'Til My Tape Pop #3: DJ Geo Roc- Queens Get the Money

I discovered DJ Geo Roc through Tapemasta’s Pushin’ Tapes and Big Chew and Dimez’s Rapmullet websites.  I would like to personally thank them for opening my ears to countless tapes that have had a profound influence on me.    

I first posted something about DJ Geo Roc on my blog in February of 2008.  The post consisted of a download link for hismix tape To the Death Vol. 4: The Return.  It ended up being one of my most commented on posts of all-time.  All of my 90’s mix tape posts seemed to get a great response, so I decided to post a download link to his Queens Get theMoney tape in April of 2009.  Once again, the response was tremendous.  Lamenting the fact that I couldn’t find anything about him on the Internet, I wrote, “If anyone knows anything about him, or, better yet, Geo Roc, if you see this, hit me up! I'd love to write something of substance to go with this tape.”

Not long after, Geo Roc did hit me up.  During my interview with Geo I learned about mix tape distribution in the late 90’s, his work with the Cold Cutz Crew, and some unbelievable behind the scenes stories.  Read on as DJ Geo Roc takes you back to the late 90’s in my third installment of ‘Til My Tape Pop.    

Downloads for Queens Get the Money and To the Death Vol. 4 are included at the bottom of the post.    

(Via Ebay)

DJ Sorce-1:  When did you first get into DJing?

DJ Geo Roc:  I was still in high school; I want to say it was ‘92 or ‘93.  I was listening to Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, MC Shan, EPMD, Redman, and KRS One.  I never had direct drive turntables and I didn’t come from a lot of money.  I remember one day my father was working an overnight at a venue.  The DJ that night left a handful of records and my father came home with them.  I think it was DJ Casanova, who was big at the time.  I had one of those belt drive turntables with an 8-track underneath.  I put a record on there and started cutting with the volume as my fader.  I’d turn it up a little and shut it all the way off to cut out the sound. 

A year later I got to mess around with real turntables.  One of my best friends was a DJ and I used to go to his house.  I remember one day he had doubles of Run DMC’s "Peter Piper" on the turntables.  He went to take a shower and I started cutting up, “You all know how the story goes”, slashing back and forth.  He came back into the room like, “That was you?  Oh shit.”  It took off from there.   

I remember listening to DJs like Scratch from EPMD cutting choruses on songs.  I remember DJ Evil Dee cutting up, “How many MCs must get dissed?”  I would sit in my homeroom class in ‘93, my senior year, and I’d have a piece of paper on the table.  I’d be cutting and making little scratch sounds.  I’d wonder if vinyl would make the same sound that I was making with the loose leaf paper.   In ’94, my freshmen year of college, I bought one turntable and a mixer.  A couple of months later I bought another turntable. 

Then, around ’95, I really started doing my thing.  I don’t remember how, but I linked up with Dirty Harry and his cousin Cage, and Cage became my manager.  He was my manager for two or three years, right up until I dropped Queens Get the Money.  He was managing me when I did To the Death and he did right by me.  He put my stuff out across the country.  They were selling my stuff in England, Germany, and Japan, but I wasn’t making as much money off of them as I wanted to.  Then we kind of drifted apart.  I linked up with this other kid who did my distribution for Queens Get the Money and we did really well on that.      

(Via Ebay)

DJ Sorce-1:  Were you from Queens originally?

DJ Geo Roc:  I live in Queens in a town called Middle Village.  My wife grew up here and we bought a house in her neighborhood.  I was born in New York and lived here until I was two.  We moved to Delaware and then in ‘86, when I was 10 years old, we moved back to New York.  We lived in Astoria for a year and then moved to Woodside in Queens.  I went to Bryant High School in Astoria and lived in Woodside.  I’m Greek and Astoria back then was all Greek.  All of my friends, cousins, and relatives were in Astoria.  Then we kind of migrated east to Whitestone, Bayside, and Long Island.  
    

DJ Sorce-1:  How many units did you move of Queens Get the Money?    

DJ Geo Roc:  There was no real way to track.  We sold them two different ways.  You could do it on consignment or you could sell your master to certain people.  I would sell my master to someone for $400 or $500.  They could press up a few thousand tapes and make as much money off of it as they could.  Or you could do it on consignment with the mom and pop stores and give them 100 tapes at a time.  Tapes sold for $10 back then, so they would keep $5 and we would keep $5.  The tapes were selling across the country and across the world.  Just to put it in perspective, in one record store in Corona, Queens I must have sold 3,000 tapes in one month.  To this day when I go into Numbers Records & Tapes, the owner will say, “Hey, I just had a customer come in and ask when you’re dropping another mix tape.”  (Laughs)

(Via Ebay)

DJ Sorce-1:  People like you, Spinbad, and the 1200 Hobos did some amazing things by utilizing 4-tracks to record complex and layered tapes.  Can you explain the process of recording with a 4-track?

DJ Geo Roc:  When you used a 4-track it was recording to tape.  I used to use those metal tapes because they sounded a little bit better.  Say you dropped the instrumental to Track 1.  You’d let it ride for a minute, then you’d have to rewind it and record you’re a cappella or cut to Track 2.  Then you could rewind it and record something to Track 3.  With the constant rewinding you would lose quality and there would be a hiss. 

The intros were the hardest.  Let’s say on Track 1 I’d record someone saying, “I’m from”.  On Track 2 I’d cut in, “Queens”.  On Track 4 I’d already have the instrumental, so that left me with Track 3 to cut something else in.  You had to bounce tracks to make it work.  It was hard man.  A lot of it was in my head already, but sometimes I’d have to look through hundreds of records for the right phrase.  I literally had a notebook of phrases and another separate notebook with different a cappellas that worked with different instrumentals.    

When I was done, I would take my tape to a friend’s studio and put the output from my 4-track through their board until it sounded decent.  You’d have to mix it down to a master tape and then duplicate it from there.  Everything was mixing down live; you couldn’t stop it.  He’d start recording and I’d hit play.  Then I had in my head, “Here I recorded an instrumental and it’s a little loud, so I have to turn Track 4 down at this point.  After this instrumental goes out, put Track 4 back up.   On Track 1 I have a drop of Lil’ Kim saying, ‘Yo this is Lil’ Kim chillin’ with Geo Roc’ and it came in low, so I have to remember to bring it up.”  It was all mental.

DJ Sorce-1:  You were doing the mixing and mastering through trial and error.

DJ Geo Roc:  Yeah.  As far as technology and recording, no one really showed me much.  But style wise, I used to practice with Spinbad, Slynkee, and all those kids.  So cutting and scratching came from those guys.  When I made the earlier tapes like To the Death, I hadn’t even been DJing for a year.  I listen to it now and kind of giggle.  Years later I was on a whole other level.  I always wanted to do something to showcase my skills now.  I picked up shit quick man.  

DJ Sorce-1:  Your mix tapes had drops from big time Queens rappers like Capone-N-Noreaga and Royal Flush.  How did you get in touch with those guys?

DJ Geo Roc:  Capone-N-Noreaga used to do autograph signings and in-store events.  Before they dropped an album, they promoted the hell out of it.  They would go to a big store and just sit there and sign autographs.  I would be there with two turntables playing hip-hop and I’d mostly play their shit.  I did a lot of autograph singing, open mic competitions, and freestyle battles.  All of those guys would be judges and people like KRS-One would also be judging.

(Via If I Haven't)

DJ Sorce-1:  Do you have any crazy stories from the time you were meeting different Queens rappers and hanging out with them?

DJ Geo Roc:  Do you remember ACD?   They did a song called “Street Life” with Mobb Deep.  They were nice.  One of the kids from ACD free styled on Side A of Queens Get the Money with Royal Flush.  I had the Infamous Mobb and someone else on Side B.  I was already done with Side A and I’d started the intro for Side B.  I used to chill with Foxy Brown’s brother, the head A & R for The Trackmasters, and his name was Anton.  He used to roll with this kid Footy who was one of their main promotional dudes.  He loved my mix tapes.  Back then, it was all about hustling.  If you put out mix tapes or showed them your flyers for big clubs, they would hit you off with free vinyl.  I would go up there once a week, maybe more, and became pretty tight with Anton.  

One day he was like, “Geo, I know you’re doing Queens Get the Money.  I got this kid who’s out the lobby right now.  He’s form Queens and he’s dope.  Let him get on your mix tape.”  I was like, “Who is he?”  He said, “He goes by 50 Cent.”  I went out there and talked to him and gave him a pound.  I told him, “Maybe on the next mix tape.  I already have all of my freestyles.”  Two months later I heard “How to Rob” and I was like, “Oh, shit!”  He just blew up after that.  (Laughs)  That was my one chance.  I also went to the studio with Nature one time right before he blew up.  I was trying to get something from him.  I always liked Nature.  Over time I kind of lost touch with those guys.

(Via Music Stack)

DJ Sorce-1:  It seems like you made your mark quickly and then you left the mix tape game during its peak.  Why did you decide to quit?  

DJ Geo Roc:  I think it was in ’98.  I don’t know why.  I dropped To the Death chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4.  I did Queens Get the Money.  Then I started on another mix tape and I finished side one.  It was going to be called Show Me the Honeys because Jerry McGuire was big at the time.  I was gonna do an all R & B tape aimed at the females.  It sounded real dope; I wish I still had that master.  I finished side one and never got to continue with it.  My parents would move us apartment to apartment back then and it got hard.  I’m still DJing, I just never finished it.  And that’s the end.  I always wanted to put out another mix tape.  I’ve done a lot of mix tapes with remixes but I’ve never put them out.  I just did ‘em for myself and I’ll rock the remixes in the club.  I always feel like my mix tapes were a work of art in a way.  I put a lot of work into them.  

DJ Sorce-1:  Earlier you talked about learning from the other members of The Cold Cutz Crew.  They were highly respected and a lot of the members are still doing it.  What was it like being a member?

DJ Geo Roc:  I linked up with Spinbad, JS-1, Slynkee, and some other cats and became the Cold Cutz Crew.  We did some stuff on each other’s mix tapes and they helped me with some of my outros.  We battled together in ‘97 in the ITF.  It was me, Spinbad, and JS-1.  Craze jumped on with us.  I don’t want to say we didn’t get along with the X-Men, but they were judging, and we knew we weren’t going to win because they were judging.  He jumped on with us during JS-1’s set and started cutting just to show that he was down with us.  We didn’t plan it that way, he just got on.  The 5th Platoon beat us.  Craze wasn’t Craze yet.  He was blowing up at the time, but after that he really blew up.

(Via DJ JS-1's Instagram)

DJ Sorce-1: What was your relationship with Spinbad and JS-1 like?

DJ Geo Roc: Me, Spinbad, and JS-1 would practice a lot.  That’s when I was really into it, during my college years.  I used to go practice with Spinbad and JS-1 at JS-1’s house and we’d have six turntables set up.  Someone would cut up a beat and someone cut a phrase.  I would go home after and be like, “Damn, Spinbad did this fucking cut.”  I would just practice it and get it.  And cutting, scratching, and DJing started going to a whole other level with turntablism stuff.  

      

A little while after we did the ITF we started to fade apart and do our own thing.  Around this time I did a party out in Waco, Texas.  After the club shut down I was driving to the after party with the promoters in their Mercedes Jeep and all of sudden people are shooting at us.  The promoters didn’t let these kids into the club that night, so they followed us.  Here I am sitting in the back of the jeep with my turntables, and they shot through the back window.  To this day I have little fragments of shattered glass in some of my record sleeves.  The day after we got shot at they found a bullet in head rest of the jeep.  I was like, “Oh shit man.  I can’t do this.”  

For me, it was a wakeup call.  I was starting to get older.  I had played soccer at Hofstra, broke both of my legs, and kind of dropped out.  I thought, “Where am I going in life?”  I wanted to keep DJing on the side, but I didn’t think it was going to be a career or a money maker.  That’s when I went back to school and got a job in television.  I work for CBS Sports now.  We produce the NFL today show.  I work with Marino, Boomer and all of those guys.  I stuck with DJing on the side but I DJ less now.  I would love to have time, the way Spinbad and JS-1 made it a career.  Spinbad is all over the radio and JS-1 travels with Rahzel and does a lot of other shit.     

(JS-1, Jazzy Jeff, and Spinbad Via DJ JS-1's Instagram)

DJ Sorce-1:  What’s the biggest adrenaline rush you’ve ever had during a live performance?

DJ Geo Roc:  I was doing an after prom party at the Roxy in Manhattan.  The place holds thousands of people.  I think Mobb Deep had just dropped "Shook Ones" so it must have been 95.  There must have been 20 high schools from all over Queens.  I dropped the "Shook Ones" a cappella over the "Mad Izm" instrumental.  The place just went bananas.  I can’t explain it.  Four thousand people just going, “Oh shit!!”  The feeling was crazy.        

DJ Sorce-1:  Looking back, do you regret your decision to not go further with DJing?  

DJ Geo Roc:  I’m upset at myself for not putting out any more mix tapes.  I could never find time.  I got married 10 years ago, I have two kids now, and it’s like, “Where am I going to find time to do this?”After I dropped Queens Get the Money, I was going across the country.  I was booked from the Hamptons to all the biggest clubs in Manhattan.  I’d be booked Monday nights here, Wednesday nights there, and Thursday nights at Cheetah.  Diddy used to be there every freaking Thursday and there were celebs everywhere.  I was doing good, but it slowly started to become just a side thing for me.  I couldn’t DJ that often anymore, but in a way, I left something unfinished.  

You can hear more DJ Geo Roc on his SoundCloud page.  Also make sure to like him on Facebook.

(Editors Note: If you have To The Death Vol. 1, 2, or 3, or the ITF footage Geo spoke of, please hit me up on Twitter.)  Download Queens Get the Money by clicking here.  Download To the Death Vol. 4: The Return by clicking here.      

'Til My Tape Pop #2: The Last Amateur Interview with John Doe

I discovered John Doe, one of the founding members of the DJ collective the 1200 Hobos, when I was interning as a concert promoter in London in 2005.  I had recently received his Popular Fallacies mix tape as a gift and it was unlike any mix tape that I’d ever heard before.  The CD was in constant rotation in my Discman during my time in London and continued to inspire me during my years as a DJ.

Time passed and my connection with music changed as I began to focus on writing instead of DJing.  I was pleasantly surprised when John emailed me a few years ago.  He had enjoyed my blog and offered to pass along a copy of his 2007 mix tape The Last Amateur for review.  I was once again blown away the skill it took to put together.  I immediately requested an interview. 

It turns out that the composition of The Last Amateur is as interesting as the final product.  By using what many would consider a dated mode of production, John managed to create something that blows 99.9% of mix tapes that have been released since 2007 (or before) out of the water.  Read on as the last amateur breaks down his creative process.

DJ Sorce-1: When I hear a Jon Doe tape, I’m impressed by the beat juggles, sample drops, blending, and scratching.  Do you have any influences in terms of mix tapes or are your creations something uniquely your own?

John Doe:  Honestly, one of my influences came from hearing mix tapes that weren't very good.  I would hear other tapes and think, “Why didn't they do this, scratch this, or put this underneath this.”  It made me want to create something ten times better, a hundred times better if I could.  There was a time when blend tapes were big, rare groove and sample tapes seemed to be pretty big, and scratch tapes were pretty big.  I wanted to do all three, and I guess that’s what I was trying to do; put all three of them together in one really good package.  In terms of tapes that influenced me, do you have a copy of Tapes Skills Techniques? 

DJ Sorce-1: No.

John Doe:  That’s actually the very first 1200 Hobos tape that was made before I became a member.  A friend of mine let me borrow it and I was blown away.  I was even more blown away when I realized it was by someone here in Cincinnati.  A lot of the ideas of it were the kind of ideas that I had wanted to put out myself.  Listening to Tapes Skills Techniques, meeting Mr. Dibbs and hearing his other work like Turntable Scientifics, and watching DMC tapes also influenced me. 

DJ Sorce-1:  Besides the 1200 Hobos, were there any other local DJ’s that influenced you?

John Doe:  Locally my main influence was Dibbs.  We used to DJ together on a radio show.  When you DJ with someone, especially with scratching and stuff, it helps you get your skills up that much more.   We DJ’d together for 3-4 years weekly.   

I also like Kid Koala.  I think the Scratchcratchratchatch tape that he did was really unique and different.  That was the one that had the “I got a rock” CharlieBrown sample that he cut up.  When he did that, I thought “God, that's hilarious, but it’s so hard.”  When I listened to that tape I could tell that he pretty much did what he wanted to.  That’s why I list him as one of my influences; I don’t think he was trying to appeal to anyone, really, except for himself.  I think my style might also be a little quirky, but in a different way.

DJ Sorce-1: Well, you definitely have a subtle sense of humor.  I love the sample at the very end of The Last Amateur from the movie Se7en where Kevin Spacey brags, “What I've done is going to be puzzled over, and studied, and followed.”  Right after that, Brad Pitt says, “Yeah…delusions of grandeur.”  It shows that even though you care about making a good product, you don’t take yourself too seriously.

John Doe:  (Laughs) Exactly.  It was kind of a funny, almost tongue in cheek.  I guess you really could study it and it and take it apart if you wanted to, but “delusions of grandeur” is what someone would say to me if I really thought people were going to study one of my mixes. 

DJ Sorce-1:  Do you have a favorite era or year for rap music?

John Doe:  Any era that still uses a lot of samples.  If you listen to my CDs, a lot of it is sample based.  I like songs that are from samples, so I play a lot of that era and a little bit later. 

DJ Sorce-1:  You used “Dangerous” by Bas Blasta on the track "The Big Hit", right around the 4:05 mark.  I thought I was the only person still up on his singles. 

John Doe: That’s a dope record.

DJ Sorce-1:  It is a dope record.  Another record of his that I love is “Ain’t Watcha Do”, which the Beatnuts produced.

John Doe:  People like him get missed.  I still find myself picking up stuff from 10-15 years ago that I’m like, “wow, this is pretty dope.  I can’t believe I missed this.”

DJ Sorce-1: Is there any one group or region that you tend to learn towards for rap?

John Doe:  I definitely lean towards the East Coast. (Laughs) For a time I lived in Florida when I was in high school.  Miami bass was really, really big down there.  I really didn’t get into it; I was more into the New York sound.  What I liked about the Miami sound was the scratching.  From what I heard, New York DJs could not cut like Miami DJs.  So I liked Miami scratching but I like the New York style beats. 

DJ Sorce-1:  In an interview you said that you don’t use a computer when doing mix tapes and that you only use vinyl.  Is that still the case? 

John Doe:  I still do vinyl, pretty much exclusively.  I still go digging, but not as much as I used to.   

DJ Sorce-1: You seem to have an extraordinary knowledge of breaks and samples.  Do you make beats yourself?

John Doe:  No, I don’t.  I have a lot of the capabilities to make beats but to be honest, if I was going to work on a project I’d have a lot more fun making Popular Fallacies or The Last Amateur part two rather than sit here and make beats.

DJ Sorce-1:  At the end of the tape, you scratched the line, “I stay amateur while others turn pro.”  What kind of statement were you making? 

John Doe: I really am the last amateur. I have a regular job. I’m an environmental chemist. I wouldn't say that I’m a professional DJ. I still put my CDs together the way I want to. I've advanced my style, but I’m still an amateur.

  

DJ Sorce-1:  When composing a mix tape, what equipment are you rocking?

John Doe:  I use turntables and a mixer.  I also use, believe it or not, an analog multi-tracker.   There’s a picture of it on the back of the CD case.   So yeah, all of my equipment is pretty dated, but it’s all about what you put out.  I've always stood by that. 

DJ Sorce-1:  There’s no computer in your studio?

John Doe:  No, there’s no computer down here in the studio.  I don’t use any programs.  I record to cassette. 

DJ Sorce-1:  The way different lyrics are pieced together and everything is inner-connected, it’s almost like you have a photographic memory.

John Doe:  By putting my CDs together the way that I do, you can really tell what my personality is like by listening to it.  I read somewhere that when you DJ, your personality should be able to show through what you play.  I know a lot of people that like the same stuff that I do, but just playing it isn’t going to show my personality.  The way I put things together though; that can really show what I’m about.

DJ Sorce-1:  Do you do most of your recording in a studio?

John Doe:  I actually have a home studio.  That’s what I use.

DJ Sorce-1:  Are other people a part of your recording sessions or do you record by yourself?

John Doe:  Pretty much when I record, there’s no one else around.  My wife and stepdaughter are home, but they don’t come and hang out with me when I’m recording.  I stay down here and work, usually a little bit later at night when they've gone to bed. 

DJ Sorce-1:  I have a small home studio in my apartment.  There is something really nice about being able to make music where you live. 

John Doe:  Oh yeah.  I can work on stuff, go upstairs and make a sandwich, then come back down and keep on working.  There were times when I used to be able to work on music until two or three in the morning knowing I had to be at work at seven or eight.  I really can’t do that anymore. (Laughs)  I can stay awake until one.  I try to start working on music a little bit earlier in the evening, but I've found in previous years that I was a little bit more creative after midnight.  I don’t know what it is.

DJ Sorce-1:  When you’re making a CD, do you write things down?

John Doe:  Oh yeah.  I've got legal pads and composition books full of notes.   I use them to map the tapes out.

DJ Sorce-1:  I read that you started The Last Amateur in 2004.  After you started recording it, you got married, bought a house, and didn't end up finessing it until 2007.  Do you think having that amount of time was helpful?

John Doe:  Yeah, I would say so.  As soon as Popular Fallacies was done, I already had notes started and I think I had part of the intro for The Last Amateur done.  There was so much going on in my life that I tried to do stuff here and there, but it wasn't until I was a little more settled that I could really sit down and attack it.  To me there was no rush to put it out.  I guess that’s why it took so long.  I was picky, and you’re always your own worst critic.  And when you’re putting everything together yourself, it takes a little bit longer to get things pressed up, get the artwork done, and things like that.  

DJ Sorce-1:  The CD I have looks really nice.  The artwork is well done and it’s packaged well.  Did you recoup what you spend to get it pressed up?

John Doe:  The response was good.  When I changed my profile on MySpace to a picture of me holding it, a lot of people emailed to ask if it was done.  That was cool.  But yeah, I recouped what I spend to have the CD copies made.  The CDs sold pretty well through MySpace and people randomly emailing me.  

A friend of mine, DEVIous TSC did the artwork.  I had the CDs pressed up at another place and everything was printed here locally so I could check the proofs.  I assembled the CDs at my house.  I did the mix-down of The Last Amateur in my home studio but I didn't do the mastering.  I had to go to a studio to get it mastered by an engineer so it bumped and everything sounded really good.  

DJ Sorce-1:  The sound it really clean.  You can definitely tell that it’s a labor of love.   For source material, how many records would you say that you have total?

John Doe:  I would say about 3-4,000.  I probably have an extra 1-2,000 at my parent’s house.  I would say around 4-5,000 total.  I try to weed stuff out sometimes.  I've started pulling out records, and with some of them I realized, “I haven’t played this in the last 10 years.  Do you I really need doubles of Foxy Brown’s fourth album?” (Laughs)

DJ Sorce-1:  You break your CDs into three or four minute segments.  How long does it take for you to perfect one of those segments? 

John Doe:  That entire mix was laid out, minute 1 through minute 60, and then I broke it up later.  I didn't work on one section at a time.  I went all the way through, and then when I listened to it I would come up with names for the different parts.  It kind of seems like it was made as individual sections, but it wasn't.  It was one big, continuous mix.  That’s why some parts are really long and other parts are shorter. 

When I make a mix tape, I work in blocks of 16 bars.  Every single song that I use, every beat, is 16 bars long and that’s it.  That’s why everything goes in and out so quickly.  That’s one concession I made.  You’re not going to want to listen to me scratch over one beat for three straight minutes.  I’m going to do what I can in 16 bars and then move on.   I really don’t know where that formula came from.  16 bars is usually the length of a verse, so I just did that, and it’s the format that I've stuck with.  16 bars is approximately 40 seconds, so I try to give you the best of everything squeezed into 40 seconds of each song.   

DJ Sorce-1:  You seem to have a pretty specific mode of production.  Would it be hard to make a project with someone else?

John Doe:   I think so.  It’s really a matter of time and scheduling.  I usually work on music pretty late, until around midnight, I can’t meet up with anyone or have them over to my house that late.  I've been doing this by myself for so long, I don’t see a need to collaborate with someone.  Now, if I did 30 minutes, and someone else did 30 minutes, that could probably work.  As far as working on something together, I don’t see how that would be possible with timing and schedules.  

You can pick up Popular Fallacies and The Last Amateur via John Doe's Bandcamp page.  They are both being sold for a "name your own" price.  I highly recommend both.  

To read the first installment of 'Til My Tape Pop with Cosmo Baker, click here.  

'Til My Tape Pop #1: Cosmo Baker- Love Break

This is a new interview idea for HITS. In this section, I'll discuss some of my favorite mix tapes with the DJ's that made them. I hope to cover a broad range of era's, styles, and regions. If you have a tape you would like included in the series, please shoot me an email. You can find my email address in my profile section. Big shout outs to Cosmo Baker for helping me set this thing off proper.


DJ Sorce-1: A lot of the music on Love Break was music that I’d either heard before or heard sampled before but wasn’t intimately familiar with. To hear it all on one mix…it blew my mind. I was a senior in college at the time and I started listening to it all the time. It’s one of those mixes where the sequencing and song selection are perfect. How did the concept to take a minimalist approach with mixing on a bunch of soul classics come about?

Cosmo Baker: It’s funny how the first Love Break came about. I had a gig in Philadelphia and had to drive from Brooklyn. Me, DJ Eleven, and DJ Crooked decided we we’re all gonna drive down to Philly together and hang out at the gig while I spun. Knowing that we had a two hour drive ahead of us, I decided to put some songs on a CD that I’d really like to listen to while driving. I did a rough version of Love Break as a CD I was just going to listen to for my drive to Philadelphia. We listened to it in on the way to Philly and on the way back. By the time we got home Eleven was like, “Yo man, you gotta put that out as a mix tape. That’s a really thorough mix.” I had done a couple of mixes that were kind of in that vein before, but nothing that was completely focused on classic slow jam soul music.


Love Break Tracklist:
01: Kool & The Break Introduction
02: Samuel Jonathan Johnston "My Music" (Used by Jadakiss)
03: Tom Brock "There's Nothing In This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You" (Used by Jay-Z)
04: The Dramatics "In The Rain" (Used by The Notorious B.I.G., Beenie Sigel, Bun B)
05: William Bell "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" (Used by Ludacris, Dilated Peoples)
06: William Bell & Mavis Staples "Strung Out" (Used by Cam'ron)
07: Nina Simone "Baltimore"
08: Gwen McCrae "Let's Straighten It Out" (Used by Wu-Tang Clan)
09: L.T.D. "Love Song" (Used by J Dilla, De La Soul)
10: The Isley Brothers "Hello It's Me"
11: The Meters "Wichita Lineman"
12: Eddie Kendricks "If You Let Me" (Used by Masta Ace)
13: Al Green "Light My Fire"
14: Heatwave "Star Of A Story" (Used by A Tribe Called Quest)
15: Curtis Mayfield "The Makings Of You" (Used by Monica)
16: Marvin Gaye "Come Live With Me Angel" (Used by G-Unit)
17: Gene Chandler "Tomorrow I May Not Feel The Same" (Used by Talib Kweli, Kool G. Rap)
18: The Dells "Does Anybody Even Know I'm Here"
19: Ethel Beatty "It's Your Love"
18: Aretha Franklin "With Everything I Feel In Me"
19: Joe Simon "Before The Night Is Over" (Used by Outkast)
18: David Ruffin "Common Man" (Used by Jay-Z)
19: Z.Z. Hill "That Ain't The Way You Make Love" (Used by Madvillian)
20: The Jackson 5 "We Got A Good Thing Going"
21: The Isley Brothers "Here We Go Again"
22: Madeline Bell "Make That Move"
23: Milton Wright "Keep It Up"
24: Odyssey "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love"

After I decided to make an official version, the response was kind of overwhelming. First I put it up as a free download on The Rub site. Literally, within an hour and a half of putting it up, it had so many downloads that it crashed the site. We had to revamp it and put it up again as two separate MP3’s. Again, it crashed the site. At that point a few people said that they would host it for me on the free download tip. That was when I decided that I needed to put it out as physical product. People started buying it, the response was good, and as a result I put out Love Break 2 and I’m almost done with number 3.


Download a generous snippet of Love Break 2.


DJ Sorce-1: It’s funny that you said you made it for a road trip. Last summer I broke up with my girlfriend and hadn’t been listening to Love Break that much in the months around our break up. I took a road trip at the end of the summer and loaded up my CD binder with music for the drive. Love Break was one of the CD’s I put in and it was in rotation the entire trip. It’s perfect ride music to think about life and just reflect.

Cosmo Baker: It’s definitely good driving music. There have been tapes made before of original songs that have been sampled. For the most part, with a few exceptions, all of them were somewhat scattered. They’d play seven seconds of one sample, and then throw in 15 seconds of another, and so on. I always felt that didn’t do the songs justice. You gotta let a lot of those songs breath man. We’re in a day and age when people’s attention spans are so short that they want instant gratification and as soon as they get it they’re on to something else. That kind of runs contrary to my philosophy with playing music. With some records, you have to give the whole presentation. With that in mind, with the sequencing of Love Break, I wanted to make it like a perfect ark. That’s the thing with mix tapes, there’s a certain arc to it that has to happen. Have you ever seen High Fidelity?



DJ Sorce-1: Yeah, I love that movie.

Cosmo Baker: Well, there is that scene where he’s talking about the art of constructing a mix tape. He talks about highs and lows and reaching certain crescendos. All that stuff really rings true in the process of making mix tapes and I always try to keep that in mind while working on a tape.



DJ Sorce-1: That’s one of the interesting things about Love Break. You didn’t do anything over the top with scratching or blending, but you can tell there was a lot of effort put into the mix just by the way it flows.

Cosmo Baker: Actually, on the original version of Love Break, I did a doubles routine of The Supremes “It’s Time to Break Down”. That isn’t on Love Break, but it was on one of the original versions. I had a little doubles routine, but it was the only song where I did doubling or cutting. It sounded awkward. It kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. After realizing that routine didn’t fit, I decided in favor of letting the songs breath over doing any complex mixing or blending.

I really think that the art of selecting has been overshadowed over the past few years, especially with the advent of Serato. Everything is readily available; therefore DJ’s have a tendency to burn through records really fast. It’s almost like some DJ’s aren’t really considering what they’re playing. I recently made a Valentines Roll mix, which in all honesty, wasn’t even blending records, it was just playing records. In essence, with certain songs, the blending and the mixing can detract from the songs them selves, especially with these slow jam love songs. It’s almost appropriate to not mix the records.



DJ Sorce-1: I’m 25 and I love music, but I don’t have a deep knowledge of soul music. Your mix really sparked a desire to know more about this kind of music. I was talking to one of my friends about how the kind of music on Love Break might be some of the best music ever made. The lyrics are so honest and these songs are from a time when people were actually singing in the rawest form without the help of technology.

Cosmo Baker: That brings up a point that I was thinking about recently. I’m just as much a fan of contemporary R & B as the next guy, but I think that a lot of contemporary R & B lacks a certain honesty and vulnerability which is conveyed in the lyrics and music of R & B from a few decades ago. Those elements are definitely sorely missed.

DJ Sorce-1: Absolutely. When I talk to people about this CD, I always bring up the song “Wichita Lineman” by The Meters. It’s like the song is being told by an average everyman with an amazing voice. The lyrics are something a lot of people can pull meaning from.

Cosmo Baker: That’s such a beautiful song. Originally, it was a Glen Campbell song. It was a pretty big hit for him when he released it in the early 70’s.


Download Glen Campbell's version of "Wichita Lineman".


Lots of times artists during that time did cover versions of big hits. There is something about the way The Meters do their version that is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Not just the instrumentation, and not just the way it’s sung; it’s the total package. That’s a common thread that I tried to find with all of the songs I selected…a certain overall intensity of each record.


Download The Meter's version of "Wichita Lineman".


DJ Sorce-1: I’ve also used the phrase “heartbreakingly beautiful” to describe numerous songs on this mix tape. Another song that really kills me is Heatwave’s “Star of the Story”. That’s one of my favorites.

Cosmo Baker: I used to play that song incessantly. Many, many years ago I was with a girl for a while and then we broke up. I was distraught. I would play that song all the time. It totally conveyed how I felt. I felt like I didn’t need to express myself at all because I could listen to that song and they were expressing themselves in a perfect way that matched where my heart and mind were at. That song always strikes a cord and makes me think about…shit (laughs).



DJ Sorce-1: One song that is really interesting to me because of the use of string instruments is William Bell’s “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”. On some of these tracks it’s easy to overlook the instrumentation because of the power of the singers’ voices, but if you listen to the background of that song it’s very powerful. I was wondering if you wanted to talk about the mix of great vocals and background music.



Cosmo Baker: That’s such a beautiful record. I first heard it on a mix tape Soulman put out years ago. After hearing it for the first time, I became obsessed with finding that record. I eventually did find a copy of it in a dollar bin somewhere. William Bell was signed to Stax and that record is a perfect example of just how tight the studio band was for Stax. All the elements of the instruments are really powerful and at the same time really subtle. They never overpower his voice. The music is a perfect compliment to his voice and the lyrics.



It’s funny because that song has been sampled a bunch of times by people like Dilated Peoples and Ludacris, but when you listen to the original you’re just like, “Holy shit, this is the next level.” The R & B singer Jaheim did a cover of it years ago. Although it was definitely different because it was a contemporary R & B song, it still kind of conveyed the same energy with a more updated feel. To me, that’s a testament to its power and how well written a song it is. That’s what makes classic records. Not if it gets a lot of airplay, not if it does well on the charts, but because somebody like you or I can listen to it thirty years after the fact and be struck by the power of it. That’s a classic record.

Download William Bell's "I Forgot to be Your Lover".


DJ Sorce-1: When you bring up the lasting power of these songs, it kind of puzzles me that when I look at the Love Break track list, many of these artists are unknown to the average American music fan.

Cosmo Baker: There are definitely artists on there that are huge like The Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone. Then there are some artists who are not as well known like Ethel Beatty, The Dramatics, William Bell, and Samuel Jonathan Johnston. I think one reason might be that for so long the music world was just as segregated as the real world. So where you would have an artist like The Dramatics selling out mad records in the black community, they wouldn’t cross over to the pop charts like a contemporary pop singer today.



DJ Sorce-1: I agree. Although I’m sure there are other reasons why some of these artists aren’t better known, race seems to have definitely played a part. We’ve talked about a few cuts on this mix tape that have deep meaning for you. Are there any other records on Love Break that you have a personal attachment to?

Cosmo Baker: Well, for the most part, I have a personal attachment to every record that’s on there. Every record has certain significance, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be, “I listened to this when I was breaking up with a girl” or “I listened to this when I was first dating this girl”. The Samuel Jonathan Johnston record is one that my friend Rich Medina put me up on at the party in Philadelphia we used to do together called The Remedy. The Aretha Franklin record is a record that I had in my crates for years and never listened to. One day I decided to throw it on and I was like, “Oh my god, this record is mind blowing.”



DJ Sorce-1: I get the sense that you’re one of those people that when you listen to a song, it often puts you back into a certain time and place.

Cosmo Baker: Word up. One of the things that I’m most proud of with the Love Break series is that I was able to present music that a lot of people are unfamiliar with and spark their interest. In your case, you said that you didn’t know a lot about classic R and B and soul and my mix set you off and made you want to check for that kind of music. That’s kind of how it works. At least, that’s how it worked in my case. I’d listen to records and want to learn more. It’s a never ending process and there is so much music out there to discover. I learn new shit every day and I don’t plan on ever stopping.

Download a generous snippet of Love Break.


To order a copy of Cosmo's Love Break CD, click here.

To learn more about Cosmo, check out his website.

And, if you like, read on as Cosmo talks records with me.