Ladies and gents, the precursor to the Camp Lo & Pete Rock collaboration, 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s, has been put out for public consumption. This release of new bangers, blends, and lesser-known Lo’ah gems is seamlessly thrown together by DJ’s Trackstar and Mark Divita (with most of the production handled by The Soul Brother #1, himself). I’ll let the guys responsible for the mixtape’s release, The Smoking Section, do the rest of the talking…
This tape does double duty. It reminds us of Camp Lo’s sometimes slept-on lyrical talent while serving hardcore fans with appetizers off the forthcoming full-length…
While we’re always fans of new material, it’s the hidden gems from Camp Lo’s earlier days that stand out. The Marvin Gaye sampled “Sandman,” stands out—a soulful reinterpretation exposition on Camp Lo’s love for women (plural). The focus on sampling and lyrical proficiency recalls a style fundamental to Hip-Hop, but in some ways passing us by. As distant descendants of Native Tongues, both Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede fit comfortably with this genre, mixing classic sounds with their own brand of off-the-wall, multi-syllabic rhymes. Should be interesting to see what they can do over a full stable of Pete Rock joints.
Click here for the The Tiffany Blue Mixtape Pt. 1.
While we’re on the topic of classic shit from the Diamond Crooks…looky what I stumbled upon today.
Yeah man…those were the days when BET was actually watch’able. Peep Mya in the tan(?) sweater on the right side at the end of the crowd on stage (she got her start as a background dancer and “correspondent” on here…was another reason why I watched back in my wonder years). I miss sitting down on a Saturday and being blessed by a gem of a performance on Teen Summit. More on that later…
