Damn things are getting real with the net as ever before. If you haven’t yet noticed Megaupload, the greatest and least ad-ridden file hosting site has been seized by the powers that be. This is a big problem and not just for Swizz Beatz’z's barber. You see, Megaup was the principle host for the many mix tapes and compilations that I’ve posted on this site over the years. So I’ve taken to reupping everything in the very loosely dubbed CB Mix Series on Mediafire, which hopefully will not be crushed by a government that desperately wants to control what it doesn’t understand in the near future. It might be wise to grab these while you can. Hit the jump for a dozen tapes of Bounce, Based, Bass, Cranks and much more. (more…)

Bounce For Relief: The Best Of New Orleans Bounce Vol. 2

Today seems like an appropriate day to drop the long delayed follow up to this, one of the more popular compilations in the site’s history. The first volume dropped in the wake of Katrina and was a general primer on the very slept on New Orleans bounce sound. Here we veer into the gangsta bounce of early Cash Money and another of the stronger labels from that era – Pack. It’s also bookended by two proto-bounce tracks Gregory D & Mannie Fresh’s “Buck Jump Time” and the J Ro J’s brass band “Buck Jump” knock off “Let’s Jump.” Like the first the song selection consists of mostly classics with a few lesser known titles sprinkled in. Sorry about the crackle and fuzz on some tracks, you know how it goes. Please continue to support New Orleans in any way you can. Track listing after the second line jump. (more…)

You, the reader, asked for a Based Freestyles compilation and now ye shall receive. Cocaineblunts.com is for the people. Next week I’m giving you all free healthcare.

Back in June I had a chance to kick it with The Based God himself. His kitten, Keke, bit my hand while we listened to Nuno Canavarro. I was also passed no less than seven hundred songs and freestyles from the based archives, so this will hopefully be the first in a long series. (more…)

Straight up, Atlanta is the most important hip hop city of at least the past decade but little to no national attention is given to the first wave of emcees the city was producing in the late 80s/early 90s. (Look at this dismal wiki.) So here goes.

This is not a random rap compilation. There are a couple lesser known tracks on here, mostly fillers, but the vast majority of these tracks are certified classics from local legends. I’m on the outside looking in here, basing most of my knowledge on dollar bin records and such but hopefully my A-Town heads should be able to confirm this. Kilo/Raheem/Sammy Sam/Shy-D were more or less the Jeezy/TI/Gucci/Shawty Los of their era. (Tell me that Kilo’s “The Piz“* was not an influence on his Bowen Homes brethren Shawty Lo.) In fact many of these records could provide a historical perspective on why certain critically maligned A-Town rappers – Fabo**, Gucci – rap the way they do. Flow wasn’t all the current generation inherited – they also picked up on some old school producers (Toomp) and a penchant for bickering. Roughly one in four tracks on here is a diss to another artist on the tape. But then again what would a local rap scene be without such beef?

It would be nice if someone sat down and wrote a thorough history of all this. Until then it’s just bits and pieces. And, now, this tape. Tracklisting under the hop. (more…)

The Guidelines: A West Coast Indie Rap Compilation ’94-’00

Last week Bfred ^[1] put up a pretty great overview the late 90s backpack era that had me flashing back to gortons fisherman caps and provided a self contained compilation for my ipod so I no longer have to scroll past “L-Fudge” every time I want to hear some La Monte Young. As great as it is to have CDQs of “5 Star Generals” and “Repetition” Bfred’s mix was notably lacking on the west coast side of things, featuring only a single Dilated Peoples track.^[2] So to compliment I zipped up a bunch of West Coast indies from around the same era. (more…)