![Back in 1998-99, blendtapes or blended mixtapes, were all the rage. At least for me and my High School buddies. We had mixes from all across the Midwest and the South, first discovering them on the never-ending quest for unreleased 2Pac music (Makaveli 2-15!), which you could find in the seediest of Mom & Pop music stores, and gas station parking lots across the greater Midwest area. This was before you could just go ahead and order mixtapes online from sites like, ahem, mixtapes.com or some of the other now defunct spots where you could cop Clue tapes for $15. These joints were more personal, and more than just DJ XYZ screaming over an exclusive/stolen track. These mixtapes (up until the LATE 90s they were actually on tapes, they started to convert to disc once burners became affordable) featured tracks blended with instrumentals from then-popping or old school-ish tracks, and usually slowed down the tempo of the song, a few notches faster than a Screw track. The best part about said mixtapes were the DJs selections and instrumental choices. I remember being amazed at how certain DJs could pair up rugged No Limit tracks with soft R&B records and make them blend perfectly. I used to cop certain mixtapes just to see what songs the DJ would pick, letting it play all the way through to see if he chose an obscure Devin album cut or some such. Some DJs were better than others, while some just got in it because they saw how rich the big boys were getting (not unlike rappers of today). Some of these mixtape DJs were seriously caking, driving nice cars and wearing the flyest of Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica. I guess.
There was a time when I’d cop a new “official” hip-hop album every Tuesday, and would more than likely find one of these mixtapes to purchase as well. I’d drop by the shop a few times a week to see if a DJ had dropped off something new, as it was usually a guessing game as to when new material would arrive, as this was pre any type of social networking site where you could find out ahead of time. You just had to be on your game as some of these tapes were so popular they’d be gone within hours. As great as the internets and social networking sites are today, music hunting in this time of my life (90s) was a lot more fun. The thrill is gone.
Coming full circle, a friend from way back randomly contacted me via Facebook earlier in the week. He was a college roommate with one of my best pre-college friends, who I hadn’t talked to in years. He was now living in Chicago and reached out to congratulate me on FSD and express how happy he was that I’d taken my love for hip-hop and done something with it (it’s always nice to get a message like that, as the majority of messages I receive these days are from 37 year old bum rappers spamming me with the “first single from their new mixtape”). We exchanged emails back and forth and he asked if I still had a copy of Deez Cutz, a random mix CD that I had put together for my friend before he left for college. Said friend was a loose rap fan. He liked the BIG’s, the Pac’s, the Bone’s, the Jay’s, the Meth’s and the Snoop’s of the world (and some No Limit), but didn’t do the underground, backpacker or gangster stuff too tough. However, he did love the mixes I’d put in while riding around town doing what it is 18 year old kids do, and instead of burning every single disc for him, he asked if I’d make him a “Best Of” the blend tapes. Of course I obliged (any chance I got to flex my mix making muscle and turn people onto new music, I was jumping on it) and put together this joint for him just a few days before parting ways for college in the Fall of ‘99. I’d worked all year to cop a CD burner (if was a Sharp dual disc burner - no computer hook up), which were ridiculously expensive back then, so I took the best of the mixed music I had on CD (I had a lot more - and better - on cassette) and this is what I gave him. I hadn’t thought of this CD in YEARS, but luckily found it in one of my dusty CD books from that era, once reminded of it yesterday. I upped it and immediately sent it over to them (tonight!), so I figured I’d share it with my 3 Tumblr readers as well.
Moral of the story, I’ve made hundreds of mixes over the years, most of which were probably tossed to the side or listened to only a handful of times (typically by people who didn’t actually listen to hip hop, but wanted to be “down” so they asked me to make a mix for them), but to have at least ONE brought up in conversation 11+ years later gives me the greatest satisfaction. At least my entire life wasn’t wasted doing this shit. Ha!
Enjoy. I’ve also included the tracklist and mixes. I’m missing a few of the instrumentals, so bare with me.
PS, it’s heavy on No Limit and Cash Money, so if you didn’t fux with either, need not apply…
1.) 2Pac - So Many Tears (mixed w/ Players Holiday)2.) Mystikal - Still Smokin’ (mixed w/ P.W.A.)3.) Juvenile - Gone Ride With Me (mixed w/ Money By The Ton/Weed & Hennessy)4.) Eightball & MJG feat. Outkast - Throw Ya Hands Up (mixed w/ Friends)5.) B.G. - Cash Money Is An Army (mixed w/ Do It How It Go)6.) Juvenile - Back Dat Azz Up (mixed w/ Somebody’s Watchin’ Me)7.) Trick Daddy - Back In The Days (mixed w/ What’s It Gonna Be)8.) Master P - Bourbans & Lacs9.) Juvenile - Juvenile On Fire (mixed w/ Can I Get A…)10.) Hot Boys - Neighborhood Superstar (mixed w/ Can I Get A…)11.) Akinyele - Put It In Your Mouth12.) 2Pac - Hail Mary13.) Snoop Dogg feat. Fiend & Mystikal - Woof (mixed w/ In Decatur/I Ain’t Playin)14.) Silkk the Shocker feat. Mystikal - It Ain’t My Fault 15.) Mystikal - I’m On Fire (mixed w/ Hail Mary/Fuck Faces)16.) Silkk The Shocker - If It Don’t Make $ (mixed w/ When A Woman’s Fed Up/Holiday)17.) Juvenile - Project Building (mixed w/ Who Dat/Life)18.) UGK - Take It Off (mixed w/ Attitudes)19.) Jay-Z feat. DMX - Money, Cash, Hoes (mixed w/ I Got 5 On ItDeez Cutz 1999 [Download]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh9hq5Iaq21qbs6hbo1_500.jpg)
Back in 1998-99, blendtapes or blended mixtapes, were all the rage. At least for me and my High School buddies. We had mixes from all across the Midwest and the South, first discovering them on the never-ending quest for unreleased 2Pac music (Makaveli 2-15!), which you could find in the seediest of Mom & Pop music stores, and gas station parking lots across the greater Midwest area. This was before you could just go ahead and order mixtapes online from sites like, ahem, mixtapes.com or some of the other now defunct spots where you could cop Clue tapes for $15. These joints were more personal, and more than just DJ XYZ screaming over an exclusive/stolen track. These mixtapes (up until the LATE 90s they were actually on tapes, they started to convert to disc once burners became affordable) featured tracks blended with instrumentals from then-popping or old school-ish tracks, and usually slowed down the tempo of the song, a few notches faster than a Screw track. The best part about said mixtapes were the DJs selections and instrumental choices. I remember being amazed at how certain DJs could pair up rugged No Limit tracks with soft R&B records and make them blend perfectly. I used to cop certain mixtapes just to see what songs the DJ would pick, letting it play all the way through to see if he chose an obscure Devin album cut or some such. Some DJs were better than others, while some just got in it because they saw how rich the big boys were getting (not unlike rappers of today). Some of these mixtape DJs were seriously caking, driving nice cars and wearing the flyest of Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica. I guess.
There was a time when I’d cop a new “official” hip-hop album every Tuesday, and would more than likely find one of these mixtapes to purchase as well. I’d drop by the shop a few times a week to see if a DJ had dropped off something new, as it was usually a guessing game as to when new material would arrive, as this was pre any type of social networking site where you could find out ahead of time. You just had to be on your game as some of these tapes were so popular they’d be gone within hours. As great as the internets and social networking sites are today, music hunting in this time of my life (90s) was a lot more fun. The thrill is gone.
Coming full circle, a friend from way back randomly contacted me via Facebook earlier in the week. He was a college roommate with one of my best pre-college friends, who I hadn’t talked to in years. He was now living in Chicago and reached out to congratulate me on FSD and express how happy he was that I’d taken my love for hip-hop and done something with it (it’s always nice to get a message like that, as the majority of messages I receive these days are from 37 year old bum rappers spamming me with the “first single from their new mixtape”). We exchanged emails back and forth and he asked if I still had a copy of Deez Cutz, a random mix CD that I had put together for my friend before he left for college. Said friend was a loose rap fan. He liked the BIG’s, the Pac’s, the Bone’s, the Jay’s, the Meth’s and the Snoop’s of the world (and some No Limit), but didn’t do the underground, backpacker or gangster stuff too tough. However, he did love the mixes I’d put in while riding around town doing what it is 18 year old kids do, and instead of burning every single disc for him, he asked if I’d make him a “Best Of” the blend tapes. Of course I obliged (any chance I got to flex my mix making muscle and turn people onto new music, I was jumping on it) and put together this joint for him just a few days before parting ways for college in the Fall of ‘99. I’d worked all year to cop a CD burner (if was a Sharp dual disc burner - no computer hook up), which were ridiculously expensive back then, so I took the best of the mixed music I had on CD (I had a lot more - and better - on cassette) and this is what I gave him. I hadn’t thought of this CD in YEARS, but luckily found it in one of my dusty CD books from that era, once reminded of it yesterday. I upped it and immediately sent it over to them (tonight!), so I figured I’d share it with my 3 Tumblr readers as well.
Moral of the story, I’ve made hundreds of mixes over the years, most of which were probably tossed to the side or listened to only a handful of times (typically by people who didn’t actually listen to hip hop, but wanted to be “down” so they asked me to make a mix for them), but to have at least ONE brought up in conversation 11+ years later gives me the greatest satisfaction. At least my entire life wasn’t wasted doing this shit. Ha!
Enjoy. I’ve also included the tracklist and mixes. I’m missing a few of the instrumentals, so bare with me.
PS, it’s heavy on No Limit and Cash Money, so if you didn’t fux with either, need not apply…
1.) 2Pac - So Many Tears (mixed w/ Players Holiday)2.) Mystikal - Still Smokin’ (mixed w/ P.W.A.)3.) Juvenile - Gone Ride With Me (mixed w/ Money By The Ton/Weed & Hennessy)4.) Eightball & MJG feat. Outkast - Throw Ya Hands Up (mixed w/ Friends)5.) B.G. - Cash Money Is An Army (mixed w/ Do It How It Go)6.) Juvenile - Back Dat Azz Up (mixed w/ Somebody’s Watchin’ Me)7.) Trick Daddy - Back In The Days (mixed w/ What’s It Gonna Be)
8.) Master P - Bourbans & Lacs9.) Juvenile - Juvenile On Fire (mixed w/ Can I Get A…)10.) Hot Boys - Neighborhood Superstar (mixed w/ Can I Get A…)11.) Akinyele - Put It In Your Mouth12.) 2Pac - Hail Mary13.) Snoop Dogg feat. Fiend & Mystikal - Woof (mixed w/ In Decatur/I Ain’t Playin)14.) Silkk the Shocker feat. Mystikal - It Ain’t My Fault 15.) Mystikal - I’m On Fire (mixed w/ Hail Mary/Fuck Faces)16.) Silkk The Shocker - If It Don’t Make $ (mixed w/ When A Woman’s Fed Up/Holiday)17.) Juvenile - Project Building (mixed w/ Who Dat/Life)18.) UGK - Take It Off (mixed w/ Attitudes)19.) Jay-Z feat. DMX - Money, Cash, Hoes (mixed w/ I Got 5 On It
Deez Cutz 1999 [Download]
