Side A
Blur-Song 2
Daft Punk-Da Funk
Freak Nasty-Da Dip
Spice Girls-Who Do You Think You Are?
snippet of Do or Die's "Po' Pimpin'"
Do or Die-Playas Like Me And You
A Tribe Called Quest-Stressed Out
Squirrel Nut Zippers-Hell
snippet of Beck's "Jackass"
snippet of Richie Rich's "Pillow"
Lil' Kim-Queen Bitch
Side B
"Queen Bitch" continued
Cardigans-Lovefool
White Town-Your Woman
snippet of Sublime's "Santeria"
very slight snippet of Bush's "Machinehead"
Soundgarden-Black Hole Sun
Smashing Pumpkins-Thirty Three
Bloodhound Gang-Fire Water Burn
Nas featuring R. Kelly-Street Dreams (Remix)
Spice Girls-Mama
snippet of Aaliyah's "One In A Million"
snippet of John Mellencamp's "Key West Intermezzo" (I Saw You First)"
When I started pulling out all my mixtapes in preparation for my blog, this was one of the first ones I looked for. I panicked a bit when I couldn't locate it at first because I never lost a CD or tape, and also because this was simply one of my favorite mixes at the time. Much like a lot of its predecessors, original songs have been recorded over, but the final result was one of the most satisfactory mixtape experiences I had during this year.
This was another tape that I received from my brother. It was filled with some of his favorite hip hop tracks from recent albums. I'm pretty sure that he made it specifically for me, but I ended up recording over a lot of anyway. As an adult now and as seriously as I take mixes, I would have been crushed if someone used a creation of mine for another purpose besides listening to it in its original form, but as a kid, the idea of extra tape space was more alluring to me.
I did keep some of the songs in their entirety, with those finding favor with me including "Playas Like Me & You," "Stressed Out" and my favorite of the bunch, "Queen Bitch." It was my first exposure to Lil' Kim that didn't involve radio edits and the raunchiness of it all was thrilling. I still feel like it's one of the best songs she's ever recorded.
You can get an idea of what his tastes were like from some of the other snippets, along with a Geto Boys track that used to be at the very beginning. My first experiences with hip hop came from my brother and I credit him with starting my lifelong love affair with the the genre, but I do wish that I had kept more of his mix intact. The fact that I recorded over a Geto Boys song does not sit well with me now that I'm older. I'm a much different listener now then I was in my early teens and I don't remember being that patient with his mix. All I could think of was getting to my radio and recording more songs.
The disfigurement of the original mixtape did not go in vain since I included songs that eventually grew to be some of my favorites of all-time. "Song 2" and "Da Funk" still bring a smile to my face and part of me thinks that Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" was on here too, but it might pop up later since I find it incredibly hard to believe that I would record over that song.
Hands down, "Lovefool" is the song I love most here and it's still something I'll sing regularly out of nowhere for no apparent reason. It's also one of the songs I associate with the diversity of rock radio at the time and why it always felt like there was something exciting to record. In just a few years, Limp Bizkit and KoRn would become the top artists and radio took a turn for the aggressive. With that, so went any chances of another disco-influenced, female fronted pop gem getting heavy airplay. I still see "Lovefool" as a great recording, but I also see it as a reminder of better times.
Another all-time favorite that would soon become out of vogue was "Your Woman." Nowadays it seems to be remembered mostly for how it played with gender identification, but it's such a greatly produced track and the line "So much for all your highbrow Marxist ways" show more bite than what was on the surface. Beck was my favorite artist at the time and I always thought that his success and eclectic nature helped songs like "Your Woman" become popular.
"Da Dip" is also another song that would earn a high position on my favorite songs list. Anytime I hear it play, I usually stop what I'm doing and start moving accordingly to my surroundings. If I'm around people, my motions are more subtle, but near a dancefloor, I turn back into that kid who grooved to it everytime it came on the radio.
The Spice Girls had yet to hit really big in America, but thanks to the weekly syndicated World Chart Show that came on the radio, I was already getting acquainted with their fourth single, "Who Do You Think You Are?" which actually never got a physical release in the States. I already loved them at this point, but they cemented their status with me after this track.
I could have easily talked at length about every full song on here due to the impact it had on me (yes, even "Fire Water Burn"), but opted to limit it to the most special. This will probably be one of the few times I mention Nas since I owned It Was Written and did not need to record anything off the radio. The remix to "Street Dreams" was only available on the single and I often forget about it since it's not on any of his albums. It's a special song because it was his first real introspective single and it was still rare to hear an R&B star on one of his songs. In my opinion, it's one of his most underrated records.
I'd like to think that I became more selective with this mixtape due to how much I liked each song, but the truth is that I got pretty lucky. I never kept a song that I disliked, but I have recorded songs because of how familiar I was with them and not necessarily how the song made me feel. At the time it went over my head why I played this one so much, but after years of making mixes now under my belt, I now understand. Like I said, I would have panicked if this tape hadn't turned up.
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