He's Baaaaaaaaack!!

Yea man, looks like Pappy is back! His new mixtape just dropped, once again hosted by Kay Slay. MOSTLY all new tracks. You may have heard a few tracks on hiphopgame.com (what up Brian!). For the most part its all new and he is back to the raw style that i'm used to. I am not sure if he lost some of his hunger when Jive picked him up, or if he was just too saturated .. whatever the case I am feelin this one like cooked food. This mixtape is titled 'Already a Legend'. I saw the title and didn't think nothin of it until I was ridin, listening to it today. Is Papoose a legend? A legend is someone like Rakim, Kane, Biggie, Pac and Jay. I'm not ready to put him there .. all of those guys had something more that most artists will never had. Its that 'IT' that people be talkin about! - Currently, Pap is the only one I be pressed to listen to. All the legends I mention don't have anything current .. Pap be havin me on the edge of my seat waitin to see how he gonna finish a bar. His swag on the mic is crazy .. he thinks he the best thing since curried shrimp! .. tha's the swag you gotta have. - i Kinda got off of what I was trying to say, so let me get back. I think Pap is 'ALready a Mixtape Legend'. Think about it, outside of 50 Cent .. who had the bootleggers going crazy .. who had the haters seeing what the big deal was, then becoming fans? What mixtape artist had the most sales? Who threatened to put barcodes on mixtapes? Who consistently had the most listened to songs and the most downloaded mixtapes? Papoose, Pa-Poose (real fans know) - - He is hungry again. Maybe since him and Jive had their differences, he is about to murder the mixtape circuit again. As I was thinkin his legend status, I was thinkin who is hot in the mixtape game right now. What artists outside Wayne stays consistent in the mixtape circuit. Pap was that dude. This is mixtape #19 for Pap. Official mixtape #19. I was glad to see him back b/c now its gonna make other artists step up and see what they can do in the mixtapes. Bloggin has been inconsistent cuz there is nothin poppin. Pap is back, so lets get to it. Catch ya'll! - one side note, I think Biggie woulda kilt the mixtapes. He loved to rap, spit ... as wifey always says 'why'd they have to kill Biggie' - woulda been nice to see what he woulda did to the mixtape .. his demo was takin 2 radios and rhyming over Big Daddy Kane .. yea, he woulda killed the mixtapes. OUT

50 and Kanye West .. great for HipHop!

Today was a good day in hip-hop and a good day for TheMixTapeCircuit(dot blogspot dot com) <--- Shamless Plug. Today is 9/11 .. the day the infamous Twin Towers fell .. No comparison but today two Twin Towers in HipHop dropped albums on the same day. There had been talks of 50 and Kanye ever since it was announced they was droppin on the same day. Mixtape DJ's immediately jumped on this idea and startin droppin 50 Vs Kanye Mixtapes I ain't mad at all, cuz as far as i'm concerned, 50 gave MixtapeCircuit(dot blogspot dot com)artists hope that life can get great off the mixtape. Kanye is one of the biggest names in hip hop and has recently capitalized off mixtapes he's dropped as preludes to Graduation. I won't get too deep in the 'mixtape' talk with this blog, i'll keep it on the surface.

50 has taken countless jabs at Kanye, Kanye threw light jabs back, tryin to stay on the humble. Now that I think about it, Fif was talkin kinda greasy. Talkin about how Def Jam gonna falsify the reports .. make 1 sale look like 3 sales .. then talkin about 'watchin the decrease' .. talkin about his polo .. Kanye remained humble, almost too humble. At the end of the day .. end of the day being 106 n Park today when 50 and Kanye performed .. same day, same stage, same mic .. then sittin side by side on the same couch. This jus days before they presented together at the MTV video awards. It was kinda hard for Kanye to hide that smirk and would Fif really be up there if he didn't like Kanye? Based on his track record, if theres beef, theres no love at all for you!!

Today was a good day because the biggest names in hip hop let us know that we can take it back to the old school and all get this paper. No need for the beef. Instead of cats banking their career off beef, go in the studio and make good music. When they got on stage and did their thing, you could feel the energy. The positive energy. Modern days greatest, Jay Z hit the stage for like 2 minutes and just rapped the hook for 'Encore' and the crowd lost their minds! I was surprised the young crowd had that response to Jigga, but I guess all recognize greatness. As great as I think both 50 and Kanye projects are going to be, I just think it was a great day in hip hop when those 3 could come in peace and do it in the name of hip-hop. They were on the couch giving each other props while 50 would take playful shots. He even shouted out us bloggers .. "ya'll are some haters, you sound like bloggers" - he shouted to a group sittin near the couch. Check out "Big Brother' on Kanyes joint and check out 'I Steal .." feat. Akon on 50's record. As of 12:20AM 9/12, the word is Kanye has a slight edge in sales.

Thanks for bearing with me as I stepped outside TheMixtapeCircuit (dot blogspot dot com) .. coming very soon, the Bays hottest DJ, DJ Rah2K .... and Baltimores own DJ 2Mello aka Mr Undercover R&B .. two of the hottest and hardest working DJ's in the game ....... OUT.

MTV's Top 10 RIGHT NOW ... Mixtape Influence

10. Jim Jones
9. Common
8. 50 Cent
7. Jay-Z
6. Young Jeezy
5. Kanye West
4. André 3000
3. The Game
2. T.I.
1. Lil’ Wayne

I'm sure most of you all have seen MTV's Top 10 Right Now. I wouldn't totally disagree, based on them saying right now. I'm not sure if they were saying best lyricist, best rapper, best swag .. it wasn't clarified, so i'll assume it was a mix of all? Looking at the list, its clear to see how mixtape joints influenced peoples thinking. In between albums, if you not hot on the mixtape circuit, people gonna forget about you. Whereas if you stay making music, strictly for the streets/mixtapes, you're gonna be mentioned in conversation.

Jim Jones came in at #10 and I think that is solely based off his BALLIN' fame. Altho he laced a couple of remixes, I still think they are basing it off the response of BALLIN' which was a crazy record. Had dudes and females in the club practicing their jump shot! So I won't disagree with that one. They gave Common Number 9. If this was based solely off lyrics, I would put him up a lil higher on the list. I really haven't heard him do alot lately until he released 'The People'. Hot right now? Maybe this is a lifetime acheivement award .. as much as i'm feelin Commons new CD that wifey put me on to, I have seen him in more movies that music lately. His album was hot, so I won't argue to take him off the list. Coming in at #8 was Fiddy Cent .. someone made a comment on the show that if it wasn't for his new joint 'I GET MONEY' he probably wouldn't be on the list. Agreed. Fif is the mixtape king, well, was the mixtape king. Because of him, labels want a new artist to have a mixtape buzz before they even think about getting offered a deal. He set that standard. I GET MONEY is probably one of the best records he's made in a minute .. so i look forward to big things from him this year. He'll be higher on the list next year. Jay Z was number 7 . Jay is the illest living emcee in my generation. Top 4 of all time. (Big Daddy Kane, BIG, Pac, Rakim) - I won't disagree with his position because he hasn't dropped much this year. His 'newest' out are mixtapes of his best of .. which is hot but not new. Only brand new are scattered freestyle or verse here and there, which was smokin hot as usual, but not enough material. Jigga is still that nikka! Number 6 was Young Jeezy. This is the first one on this list I have a real problem with. Jeezy is not lyrical, he is not a great rapper, and his swag is questionable after he ran out on the Monie Love interview where she questioned how 'hip hop' he was. I would have loved to have been at the roundtable to discuss this one. I think I could have swayed some people to change their minds and take The Snowman off this list. I wouldn't even say he's hot right now. He's not doing anything or talking about anything the next 'dopeboy rapper' isn't talkin about.

Now we are getting into the nitty gritty. The Top 5! Top 5 is where you begin to see the mixtape influence kick in. Kanye comes in at #5 He hit the mixtape circuit as a prelude to his album which comes out 9/11/07 along with Fif, but tha's a whole 'nother story! - anyway, Kanye dropped The Gradute, Graduation Day and that led to other DJ's getting in on it and dropping their own personal Kanye mixtapes. Nothing say "you're hot" than a bunch of DJ's doing a mixtape with you that you don't even know about. But whatever it takes to keep that buzz .. Kanye is gonna go plat easy. And he murdered "Throw Some D's". Andre 3000 aka 3 Stacks comes in at a strong #4. After hearing what he did to that UGK song, the joint with Devin, the Lloyd remix .. and an unofficial mixtape. I dare say he is number 2 or 1!! I wouldn' go that far, but he is definately NOW. I'm glad he is back to straight spittin' for the moment. I wasn't too much into his Love Below days, even tho Hey Yaa was that ish! He needs to keep this up and he'll always be on this list. The Game was number 3. I want to agree with this since i'm from Cali, but what he he dropped lately? Someone on the panel mentioned he murdered all of G-Unit on the mixtapes. This was like a year or more ago. I don't think the One Blood single or remix should have brought him to number 3 on the right now list. If tha's the case, Lloyd Banks should be on here somewhere. I Disagree MTV!! There was a nice lil debate about #2 and #1. T.I. got number 2. I think T.I. makes better songs RIGHT NOW, and his promo push for T.I. vs TIP was crazy. His mixtape push could have been better. Sure he's been in Chevy commercials, had ESPN playin his song every night but at the end of the day it comes down to the music. So, #2 was a good pick for T.I. - AND THE WINNER IS .............. This was a no brainer for me. Lil Wayne IS the mixtape right now. You can't log on to the hot mixtape sites without seeing Lil Wayne has 3 new mixtapes a day. Not all official, but he has a lot of material and he lives for the booth seems like and he is having fun while smashing any track he touches. Weezy hasn't had any BET/MTV top 10 singles in a minute but him being so heavy in the mixtapes definately made him #1 on the list.

Mixtapes aren't going anywhere. If anything, the mixtape influence is becoming more and more big. Who woulda thought Kanye West, the international superstar would drop an official mixtape. This just goes to show how important the mixtape and the mixtape circuit is. It keeps you fresh.

Diddy, Oh Diddy!

Since this is MY blog, I guess I can write about real life experiences and what I see with my own two. I know ya'll probably like 'why is Diddy the topic in a hip hop blog?' - Well, he is the topic because I do lightweight promotion for a member of the Bad Boy Family .. The Enforcer of Da Band E. Ness .. yea, the #1 Draft Pick .. this is gonna hurt me to write because of how much I respect Diddy, and this sure isn't going to help me when I try to politic my way in the Bad Boy door.

Diddy is known to break artists, he is supposed to be a trendsetter. To me its like he has been taking the easy route as of late. I think this started around the 'Boyz In The Hood feat Jeezy' days. It seemed like the south was about to do it, so he was like, 'hmm, let me get a hot act from the South' - on the real, they wasn't that hot, but it had the Bad Boy named attached to it. In the meantime, no one from the East was really doin it .. R&B acts started jumpin' out there, so looks like Diddy wanted to see if he could throw Cassie in the mix. Nothing really sold too much or made too much noise. They say Danity Kane went platinum, but I don't even remember a hot single. Don't get me started on Making The Band, it almost seems like a joke. (lol, as me and wifey watch Making The Band 4 as i type) - I am very entertained by the shows, but at the end of the day, whose career is being taken to another level? Diddys or the potential 'Bands?' - - Based on history its the Diddy himself ... its almost like he's playin with careers. Seems like once the show is over, he's done with the promo for them.

Now back to E. Ness .... this is a dude that has a million songs on stash. Alot of street joints for the mixtapes and some commercial joints for 'Nessasary' - which drops early 2006, oh, i mean 4th quarter 2006. Oh, that already passed ... I mean mid 2007 .. last word is it was pushed back to early 2008. This is a blower to me because I see first hand how hard he works, how bad he wants it .... but what does Diddy do? He keeps pushin the album back and stays on the Souths 'Joc' - I'm not mad at what Young Joc is doin, but tha's easy Puff .. why not bring the east back like Big did back in the day. Seems like he didn't to put forth the effort to try something new, like drop E. Ness .. i mean, since he's signed to you, at least let him drop a hot 16 on a commercial remix. The streets still know Ness, and based on the response of his last 4 mixtapes (all 2007) - the streets still want Ness .. - - Ness is definately someone that deserves to make it. He has the hunger that alot of these up and comings need. He does all interviews, drop requests, DVD appearances, etc .. just making himself available for any promo to get himself out there.

Just venting a lil bit. Seeing Ness work, and listening to the quality of songs he puts together .. he definatley needs to be out there.

Joints I'm Feelin' / Mixtape Review

Tapemasters Inc; Welcome To Brooklyn

Normally I'm not a fan of 'various artists' mixtapes. I like for DJ'z to stick to one concept. This joint here was different, there was a Brooklyn concept. I sat back and thought to myself how many hot emcees come/came outta Brooklyn. Even some 'no name' Brooklyn emcees is hot, the wordplay and swag takes them a long way. Anywayz, I read the tracklist and was like 'Yezzur, this is a must have'. I am very critical of mixtapes and I found this one to be near flawless. I could criticize and say it was an easy mixtape to make based on all the talent in BK, but the DJ'z picked the right mix of songs, and the order of the tracks seemed to flow perfect. Cant do a Brooklyn joint with out Hov, so the selection of Jay Z tracks didn't disappoint. Papoose makes a few guest appearances in the midst of whatever he's up to now. You gotta check out 'Brooklyn, USA'. This is a joint that takes me back to vintage Pap. He took a concept and flow and killed it! Hopefully he's gettin his album together, or at least another hot mixtape for the streets. One of my favorite emcees from the borough, Maino has a few songs on here. I always liked his style and flow so of course I was looking forward to hearing those. Who can forget about Fab. He's def killin the radio now with his R&B type singles, but he got a couple freestyles on here that lets you know he ain't playin on the mic. I tried to give Gravy another chance, but i'm still not feeling this dude music. This was one of his better tracks, but still not hot. I don't think its in him! Joell Ortiz comes with some fire on here too. His Hip Hop song is off the hook. I'm definatley gonna be looking forward to hearing more from him. Foxy, the illest female in the game had a quick joint on here. Sounds like she stil got it, she needs to get it crackin again. Her song was followed by Lil Kim, who also sounded pretty good. It'd be good to see them get back to they way they used to rhyme! Foxy before all this legal ish, and Kim before all the face jobs and boob job ... all in all this was a good mixtape. Woulda been nice to hear AZ, or maybe a street joint from Mos Def since they reppin BK, but it will still get play in the ride for a few weeks. Definately worth a listen, fam.


DJ Clinton Sparks; Kardinal Offishall - Do The Right Thing

Real quick, this here is a quality mixtape too. Clinton Sparks does his usual 'Get Familiar' thing, but the star of this show is Kardinal Offishall. This dude is always slept on but he always makes good music. He's reppin T-DOT and come with his own style. Def check him out.

STAY TUNED FOR UPCOMING INTERVIEWS FROM YOUR FAVORITES MIXTAPE DJ'S and MIXTAPE ARTISTS. Coming very soon. E. Ness and Maino

What's Hot and What's Not?!?!?

These days its hard to tell what's hot and what's not. I have been searchin, trying to find the hot mixtape DJs out there ... trying to find the hot mixtape artist out there. Its so easy to make mixtapes these days, which is why everyone is doing it. I'm about to go on limewire and download some songs, rip some words of a hot artist, call it a drop and release the illest mixtapes, son! Yea right, tha's not me, but that's how easy it is. Its to the point where its annoying. I mean really, how many of ya'll is gonna drop a Lil Wayne mixtape?

Da Drought, Da Drought is Over, The Drought Vol.3, The Best Rapper Alive; Vols 1-3, Cassidy vs. Lil Wayne, Jada Vs. Lil Wayne (i actually might give that one a listen to see what Jada been up to), The Rapper Eater, The Carter 2.5I Can't Feel My Face, Da Nolia Soldier, I am Hip Hop, President Carter, None Higher, New Orleans Nightmare, Please Say The Baby, and who can forget the 30 or so 'Best Of Lil Waynes' ... WOW, Lil Wayne must have alot of material (in my sarcastic tone).. tha's alot of unofficial mixtapes, and i'm sure i'm missing like 84 of'em!! Whats not hot is doing a mixtape that's already been done. There is no concept featuring Lil Wayne that would be hot at all right now. Not even if u had an exclusive Hot Boy reunion mixtape that included Juvie, BG and Turk on the same tracks. NOT INTERESTED, cuz ya'll done made me not wanna hear anything to do with Weezy. I used to be pressed for The Prefix, Suffix, all the Squad Up joints, and of course the Dedications .. but there are so many out now, its to annoying to sift through and see if any of them are official. Didn't mean to drag that on, but DJ's .. thats NOT HOT. I was just over on DATPIFF.com and seen a couple joints that might be hot. Hot because it wasn't the run of the mill mixtape. A hot up and coming DJ that goes by the name Gee T aka Got That posted a Joell Ortiz mixtape. This joint is hot cuz the artist is hot for one, we don't hear too much of him, the songs aren't ripped from another mixtape .. jus a quality mixtape giving hip hop heads 'something funky to listen to' - bottom line is to just be original. (You can check Gee T on www.myspace.com/geet169). I mentioned the blueprint to a hot mixtape in a previous blog (refer to Mixtape Circuit blog) - like Home Depot says, 'You Can Do It, I Can Help' ...... why don't ya'll find an artist that should be getting mixtape love, but hasn't recently. I have recently ran across a few. Artists like E. Ness who still has a name from MTV/Making The Band fame. People know who he is, they like his music, but there is not enough of it out there for us to listen to. Diddy, stop playin with dudes career! I saw a Talib Kweli mixtape, which isn't a first but its not too common. Little Brother dropped a classic mixtape with Mick Boogie. Beans just dropped a mixtape. Cassidy just dropped a couple ... he's been away for a minute .. good to see he's back but it's kinda lookin like its about to be a few too many joints featuring Cass out there too. Just keep it original. If you want to stand out, don't blend. Check out the sites, see whats out there and do something different. Don't do a Biggie joint, a Pac joint, a Big L joint, a Big Pun joint, a Stack Bundles joint .... basically, do not do a feature on a slain emcee.

I'll need to do more research on the whole game to see who is doing their thing now. The game changes so fast. Where is Drama? Has Big Mike dropped anything noteworthy? Is DJ Clues job at Power 105 taking up all of his mixtape time? Outside of Papoose, when's the last time Kay Slay dropped something hot? Whoo Kid, are we still paying attention to the G-Unit joints he puts out? When Joe Budden gonna drop another mixtape ... Ain't we all waiting for Mood Muzik 3? What was Paps last hottest mixtape? - - all this being said, its a new day in the mixtape game. Who's gonna step up? Stay tuned for the mixtape awards ..... MY mixtape awards.

Holla at me on sizzle95@tmail.com for info on how to be considered for awards.

**ALERT, Another Stack Mixtape** 'sigh'

DJ Ev Star and DJ Jug E 'Stack Bundles Tribute - 21 Gun Salute'

I just blogged about the sudden interest in Stack Bundles. I just visited the illest mixtape site (datpiff.com) - and what do I see? HEY STACK BUNDLES HAS A NEW MIXTAPE!! Oh, my bad .. its another 'TRIBUTE' to Stack Bundles. The tracklist if far from exclusive, i get to the end of the mixtape cuz i see *bonus track* and the first one is 'Ya Dig' with Jim Jones .. since when has a song that's been on 79 mixtapes been exclusive? This one had 2 DJ's, so they coulda came up with an original idea between the 2 of them. This Stack invasion is about as bad as the Lil Wayne Mixtape Invasion .... unless you Drama, don't make a Weezy mixtape right now.

On one last note before I bounce, people think Jeezy is the ad-lib king, but listen to Stack and listen how many ad-libs he put in there .. and he was doin it before Jeezy.

I'ma leave this alone, but DJ's please step your game up and be original. Mixtapes is where its at right now, keep it fresh.

DJ's Should Be Ashamed of Themselves (RIP Stack Bundles)

So, i'm in the car riding home Monday June 13th. Im trying to gather my thoughts so I can come at Stack Bundles with the business all together so he don't think i'm on no B.S. - A week earlier he gave me his number and said hit him up about promotion. Cool! I was hype because I had been a fan since he jumped on the scene with Riot Squad, Desert Storm, Clue, Paul Cain, Fab and Joe Budden. He always stood out to me cuz he had that cocky swag, his style was different .. and my boy AveBoogie is gonna get on me about speakin on another dudes voice, but he had that ill voice that commanded your ear. (no homo) - anywayz, before I got a chance to hit him up, betta yet before he really got a chance to blow up he was murdered in Queens, NY. Dag-Gone shame..he was on his way .. although i'm not the biggest DipSet/Byrdgang/Jim Jones fan, I respect Jimmy for seeing that Rayquon Elliot (Stacks Govt) had a world of talent and was in the midst of getting him that worldwide shine he deserved .......



NOW, why is it that so many DJ's decided to pay homage to Stack after his death? Was he not nice in the booth while he was with us? How is Stack gonna benefit off of this? Or is it the DJ that is gonna benefit off of this? DJs who decided to throw together a mixtape of the self proclaimed 'Gorgeous Gangsta' should ask themselves why are they in the mixtape game. How easy is it to get love off the mixtape of a newly slain emcee? How about getting ahold of the artist while he is here and putting together a hot mixtape? I read the blogs, see the comments 'Stack is nice', 'RIP Stack', 'Stack was the dude' - funny how I never heard this when he dropped 'Take A Picture' or the instant classic 'Bundles Hot' - take this advice from a self proclaimed MIXTAPE A&R - if you gonna do a Stack joint, the thing to do is get at ARTISTS who was good with Stack, have them supply drops honoring Stack .. if you are on your grind, you can seek out individuals who can supply you with exclusives, not stuff I heard on OLD mixtapes 'Bidding War' or 'My Life is Like a Movie' .. then you can drop and original, classic mixtape. All i'm seeing now is a waste of my time. Put some effort behind what you do, because your work shows you just like to compile songs and call it a mixtape. STEP YOUR GAME UP, mixtape DJ's .. if you not gonna do it right, let Rayquon Elliot rest in peace.
Ya'll coulda spared us this mixtape and other 'Best of Stack' mixtapes. Shout to to Clue, Big Mike and the official mixtape up top this blog that paid homage while he was still here. OUT.

THE MIXTAPE CIRCUIT

The mixtape is huge in todays industry. They have always been hot and my preferred method of seeing whats and who's out there. From way back in the day where mixtapes were actually tapes. Being outside of NY, I would have to search for my tapes, usually ordering my free catalog from the back of The Source. After reviewing every playlist and finding a couple hot joints from one of my favorite rappers and I was sold! I would patiently wait for that thick brown envelope and 'let that tape rock, till my tape popped'. I would follow that process every 2 months or so. I think by having to search for hip hop as a youth gives me more respect for it and makes me more knowledgeable than the average consumer. Of course, now they are much easier to access. The internet has made that possible ... .but before the internet, I was in the magazines, in the books, the stores, trying to get my hands on anything hip hop. Even buying the Hip Hop compilations in the mid 80's from K-Mart that featured the Chicago Bears Superbowl Rap followed by Rappin' Duke (Dah Hah, Dah Hah!). That joing was classic, matter fact, it was called Power Rap! I was just that much of a hip hop head.

Now, back to the mixtape. Today they are very easy to come buy. You can buy them online, you can buy them in stores. If you have the opportunity to walk down Flatbush Ave or stroll through Fulton Mall, you can get them from just about any store. Mixtapes DJ's are huge and some probably make more money than the rappers on their tapes. Not only are mixtape DJ's huge, but mixtape artists, are really in the public eye these days. Especially the public that I know. Most of these artists see the success of a 50 Cent, and the labels see it too ... a mixtape buzz is almost a prerequisite to acheive industry success or get a look from a label. There are alot of mixtape artists out there, and alot of mixtape DJ's out there. - That is where I come in, I spend almost all of my free time on the websites, seeing who's hot, seeing who's not, listening to mixtapes, downloading mixtapes .... I have the knowledge and I don't trust anyones opinion like i trust my own .... So i'm here to break down my opinions on today Mixtape Circuit. From the artists to the DJ's and everything in between. I will break down mixtapes, I will criticize or big up mixtape DJ's and Artists .... so welcome to the ride family.

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