« RWD2020 » The Rub 1996
The Rub dudes have been doing the world an undeniably necessary public service in recording their The History of Hip-Hop series of weekly mixtapes. If you haven't checked for them - and I know from conversation that many of you already have - do so. They're unsurprisingly excellent: impeccable selection, flawless mixing.
But my favorite thing about these mixes is the fact that hearing hip-hop's finest grouped not by region or style but by year means that every record is uniquely contextualized. They all fit together in a way that I'd forgotten from my ever-advancing vantage point. They are of a piece, just like they were when you lived through them.
Thus a year like 1996 - the latest installment, mixed by Cosmo Baker - is especially potent for me. I was a freshman in high school when '96 started and a sophomore when it ended. 15 years old. This was the year I got my first pair of turntables, djed my first parties, drank 40s, kissed girls - all while listening to these songs. Listening to them so hard, like only someone of that age can.
So besides the all-encompassing nostalgia that submerges me when tracks like the Dutchmins' "Get Your Swerve On" hit - I mean goddamn, I haven't heard this record in damn near ten years, despite having once obsessed over it - I realize that Cosmo, Eleven and Ayres are in fact performing crucial curatorial duties here. Cosmo's expert mix can't help but take on an archival air; the songs put together become a true history, painstakingly chronicled. (Cue Indiana Jones: it belongs in a musem!) And it takes me home - back to age 15, in Buffalo, excited and ready for life - in such powerful ways.
Tracklist
- Chubb Rock & Biz Markie "No Rubber, No Backstage Pass"
- MC Eiht "You Can't See Me" (DJ Spinna Remix)
- Mac Mall "Get Right"
- Outkast "Elevators"
- Royal Flush "Worldwide"
- Shyheim "Shaolin Style" feat. Squig
- UGK "You Don't Know Me"
- Jay-Z "Cashmere Thoughts"
- Lil' Kim "Queen Bitch"
- M.O.P. "Brownsville"
- Company Flow "8 Steps To Perfection"
- Nonchalant "5 O'Clock"
- Bushwackas "Caught Up In The Game"
- Dutchmin "Get Your Swerve On"
- jungle Brothers "How You Want It (We Got It)" (Native Tongues Remix)
- Busta Rhymes "Everything Remains Raw"
- Adagio "The Obvious Joint"
- Capone -N- Noreaga "LA, LA" (Kuwait Mix feat. Mobb Deep & Tragedy Khadafi)
- Sadat X "Stages & Lights"
- The Arsonists "The Session"
- Royal Flush "Rotten Apple"
- Ini "Fakin' Jax"
- J-Live "Braggin Writes" (DJ Spinna Remix)
- Redman "Pick It Up"
- Too Short "Buy You Some" feat. Erick Sermon
- Sleestak'z "Ruination"
- Absent Minded "Childs Play" (Left Stranded Mix)
- Biz Markie "Studda Step"
- Natural Resource "Negro League Baseball"
- A-Plus "All I See"
- Artifacts "The Ultimate"
- Jay-Z "Friend Or Foe"
- East Flatbush Project "Tried By 12"
- Al Tariq "Peace Akki"
- Fugees "Fu-Gee-La"
- Scarface & Facemob "Skrilla"
- Concrete Mob "Boiling Point"
- Dr. Octagon "Bear Witness"
- Constant Deviants "Competition Catch Speed Knots"
- Jeru The Damaja "Ya' Playing Yaself"
- Nas "Street Dreams"
- 2Pac "Toss It Up" feat. Danny Boy, Aaron Hall & KC & Jojo
- Lost Boyz "Renee" (Mr. Sex L.B. Fam Version)
- Large Professor "Ijuswannachill"
- De La Soul "Stakes Is High"
- Dark Sun Riders "Dark Sun Riders" (Ultra Jazz Remix)
- Young Zee "Juice" feat. Rah Digga
- Mobb Deep "Hell On Earth (Front Lines)"
- Just Ro "Confusion" feat. Common
- The Roots "What They Do"
- Da Fat Cat Clique "Live From Fox Valley"
- Keith Murray "The Rhyme" (Jay Dee Remix)
- Busta Rhymes "Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check" feat. Rampage The Last Boyscout
- De La Soul "Big Brother Beat"
- Money Boss Players "Games"
- Real Live "Day You Die"
- LL Cool J "Summer Love"
- Big Noyd "Usual Suspects" (Stretch Armstrong Remix)
- Nine "Lyin' King"
- Kool G Rap "Fast Life" feat. Nas (Norfside Remix)
- Redman "Rock The Spot"
- Heltah Skeltah "Lehflaur Leflah Eshkshoka"
- Bounty Killer "Change Like The Weather" feat. Busta Rhymes & Junior Reid
- Jigmasters "Beyond Real"
- Da Bush Babees "The Love Song" feat. Mos Def
- Outkast "2 Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)"
- The Almighty RSO "One In The Champer (The RSO Saga Pt. 2)" Spice 1 "Why You Wanna Funk?" feat. E-40 & The Click
- Westside Connection "Bow Down"
- 2Pac "Picture Me Rollin'" feat. Syke & C Bo
- The Pharcyde "Runnin'" (Jay Dee Remix)
- A Tribe Called Quest "1nce Again"
- Masters At Work "Get Up"
- Lost Boyz "Get Up" (Remix)
- Foxy Brown "Get You Home"
- Greg Nyce "Set It Off"
- Mac The Maniac "What Goes Up" (Remix feat. Chubb Rock & King Just)
- Lil' Kim "Big Momma Thing" feat. Jay-Z
- DJ Krush "Meiso" feat. The Roots
- A Tribe Called Quest "Get A Hold"
- Ghostface Killah "Daytona 500"
- Ghostface Killah "Iron Maiden"
- DJ Shadow "The Number Song" (Cut Chemist Remix)
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony "Crossroads"
- Crucial Conflict "Hay"
- Do Or Die "Po Pimp" feat. Twista
- UGK "One Day"
- Eightball & MJG "Listen To Me Now"
- Coolio "Gangsta's Paradise"
- B-Legit "Ghetto Smile"
- Akinyele "Put It In My Mouth"
- Goodie Mob "Cell Therapy" feat. Outkast
- G. Dep "Head Over Wheels"
- Camp Lo "Luchini (This Is It)"
- 2Pac "Hail Mary"