REWINDING WITH DJ PLATURN

PHOTO CREDIT:  COURTESY OF DJ PLATURN

Every morning for the past few months, I've been starting my day by getting on the net and googling cassettes.  I do so to keep my antennas up on the Tape game.  Everyday is a new discovery, whether it's a documentary coming out, a new cassette release or something tape related.  Most of the time I'll find stuff like phone cases, books, T-shirts and even toys.

Every once in awhile, I'll find something notable.  I stumbled upon this video from the Wall Street Journal titled "Miss the Hiss."  The video starts with DJ Platurn in his garage popping in a Nas Illmatic tape and playing "Halftime."  This was when I learned that he was still diggin' for tapes.  I've known about the Oakland DJ and even caught a few of his DJ sets in LA.  Platurn is known for rocking crowds all over the globe and has shared the stage with legends like Krs-One, DJ Premier, Slick Rick, Zion-I, M.F. Doom and Pete Rock.  I knew that I had to get in touch with him to chop it up.  Thanks to technology, we were able to connect with one of the busiest DJ's in the game...

TAPE RELEASE: JUELS - TRIP TO THE MOON

Our good compadre Juels is back at it again.  He hit us earlier this year with his beat tape called "BREAK BREAD" which we had a chance to share.  It's always good to hear that folks are still putting out some quality music and even better when it's on cassette.  I mean, if it ain't on cassette...don't call it a beat tape right?  Of course you can cop the digital version as well.  Once again, being backed by the good fellas at Forty Ounce Gold Creative Group and 100 Akres, this tape will definitely take you on a trip.  A trip to the moon to be exact!  If your ears get tingled by chunky drums and clever chops then this shouldn't be missed.  The cassette is limited to 30 copies so move fast or you'll be stuck here on earth while the rest of us are vibin' in outerspace.


Peep more photos and music after the jump

RUNNIN' & FIGHTIN'

It's no mystery that The Pharcyde as group had a lot of creative differences.  Stories of Fatlip and Slim Kid Tre arguing over the making of Runnin' is a story that's been told a few times.  I remember first reading about it on the Stones Throw blog in an article titled "The Story behind some of J-Dilla's greatest productions."  It's a trip to hear it coming from the artists themselves.  Check out what Dilla has to say about it after the jump...

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL

I remember Jeru as being one of the most outspoken MC's during Hip Hop's decline in the mid 90's.  While self-proclaiming himself as Hip-Hop's proverbial prophet and savior, he spoke out against all the industry fuckery that came in the form of shiny suits, mediocre lyricism and fascination with materialism.  

DJ LORD RON MIXTAPE #43

We featured DJ Lord Ron awhile back as one of our first features.  I got an email from him a few weeks back with this mix.  I recorded it straight to cassette and been bumpin' it regularly in the whip.   I know, I know...u don't have got a tape deck anymore.  All good, just listen to the mix.  Word...

GROUP HOME - SUPA STAR

Without a doubt, this is my favorite Premier track of all time. The way he chopped the Cameo sample and flipped the Funky President drums can never be duplicated. On top of that, he kills it with the minimal scratch sentence "So what tha fuck yall?! Movin' on up..." I remember hearing my boys capping on Group Home's lyrical skills but honestly...I can't hear anybody else on these beats. Guru said it well, "It's mostly the voice..." There's something about Lil Dap's raspy vocals that just sounds right over Primo's chunky drums and precise chops.

The first time I heard this was from my older brother. He borrowed it from a friend and dubbed it onto a grey Maxell cassette. We played that shit straight for a whole summer. Just Supa Star on repeat.

REWINDING WITH DJ food stamp

PHOTO CREDITS:  ZANE RITT

This time we are taking it up to the Pacific Northwest to chop it up with DJ food stamp.  You might be familiar with his Mixtape series for Undergroundhiphop.com.  As a DJ, he digs and recovers many things in the field.  12" lp's, 45's,  dj mixers, turntables, sealed cassettes and even funk 8-tracks.  We recently saw his impressive collection online and there was no question about what we had to do next.  Wait til you see what he has.  Just like all of our past features, foodstamp is a busy man with some great projects going on in addition to holding down the tables.

One of those projects includes an all comprehensive website called DJPEDIA.ORG  You can anticipate this site being the go to resource for DJ History and research.   Please make sure you check out what he is doing with the first DJ Encyclopedia.  So big ups to foodstamp for taking the time to rewind with us and pay tribute to the medium of Hip Hop's Golden Era..-