
Carrying on with the “someone else’s mixtape” series, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a DJ that I’m playing with this weekend in Toronto. This Friday, I’m teaming up again with T-dot’s finest, DJ Starting From Scratch, and we’ll be rocking alongside New York’s DJ Spinbad. 6 turntables, 3 mixers, 3 DJs. If you don’t know the man and what he has brought to the table, I think his mixes are a great place to start.

The first thing I had ever heard from Spinbad was his remix of “Hip-Hop vs Rap” by KRS-ONE. “Hip Hop vs Rap” was a DJ favorite for a few reasons – it’s a banger, it was only ever released on 12″ (it was the B-Side to “Sound of the Police”), and it has an acapella. The acapella is just screaming to be cut up, as the second half of KRS’ verse is all popular (and I guess at times not-so-popular) quotes from other songs. Among other things, Premier cut it up for KRS’ “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know“.
Spinbad basically made it so that no one else can ever make a remix of that song ever again. Maybe take a phrase or two, but nope, no remixes! The way he flipped all of the different beats to the songs that are referenced and transitioned between them blew my mind. It made me think differently about attention to detail in remixes – each of the little beat pieces thrown in last for a few seconds but in the grand scheme of things makes a huge impact. A little can go a long way. (Listen to the track at the bottom of this post)
This track kicks off a mixtape built entirely of ‘blends’ (or acapella remixes) that was recorded by Spinbad and DJ JS-1 (no slouch either, Rahzel’s tour DJ among other things) – “The Cold Cutz Remixes”. Recorded in 1996 to an analog 4- or 8-track, it sounds pretty grimey 15 years later, but it doesn’t take away from the quality of the effort. The tape hiss & cue burn are just things you had to live with in 96. Though the first track is my favorite, many other tracks have that touch that reward those listening close.

Click here to go over to Spinbad’s main mixtape (19 of them!) page on his website. But don’t stop there – his ’80s Rock The Casbah’ mix (and the follow-up) is widely regarded as a mixtape gamechanger, crossing genres well before the term ‘mash-up’ existed and cutting up many 80s & 90s records which had never had the treatment before. You should probably just do yourself a favor and grab everything on the page.
If you’re in Toronto this Friday, be sure to stop by Revival. Needless to say I’m excited to share the stage with Spin & SFS and we’ve got 6 tables setup, so it’s guaranteed to be a once in a lifetime show. Who knows where the music will go…
See you there!
Additional info:
Taboo Events + Shaman + SFS Ent. Invite You To…
——- DOOWUTCHYALIKE ——-
Spinnin’ Wutchyalike, Jus’ How Ya Like…
The World Famous…
DJ STARTING FROM SCRATCH
With Special Guests…
DJ SPINBAD (NYC/Spinbad.com)
&
SKRATCH BASTID (SkratchBastid.com)
Hosted By…
THE LIFE OF THE PARTY (Hip-Hop Vs House)
WAN LUV (The Main Ingredient)
And Special Guest Host…
KARDINAL OFFISHALL – Canada’s Hip-Hop Ambassador!
Friday, Dec. 23rd, 2011
REVIVAL – 783 College St (W of Bathurst @ Shaw)
COVER: $20 B4 Midnight * $25 After
2 Floors All Access – Dooinit Til 4am!!!
Also Featuring…
DJ J-CLASS & JAMES REDI in The Stone Lounge
$15 Adv Tix @ Play De Record, Home Base & Livestock
Thanks To:
TO FLO, ReFresh Ent, Hyped?, FUSICOLOGY, & Play De Record
Info: DoowutchyalikeTO@gmail.com
RevivalBar.com, TabooEvents.com, StartingFromScratch.com, Spinbad.com, SkratchBastid.com



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