HHT:Death Mix Approaches 30
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Artist:
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Track:Death Mix Part 1
The Death Mix was a live DJ mix by "master of records" Afrika Bambaataa, that is one of the few released (there are plenty of old cassettes I've come across over the years) documents of early hip hop style DJ'ing.
Records like this were like runes to me in the early 80's, because the hip hop that was appearing on records, while new and exciting, was still a studio creation that took away the raw vibe that you have here. It was just some kids at a rec center in the Bronx and it sounds like crap, but it inspired something in me (and quite a few others) and started the ball rolling on a world wide phenomenon.
It surely isn't the greatest DJ mix and the rappers aren't spectacular either, but the vibe was felt and appreciated by folks like me back then, perhaps the way kids in the 50's felt when they got a taste of rock and roll for the first time, and realized they had found something new. A music, a culture, and a style all their own.
See Zulu Nation Throwdown in comments..
Comments (12)
ZULU NATION THROWDOWN
I have never heard the Death Mix, only know it by reputation. Love the rec center vibe. You can just see people dancing in the gym while the younger kids are running around in the hall.
Cody, that is some gem. i am all over the revolutionaries, they fuel the fire. you can tell the raw vibe, sure sounds like they were quite into it. thanks for sharing this!
Viva La Revolution! I can't believe it was almost 30 years ago. I am an old dude..
Bonus quiz..Can you name the tune he's backspinning the break on in the beginning of the Death Mix?
Love this - and love what he did with Johnny Rotten... "World Destruction"
...here 'tis...
That tune was so massive in the day..crossing many boundaries..Bambaataa was headed for the stars early on..he left the rec room vibe pretty quick.
So many styles merging and here with Rap - and this was from 1984 - "Walk this Way" with Run DMC didn't happen until 1986... definitely way ahead of his time, and everyone else's.
Had a Doctorate in Mixology - that's for sure...
When Run DMC's first record came out in '84 it had that tune Rock Box with a real metallic guitar part on it, and we were all gaga about the fusion..It and songs like World Destruction were real "game changers"(as they say this week).
Excellent point.
don'tcha just love how history happens while we're in it? good thread. this has been my first MOG read for Saturday, i'm glad.
My college buddy and I kept telling folks that hip hop was the future..I dunno if we really believed it, but it sounded good at the time when we were DJ'ing the FRESHow back in '82. The cornfields of southern Minnesota were not ready for us:)
Good stuff.