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Prince love and hip hop12/7/2023 "We had two recorders, and we would keep the breaks extended even before we were conscious of what we were doing, sampling from cassette to cassette," he says. Gray remembers making his own tapes as a young man in the late ‘70s, discovering the creativity that the new cassette technology could offer. And the more she explored, the more she affirmed that these early tapes are an unparalleled document of a moment in music history. McCoy is a longtime devotee of the form and a music industry professional (including a stint as manager of hip-hop legends Clipse ). "The recordings would sometimes include the DJ shouting out people who were in the room - and if you were in Harlem, maybe there were a few drug dealers in the room who even paid for a shoutout," she adds with a laugh. "They were called party tapes then, and people would make copies to give out to friends that couldn’t be there, so they could hear if the DJ was hot or not."Īs the form became more popular, DJs like Kid Capri or Brucie B would start recording their club sets as well. "The first tapes were used to record people at places like a park jam, a party, a community gathering," explains Regan Sommer McCoy, founder of the Mixtape Museum, a repository of physical tape collections, nostalgic storytelling, and more. But back in the early ‘70s, kids like Gray raised on everything from Motown to Thelonious Monk, George Clinton to James Brown were blending their influences. Today, the mixtape holds a whole swath of meanings - from a curated playlist to a non-label hip-hop release. While the general public may have moved onto other formats, those cassettes are making a comeback and mixtapes continue to pervade every aspect of pop culture - both in their musical impact and nostalgic glory. "The amount of music and the way it was curated was incredible, and having it on tape was way more valuable than hearing it on the radio because the radio didn’t have a rewind button," he says with a laugh. Now the chief curator and advisor for the soon-to-open Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx - not to mention the co-host of the A&E TV show "Hip-Hop Relics," which follows the quest for genre relics alongside the likes of LL Cool J and Ice T - Gray grew up consuming countless mixtapes from the likes of the L Brothers, Grandmaster Flash, and the Cold Crush Brothers. If a party was on a Friday or a Saturday, by Monday the mixtapes would already be in my neighborhood," Paradise Gray says, beaming. "Living in the Bronx, we got to hear all the latest music. Hip-Hop Just Rang In 50 Years As A Genre. Jesse Collins, Shawn Gee, Dionne Harmon, Claudine Joseph, LL COOL J, Fatima Robinson, Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson for Two One Five Entertainment serve as executive producers and Marcelo Gama as director of the special. Stay tuned to for more news and updates about "A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop."Ī GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop is produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment. ^Names in bold indicate newly added artists.ĭon't miss this one-of-a-kind monument to a world-shifting genre and culture - now with a dash of the one and only Fresh Prince! ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+. The tribute special will air Sunday, Dec. The concert will take place at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Nov. , Gunna, Too $hort, Latto, E-40, Big Daddy Kane, GloRilla, Juvenile, Three 6 Mafia, Cypress Hill, Jeezy, DJ Quik, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Warren G, YG, Digable Planets, Arrested Development, Spinderella, Black Sheep, and Luniz. Newly announced performers include rap icons and next-gen hip-hop superstars 2 Chainz, T.I. Fad, Talib Kweli, The Lady Of Rage, LL COOL J, MC Sha-Rock, Monie Love, The Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Questlove, Rakim, Remy Ma, Uncle Luke, and Yo-Yo. Indeed, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - aka Will Smith - are set to reunite at the star-studded event, in celebration of this quintessential American genre and global cultural phenomenon.ĭJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince will join previously announced performers Black Thought, Bun B, Common, De La Soul, Jermaine Dupri, J.J. 8, at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, and airs Sunday, Dec. 8, to include information about newly announced performers.Ĭan you recite every word of the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song? If so, that's ever more of a reason to tune into "A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop" - which goes down Wednesday, Nov.
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