NEW MIXTAPE: The Best of The Beastie Boys

DOWNLOAD THE MIXTAPE HERE. (or get the iPhone version w/ability to skip through tracks)

“M-Rock can cleverly re-imagine the music without doing a disservice to a sacred legacy.” – MTV Hive

MTV wrote a great article on this mix for their “Mix of the Week” section, here it is. Pam Grier (actress from Foxy Brown, Koffy and Jackie Brown) tweeted the tape saying “DJ’s have a creative place in music evolution, pop cultural definitions and inspiration. Yay! Hugs.

I dropped a mixtape on Friday called “Keys Over Kanye” and nobody cared. Then, I read the MCA had passed, felt so sad but the hustler in me kept pushing my new tape. After a few hours, I realized promo-ing my shit was selfish, and had to look into maybe doing a best of beasties. It’s only right. Mixtapes come together well when you actually love the artist. RIP MCA aka Adam Yauch and much respect to the Beasties. They went from being the most offensive group when I was 2 feet tall to playing tonnes of instruments and having a long career. This group was old school when the word old school didn’t exist – messy but banging production, a tonne of samples, sillyness inserted everywhere, and lots of that old 70s funk. I’ve had little sleep over the past few days because I committed to getting this out, so I’m going to depart from paragraphs and go into bullets…brrrrap. Here’s a few highlights of the Beastie Boys:

• Never recorded one record to be mainstream yet were the biggest thing when they came out: Their debut was the first hip hop album ever to go #1 on the Billboard 200.
• MCA was the freshest in the group – his voice was super ill, and although he wasn’t as energetic as Ad Rock, he delivered that cool but rugged voice nicely everytime. The other 2 occasionally annoy me, but on stage, they hold it down better than MCA in my opinion.
• These guys are humble. They’re legends yet they still talk about having studios to work in as a blessing and that rapping is their dream.
• Paul Revere is Run from Run DMC’s idea. He came late to the studio, so they were waiting outside for him and then he shows up, screaming out the words. What an amazing story.
• They’re the original hipsters, except it’s not a trend, they’re dressing or acting a certain way, because they are grown kids and really don’t give a **** what ppl think.
• When they did “Get it together” with Q-Tip (whose favourite album is “Paul’s Boutique” btw)., nobody could front on them – that was a DJ Premier level beat with a nasty hook…10/10. Turns out the break is real mooged out on some uptempo Dilla shit.
• When DJs were obsolete, they brought out Mix Master Mike at the MTV Awards in 1997 and destroyed it with him – Rappers don’t really support hip-hop culture like this, and usually if they do, they’re soft. They actually killed that gig.
• There’s not enough time, there’s so much I can say about these guys.
• Lastly, even though they haven’t been in their prime for a while, it’s sad to see MCA go, and probably take the band with him. When their music is on, it’s fun, it’s conscious, it’s innovative and always classic still. RIP MCA and enjoy the mix.
• The mix is an hour long, and somehow I got it done in 3 days. I’m kind of a monster with the Macbook, I can’t front, so don’t front.
• Now that I did my due diligence, get my “Keys Over Kanye” tape that I dropped on Friday. It’s Alicia Keys’ vocals over Kanye Beats and together they sound incredible. Trust me, get it.
• Illustration by Dan Santat.

Tracklisting

1. M-Rock’s Intro
2. An Open Letter To Nyc
3. Too Many Rappers ft. Nas
4. B-Boys Makin’ With The Freak Freak
5. Stick ‘Em Up w/Hurricane
6. Rock Hard
7. Paul Revere
8. No Sleep Till Brooklyn
9. Make Some Noise
10. Sure Shot
11. Root Down
12. The New Style
13. Let me clear my throat Bpm 103
14. Hey Ladies
15. Hey Ladies (Paul Nice Remix)
16. Shake Your Rump
17. Body Movin’
18. Aquarius (Let The Sunshine In) by Moog Machine and Headless Heroes by Eugene McDaniels
19. Get It Together ft. Q-Tip
20. Danger – Blahzay Blahzay +
21. Drop – The Pharcyde +
22. Three MCs And One DJ (Live at MTV Awards 97′)
23. Intergalactic (Live at MTV Awards 97′)
24. Ch-Check it Out
25. Brass Monkey
26. Fight For Your Right
27. Girls
28. Rhymin & Stealin
29. The New Style
30. Slow And Low
31. Pass The Mic
32. Gratitude
33. Sabotage
34. So What’cha Want
35. So Whatcha Want (Remix) ft. B-Real
36. Ya Don’t Stop – The Beatnuts +
37. Skills To Pay The Bills
38. Jimmy James
39. Alive