I had always intended to create cover art for this one, but just ended up printing up some cheesy cover with just the name of the mix and the track listing. I can’t even find a copy of the cover, though I know it’s in the basement somewhere.

Since I don’t have cover art, here’s the track listing.

Side A:

Ear to the Concrete Intro… Laze
Rather Unique… AZ
Fast Life (Hip-Hop Central Remix)… Kool G Rap feat. Nas
Invasion… Jeru the Damaja
Runnin’… Pharcyde
Reprogram… Channel Live
Put It On… Big L
Sandwiches… Count Bass D
Natural Disaster… Supernatural
KMEL Freestyle… Supernatural
MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know… KRS-One
Pull Ya Card… Saafir

Side B:

Side 2 Intro… Laze
Superstar… Group Home
Hole in the Bucket (Live Radio Session)… Spearhead
Honeydips in Gotham… Boogiemonsters
Labels… Genius/Gza
Criminology… Raekwon
No Flow On the Rodeo… King Just
The Nod Factor… Mad Skillz
Elevate… B.U.M.S. (Brothas Under Madness)
Crooklyn (Part II)… Crooklyn Dodgers (Chubb Rock, O.C., and Jeru)
Mic Check (Hip-Hop Central Remix)… Aceyalone

One track you’ve probably never heard is the Hip Hop Central Remix of Saafir’s “Light Sleeper.” As far as I know, this compilation is the only place anywhere this version of the song is available. It was produced by David J. Warner, an alt.rap original and former host of the “Hip-Hop Central” radio show out of Bloomington, Indiana. I haven’t spoken with David in more than a decade and have no clue where he is these days. It’s a mighty dope remix, though.

The sole drop on this one comes courtesy of Michael Franti of Spearhead. Liner notes are much less embarrassing this time around, aside from a swipe I took at the Digable Planets for being assholes to me when I tried to interview them. Not that I hold a grudge or anything. (Years later I interviewed Ladybug Mecca in an interview that was so strange it couldn’t be published.)

Cover art again courtesy of Devo Spice.

click through for the full j-card

It kicks off with a mix of a Malcolm X speech laid over top of Stanley Clarke’s “Black On Black Crime” from the Boyz n the Hood soundtrack (I used this same blend on a high school Media/TV Tech video project about the Rodney King beating and ensuing riots). Appropriately, it then runs into Masta Ace’s “Jeep Ass Niguh.” Also representing 1993: Raw Breed, Art of Origin, Hiero (three times!), Original Flavor, PRT, and Jeru. I’d venture to say there’s not a single dud on this mix.

One track you probably haven’t heard but will want to check out is Martay and B-Right’s “Smokin’ Joints.” These two guys were part of the East Coast Tribe, a crew out of Atlanta’s underground. (Martay’s name may sound familiar from Upski’s Bomb the Suburbs (page 19).) Martay’s still kicking and every couple of years I get an e-mail from B-Right. Good people who made good music that wasn’t heard by nearly enough people.

The cover was designed by nerdcore star Devo Spice.

I should also note that the liner notes on this one are even more embarrassingly awful than 1992.

Dig in.

Download: Front cover / Liner notes

Back in 1992, I was 17-years-old, filled with love for hip-hop at a time that most of my peers were moving onto other genres. A friend and I were making (admittedly pretty awful) music and I was armed with a good quality dual-cassette deck. Beginning in 1992 and going through 1995 I compiled the best hip-hop singles and soundtrack appearances into a 90-minute collection and sold them to friends and online. It was a great time.

Here is the first of the four editions of The Year in Rap. This one isn’t mixed or blended, as I didn’t own a 4-track or mixer, so it’s a pretty straightforward compilation. Just using a tape deck didn’t stop me from trying to make it sound like I was using vinyl, though, even faking the sound of a record stopping and doing a “remix” of Tung Twista’s “Mr. Tung Twista” by using the pause-tape method of switching between the acapella and vocal versions of the track.

In this era where pretty much every great mixtape has found its way online, this one certainly isn’t one of the best or most sought-after, but it does hold some treats. For a few of the tracks, I opted to use versions I’d heard on the radio, so you’ll hear DJ Jay-Ski and DJ Kam unknowingly participating on my mixtape (the version of “Dwyck” is especially dope). And while there aren’t any seriously rare joints here, it probably is one of the few “year in review” mixes that includes Raheem and Insane Poetry alongside Naughty By Nature and Roxanne Shante. This is the least interesting (and least technically proficient) of the four tapes in the series, but after listening to it today for the first time in probably ten years, I can say it’s still a good listen.

The j-card (remember those?) is handmade, printed from my old Apple II compatible onto a dot-matrix printer. The shout-outs are embarrassing and the references to a SASE, Dolby B, and HX Pro are quaint.

Enjoy.

click through for the full j-card

Here’s a review I wrote of the mix back when it came out, nearly 13 years ago:

DJs are so worried about putting out mixtapes with the brand newest tracks and b-sides not even being concerned with whether the tracks themselves suck or if they’re dope. Brothers putting on R&B tracks just because the beats mix well with the other cuts they’re blending. 85% of all mix tapes I hear are half-assed attempts by new schoolers that just want to say “look at me — I got stuff before everyone else… now I’m going to blend the shit together and not concern myself with quality.”

Fortunately, we got kids like Phusion (coming straight outta’ London, England) on the tables as well. Phusions first chapter in the “Phusionfiles” series is a very worthy effort. He didn’t concern himself with finding the newest tracks or phattest remixes — he did the shit himself. He laid down 80 minutes of dope tracks and mixed in some of the best hip-hop from the last couple of years. Included are ODB, Blahzay Blahzay, Gravediggas, Nas, Mad Skillz, Mobb Deep, etc. etc. etc. And a funky as all hell remix of Alkaholiks “The Next Level.” DJs from the states: it’s on now.

Also featured on this mix tape are freestyles and exclusive performances by a couple British crews that Phusion works with. The first is the Bushpac, both kids having nice skills (coming off the head in a fine fashion) and one of them sounding like an English version of Brother J. The others are Little Big Man and Rising Son, both sounding sweet.

And to top this butta with scotch ice cream sundae is about 15 minutes of break beats that heads will be forced to freestyle to in they rides. Heavy basslines, killer piano shots, and rugged drums show that this kid has got some international flavors for your ass. Don’t sleep.

What’s even cooler about this tape is that it appears each cassette was spray painted and labeled with marker, by hand. I wonder how many of these exist.

As far as I can tell, this mix is no longer sold anywhere, in any format.

Update: I got this when I dropped DJ Mike the 2600 King an e-mail about posting his tape:

OH SHIT! Big up dude! I have one copy of this on cassette and hadn’t gotten around to digitizing it yet. You might be the first one to do it. So cool to see the tape and the liner notes and sticker and everything!

How many did I make? Man… I’d say about 100. Between this and Yars Revenge, probably 300 altogether, all spraypainted and doodled on. I would love to do something like that again if I had the time for it!

Thanks for doing this!
Mike