Mixtape season

From the whip to the stoop, the basement to the rooftop, whether you’re painting, playing, praying, practising or just busting your ass, it’s time to put the mixtapes in the tape deck (or iPod speaker jack, rather), and let your beats bang through the city. Summer madness equals mixtape season. Right now, my speakers are leaking blends by DJ Critical Hype, who just hit us over the head with two back-to-back mixtapes that you can easily find on the blogosphere. The first one is The Art of Slaughterhouse Blends, where Critical Hype takes the best verses from the newly formed Slaughterhouse (Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9” and Crooked I) and lays them over classic instrumentals and newer beats. A few weeks later, homeboy came back with the Marco Polo Blends hosted by Duck Down Records’ newest MC, Torae. Marco Polo’s beats, some of the best to ever come out of Canada, lay the backdrop for blended verses from the giants, including Biggie, Pun, Big L, Nas and Jay, all glued together tightly. Keep ’em comin’, homie. You can also click away to lifesnotsosample.com, to download Malicious’s newest mixtape by the same name. This third installment by Mr. Malish finds him in a good place, straight shredding an array of different beats and slipping in some funny-ass skits too. Also,

the Moustache Men and Faction Soundcrew just broke us off with their newest mixtape, Chillin’, Illin’, Grillin’: Music to BBQ To, which has been getting a lot of spins here at Beatseeker Radio. The mix of varied oldies, funny movie samples and certified bangers truly makes this a perfect mixtape to lay out in the sun and throw some meat on the grill to. Now that’s a fire! And don’t forget to keep your eyes and ears peeled for Skratch Bastid’s newest, 110% Mixtape, which is supposed to drop soon and, from what I heard, is one for the books. Lastly, there’s Wu-Tang Chamber (Vol. 1), executive-produced by RZA and featuring the Clan alongside classic ’90s-era New York rap veterans, inspired by classic soul and kung fu imagery. Bananas!

SEEYA UNDER THE SUN… DABEATSEEKER@GMAIL.COM