Mixtape Massacre

I remember sometime between ’92 and ’93 my homeboy and DJ went to Pittsburgh to visit family for a couple of weeks, and came back with this crazy tape of these cats on some serious hood shit with this song called “Trapped in Homewood”. Apparently, they were Bloods from the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, which is just a small part of the equation. Besides them banging on wax, they jacked the “Dwyck” beat from Nice and Smooth and Gangstarr, slowed it down, put some drums on it, and sampled what I think was Tupac saying trapped for the hook with gunshots and other crazy stuff in the background. We rocked that tape to death until it mysteriously came up missing like most of the underground tapes we had.

They definitely had us in the pocket with that which is the power of the mix tape-keeping in contact with the streets. I don’t mean the streets as in every mix tape is pure gangster, but artist have the ability to relax on the industry water down and do some of the things that got them into the industry, or get noticed by the industry. The perfect example of that is 50 Cent. Some people hate him now and are sick of hearing him and some people love him like when he first came out. In the past couple of years, some of his videos and singles haven’t been my favorites, but his mix tapes stay in heavy rotation in the streets and I suppose provide decent money in between albums. French Montana was killing ‘em with the Coke Waves. It’s too bad Max B isn’t here right now to enjoy the success of it, I hope things work out for him though. The Affiliates got Atlanta poppin’ on the national mix tape seen but before that, DJ Jelly of the Oomp Camp held it down. In the Chicago you got the Drama Ward, CWall, and others that drop stuff that usually keep up their regional presence.

I just like the grit and hunger when artists are letting it out on wax for the absolute love of the music and to be appreciated by fans that don’t have Sound Scan numbers and radio play on their minds although radio has played a significant role in promoting the mix tape movement in the past few years. Prominent DJ’s like Whoo Kid, DJ Drama, K Slay, and Green Lantern not only sponsor volumes of mix tapes, but also have slots on major radio stations that keep us interested with exclusive songs, remixes and collaborations with artists that may never get a chance to work together under a label circumstance. Green Lantern put out “Pablo Doe” with Styles P, Uncle Murda, and Noreaga which is still one of my favorites. I remember riding through Newark and almost breaking my neck I was nodding so hard. It’s tidbits like those that keep my Hip Hop battery charged. We just need to make sure that the mix tape scene doesn’t get as diluted as the industry is due to the record execs attempting to cash in on what we make hot, and advise on what’s hot after the fact that they didn’t want to touch it in the beginning. That’s the same way they took over and altered Hip Hop in the first place, which has its pros and cons, but that’s another topic. I say support your favorite artists and Dj’s and pick up those mix tapes and help make some noise outside of the industry and keep things moving. And somebody please put me down on sown on some West Coast siht. As always, TELL SOMEBODY!