Here's comes the crossover! I know The Rub is synonymous with hip hop, reggae, funk and breaks in NY, but now you can add electronic dance tracks to the list. Leave it to the creator of The Rave to follow it up...
expand review with... Drugs Drugs Drugs Drugs. I know the name is a little obvious, and it's kind of a greatest hits of the last 2 years of NY dance music, but if you're in the dust - get on it bruh! Trends are like seasons here and you don't want to be left in the cold. So put your groove boots away and grab your fluorescent bandanna and Trizzy shades, and bang out to the hype sounds of Soulwax, Justice, Chromeo, brand new unreleased Kid Sister Track (featuring Kanye West), Arman Van Helden, Mylo, Claude Von Stroke, Green Velvet, Booka Shade, Das Glow, the Lab's own Egg Foo Youngstah, and many more!!! -C'mish
His recent Hip House mix with Cosmo Baker led the New York Times to label DJ Ayres "one of New York's best mixtape DJs;" Vice, XLR8R, and The Village Voice haven't been stingy with props, either. Yet press acclaim don't put 28s...
expand review on the Pathfinder, yahmeen? Urrrs stays on his grind (so focused right now), and has quickly followed up Hip House with the 10 Deep Flashbacks mix, blending classic and current hip hop, cleverly linked together by the drum breaks and lyrics that the new schoolers sampled, borrowed, and/or flipped from the old. "Definition" into "Super Hoe," the Ice-T and Jay-Z versions of "99 Problems," etc. The mixing is seamless and track selection very much on point, but what sets this apart from similar "throwback" mixes is the diversity of artists included – everyone from iced-out Roc chain wearing Young Gunz, to underground favorites like Madlib and Non Phixion, and even left-field dudes like Dizzee Rascal get their shine alongside Slick Rick, Run DMC, and other legends. With over 70 tracks blended together over the course of the mix, "Flashbacks" drops knowledge, moves asses, and makes for essential summer listening. -Nick Catchdubs
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Ayres proves once again that he like make dance of all kind with this diverse EP of dance / house remixes and edits. The A-side keeps it more current with Kid Sister's "Pro Nails" vs. Surkin's "Radio Fireworks(1)," Masters At Work's "Work"...
expand review vs. South Rakkas' Chinkuzi riddim(2) and a drumline remix of Pharrell & Twista's "Give It Up(3)" (a team-up with Canada's Smalltown DJs). The B-side is focused on house classics, including Bmore edits of Lidell Townsell's "Nu Nu(4)" and 4Hero's "Mr. Kirk's Nightmare(5)," and a seriously beautiful club version of Black Box's "Everybody Everybody(6)." Are those sleestaks on the center label? More ammo for your crate from Ayres. Recommended. -Larri Byrd
Restocked on this early Ayres favorite. Space N Faders is a trip into the 80s section of Ayres party crate circa 2002 or something. Classic selection with DJ favorites mixed with the pop stuff, it's achieves the pleasing middleground for both partying...
expand review and DJ nerdery. Stuff from Rebbie Jackson, Prince, Rockwell, Kano, Raze, Bambaata, Depeche Mode, Shannon, New Order, Talking Heads, New Edition, Nu Shooz, Soft Cell, and others. DJs who need an 80s set, this is a good one to bite. -the mgmnt
Oh shnap. Get your candy beads and whistles ready... it's time for the RAVE! Yep, that's right, the time has come. Ayres done did the Rave mix. And like all of his other mixes, he kills it! Strictly the biggest hits and...
expand review classics on this one from every rave sub-genre (house, techno, acid, and even drum n' bass!) skillfully mixed to bring back all those memories that you've purposely forgotten. Featuring tracks from 4Hero, Basement Jaxx, Armand Van Helden, DHS, DJ Funk, DJ Zinc, DJ Hype, Doc Scott, Jaydee, Aphex Twin, and more. Can you feel it? I do... P.L.U.R. ya'll! -snackmaster
One Saturday night a month, the Rub crew bangs out their note-perfect party sets at Southpaw in Brooklyn. But at that same spot a few hours earlier, they bust out disco classics for toddlers and their parents at the Baby Loves Disco...
expand review party (which has been written up in the Times and filmed for various TV news programs - check Cosmo's fro all up in your CNBC). So don't let the bright pink infant on the cover fool you, this mixtape is pretty much what a "The Rub: Disco Heat" CD would sound like. Ayres and Cosmo put together 21 classic and surprisingly cheese-less disco joints--from Cheryl Lynn's mom-tastic "Got To Be Real" to First Choice's soulful "Let No Man Put Asunder"--all seamlessly mixed and dotted with mumbled "COTHMO BAYKEER AND DEEJAY AYRETH" drops from the shorties. Some feel good shit from the specialists. -Nick Catchdubs
The follow-up to Ayres & Cosmo's much-lauded CD from earlier this year finds the BK/Philly duo laying down another party-starting mix of hip-house staples and uptempo hip-hop jams. A large part of the success of the first one was this carefree disregard...
expand review for the musical Berlin Wall that supposedly divides house music from hip-hop. Lest we forget, hip-hop owes a huge debt to disco music, and it was still considered dance music until Run-DMC came along and slowed things down. Despite Fat Joe's recent insistence that his, uh, colleagues don't dance, there has been a recent resurgence in uptempo hip-hop, led most notably by Missy Elliot and Outkast - "The Way You Move" was, for all intents and purposes, a house record. All that being said, Ayres and Cosmo do a great job of operating from a middle ground between the two genres, equally appeasing house-heads and hip-hoppers alike by casting a wide net in their choice of track selections, ranging from the rare Dimitri From Paris mix of Stetsasonic's "Talking All That Jazz," to the Jungle Brothers' "What You Waitin' For," a requisite remix of Missy's "Lick Shots," and loads of tracks (35 in all) from Tyree, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Twin Hype, Slick Rick, Queen Latifah, NERD, Julien "Jumpin" Perez (Hot Mix 5 represent– Chicago what!) and more. Extra props to the boys for keeping things fresh with leftfield/broken beat joints like the killer Seiji remix of Q-Tip's "Breath & Stop," and the Yam Who rework of "Frontin." Everything's mixed in a proficient and smooth style that keeps things moving. Also includes a free CD recorded live at the monthly Rub party in BK. -Language
Thank God for Ayres and Cosmo, who may fall a few shades short of 2 Puerto Ricans, a Dominican and a Black Man, but have certainly Done It Properly with this perfect exposition of Hip House. The prodigal son, a bastard child...
expand review of hip hop and house, has been welcomed home with open arms on this hour-long mix. For those who may be unfamiliar with the joys of this unjustly neglected genre, what we're talking about is uptempo beats in the 120BPM range topped with rapidfire raps and an anything goes, pre-lawsuit sample mentality. It's the perfect soundtrack to get you pumped up for a night out, I felt like I was back listening to Merlin Bobb's Saturday Night Dance Party on WBLS. This mix is yummy as a slushy, and just as sticky sweet. The fellas have spiked the already potent brew with liberal amounts of current acapellas and re-edits (Ghostface, Joe Buddens, Missy, Kelis and Outkast all make cameos), a logical update of the original idea that shakes any cobwebs off the concept. Kicking off with the ultimate hip house cut, Twin Hype's "Do It To The Crowd," a quick run through of some of the genre classics from well-known rappers follows. Latifah's "Come Into My House" has been a big gun in my house sets for a while, licking shots here alongside nuggets from fast rap masters Craig G, YZ, Special Ed and Rob Base. A short segment that immaculately links megablasts from Aly Us, Mr. Fingers and Marshall Jefferson with the Jungle Brothers' "I'll House You" acapella is nothing short of levitational. If this doesn't get you up, you're a lame loser – go listen to IDM on your headphones. The 41+ high-octane tracks on here mean that I can't name all my favorites, but a special El Poopoo dukey shout goes out for the inclusion of Sugar Bear's rarity "Don't Scandalize Mine" and the Big Daddy Kane DJ feature "The House That Cee Built." By the time Frank Ski starts calling out the "whores in this house" you know it's cuz they're all up on the dancefloor. -monk
Rub DJs Ayres and Eleven are back with their second volume of the educated 80s mix. This is not your usual power hits John Hughes mix, as they dig deep for those crucial 12"s that defined the other, more soulful side of...
expand review the era (B-L-S, with your hand up her dress). Stuff like Cameo, Kleer, Timex Social Club, Jocelyn Brown, Odyssey, Prince, The Jets, New Edition, Ready For the World, Kid Creole, Teena Marie, and much more. Tightly arranged with clean Rub remixes, and some neato tricks bringing it all together. -the mgmnt
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17 more unmixed Bmore club tracks from Titts, Ayres and the extended fam.
This volume rounds up many of the tracks from T&A's recent vinyl EPs, including Dave Nada's "Kick Out The Jams(1)," "Where Brooklyn At?(2)" and "Spell On You(3)," A-Trak's...
expand review Stevie-flipping "Sir Duke(4)" from Ultimate T&A, and Million Dollar Mano's popular "They Know(5)" from The Chedda EP.
It's also got new tracks from Tittsworth (a remix of M.O.P.'s "Ante
Up(6)") and Ayres ("Angel of Death(7)" - Slayer!!) plus Top Billin' and DJ Eli. Another useful no brainer for digital DJs. 17 tracks; 55 minutes.
Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Another unmixed, DJ-friendly collection from Mr. Ayres. I don't need to tell you how huge Baltimore shit is right now (just check the Lab's top selling records), and outside of the Unruly dudes, Ayres & Titts & Bamabounce have been making some...
expand review of the best club remixes around. This CD collects up a grip of rare, unreleased and previously available tracks from the boys, especially handy to CD DJs, Seratonians and those who missed out on the first pressings of Tittsworth's self-released EPs. My favorite track here is still Tittsworth's remix of The Jeffersons theme song(1), but there's other strong contenders: Ayres' Luda-jacking "Broke Ass Home(2)" has quickly become a staple for a lotta DJs and Bamabounce's mixes of Kelis' "Bossy(3)" and Three Six's "Poppin' My Collar(4)" are pretty damn hot too. For goofy Bmore fun, it don't get much better than Tittsworth's ultra-retarded Milli Vanilli remix(5). A bargain and a half right here. 12 tracks in crisp CD quality. (P.S. Look out for a Money Studies release from this pair in the near future…) -Chris Lemon-Red
Cosmo Baker's Love Break was, in my humble opinion, the best mixtape of 2005, so when he told me he was thinking about following it up with a sequel, I basically hounded him until it got done - and now here it...
expand review is! Scientifically engineered for maximum babymakingability, Love Break 2 features almost 30 tracks and runs over 74 minutes for those extra late nights (or early Sunday mornings). Just like the first round, this is basically the smoothest, most soulful shit in the world, with some pretty well known tracks alongside a generous sprinkling of dusty gems. (The upside, of course, is that if you lost your girl 'cause you spent too much money buying records on Turntable Lab, at least you can be smug and satisfied by identifying the tracks – out loud, to yourself – without looking at the insert.) The first volume of Love Break is one of the best-selling mixtapes we've carried, so I don't think I need to do much explaining here, but check some selected artists: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Eddie Kendricks, Al Green, Dionne Warwick, Lyn Collins, The Ambassadors, Jackson 5, The Impressions, y mas y mas. Definitely on par with the first volume, and obviously recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
When Cosmo put a preview of this mix online in early 2005, it crashed the Rub's website in a matter of hours. Like most people, I slept, and never got a chance to hear it until he mercifully pressed up CD copies...
expand review a few months later. Now it's come to the Lab, and the world can finally feel the love. Clocking in at almost 70 minutes and comprised entirely of soulful 60s & 70s babymakin' music, Love Break is maybe Cosmo's best mix to date, and anyone who's followed this man's career knows that that's really saying something. The mix is full of joints that most of you probably haven't heard before, without being willfully obscure or inaccessible; it's just gorgeous music from front to back. But Cosmo doesn't shy away from better-known samples either: check William Bell & Mavis Staples on "Strung Out" (the basis for Cam's "Down & Out" or Z.Z. Hill's "That Ain't the Way You Make Love" (sampled by Madlib on Madvillain's "Fancy Clown"). If I had to pick highlights here, I'd go with the Meters' incredible cover of Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman", the Dramatics' "In the Rain" and Nina Simone's absolutely fucking heartbreaking rendition of "Baltimore". Easily my pick for the best mixtape of 2005. Highly recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
"Cocaine is a powerful drug." No shit, Rick! For a while, it seemed as if the sublime musical legacy of the Superfreak would forever be eclipsed by the 12 hours he spent skied out of his brain sodomizing a groupie with...
expand review a crack pipe ("it's a celebration, bitches"). Fortunately, the now-legendary Chapelle Show sketch brought James back into the pop-culture spotlight, and has inspired Cosmo Baker and Eleven to tear through the entire back catalog of James' hits, obscurities, collabos and production work on this new mix CD. Punctuated by tight scratches and doubling, not to mention soundbites from Chapelle and Charlie Murphy ("DARKNESS!") themselves, the highlights include the Mary Jane Girls' party classic "All Night Long," Rick's "Give It To Me Baby" and my personal favorite Teena Marie's "I'm A Sucker For Your Love." Cosmo and Eleven also connect James' classics to more recent jams with "Mary Jane" (aka Redman's "Smoke Buddah") and a great megamix of "Cold Blooded" that blends the original with the cover version by ODB -- no stranger to the pipe himself. All obvious comedy value aside, this disc is a very solid listen, and a great reminder of just how good a funk and R&B songwriter Rick actually was. "Now come and smoke with your boy Rick James - the stickiest of the icky." -Nick Catchdubs
As a member of the Lab's Production Squad, I have the immense pleasure of spending all day, every day with the esteemed duo of Snackmaster and the Commish. These boys are Bay Area born and raised, so it takes more than a...
expand review little wagon-jumping hyphy mixtape to get them stoked. Upon peeping the tracklist for Eleven's new Best of the Bay mix, Snack exclaimed: "Hell yeah! Someone finally did it right!" You gotta trust this man's opinion – Celly Cel and E-40 are the Left Coast equivalent of us East Coast boys' Biggie and Jay. Besides, it doesn't take a California ear to know that any mix with Rappin' 4Tay's "Player's Club," 40's "Captain Save A Hoe" and the Bay Ballas remix of "I Got 5 On It" is gonna be dope. Much like Eleven's Houston Rocks It mix, this is a seriously well-selected introduction to a scene that most people are just getting clued in to now. Almost 70 tracks of Bay slappers on 2 CDs. Good shit from the Rub's big man! -Chris Lemon-Red
Though he is a perfectly nice dude, DJ Eleven continues to make some of the meanest mixtapes around. Originally from Cali, The Rub's big homie made his last mix Bay-centric, but this one starts in LA and spreads to anywhere real (80s...
expand review & 90s) gangstas reside. Ice Cube, NWA, Spice 1, MC Breed, Da Lench Mob, Above The Law, Eazy E, Donald D, Geto Boys, Scarface… and that's just to name a few. 37 tracks total. -Chris Lemon-Red
The Rub's starting center drops a smooth mix for your next late night date or secret rendezvous. There's a little something for everybody, as Eleven mixes up funk, reggae, hip hop and (dur) soul jams from Fatback Band, Eddie Kendricks, Jungle Brothers,...
expand review John Holt, Lloyd Charmers, Pharoahe Monch, Anthony Hamilton, Cymande, Lou Donaldson, Rene & Angela, Bruce Ruffin, A Taste of Honey and many more. Not every track here is straight up soul, but there's soul dripping off every track, ya dig? 29 tracks; 78 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
The long-awaited (at least by us) sequel to Eleven's killer roots/dancehall mix from 2006 features even more hits -- both known and unknown, current and classic -- for you to, uhhhhh, relax to. Smooth mixing as always, never taking you out of...
expand review the vibe, with tracks by Jah Cure, Marlon Asher, Morgan Heritage, Collie Buddz, Ray Darwin, Tarrus Riley, Tony Curtis, Luciano, Mark Wonder, Buju, Sizzla, Chezidek, Tanya Stephens, Beenie, Assassin, Tinga Stewart and more. 45 tracks; 74 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
The Rub's DJ Eleven is on some mad planned-trajectory destruction this year. First, Houston Rocks It warmed it up with a big slab of sweltering down south shit. Then he went all rowdy with the wyle-out Best of M.O.P. mix....
expand review Now he's here to help you with the comedown. Featuring almost 40 tracks of roots/reggae/dancehall classics (both old and new), J.A. Goods is a blown-out and expanded version of the mix that he did for the Lemon-Red.org Mix Series just last month, and it's exactly what you need for the ridiculously (and prematurely) warm weather right now. Everything from King Kong to Warrior King, I Wayne to Singer J, and even a few tracks your fratboy roommate will know from Sizzla and "Bob." Focusing more on making a good-ass mix, and less on being an obscurist twat, Eleven employs some serious murderation tactics here. This is the goods, for rill. -Chris Lemon-Red
If you're a sucker for mellow mixes, The Rub's DJ Eleven has your number with this one. Winter Sadness is like Eleven's Summer Madness mix from last year… if Summer Madness broke up with its girlfriend, lost its dog and ran out...
expand review of weed. Great mixing and selection here, with tracks from everybody: Bauhaus to Bruce Ruffin, K-Os to Kool & The Gang, y mas. In particular, this mix made me realize that the White Stripes' "In The Cold, Cold Night" is not only a cool song, but has RIDICULOID bass. If you were feeling either of Cosmo Baker's Love Break mixes, this is for you. 27 tracks; 78 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
Eleven got that Blueberry Afghani! Okay, maybe not, but he definitely got the Bay Area connect as he links up with The Cataracs, a couple Pack-affiliated SF rap cats you might have heard of by now. The 'Racs tracks - including the...
expand review aforementioned "Afghani" and "Rich Girl" with Young & The Restless - make up the bulk of the mix, but Eleven sprinkles it with some unrelated bombs too, including his own rework of UGK's "Int'l Players Anthem," a wild Crookers remix of Kid Cudi, T2's "Heartbroken" and some Bay classics from the likes of Mac Dre, Mac Mall, E-40 and B-Legit. 29 tracks; 62 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
The most under-appreciated rap group of all time gets the best-of mixdown treatment from the Rub's big homie! Eleven kills it on this one, spanning the Mash Out Posse's whole career, front to back, early years to Def Jam... and mercifully...
expand review stopping just short of their current affiliation with Mr. Jackson. Curiously, it's co-released with Spitkicker; and I say curiously because when I think "Spitkicker," I think kufis, and when I think "M.O.P.," I think of shit being broken. Anyway, if you consider yourself an M.O.P. fan, you're gonna want this. Over 75 minutes of M.O.P.! So much yelling! 32 tracks in all. -Chris Lemon-Red
Fresh off "Best of The Bay" and "Soul Boulders" respectively, DJ Eleven and Matthew Africa link up to drop another classic, hosted by none other than Too Short. Dirty Raps gathers 40 joints from Short's catalogue and guest appearances spanning 20...
expand review years, mixed smooth and fast. True to the warning labels on the 80s-cassette-inspired cover ("Dirty Rapps Inside Parental Guidance Suggested" and "Warning: Ghetto Music!! Can Be Hazardous If Not Played Loud"), there's a whole lot of pimpin goin on and game being spit. Biiiiiitch, this is not for the faint of heart. Highlights are "In The Trunk," "Burn Rubber," "Short But Funky," "Buy You Some," "Blow the Whistle," "Bia Bia," "Fuck Faces..." shit the whole tape is pretty much highlights, it's the best of Too Short! Shorty the Pimp is joined by E-40, Jay-Z, Biggie, Lil Jon, Scarface, Devin, Casual, Keak da Sneak, Ice Cube, Parliament and more. -ayres
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Another clever and useful piece of wax from The Rub dudes, who present four well-made and totally diverse medleys "for Serato DJs to keep in their bag, that can be used at any tempo when the DJ needs to play a real...
expand review record." It's also good for unexpected crashes/reboots and beginner DJs, or bathroom/beverage breaks. The medleys are mixed quick, NYC party style, but with intros and outros to each medley for mixing. The medleys are: 80s(1) with Prince, MJ, Rolling Stones and Hall & Oates; House(2) with Stardust, Robin S and Nightcrawlers; Crunk(3) with Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy and Luda; and Dancehall(4) with Shaggy & Rayvon, Shabba, Cutty Ranks and Mr. Vegas. Recommended. -Larri Byrd
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Even more club heat from Ayres, Tittsworth & Associates. Do these guys sleep? Titts kicks off the A-side with Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison(1)" chopped up in his signature style, followed by Dave Nada's "I Like Culo(2)" (pause), a blend of "Culo" by...
expand review Pitbull and "I Like To Move It Move It" which is way better than it has any right to be. Ayres' track is the one that'll have the kids going nuts tho, as he unveils a slick Bmore version of Daft Punk's "One More Time(3)" (with the requisite Lil Jon shouts sprinkled on top). B-side is dominated by newcomers or aliases -- who can tell anymore? -- with Top Billin' (ok, this one is real) "U Don Kno Meh(4)," DJ Dub's hilarious / awesome "Set On You(5)" (George Harrison FTW) and Million Dollar Mano's "Lady(6)." TA-007, if you're counting... -Larri Byrd
Ayres proves once again that he like make dance of all kind with this diverse EP of dance / house remixes and edits. The first half keeps it more current with Kid Sister's "Pro Nails" vs. Surkin's "Radio Fireworks," Masters At Work's...
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This release on T&A Records comes courtesy of Baltimore's own Dave Nada. If you don't know Dave, he's played in a bunch of hardcore bands around the Bmore/DC area, produced with one of the guys from Q & Not U under the...
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