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— By Shaheem Reid
Artist: The Real Tapemasters Inc.
Mixtape: The Future of R&B
Representing: New York, Connecticut and Philly
The 411: There's a little bit of turmoil in the Tapemasters Inc. camp. They're accusing one of their former associates of putting out bogus mixtapes under their name, hence the need to include "The Real" on their new mixtape cover. Anyhow, the guys have some definite flames on here. Though the tape is dedicated to up-and-coming R&B singers, that's not all the Tapesters used — they have a little bit of reggaeton and pop. They even included Britney Spears' remake of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative."
Joints To Check For:
- "The Passion" by Lauryn Hill. Listening to this record, it feels like L. Boogie could sit out the game for 10 years and still come back and shut it down. (Note to Ms. Hill: We don't really want you to take a decade. Just getting a point across.) This record sounds like it could have easily made it onto her "Unplugged" set. She's totally stripped down, relying mostly on a guitar and singing about love. "If they've only owned love, shown love like this before/ If they only knew love true, do love like this before."
- "So Sexy" remix by Twista featuring R. Kelly. The R. starts off by patting himself on the back, singing, "You ain't never heard a slow jam like this/ You ain't never heard a remix like this." The track in no way whatsoever resembles the original version — new beat, new lyrics, new flow, and they don't even say the words "so sexy." Twista says he's better than any genie in terms of granting wishes to girls. The R. isn't any less of a braggart, promising to take his girl shopping, sit her in the VIP section and sing "Thriller" to her. Who says chivalry died out?
- "Red Light" remix by Usher featuring Ludacris. How gangsta is Usher? He's remixed a song that hasn't even come out officially yet. Well, if he had to do an alteration, why not work with the guys who gave him his biggest hit? This version is the same as the original mix of "Red Light" that leaked months ago. This time, though, Luda adds a rap at the end. Cris adopts a cheerleader's flow, reminiscing about a one-night fling he had with a woman who had a Coke-bottle body. "I feel a little woozy because I wanna see her face once more," Cris says.
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
 DJ Smallz and P. Diddy's Bad Boy South Official Mixtape
DJ Drama and Grand Hustle Records' Down With the King
Dame Dash's Warriors Vol. 6: Unfinished Business
DJ Kay Slay's The Mixmasters
J. Armz's Alchemist: Instrumental Kings, Volume 3
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- The Federation - "Hyphy"
- Nelly featuring Pharrell Williams - "Play It Off"
- LL Cool J featuring R. Kelly - "I'm Gonna Get Her"
- Nore featuring Nina Sky and Daddy Yankee - "Oye Mi Canto"
- Beanie Sigel featuring Peedi Crakk - "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (remix)
- Jay-Z and R. Kelly - "Don't Let Me Die"
Celebrity Favs
Former WWE U.S. champ John Cena, currently locked up against Booker T in a best-of-five series to get his belt back, loves them lyricists. "I would say Lloyd Banks and Jadakiss are my favorites on the mixtape," said the wrassler, who also has a debut rap LP dropping next year. "I can't take The Champ Is Here out of my CD deck. I can't take it out! Anything I hear Banks on, he's always killing it. Every mixtape."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
What a difference a week makes. Last Monday we reported that the Diplomats were getting ready to drop an official mixtape before year's end. Those plans are gone with the wind. But before you Dip fans start throwing down your purple hats and cursing, don't worry, they're going to give you way more: another group album, Diplomatic Immunity 2. "We was like, 'Yo, it's too crazy [to just do a mixtape],' " Cam said. "Hell Rell is home [from jail], we got a group called S.A.S. from Europe down with the team, the vibe was right, so we all just got in the studio and started knocking out crazy joints." And don't worry about Cam stressing over bootlegs of his Purple Haze LP. He said his relentless work in the studio will pay off because he's got more than enough material to compensate for the tracks that have made it to the black market. ...
Legendary rap group De La Soul have gone the independent route and are getting ready to drop their new LP, Grind Date, on October 5. Ghostface, Public Enemy hypeman-turned-"Surreal Life"-star Flavor Flav, Carl Thomas and Common are all on the disc. With the prevalence of thought-provoking acts like Kanye West and Talib Kweli, the climate is almost perfect for De La to find their way back onto the scene. "It's good to see music that's innovative and kinda in the vein of what we do," Trugoy acknowledged. "The Kanyes, the Commons, Mos Defs and so many others. It not only empowers what we do as a genre, it also makes you feel good seeing these brothers come out and do their thing. It makes you want to do more and sometimes can show you how to do more. That's what we need in hip-hop, we need a balance." ...
Before we go, here's some info on low. The doooooooowwwwwwn low. We hear two very prominent mixtape MCs are about to sign with major labels. Soon as the ink is dry, we'll let you know. ...
For more on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out the feature "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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