Nana Aba Duncan

Published in The Strand

Gone are the days of the mixed tape. No more unnecessary interruptions, bad song overlaps and dumb-ass shout-outs. The recent copyright wars and hullabaloo have brought an end to the public sales of mixed tapes, which in my opinion were the hard-copy evidence of a DJ’s scratching skills. I remember over the summer I went into a store known for its urban music and DJ equipment. When I asked if they had any mixed tapes I got a short, resounding ‘no’. The guy at the counter turned away with a near scowl as he returned to the turntables at the back of the room. Seeing how those tapes brought in a considerable amount of income I could see why.

Today we’ve got mixed CDs. What does this mean? Well I thought it would mean the same thing. Except it would be legal this time, with better sound quality.

The Baby Blue Sound Crew, a well-known urban music DJ collaboration, dropped their newest compilation entitled Private Party; Collector’s Edition on September 12th. It’s got most of the good hip hop, reggae and party beats of 1999 with a healthy dose of talented Toronto emcees like Kardinal Offishall (my fave), Saukrates, Jully Black and Glenn Lewis (A close second).

But I have some questions. Where’s the real mix? The scratching, the talent? Remember those days when you’d listen to a DJ’s mixed tape and there would be like, forty-five songs that ran for a minute and a half? And between each, the DJs would be shouting out, calling out where they live and a phone number so you could get the next mixed tape? It was annoying, but at least there were some creative attempts at making new music (or something).

You’ll find none of that with this compilation. On Private Party, the songs run their full lengths, minus five seconds for a little crafty beat matching and musical segue into the next track - stuff even I could learn after a couple hours of studio time.

That’s it guys? That’s your “100% DJ Mixed CD?” Why don’t I just log on to Napster on the internet, wait for someone to have a nice list and mooch off them?

I don’t know. Perhaps there are some legal constraints I’m not aware of. Maybe the artists’ labels would only give Baby Blue the rights to use the songs if they promised to play the whole track.

Now let me not be mistaken. Baby Blue is a sound crew that delivers. I will probably play their CD at least once every couple of weeks. I’ve been to a Baby Blue party. They clearly know how to throw down. They give the people what they want, and are the right people to send a demo if you’re an up an coming Toronto emcee. And in all fairness, they do some of that ol’ shout-out thing on this new project. Once at the beginning, the end, and a cute but not quite funny skit of some dude trying to get into a club they’re playing. Keep it up guys. Glad to see you’re doing it legal.

But I still miss those mixed tapes.