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Page 1
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"If you're a real rapper, you don't have to make a record for the radio or something for MTV." ...
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Page 2
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While the "real" music business is crumbling, the mixtape industry is thriving ...
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Page 3
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P. Diddy says labels don't have the heart to put out new artists anymore ...
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Page 4
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50 Cent's mixtape success leads to record-breaking chart debut ...
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Page 5
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"Distributing mixtapes is illegal, man!" ...
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Mixtape History
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Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa get the party started.
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Classic Mixtapes
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Five mixtapes that changed the game.
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Before We Had A Clue
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DJ Clue tells how he first became cool with some of hip-hop's most acclaimed line rippers.
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 DJ Clue's Photo Album
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Mixtape Mondays Archive
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For complete coverage of mixtape culture.
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Browse Bands by Name
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Or enter a band name below to search:
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 Bands Main
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While young Dame was spending $20 to hear his name shouted out, others were spending dough for a personalized tape B would make at his home.
"I would just buy 90-minute Sonys, or TDKs, any type of normal tape," Brucie remembered of an era when very few DJs used a studio to make their tapes, or sent any copies to a plant to be mass copied. "I used to copy them one by one all day. I would just sit there and dub, actually coming up with 50 or 60 tapes and sell them for $20. I'd go on this block and make $100, go on that block and make $100."
Like Brucie B, DJ Kid Capri, who came on the scene as the '80s were closing out, initially got his name from spinning in such clubs as Studio 54 and making tapes of his nights at the booth. However, as all the old hip-hop havens like the Rooftop, the Red Parrot and T Connection started to close down, DJs were forced to focus on the tapes they made at their cribs. As the early '90s came around, this opened the door for lesser known DJs who were innovative on the 1s and 2s.
"Back in the days when I was coming up, the mixtape scene in Queens was hip-hop and R&B blends," DJ Clue reminisced about what prompted him to get in the game. "It was hip-hop beats with R&B a cappellas and mixing them together. That's how I started making mixtapes. Out in Queens, people who were hot on that blending stuff were Grandmaster Vick, Doggtime and of course Ike Love."
No one was hotter at concocting the new hybrid tracks than uptown New York's own DJ Ron G, who's recently produced such hits as Fat Joe's "We Thuggin' " and Jennifer Lopez's "All I Have." His formula of lush R&B vocals over harder hip-hop beats can still be found in much of today's popular music.
Meanwhile, DJ Clue was having a hard time distinguishing himself until he figured out his own formula that would revolutionize the mixtape game forever: scoring exclusive joints and freestyles for his tapes. Clue's mixtapes became less about displaying turntable skills and more a reflection of his ability to find new talent and new music.
Besides shedding the first light on some of rap's biggest hits, like the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy," the original version of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins" and Jay-Z's "Ain't No N---a," Clue also gave the first dose of major exposure to some of today's biggest stars like Noreaga, Cam'ron, DMX, Fabolous, Mase, Ja Rule and the LOX via freestyles.
"We used to sit around the house and listen to Clue tapes and be like, 'He'll call us one day,' " laughed the LOX's Jadakiss, who's been on too many Clue tapes to name. "So we sat and sat and sat and waited. Eventually he called."
"At the time Clue was very influential — he still is — and a lot of people got signed off of his tapes," affirmed Dame Dash, who signed Clue to Roc-A-Fella in 1997 because of the DJ's gigantic buzz.
Clue paid off for the Roc. His two albums, The Professional and The Professional 2, both went platinum, and that was without any videos.
Clue wasn't the first DJ to get a recording contract from a major label: Kid Capri was. Signed by Biz Markie, who had a production deal with Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros., Capri released his first album, The Tape, in 1991. Funkmaster Flex has been able to parlay his mixtape compilations into several record deals. He released his first album, The Mix Tape Vol.1, on Loud in 1995 and subsequently dropped three sequels with that label, as well as The Tunnel on Def Jam. DJ Kay Slay and DJ Whoo Kid have their first albums coming out this year.
DJ Clue has gone from making records to becoming co-CEO of Desert Storm Records, which released Fabolous' platinum debut in 2001 and just put out its second release, DJ Envy's Desert Storm Mixtape: The Blok Party Vol. 1.
Who says the DJs have to play in the background? As long as mixtapes are around, they'll stay at the forefront of tastemaking.
"A lot of times, whether it's medicine or whether it's mechanics, a lot of people spend their life putting something together and then address it to the public and then sometimes the public might say, 'Nah,' " Grandmaster Flash said of the evolution of mixtapes. "But thank God this thing has continued to grow and may it continue to grow. May there be many Ron Gs and many Clues and many more Brucie Bs. Let's keep this thing poppin.' "
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Photo: Walik Goshorn
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