Broken Bells (James Mercer of The Shins and Danger Mouse) released the video for their first single “The High Road” today, which is off their self titled album.  Not sure exactly what is going on in the video, but I still like it…

I hope these guys go on tour.  Pre-order their album, which drops in March, HERE.

The White Stripes documentary Under Great White Northern Lights is set to be released as part of a massive CD/DVD box set on March 16th.  I always liked these two.  I always thought Jack and Meg White were brother and sister, until my boy Leib told me it was just a gas (see comments section).  Turns out they used to be married but told the press they were bro/sis to keep the focus on the music and make their band sound more interesting.  But I digress.  Watch the trailer for the documentary below…

I’m a fan of Jack White’s other band too, The Raconteurs.  Check out this live performance of them in Holland jamming out to “Blue Veins”, one of my favorites off their first album Broken Boy Soldiers…

Pre-order The White Stripes box set at their official website.  Rock on.

Hip Hop superstar Kanye West and comedian Aziz Ansari are friends.  Aziz did a spoof of Kanye’s Glow in the Dark Tour logo for his own comedy tour (see above) and I guess Kanye went to see his act and loved it, and ever since they’ve been pals.  But can you actually picture these two guys hanging out together?  Well on Aziz Ansari’s new CD/DVD that just came out this week (see below), he tells his story of a night he spent hanging out with Kanye West in Los Angeles.  Hilarious.  Nah Right’s got the video clip HERE.

Definitely go cop Aziz’s stand up CD/DVD.  And keep up with him at his website, Aziz is Bored…

P.S.  This is my 300th post on Westcheddar.  Big ups to all my loyal readers!!!!

Back in my high school years (1992-1996), when mixtapes were actually sold on cassette tapes, DJ S&S was the king of the exclusives.  He claims in the video above he was the first mixtape DJ, even before the legendary DJ Clue came on the scene (who also deserves major props) to get all the newest songs on his tapes.  And that’s all we ever wanted.  New shit.  We would go to spots all over the Bronx and Harlem to cop mixtapes.  And yes, the first time I ever heard some of the most memorable hip hop songs from that era, from artists like Biggie, Wu Tang, and Nas, were on DJ S&S tapes.  Watch the video above, where he discusses the good old days when he first started, how he got his exclusives, his recording process, his partnership with DJ Craig G, and much more.  And below, take a trip down memory lane with me and download some DJ S & S and DJ Craig G tapes for free.  “Aiight here we go!!!”

The thing that is important to note about these mixtapes is that more often than not, the first time anyone ever heard these songs was on these tapes.  For example, look at the cover above closely.  There are like four Biggie songs on there that no one had ever heard before on the radio or albums.  When “Who Shot Ya” came out on this tape, it was crazy!  As was the freestyle with Biggie rapping over all the west coast beats to start off Side A, and Biggie’s verses on “Can’t You See” and “Something Big”, though I think DJ Clue had “Something Big” first.  Not to mention classic songs from everyone else on the NYC hip hop scene.  I actually like the first volume of this series even better (click HERE to see the tracklist for that).  And some people used to critique DJ S & S for yelling too much on his tapes, but I actually dug that.  He knew he was playing hot shit, and he was amped!!!  Get the links to both below…

DJ S & S NI**AZ AIN’T NICE

DJ S & S NI**AZ STILL AIN’T NICE SIDE A AND SIDE B

Here’s a couple earlier ones from DJ S & S.  Do I need to talk about how ill this tape was?  I mean, he was even getting exclusives from A Tribe Called Quest!  And look at the track title for the first Biggie song.  That’s what I call EARLY…

DJ S & S SOMETHING FOR THAT ASS PART 3 (see cover above)

DJ S & S SOMETHING FOR THAT ASS PART 2 (no cover or tracklist)

This was my favorite mixtape from the summer of 1995. DJ Craig G was one of S & S’s partners, as noted earlier and in the video at the top of the post.  Probably the craziest exclusive on this tape was the original Biggie “Dead Wrong” to start off Side Two.  But Side One had dope songs on it too, like that Mary J. Blige and LL Cool J “Mary Jane RMX” which was a personal favorite.  Just check the tracklist on the cover…

DJ CRAIG G SNEEKIN’ UP ON THAT ASS PART TWO

See the address for the DJ Craig G fan club?  WP!  This tape was dope too, especially the way he brought in “Unbelievable” with the intro from Ready To Die.  That, and “Flava In Ya Ear” were my favorite songs from the summer of 1994, which was when I first got my driver’s license.  This tape was in heavy rotation in the Honda Civic.

DOWNLOAD DJ CRAIG G SNEEKIN UP ON THAT ASS PART 1

This was a hot tape too, with S & S and Craig G.  As I remember, this was the first tape that had Jay-Z and Foxy Brown’s “Ain’t No Ni**a” on it.  And Nas “Understanding” was a crazy exclusive at the time.  There’s alot of great songs on this tape.  The tracklist is bananas!  These were the days when mixtapes were truly exciting.  Here’s the download link…

DJ S & S and DJ CRAIG G NI**AZ DON’T GIVE A FUCK

Here’s five other classic mixtapes from the 90’s that get the Westcheddar co-sign…

Now this was off the hook.  This came out in the early part of 1996, and we used to thump this.  It had exclusive freestyles from Redman, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, exclusives from Nas, and of course, “You’ll See” with Biggie and the LOX, which was the first time anyone had heard that song or the LOX period.  Peep the tracklist HERE…

BAD BOY MIXTAPE VOLUME THREE WITH PUFF DADDY AND STRETCH ARMSTRONG

DJ Clue had so many classic mixtapes over the years, from the early 90’s well into the 2000’s (by then they were on CD).  He was always consistent, and definitely has had the most longevity and success out of any other mixtape DJ from NYC.  DO REMEMBER the Halloween Hold Ups, the Springtime Stick Ups, and all the rest of the classic series’ he released that had mad exclusives and got played over and over in our whips.  But I thought I would feature a memorable one from fall 1996, when I first went away to the University of Maryland.  This was in my walkman heavy on campus.  The LOX freestyle to set things off over the Show and A.G. “Next Level (Premier Remix)” was so ill.  And there were other LOX joints on there, like “Well, Well, Well”, and the Genovese with Styles song was crazy too.  This was a big look for the 914!  Plus, this was the first place we heard Biggie’s “Hypnotize” and “Mo Money, Mo Problems”.  Damn, and Jay-Z and Sauce Money “Dead or Alive pt. II”, and probably my personal favorite from this tape, Large Professor and Nas “1 +1”.  There’s other cuts too that I’m not mentioning that are worthy of being written about.  This was a hot tape!

DJ CLUE SHOW ME THE MONEY SIDE 1 AND SIDE 2

This was the first mixtape I ever copped on CD.  Right at Uptown Flava on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx.  This first half of this mixtape is all exclusive freestyles.  My favorite is definitely with one with Redman and Keith Murray going back and forth over the EPMD “You’re A Customer” beat.  And the second half of the disc is all classics.  Check the tracklist HERE…

DOO WOP 95 LIVE PART TWO

There’s three different volumes of Tony Touch’s 50 M.C.’s series, but Volume 2 was particularly historic.  This was probably the second mixtape I got on CD, and it was a double disc.  There’s lots of dope verses on here, from all the guys that were really hot in 1997, like Noreaga, Canibus, O.C., Redman, The Artifacts, Black Thought, Big L, Big Pun, and many more.  And Tony Touch definitely gave them some hot beats to rap on.  Check the lineup HERE…

TONY TOUCH 50 M.C.’s PART TWO DISC ONE AND DISC TWO

Biggie was the first person I ever saw with a “Best Of” mixtape.  Mister Cee wasn’t that big on the mixtape scene, but this was hot when it came out.  He followed it with a bunch of other “Best Of” mixtapes featuring Redman, Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z.  But this was his first.  I have this on CD now, but when I first got it on Fordham Road it was a tape.  3 tapes for $10.  That was the best spot.  It was worth the price just for the intro verse over Casual’s “I Didn’t Mean To”.  And it featured a bunch of Biggie songs that were rare or unreleased at the time.  Check out the tracklist for the original mixtape and also Mister Cee’s 10th Anniversary of the mixtape with an extended tracklist and bonus disc HERE.  And here’s the download links to both…

MISTER CEE BEST OF BIGGIE

MISTER CEE BEST OF BIGGIE 10th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE DISC

Well, I think that’s it for my mixtape memories.  I gotta say, this was a fun post for me to piece together.  Shout out to all the mixtape DJ’s who put out classic tapes in the 90’s that I didn’t post like Ron G, Rated R, DJ Rhythm, Kool Mike Ski, and all the rest.  Also, shout out to all the mixtape spots and record stores that always had the new shit.  And BIG RESPECT to all the blogs and websites who post links and artwork for all these classic mixtapes.  I hope you all enjoyed this post, and took advantage of the links.  What was your favorite mixtape from the 90’s?  Did I post it?  Do you still have it?  Tell us!  Give us the link!  And if there’s a problem with any of the links in this post please let me know.  Peace and love…