Hip-Hop Cassette Tapes......

[CharlesJones]

If i knew how to download music, you think i would be asking you to burn me some albums? LOL. I don't download music because i don't know how. And besides my mom has a computer but she won't let me use it. Now can you burn me some albums or not? I used to have a guy that i talked to at another rap music website burn me some albums but he takes too damn long to send my cd's back to me and then he has the nerve to get a attitude sometimes when i ask him how long is it gonna take for him to send my cd's back to me. I don't have time to be dealing with assholes like that especially when i haven't met the guy and i'm the one that's paying him to burn the cd's. I don't be giving money to strangers especially strangers online that get a fucking attitude with me about some shit that i'm paying them for. I usually don't do business with people online because i don't trust people online.



One time i talked to a guy about some old tv shows he was gonna send me on a vhs tape and i was gonna pay him. He gave me his address but when i sent him the money, he didn't send what i wanted and i got pissed. That shit has also happened to me with a customer at Amazon.com that was selling a music cd or a movie on vhs that i wanted because when i sent him or her the money, i didn't get what i was supposed to get. I'm not doing that shit anymore. I also don't like the fact that Amazon.com has changed their payment policy because they don't accept money orders anymore. I used to buy a lot of music cd's from them and now them muthafuckas don't wanna accept money orders. That's some bullshit because ain't nothing wrong with a money order.

[check two]

---Return of the audio cassette

Just when you thought it was dead, the audio cassette is catching the imagination of music fans again. So what's making us pause and rewind?

During its heyday, the audio cassette was easy to take for granted. It was cheap, portable and simple to duplicate but, unlike a vinyl album, never a thing of beauty. It always seemed so disposable, and was prone to unspooling in a spew of magnetic spaghetti, thus requiring laborious restoration with the aid of a pencil.

But just as it is facing extinction, the clunky old cassette has been reborn. Last year, feted indie bands Deerhunter and the Dirty Projectors both took the unusual step of putting out albums on cassette, and Universal made the celebrity poetry album Words for You Britain's first major-label cassette release in six years. The 6 Music DJ Lauren Laverne celebrates old compilations on her regular Memory Tapes feature. In the US, there are hundreds of underground labels that specialise in the format and package it with a degree of artistry never witnessed in the old Woolworths bargain bin. In the era of iPods and bitrates, the cassette has become the fragile repository of a generation's affection for the analogue age. You can buy iPod cases, T-shirts, computer hardware and even jewellery that pays tribute to its iconic shape.

British record labels began releasing cassettes in October 1967, shortly after the electronics giant Philips perfected the design, and it took off as a mass-market medium after the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979. Between 1985, when it overtook vinyl, and 1992, when it was eclipsed by CDs, it was the most popular audio format in the country. But sales collapsed towards the end of the 90s and major labels abandoned the cassette in 2003.

Universal's decision to press 4,000 cassettes of Words for You was prompted by requests from older listeners who didn't use CDs, let alone MP3s. But specialist cassette labels, which have boomed over the last two years, are born out of choice rather than necessity, quixotically running off limited-edition tapes on stacks of secondhand decks. The low cost is just one factor. Once derided by audiophiles, cassettes are now cherished for their imperfections. The way the sound subtly warps and mutates over time does no favours to Lady Gaga, but it breathes extra vibrancy into lo-fi, experimental music.

"I grew up listening to tapes," says Canadian Al Bjornaa, who set up his label Scotch Tapes in 2008. "It was kind of cool how each tape sounded different depending on what cassette deck you used." Bjornaa even reuses old cassettes as well as fresh blanks. "You can sometimes still hear the original music playing behind the new tracks. It adds a certain something that makes each cassette unique." And unlike MP3s, which encourage the listener to dismantle albums into their constituent tracks, the cassette "helps preserve the notion of 'the album' as a complete work of art."

Bjornaa admits that nostalgia plays a part. People old enough to remember the importance of cassette labels in the post-punk years (one indie genre, C86, even took its name from a tape sold via the NME) are aligning themselves with a long DIY tradition. They are also the home-taping generation. An iTunes playlist, easily burned on to multiple CDs, can never be a labour of love in the same way as a mix tape brought to life through hours hunched over the pause button, perfecting clunk-free segues.

Children of the 80s, too, are affectionately revisiting the format on which they first discovered music. "What you grew up with just sounds right," says 22-year-old Brad Barry, a student at the University of Texas who hosts a weekly cassette-only radio show called C60 Radio. Meanwhile, people who sport cassette-themed Urban Outfitters' T-shirts or iPhone cases are just using it as a retro prop in the never-ending 80s revival.

Clearly, nostalgia alone won't reverse the cassette's commercial nosedive, but that's rather the point. While an MP3 can travel around the globe within hours of release, tapes inhabit the cloistered world of the true underground – although, ironically, most are sold online. "It keeps it from becoming mainstream," says Barry. Faced with the bloodless convenience of digital music, it is human nature for some people to hanker after the cumbersome, the labour-intensive and the fallible – to pause and rewind. The record industry, too, might have reason to look fondly on those plastic rectangles, now that the alarmist slogan "Home Taping Is Killing Music" is just a retro T-shirt design and digital piracy is wreaking financial devastation. If only they'd known.

-http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/29/audio-cassette-comeback

[BIG D O]

what the deal flow...I seen you is holdin a grip of tapes, i'm really tryin to do some b.i. wit you my dude...

just hit me up here: nickyledez@yahoo

should be way easier to correspond w/ one another....

hit you wit a PM too....


as far as this Charles Jones cat, why you coming in here jostlin wit ppl man? You like the lonely, bitter drunk that comes in and ruins the vibe at the party and end up gettin stomped out by like 40 people...

if you think tapes are wack or the thread is wack just let us be wack and keep it movin'....SMH...

[Billy Danzenie]

my favorite place to get sealed cassettes and rare ones closed down. fucc technology fucc itunes fucc all that

[Billy Danzenie]

im done!

[fatboybrandon]

That Dream Warriors cassette looks interesting, I never heard of the group but I'm sure they have something good to offer. Looking at the cover image I thought it was some type of alternative music act, it reminds me of some early 90's R&B covers which are great to find on cassette also, that's a whole 'nother cassette shopping experience in itself.

Diamond D's SB&HH is a gem to find on cassette still to this day, I remember the insides of new cassettes having a great smell too after you rip the cellophane off and open the fold-out cover.

Ohhhhh shit, now that's a coincedence right there. That was my website, yo

That's funny, I guess the circle of tape diggers online is a small place. I'm glad to know your on the forum. I'll check out your sales links too.


Nice article by check two, I've read about that type of resurgence, even though some people feel tapes are a thing of the past. I'm the type of person to never say never, it's one inner quality of the hip hop community that keeps things moving and the right direction and the nostalgic digging vibe around.

I think someone should come out with an EQ specifically designed to emulate tape saturation and warmth in iTunes, like how certain DAWs have plug-ins that achieve vintage analog effects. I have a stack and drawer full of tapes next to my computer and I switch btwn listening to each at least once a week. I can definitely say the analog warmth of cassette sound is still great to hear, regardless of updates in technology.

[pyrex visionist]

does anyone have any of these:

buddha monk the prophecy (sampler) cat. #: EDL-CS-PRO1
dj doo wop dj doo wop and gza beneath the surface sampler
ghostface killah ironman starks (sampler) (sony/razor sharp RS002)
gravediggaz demo tape cassette
wu-tang clan mystagogue volume 2
wu-tang clan wu-tang demo tape


i have the following tapes up for sale/trade:

Brooklyn Zoo Masterz Of The Zooniverse + Original Brookyln Zoo (EP)
Buddha Monk Spark Somebody Up
Ghostface Killah Ironman (Album)
Gravediggaz Diary Of A Madman b/w Constant Elevation
Gravediggaz Nowhere To Run Nowhere To Hide
Gza/Genius Come Do Me
Gza/Genius Liquid Swords (Album)
Gza/Genius Cold World (Remix)
King Just Warrior's Drum b/w Move On 'Em Stomp
Method Man I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By
N-Tyce Hush Hush Tip
Raekwon Immobilarity (Album)
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (purple tape, signed by dj memory man)
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (purple tape)
Raekwon Latest & Greatest Hits (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Sampler Tape)
Remedy Remedy (Album)
Remedy Genuine Article (Album)
Shyheim On And On
Shyheim Pass it Off
Various St. Ides 94 Promotional Tape (Shaolin Brew,...)
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever Sampler Tape

[BIG D O]

Update!!!

6/14/10:

Getting back into the swing of things and decided to hit up one of my old reliable spots way off on da eastside of town....

Lately this spot has been dog shit, like real heavy, moldy, dog shit as far as it comes to tapes....it once was a place where I bumped into classics left and right... from Biggie, Mobb Deep and Big L I could usually count on findin' a lil' somethin' 9 times outta 10.... but for about the past 3 or so odd months they been dry. today I was around the way eatin some fried cat fish and said fuck it, I'm nearby, lemme check these fuckas out....

I walked in and was greeted with the sight that they had remodeled and everything was switched around a grip... Now not only was the tapes in a diff. part of the store, but they also were displayed differently than they had been....there still was a bunch and I started in scanning....BOOM! Right off the bat I struck gold spotting this gem; Erick Sermon's debut solo LP "No Pressure" from 1993....

This album was basically considered by many of his fans as Sermon's best solo ever, and featured guest spots from Redman, Keith Murray, Joe Synystr, Ice Cube and his cousin Kam and a group that ppl frequently forget about nowadays in Shadz Of Lingo; a Virginia based collective that rocked outta Atlanta and made their debut here....

[Bleezie Febrero]

Big D O what's good man? Finally got around to signing up for this forum. Loving this thread man...I'll get some pics of my collection up as soon as I can...some real gems that you'll appreciate I'm sure...

Keep diggin for those gems...

Peace

[BIG D O]

Update!

6/22/10:

the latest grab...sadly I didn't stumble upon this in a store, but rather copped it from a reliable source via the net...

The half Puerto Rican, half Cuban MC known as Kurious that hails from Spanish Harlem is often most remembered for his joint "Walk Like A Duck", but honestly his debut "A Constipated Monkey", was not the critical failure many Hip-Hop journos tried to tag it as being...

In fact, the 12 track LP was a funked out boom bap construction complete with many a Jazzy sample source. It featured most of the production duties being handled by the Beatnuts and IMO only had a couple mis-steps.

At the time, Kurious was on Columbia Records and so was a then new artist named Nas, I always felt like "Illmatic" (released several months later on Columbia) contained a good amount of choice trace elements from "Constipated Monkey", that combined with Nas being naturally a stronger, more concise MC breeded a classic album....

If you're nat familiar with this album, please get up on it...

[Squidgy McGubbins]

I'd really like to show my appreciation for this thread Big D O.

You've uncovered some real gems, the best part about it is that you've come across them on cassette.

You really seem to have a grasp of what Hip-Hop is all about, I applaude your dedication.

Thanks man, I'm definitely gonna check for some of these albums that I wasn't already aware of.

[BIG D O]

I'd really like to show my appreciation for this thread Big D O.

You've uncovered some real gems, the best part about it is that you've come across them on cassette.

You really seem to have a grasp of what Hip-Hop is all about, I applaude your dedication.

Thanks man, I'm definitely gonna check for some of these albums that I wasn't already aware of.

preciate this to the fullest....

[Squidgy McGubbins]

No problem, I don't schmooz or ass kiss jsut to get people to like me.

So when I give props it's sincere and this thread deserves it.

[BIG D O]

No problem, I don't schmooz or ass kiss jsut to get people to like me.

So when I give props it's sincere and this thread deserves it.

I didn't presume you would....

all the better....

again preciate that....more updates comin soon!

[BIG D O]

UPDATE!!!

7/6/10:

Really cam up nice over the holiday weekend..

Was in the city at one of my usual vinyl haunts...pretty well-known place in the Denver LoDo area...I initially went b/c it was a holiday on the 5th and all the parking was free as a jay bird and trust that's a huge thing....Anyway, yeah they have tapes in this spot too, but for the most part they haven't had a tape I wanted to cop outta there in months....low and behold this day they had three....

Now, see, the thing about this spot is that they're smart, so my brand of sticky fingeredness is ineffective...what I mean is that they have all their tapes on display, case only....no tape inside....you grab the title you want and head up tp the front and pay...

LOL, no one loves tape jacking more than me, but longtime readers of this thread know I pay for tapes too, in a big way sometimes (i've dropped nice coin on cassettes), so ya'll should know even if the establishments loss prevention is full proof, I still will come away with what I want. Anyway, they had "on display" amongst other things three tapes that I didn't have and really wanted to pick up..

1) Brand Nubian's "Everything Is Everything"--their 1994 opus that I also own on Vinyl and CD and had been wanting to grab on tape for a minute in white tape copy...

2) Souls Of Mischief debut "93 'til Infinity"; widely considered their best work and one of the best Hiero albums ever to drop...period. This was in mint condition, everything was perfect from the case to the tape's print....

3) and the pick of the litter; The Beatnuts debut full length, "Street Level"....this I had come a bout a cunt hair's length close to copping for like $10, but instead bumped into it here and only had to drop $2.95....everything about it was perfect as well, the pullout insert is a lil water damaged, but the pictures still are fine and it unfolds fine....a great pickup, perhaps my best of the entire Summer thus far!