Medium

In their day they worked and remixed some of the times most popular artists and were true innovators and mixing pioneers. The Latin Rascals were New York DJ Albert Cabrera and Record Shop Employee Tony Moran and appeared on the scene hosting a series of “continuous mix” radio shows on local New York stations like WKTU and KISS FM. As they developed their sound they took in aspects of electro, freestyle, R & B, disco and hip hop.[1] Stylus’ The Bluffer’s Guide to Freestyle gives us further insight on their sound:

Using a quarter-inch reel-to-reel machine, the Rascals would physically cut the original reel-to-reel master tape numerous times with a razor blade, and then piece things back together the way with splicing tape. It was a very time consuming process, but it resulted in a highly-precise set of stuttering loops, odd drop-outs, arrhythmic breakdowns, and abrupt, seemingly random edits.

Edited on 6/15/08
The original files were taken down, so I’ve uploaded them for download. Enjoy!

Latin Rascals on WKTU NY 1985 Part 1
Download

Latin Rascals on WKTU NY 1985 Part 2
Download

Latin Rascals on 98.7 kiss fm 1985 Part 1
Download

Latin Rascals on 98.7 kiss fm 1985 Part 2
Download

Links
The Bluffer’s Guide To Freestyle

[1] Gill, Michael F. “The Bluffer’s Guide to Freestyle.” Stylus. 13 Aug. 2007. 4 June 2008 .

Mos Def ft. T Money Green - Travelin’ Man

Universoul Productions presents what they expect to be a summertime hip hop staple. For one, to make it sound like summer you can’t go wrong with soul sample heavy production, especially when it’s the sounds of the one and only Al Green. Mix in a bit of Mos Def, The Pharcyde, Ghost, Meth and others and you got a solid remix project. I personally feel that to really give this piece some more soul they could have remixed some songs from southern artists but ya can’t complain (too much). Go over to the Universoul Productions blog to get a little more insight on the production and a backstory on how the project came together. Peace

Download
THE GREEN ALBUM (produced by Omer Saar).zip (sendspace)
THE GREEN ALBUM (produced by Omer Saar).zip (megaupload)
THE GREEN ALBUM (produced by Omer Saar) (sharebee)

Links
Universoul Productions
Stay True Philadelphia

Artwork by Bill Kamphausen

Sketch ft. Mina - The World Is Yours prod. by J Scrilla

Some the areas up and coming hip hop artists have remixed (sort of) a hip hop classic. I knew they had performed this live last week but did not know it was going to be available online. I did not find out about the project and event until the day before so wasn’t able to make it out, but I am aware that Inner Loop has been putting together beat battle that include live beat making for quite some time now. I think word still hasn’t gotten out as much as it could to the general public but overall its a pretty good idea and good for publicity.

From just one listen over I can say that this is really not a remix album in the true sense but more of a remix/recreation/homage to Illmatic. Some songs are more Mos Def doing a Slick Rick ala “Children’s Story” while others seem much more like a completely different song than the original. Recreating a classic definitely seems like risky business but overall I think it’s worth a listen. DMV is definitely doing big things, can’t say this is as accessible as other things the area is putting out but definitely something that fans of hip hop can respect and enjoy.

Download
Illmatic Remix Full Album

Hero & Rad ft. Mike & Ike - Smoothness, Coolness

Nice smoothed out track for your weekend. Originally posted on the HoustonHipHop.com forums, had a slow day today so decided to make a little something for this track. Mike tells me that Hero & Rad have a coming out soon, maybe they have a bit more information for us, either way the track is good. I don’t have much more information on these Hero and Rad guys, outside of the fact that they’ve recorded some songs with Mike and Ike and that they’re from Houston. Either way, good to see Houston and Austin artist working on something new, going to have to wait to see what else comes of these collaborations.

Download
Smoothness, Coolness.mp3

Links
Mike & Ike on MySpace
Hero on MySpace
Rad on MySpace

Designer and musician Scott Hansen (Iso50) has just released his limited edition print for the Obama campaign and is available at the campaign’s site with all proceeds going towards the campaign. Taken from the Obama site, Scott tells us:

“I see Barack Obama as a leader who can inspire people to effect change and who himself can effect change. As an artist, it was only natural for me to want to create something that visually echoed these sentiments. I wanted to create an image that evoked the ideals I feel are central to our needs at this critical time in history: change, progress and hope. Because Barack Obama represents all three of these things to me, I felt compelled to express that through my work.”

The piece stands at 23×40 and is a limited edition of 5000. Scott is one of my favorite artists and one of my biggest inspirations so, of you’re not familiar with his work, you need to be. He also has a new song entitled Adrift under his Tycho pseudonym out on iTunes today,  check out the clip on his site.

Links
Iso50
Artists For Obama Series
Tycho