Mercury Kush - Pipomixes

The Kush series is back in full effect! In fact, I've got two other mixes in the pipeline that will also be additions to the Kush series. The concept behind this mix dates back a few years to when I was reading Brian Coleman's Check the Technique book. In the linear notes of all our favorite classic hip hop albums, I remember being surprised to read how Dr. Dre's production on Straight Outta Compton heavily influenced Q-Tip's production on Low End Theory. In turn, Dre also explained that hearing Low End Theory forced him to one-up Q-Tip's production on The Chronic. A few years later, I also remember reading an article in Wax Poetics about how heavily influenced Dr. Dre was by the production of The Bomb Squad, and vice versa. All of that got me to thinking that the It Takes a Nation..., The Chronic, and The Low End Theory albums were all game changers in terms of the hip hop production landscape. Then I started thinking about what recent album really served to change the production landscape, when I concluded that the album had to be none other than Dilla's Donuts. Though all four albums have a very different sound, I was amazed how well the four album blended together.

As many of you know, the whole idea of the Kush series is a takeoff from Dre's Chronic album. During the recording of The Chronic, "chronic" became a term in the studio that was synonymous with some "next level" ish. Borrowing from that train of thought, I created the Kush series for mixes that sound a little "different." In the spirit of the "kush," I concluded that mixing together four albums that altered the production paradigm would be an appropriate return to the Kush series. Originally, the mix was going to be titled It Takes the Chronic and Low End Donuts to Hold Us Back, but I decided that Mercury Kush was better. Hope you all enjoy the mix.

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