» beat tape

Mecca:83 – Life Sketches Vols. 1 & 2

aaron — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:51:38 +0000

After you buy this album hit play and close your eyes. Now imagine you are floating through space. Feel the galaxy around you, and see the stars as they jet by turning into different colors. Now open your eyes and feel how calm and relaxed you are from listening to Mecca:83 (aka Rise) - Life Sketches Vols. 1 & 2. That’s how I felt after my train ride home the other day. It was a long day and I put on Life Sketches Vols. 1 & 2, closed my eyes, and shortly after I was in another zone. Life Sketches Vols. 1 & 2 is one of those albums you put on when you’re really stressed, and it melts away after the first track. They should make a prescription for this stuff. Go buy Mecca:83 – Life Sketches Vols. 1 & 2 on FreeForm Records. It’s worth it! BIG thanks Mecca:83 for making my new go-to album for stress. Keep making that good stuff.

Mecca:83 - Vibrate

Mecca:83 - Godbless & Goodnight

Dobrega – The Rebuild EP

aaron — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:01:29 +0000

I’ll tell you, my man Greg the Dude knows just about everyone. I was at Greg’s spot for a party and was talking to this one cat Dobrega about some music. He told me a little about a project he was working on and would keep me posted. I didn’t hear from him for a while and ran into him at the Hit+Run show. We had another great convo about art and some music. Later that week Dobrega shot me a link of his finished project, The Rebuild EP. Now I’m always trying to multitask, but when this crazy 8-bit sound hit the headphones I was like what’s going on. Sounded like Zelda, but then a nice rhythm creeps in. It was so hypnotizing I totally forgot that the 8-bit sound was in there. Freedom Dance damn near made me forget I had other work to do. That first go-round of The Build EP got my full attention… so I played it again. I really dig the layering of sounds on this EP. If you are looking to be trippin off some music Dobrega will have you in a trance with The Rebuild EP. Check out Dobrega – The Rebuild at Dobrega.com. BIG thanks Dobrega for the good tunes. Now I’m waiting to see some visuals man.

Dobrega - Rainbows Abound

Dobrega - Sunrise

Duke Westlake – Memory Palace

aaron — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:35:56 +0000

I don’t want to hold you back from listening to this great album, so this write-up is going to be short and sweet. Trek hit me up about Duke Westlake and, I admit I was totally sleeping. Duke chimed in on our twitter convo and showed me the video he did. (Kids shut your eye or skip the next two words.) F*CK’N CRAZY, so I had to post that too. Duke Westlake’s Memory Palace put me in this dream like, high energy, creative state of mind. I was instantly inspired to create something… anything. After the 4th round of Memory Palace I went back to work with round 5 playing. Very dope album that you need to hear.

“I stumbled onto a record store and acquired some interesting vinyl from their surprisingly abundant dollar bin. The music I discovered inspired me to make a collection of raw beats / instrumentals. Memory Palace is the first of a three part series of this music I’ve decided to release.” – Duke

Check out Duke Westlake on Knock Steady, SoundCloud, and Twitter. Download Duke Westlake – Memory Palace here. I honestly hope you charge for this soon. BIG Thanks to the homie Trek Life for the heads up. Duke, I’ll totally check my email more often brother. BIG Thanks for making dope music.

KIC – Kicology Vol. 1

aaron — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:51:49 +0000

Once again I was watching DJ Buddy TV , and got some good info on new music. My man Trek Life gave a shout out to this producer cat named KIC who dropped Kicology Vol. 1 a while back. Trek is on the up and up when it comes to recommending music, so I checked it out. I downloaded KIC’s Kicology Vol. 1 and it was really good. This is the point where I usually tell you “I have it in heavy rotation,” but I think I’m just going to tell you to GET IT! In addition to checking out Kicology Vol. 1, KIC released Kicology Vol. 2 a few days ago. Download KIC – Kicology Vol. 1 & 2 on Band Camp. It’s right in my queue to download. BIG thanks to Trek Life for another great recommendation.

KIC – The Crunch

KIC – The Soul Wave

Juels – Gems

aaron — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:29:53 +0000

I like beats, you like beats. Say what?! You haven’t heard any good stuff lately? Let me fix that right up for you. Juels is a 23 year old producer/beat maker from Torrance, Ca., and has something for your ears. Before you turn on Juels’ latest beat tape project Gems, crank up the volume on whatever you have it on, lay back and hit play. Gems gotta a west coast swing to it. With Juels’ arrangement of claps, drums, samples, and assortment of instruments it makes Gems more than a diamond in The Ruff. Girls Girls stands out the most for me because it’s that track that doesn’t have a genre. You can play it in any scene and it’ll get folks up dancing. Gems is cut to shine, and it shines bright. Give it a listen. Download Juels – Gems on Band Camp. BIG thanks Juels for hitting us up about this great project.

Juels – Clouds

Juels – Nocturnals Shine

Drums & Ammo Vol. 1

aaron — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:00:46 +0000

If you really want to know how the West was won close your textbooks and put on your headphones! Drums & Ammo Vol. 1 is an instrumental album that takes you through a west coast gamut of monster beats. It has tracks from previously produced tracks to brand new head bangers. Quick background: Drums & Ammo is a collective of SWTBRDS producer’s 6Fingers, Al Jieh, Ammbush, and REL. They’ve been producing tracks for up-and-comers and well-established artists. In addition to banging tracks they got my man DaVinci doing some drops on Drums & Ammo Vol. 1. You really have to give it up to these cats, coming in under the radar, their sound is so explosive. Don’t sleep on the Bay Area, they are a force that’s coming with Drums & Ammo. Download Drums & Ammo Vol. 1 on Band Camp and check out the latest info on Twitter. BIG thanks to the good folks at SWTBRDS for tweeting this one. Looking forward to Vol. 2!

Drums & Ammo – U Funnystyle (Prod. 6Fingers)

Drums & Ammo – Blame Game (Prod. Al Jieh)

Low Budget Crew – The Masters

aaron — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:06:09 +0000

If you don’t know about the Low Budget Crew I’m guessing you have heard from one of them and you just don’t know it. Well they have come out with a beat album, yes I said album that is a dedication to the game of golf…also titled The Masters. Just like the Masters (PGA Tour), after playing 18 tracks you’ll feel exhilarated, and want to do it all over again. Sorry no green jacket after this. yU, Kev Brown, Roddy Rod, Kaimbr, & Quartermaine break out the 9 irons and drive each banging beat straight to your ears. I played The Masters without skipping any tracks/holes. Well wroth it, so go buy Low Budget Crew – The Masters on Band Camp. I think I’ll go play a around of golf with The Masters in the headphones. Better yet just bump it in the car. BIG thanks to the Low Budget Crew for making a banging album.

yU (Diamond District, Remainz) – 2nd Hole

RoddyRod – 12th Hole

Swiff D – Ladders

aaron — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:58:05 +0000

It’s always good to see a cat doing it big with other folks, and take time for themselves to produce quality stuff as well. Swiff D has done just that. Known for making tracks for Pac Div, Busta, Anthony Hamilton, Dipset, Snoop Dogg and many others, he put out this high energy, with some chill tracks, beat tape called Ladders. After listening to it about a half a dozen plus times, I think… I know this is a cat you shouldn’t be f*ck’n with. Driving around, loud at a club, or just kicking with your people you’ll definitely get some head nods from it. Download Swiff D – Ladders here, and check him out on Twitter. BIG thanks Swiff D for tweeting this. Keep doing what you’re doing.

Swiff D – Sherman Way

Swiff D – Gone B Alright

The Underachievers vol. 2

aaron — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:19:44 +0000

Some folks whistle while they work, others find tunes and crank it up. Earlier this year I got an email about this beat tape by The Underachievers titled The Underachievers Volume 2. I want to say I was in the middle of a project when I downloaded it. I put it on, and left it on all day. I can honestly say The Underachievers Volume 2 put me in “GO” mode. The Underachievers have put together a collection of beats that got made, but weren’t picked up for some reason or another. Based on my own listening experience, this is definitely worth listening to. It’s a heavy instrumental album with nicely placed samples. Job well done. Download The Underachievers – The Underachievers Volume 2 on Band Camp. BIG thanks to Anthony for shooting this over to me.

The Underachievers – Fly Art

The Underachievers – Enter Stage Left

Interview: Black Spade

aaron — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:25:39 +0000

I’m a long time fan of Black Spade, so it was a really cool to get a chance to chat with him about past projects, stuff he’s working on now, and the future of Black Spade. He put out the mixtape Build and Destroy, and most recently a beat tape called The Day We Landed. I can’t stop playing either one. I met up with Black Spade at I Ced’s place when they were taking a break from working on some Hawthorne Headhunts’ tracks. I got a little insight about who Black Spade is and what his future plans are. I did learn one important lesson about doing interviews- Don’t stop recording until you leave, because we talked about everything. I know I’ll be doing another interview with him when he drops back into town. Check out Black Spade – The Day We Landed. BIG thanks Black Spade for taking the time, and making the music. Keep it going. BIG shout out to I Ced for the sound effects (ha ha) and the place.

Click here for the Vimeo link.