Beats, Rhymes, (& the love of my) Life - Pipomixes
Dre Day Tape - Mixed by Pipomixes
I stopped doing “Best of” mixes years ago, but I do enjoy the challenge of getting creative within the box of a theme. I like to take the margins of that box, rework them, and create something original. That’s what I did here. All the source material is related to Dr. Dre. However, it’s mixed, reworked, and repurposed to create something new. The chaos of the uprising of 1992 to 808 drum beats and G-Funk melodies. Add some stoned out sugar and spices and you get this. Enjoy.
SP-444 - Mixed by Pipomixes
I saw this J. Rocc video (youtu.be/Hpmkd6Je4b8?si=KpEQUTGEoQyxQOJN) on 404 Day a few years back and got inspired. Mixed some beats from one of the 404 kings (Ras G), blended it with acapellas and drops from the 444 rapper, ran it all through the 404 efx machine, and then added some stony spices. Here you go.... Enjoy
4:O (Standing in Line at the SV Show) - Liner Notes
July 4th, 2025 would have been Omega:NYC's 47th birthday. I want to send this out into the world on his birthday, but like I tend to do with finished mixes; I held onto this for reasons unexplained.
I dropped my tribute mix to my fallen friend several months back (you can read the original write-up here). At the time, I promised to provide liner notes to give broader context to all the track selections used in the mix, musical inside jokes, backstories, etc. Here is the promised liner notes. I hope it helps bring my tribute mix to my friend to life for you.
Liner Notes
0 to approx 3:10 - You'll Know When You Get There/Fanstastic/Missing You Interlude/O Voicemails - I met O standing in line at Slum Village's Fanstastic,Vol. 2 album release party. The sample for SV's Fantastic is used to set a somber tone for the tribute mix that was made too late, for which the need was too soon. The scratched-in drops come from the intro to Biggie's Missing You (also a tribute) where Biggie discusses the death of his friend he referred to as 'O.' Other drops come from voicemails left by O (Omega:NYC). Fantastic sample (You'll Know When You Get There) is then blended into the Fantastic instrumental and song to set the bed for the mix.
Approx 3:10-4:07 - Workinonit/Fantastic blend. - I bought Donuts on the February 10th, 2010; the day Dilla passed away. I recall it was a Friday because I bought the album at Tower Records on my way to work. At that time, I was very young in my teaching career, and I taught a Friday night class. The kind of class nobody was willing to teach unless you were a young upstart willing to teach any day at any time. With Friday traffic, my commute was never any less than two yours to campus. I'll admit that I wasn't really feeling Dilla's new sound at that time. I can't tell you how many times I passed over the bootleg copies of Rough Draft that were always in the bins at Amoeba and Aaron's Records circa 2003-2006. After hearing of Dilla's passing earlier in the day online, I made a special trip to Tower Records near my parent's house (who were lending me their car for the long commute to work) to find some Dilla for the drive. I didn't even know Donuts was released a few days earlier. I'll admit that I wasn't specifically looking for Donuts that day. I'm not even sure what I was looking for. I do remember seeing the distinctive Donuts cover art (with the cartoonish yellow donut) for the first time. I thought, no way! I couldn't believe there was a new Dilla album coinciding with his death. It reminded me of how 2pac's Makaveli dropped just a few weeks after his death.
I immediately bought the classic instrumental album and slid it into the CD deck. Workinonit is the second track on the album, but for all intents and purposes; it's the first real song on the album. It sounded like nothing I had every heard before. I vividly remember calling O from the car to play the beat for him. I must have played that beat back 15 times before we resumed our conversation. The Workinonit beat loudly stated, this album is on some different shit! I recall O and I chopping it up the rest of the car ride to work that day, and I played the rest of Donuts on the way home. I recall that conversation every time I hear Workinonit and the exhilarating feeling I had at the time that I was about to hear something new and innovative.
Approx 4:07-6:25 - Workinonit/Tramp/Show Me the Good Life blend - I tried my best to include as many UBB records as possible. As extensive as his record collection was, O was most proud of having the complete collection of UBB releases. Tramp is then blended with Madlib's interpretation on his tribute to Dilla from Beat Konducta, Vol. 5-6, then played to the song's outro creating an interlude which allowed for a tempo switch.
Approx 6:25-8:04 - Wish That I Could Talk to You/Mighty Healthy - O had an original copy of the relatively rare Mighty Healthy 12" which included the instrumental and acapella. He would regularly taunt me with this record lol I blended Mighty Healthy with its sample source and freaked it a little bit as a homage to the decades long taunt between he and I.
Approx 8:04-11:10 - Mighty Health/Fanstastic/Tonz'O'Gunz/Heaven and Hell - Heaven and Hell might be my favorite record from the UBB series so I had to find a way to incorporate it into the mix. We were both big fans of Gang Starr like any true head, particularly Hard to Earn. I took another UBB staple (Isaac Haye's Breakthrough) and blended it with its sampled interpretation (Tonz 'O' Gunz), through it all in the blender and made something funky.
Approx 11:10-12:00 - Breakthrough/I'm Gonna Love You.../No Ideas Original - When Nas dropped No Ideas Original we were both amped for what Lost Tapes had in store. We hoped Lost Tapes would be the return of Nasty Nas, and No Ideas Original certainly had us believing. Lost Tapes had its moments, but it wasn't Illmatic or even It Was Written. However, that didn't stop up from endlessly rocking doubles of No Ideas... circa 2002. Given it's sample of Barry White's I'm Gonna Love You... in UBB 21, it was a no brainer to include.
Approx 12:00-12:40 - I'm Gonna Love You/Impeach the President/Top Billin'/I Know I Can/Misdemeanor/Getting Funky - A lot going on this 40 seconds of multi-track blending! It starts with the classic break from Barry White's I'm Gonna Love You and then blends into the UBB break of all UBB breaks, Impeach the President. A few classic joints that sampled the drums from Impeach the President are teased into the mix. Props to Salaam Remi for the I Can beat. O could be a finicky head. He was tough to impress. I remember him calling me late one Friday night when he first heard the I Can beat incorporating the drums from Impeach the President with Beethoven's piano. That was always my metric. If it impressed O, it was dope.
Approx 12:40-16:44 - Misdemeanor/Getting Funky/Push It/Let Me Ride/Kissing My Love/Mothership Connection/Fantastic/You'll Know When You Get There - The mix climaxes as Misdemeanor blends into Impeach the President and then the classic Dre/DOC beat (Getting Funky) is teased over the blend. Another UBB classic (Push It) is then brought into the mix to downshift the mood toward a more somber end. Sticking with the UBB theme, Dre's Let Me Ride's drum source (Kissing My Love) is seamlessly blended into the medley. The foundation is then paved for Let Me Ride's more known sample source, Mothership Connection to join the tribute. Of course that's where O has now gone, to the Mothership. Mothership Connection is then paired with the bed throughout the mix, Slum Village's Fanstastic. As fate would have it, the classic Dilla beat masterfully samples Herbie Hancock's You'll Know When You Get There. I'll see you when I get there good friend. I hope the mix did justice to how much you taught me about music.
SLO(W)TOWN Tape - Pipomixes
Motown themed mix filled with classic Motown joints, their sampled interpretations, and top shelf mixing like they just don’t do anymore.
4:O (Standing in Line at the SV Show)
I met Omega:NYC in June of 2000 while standing in line at Slum Village’s “Fantastic Vol 2” album release party/concert. As I’ve mentioned before, the El Rey Theatre was 70% full at best that night. All the Dilla Stans of the last 20 years were nowhere to be found that evening. In fact, Dilla was also nowhere to be found at the show.
At that time, O had just moved out to LA from his native NYC. He had yet to move his turntables and records out here and was reduced to using pause tapes to communicate his musical fix.
I was standing behind him in line by pure chance. Like a typical New Yorker, he was wearing his backpack filled with a stash of pause tapes ready to play for a deserving ear. The bouncers told him his backpack wasn’t allowed inside the venue. I agreed to hold his spot in line while he put his backpack in his car, and we were friends from that moment forward.
He invited himself over to my house the next day as soon as I told him I had a pair of turntables. Though I had been deejaying for years at that point, I was on the verge of quitting and selling my turntables when I met O. I was wack and wasn’t getting any better. Keep in mind that this was pre-YouTube and being able to watch all the tutorial videos that are now available to anyone who wants to learn.
O coming over to my house for the first time changed everything for me. For the first time, I could actually see a dope DJ do their thing and get a look behind the curtain. From this point forward I started to improve and ultimately master my instrument.
O was the essence of Hip Hop, and he was the essence of NYC. He gladly shared all his knowledge with me and I soaked it all up. Some people can draw. Other people can play the piano. My instrument is two turntables, a mixer, records, and knowledge of music. I have Omega:NYC to thank for all that. For the last 25+ years, my turntables have been my therapy.
As playlists replaced the mix(tape), the only ones left listening to mixes became fellow DJs (not a very large audience). In the end, mixtapes have always been a FUBU (for us, by us) type of thing. More specifically for me; I always made my mixes with O in mind. I knew he’d be the only one to notice all the subtleties. I knew he’d be the only one who would call me to say things like; “that blend you did at 3:14 was fire! How’d you do that?” He was like a proud father.
O died in February 2024 after a one year battle with pancreatic cancer. With his passing, I didn’t just lose one of my best friends; I lost my love for music. Instead of music being a refuge, it became a source of pain.
This is my tribute mix for O that I finished a few months ago. It’s filled with all sorts of musical inside jokes between us that only he’d understand. I’m going to provide some linear notes in a few weeks explaining all the song selections and their respective meanings. For now, I’ll just let the music do the talking.
It’s a shame O will never hear this mix because it was made for him. It took me way too long to make this. 2024 was the most chaotic year of my life and O’s passing made it all the more difficult for me to seek refuge from that chaos in music.
As I started to heal from the wounds of 2024 toward the latter stages of the year; I slowly worked my way back into my home studio and back onto my turntables. This mix isn’t just a thank you letter to O, but it’s also proof of my healing.
R.I.P. Omega:NYC:
Future Shock
As promised, another mix released into the universe that was collecting too much dust. Last mix I'll release in 2024, and then I'll start 2025 (late January) by letting go of the tribute mix I made for Omega:NYC (RIP).
The O tribute mix (Standing in Live at the SV Show) is actually the most recent mix I've made (completed two months ago). I'll follow that up with more mixes from the vault, followed by some new mixes I'm putting the finishing touches on.
As far as this "Future Shock" mix: it's a Death Row mix, stoned-out, with extended multi-track blends. Some of the blends are so in pocket that the untrained ear probably won't even hear the blend. As always, a lot of effort went into creating this mix. Hope you enjoy.
91 Fix - Mixed by Pipomixes
Stoned-out mix where all the songs blended together have some common element (shared sample, vocal drop, lyrics, etc.). Multi-track mix blended to the level of the 91 Rebels.
Blended Blunts - Pipomixes
Sitting on way too many mixes. Life got in the way a little bit, but that's no excuse for not releasing the mixes collecting dust in the vault. Many more on the way. Hope you enjoy.
Burn some blunts. Blend some blends. Slow it down. Hear how it ends…
86 Accord Coup - Mixed by Pipomixes
Titled "86 Accord Coup" because that is the car my brother had as he would drive me around before I was old enough to drive. I was fortunate to have a brother who was not too embarrassed to allow his little brother to tag along while he would do all the "cool" things 18-22 year olds do. All the music in the mix was music that would be regularly played in his car as he would drive me around. My brother was never a big music guy, but he had a BMG subscription at the time where he'd get random CDs every month of an eclectic array of music. That's how I recall hearing PE and the Beatnuts for the first time. Our neighbor died and left the car to my brother. We never figured out why. Fast forward 6-7 years where I decided to take the car out alone and teach myself how to drive stick. The car did not survive that day lol My brother is still mad at me about that. Enjoy the mix!
Tres Campeao - Pipomixes
World Cup is now underway. Brasil's first game is Thursday. I don't enjoy the WC. For me, it's a month of suffering that only ends well if Brasil lifts the cup at the end. I've been fortunate enough to experience that twice in my lifetime (94 and 02). The other WCs have lead to heartbreak and depression for a few days. Brasil is a favorite to win every WC per usual. However, being a favorite and lifting the copa are two different things. This isn't a WC mix, but there are drops from the 70 WC because Brasil 70 is considered the greatest team ever. Mix is actually inspired by Quasimoto. With Adventures of Quas; Madlib basically made an album mixing his favorite things; records, Sun Ra, and Melvin Van Pebbles. I took the same basic elements and added my favorite thing; Brasil futbol. Enjoy
Anderson Hunt Tape - Mixed by Pipomixes
Went through my vinyl collection and put aside everything that couldn't be found on any DSP; stonied it up; and then made a funky 4-track mega mix.
The Dust Mix - Mixed by DJ ADA
The award for first mix who gets a post on the blog in 2022 goes to DJ ADA! ADA is simply taking his mixes to another level. Highly Recommended.
Psychosis - Mixed by Pipomixes
Tripped-out movie scenes. Tripped-out beats. Tripped out blends. Enjoy.
Important Blog Announcement
As some of you may have already picked up on; I've taken to posting mixes on my Twitter account. A variety of factors have motivated this experiment. One, it's just easier for me to tweet mixes and share them from my twitter account. Two, there's a lot more traffic on social media than there is on blogs these days.
The blog will remain active. Going forward I'll use the blog for editorials, along with promoting the most elite of elite mixes. Consider it a new category more prestigious than the Highly Recommended label. My hope is that this change will keep me spreading mixes, and continue to preserve and celebrate the art form of the mixtape.
Fugees: The Score 25th Anniversary Mix Vol.1 - Mixed by DJ Filthy Rich
Celebrating 25 years of Fugees classic LP 'The Score' with a mix of rarities, remixes, blends + original samples. One of the reasons I liked this album was the fusion of dancehall reggae & island culture, so I took it a step further and added Cutty Ranks, Mad Lion, Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Born Jamericans & Kulcha Don to the mix. Vol.2 coming soon... SOCIALS: www.instagram.com/djfilthyrich/ twitter.com/djfilthyrich416 www.facebook.com/DJ-Filthy-Rich-572216909601122/ www.youtube.com/user/djfilthyrich1/videos
Pullin from the Stacks - Episode 180 (School Band Records) - DJ Ian Head
This past weekend I hit up Egon's store Rappcats where DJ Shadow was selling some of his vast collection. I missed the opening day but snuck in and out on Sunday with a random high school band record, featuring a nice cover of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower" as well as some original tunes. That record reminded me I'd been wanting to do a school band episode of Pullin for awhile now, so it was a good inspiration to dig through my crate of very random college and high school music for a couple of my favorites. You never know what you're getting with these records - so many are poor quality recordings or cheesy renditions, but among the many there are some real gems. Hope you dig.
Joints & Jams w/ Beat Pete - Episode 20 - November 2021
Just an absolutely incredible mix. Highly Recommended.
Straight Funk Mix - Mixed by J. Rocc
Straight Funk & Soul Mix from a few 45s that I played while on tour with Peanut Butter Wolf in September.
Shout out to the folks in Chicago and Grand Rapids. Also have to shout out to the Soul Summit Crew and The Grand Rapids Soul Club.
BADBADNOTGOOD MIX
https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/badbadnotgood-26th-october-2021/