME DO WOYI (JAP Records, 1986)
This one's for the open-minded crate diggers and sample chasers amongst us. Wax Poetics has just published a massive story on Portland 80s schmooze supergroun Nu Shooz, charting the band's course from R&B obscurity to synth-pop with the sort of diligence and verve that is their very M.O. To accompany the article (which you can read in full here), they've put together a mixtape of some of the group's most essential songs, and it's a strange, sepia-tinged delight. Picture a melodramatic highway scene from an 80s movie you've forgotten the name of and you'll be able to fit these tones into your day just right. Read more about the mixtape over at WaxPo.
Tracklist (all songs by Nu Shooz):
1. “Someone Is Calling” [Unreleased] 1983
2. “Don’t Turn Back” B-side to “I Can’t Wait” 7-inch (Poolside Records) 1985
3. “Minor Yours” Can’t Turn It Off (Nebula Circle Records) 1982
4. “Caught in the Wheels” Can’t Turn It Off (Nebula Circle) 1982
5. “Free to Be” Can’t Turn It Off (Nebula Circle) 1982
6. “Make Your Mind Up” B-side to “Goin’ Too Far” 7-inch (Poolside) 1985
7. “I Can’t Wait (Original Extended Mix)” Pride of Portland compilation LP (Z100 Radio) 1985
8. “Should I Say Yes? (Mantronik Bassapella Remix)” 12-inch (Atlantic Records) 1988
9. “Time Will Tell (Frankie Knuckles Late Night Club Remix)” 12-inch (Atlantic) 1992
10. “Don’t Let Me Be the One” Poolside (Atlantic) 1986
11. “The Truth (ft. Maceo Parker)” B-side to “Are Your Looking For Somebody Nu” 12-inch (Atlantic) 1988
12. “Anytime (Instrumental) (Bobby D Edit)” [Unreleased] 2015
13. “Stop Pretending” Kung Pao Kitchen [self-released] 1991/2012
Britain's Boca 45 (aka Scott Hendy) threw down a sufficiently vivrant live set on Amsterdam's Red Light Radio, seamlessly hopping from break to break to break, getting our heads moving in a way that only drums can. Hendy gave a brief interview before throwing down the funk, and you can either listen to it in the player below or skip ahead to 4:45 in order to get straight to the music.
Yes, it's certainly summer, but one can't live on bright vibes alone. For the final mix in this week's roundup we're taking things in a more nocturnal direction with Seangran's latest "Stay Cool" set, a mix of forward-leaning R&B that's sure to have Dilla heads gently nodding in approval. Producer greats du jour like Knxlwedge, Ta-Ku and Freddie Joachim all make appearances in a set that's the perfect nightcap to a long, bright summer evening. That's all for us this week. Until next time, keep moving to it.
Tracklist:
1. Knxwledge – Keepin[Sunliteintro]
2. Suhnraw – Higher
3. Melodiesinfonie – Positive Vibes
4. [STB.] -stan the beatsmith. – EarlySpring, EarlySummer
5. Jublet – Theme
6. Yesterday's New Quintet – Little Girl (Dakotas Song)
7. Ta-Ku – S(a)d
8. Evil Needle – Assembly
9. XXYYXX – Bill Gates (Ism. edit)
10. Mndsgn – greendowns wit 0.
11. Apollo Brown – Blue Ruby
12. Suhnraw – Eight
13. MSRD▲GR∑∆T – The Days, The Weeks, The Months.
14. Dutchy & oriJanus – EerieNght!
15. Dibia$e – Deep Winter
16. Chief – Chamber
17. Dutchmassive – The Eraser Part 2 (TheUnderwaterSequel)
18. Freddie Joachim – Suzie
19. Virtual Flannel – Never Die
20. Nicolay – 17 On Ice
21. Ash Walker – Flight of the pelican
22. Damu The Fudgemunk – Rather Unique 2 - Instro 2005
23. Theory Hazit – Reflections
24. Tom Misch – In A Special Way
25. Ackryte – 30
26. Maverick Soul – Inner Vision
27. Cosmic Compositions – The Pilots // Q & A
28. ShunGu – Life Easy
29. Shlohmo – My Drum Loop Is Stuck In Molasses
30. Lord Finesse – Gameplan
31. Diamond District – I Mean Business (Instrumental)
32. Denaun Porter – sAd N a MoFo
33. Nick Wiz – Four Elements
34. Soul Supreme Presents – Hardcore Shit
35. Crakk Nicholson – t.c.o.
36. World Supreme Funky Fellows 2102 – #1 Dub
37. Fat Jon – Losing You
38. The Long Lost – Woebegone (Flying Lotus' Luckiest Charm mix)