Knowing is half the battle...

If you don't know good music, then you should definitely check in with A-one. His blog has been one of my favorites since starting my own because he is knowledgable about hip hop from the true school as well as the hip hop of today. I don't trust your opinion about hip hop if you weren't around to see it through the 80's and 90's, no offense if this pertains to you as a reader. A-one not only brings you the classics, but he checks for the new artists that are out today and brings you the rundown of what's good and whats not from what's coming out these days. The site features quality writing and reviews, not only limited to music. A-one came through for me with some Stretch and Bobbito and Doo-Wop tapes from back in the day, some of my personal favorites as well as reader favorites... Enjoy...

Congrats to Nes on his blogs first birthday. I still remember when he first made me aware of Dirty Waters. I was happy to see a blog that highlights the DJ. Maybe I don't know the right places to go but usually when I see DJ's mentioned on blogs it's some producer DJ who has a new album out. Usually. Nes hits on everything from breaks to digging to upping mixtapes/radio shows. As a former DJ myself, I appreciate that.

In celebration I wanted to share a couple tapes I ripped from my collection at random…

This is a Stretch & Bob show from 94. I used to cop these tapes from Tape Kingz. They'd take a 90 minute cassette & fill it up so it's not the complete show or even official but it was the cheapest way for me to hear the show so I rolled with it. Highlights of this tape are freestyles from Common & some guy named Billy G aka Infinity who I don't think I've heard of before (or since). He's kinda nice. Its crazy going back & listening to this & hearing the "Stretch Armstrong Exclusive" drop over Shook Ones Part 2. If anyone knows who that "Questions" song is by hit me up, knowgoodmusic{at}gmail.com. I think it's Mad Kap but I'm not certain.

Stretch & Bobbito

Side A

Side B

I didn't do anything to try to clean up the sound on this one.

Everyone knows Doo Wop's 95 Live I & II but nobody really talks about any of the intros after that. On this tape he has Smoothe Da Hustler & crew, Heltah Skeltah & OGC, Busta Rhymes & Flipmode, Lord Finesse, Sadat X, & even Ed Lover. My personal highlight is when Busta does the reggae style. I also always liked that Uneek song. This tape came out around the time Tupac put out "Hit Em Up" & towards the end you hear Doo Wop going on an anti Death Row rant. Earlier in the tape he plays the joint he put out with King Sun (aka Sun Dullah) dissing Tupac. There's also a Nas freestyle on here that I forgot about until just now. I don't think it's exclusive to this tape though. I remember Nas had some "freestyles" over classic beats that were on every DJ's tape. I think I even had a promo tape of it that came with my Source subscription. Remember when The Source used to come with a cassette single/sampler?






Doo Wop

Side A

Side B


I didn't try to clean up the sound on this one either. And honestly, the rip is recorded a little hot. Sorry.



I invite everyone to come through my blog & grab some of the other classic mixtapes that I've ripped. Check the "Classic Mixtapes" link towards the top of the page. Again, thanks to Nes for the opportunity.

Thanks to A-One for his entry
Be sure and check out his site
Know Good Music