Remixed and remastered
Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from ‘C.R.E.A.M. Acapella’ by Wu Tang Clan 

Youtube: https://youtu.be/tuGQCfQWVmc (I did edit a video with the visuals from the music video, but the video got blocked and taken down straight away.)
Instrumental : https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/ways-of-the-world-instrumental
https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/ways-of-the-world-instrumental

I flipped this sample early March 2018, I’d just finished writing an essay for university about the Black Star track ‘Thieves In The Night’, and was just gassed in general. I’d chosen this module where I knew I’d be able to write about Hip Hop, and in my free time I was always making beats or listening to Hip Hop, so I felt completely immersed in the culture, and that feeling is definitely where this beat came from. I really felt like I’d gained a new understanding of the Black Star track which has always meant so much to me and makes me bug out every time hearing it, and I just felt like expressing that musically. The song is one of the maddest reflections on society and negative states of mind that trap people, so it was the introspective/melancholy vibe of the sample that made me know I wanted to flip it. I was also pretty set on putting this verse over it, there aren’t many Black Star verses out there, and at the time I didn’t have many 12” acapellas, and Deck’s lyrics fit perfectly with the mood. 

I definitely rushed the original mix for this beat, at the time I made it the floppy drive on my MPC wasn’t working, so I couldn’t save beats and had to record a final mix out into audacity the same day I made them. The sample sounds nice but the drums aren’t layered very well and don’t really fit in the mix. Also the vocal is a bit quiet, so since I dropped it I’ve been a bit disappointed with it and wanted to rework it ( https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/life-is-hectic-2 ). It was such a nice sample that I got multiple flips out of it, I originally picked two for when I uploaded this remix, bringing the alternate flip in for the outro after Deck’s verse. For this rework I decided to try and combine them both together, using the main loop for the highs, and filtering the second loop as a bassline to layer under it, giving the track more variation without drastically changing the loop throughout Deck’s verse, which I tried when originally remixing this but it was too jarring. I think the two melodies work well together, it gives the beat an interesting vibe, and I think it works in adding subtle variation to the track. One night while I was working on this my brother was watching an episode of the Sopranos in another room, and I had soloed the beat without the C.R.E.A.M. verse to see how the bass levels sounded on speakers, and the dialogue of the scene was fitting mad well with the beat. I had to ask him what episode it was from, and ripped the audio from a clip on youtube to use as an outro at the end of the track, chopping out the dialogue which I thought was relevant to the track. 

Peace and thanks for listening.

Ways Of The World

Bandcamp (Includes 2 bonus tracks): https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/album/elevating
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4qN7pP6c9hmftSB8cUsd9z?si=lJlYmSHvQ1qM-8e8dwzc9w
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/elevating-ep/1610162736
YouTube: https://youtu.be/M6fj7UIHwes

Beats, lyrics, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals mixed and mastered by @hightopsfeed

I very rarely write to my own beats, and I think these are the best tracks that I’ve put together over the years. Although the track listing isn’t exactly chronological in terms of when I made the tracks (I made Night-Time Writing before Lifestyle), these songs essentially chronicle my journey of escaping the traps of substance abuse, holding onto a passion for music, and following that instead of wasting away in addiction. It’s nice to be able to actually release them together as one project, especially seeing as this journey is far in the past, I’ve been sober for 3 years now and have never been more dedicated to making music.

Tracklist:

Scars [00:00 - 01:26]
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/scars

Lifestyle [01:26 - 04:02]
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/lifestyle

Night-Time Writing [04:02 - 07:28]
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/nighttime-writing

Elevating [07:28 - 09:26]
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/elevating

Lockdown Freestyle (Tapehead Remix) [09:26 - 10:47]
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/lockdown-freestyle-prod-hightop

Peace and thank you for listening. I really hope people enjoyed hearing these tracks, this EP is just the start for real, I have a lot more stuff like this in the works which will be releasing very soon.

Elevating EP

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from ‘Wrong Side Of Da Tracks Acapella’ by Artifacts

Visuals: https://youtu.be/J-sYmg7qlEk

Like the ‘Ill Street Blues’ remix I uploaded recently, this is one of the first remix concepts I put together back when I first started producing. I was too happy with the flip of the sample, and it immediately brought this acapella to mind, so I layered it on top and was mad happy with how they sounded together. Back then I didn’t focus on drums or have any real mixing or mastering experience, so it was very rough and not put together well, but the idea always shone through to me. I actually reworked this beat last year, but pitched it down and only had the Artifacts hook over it because there was so much resonance in the verses, and I had no idea how to mix vocals back then. Now that I’ve been mixing vocals for over a year it felt like a good time to revisit this one and finally do a full rework of the idea, so I decided to have the normal pitch to start and then lower the pitch for the second verse. I also went all out filtering this one, cause to me the sample always stood out for the warm vibe the low end had, and I wanted to really focus and exaggerate that by filtering and boosting those frequencies in this mix.

Original rough mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/wrong-side
2020 rework: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/wrong-side-1

Peace and thank you for listening!

Wrong Side

MF DOOM Remix Album Out October 31st!

Lead single for the album 'Enter The Crime Side (36 Chambers Remixes)' - Out Now: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-enter-the-crime-side-36-chambers-remixes-full-album

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'C.R.E.A.M. Acapella' by Wu-Tang Clan

Visuals: https://youtu.be/yaAHlDyuSLQ
Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side-instrumental
Crime Side Remix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-crime-side-remix
Original mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side

It really feels great to have finally done a full length version of this remix, I always knew Inspectah Deck's verse would sound good over the second half of this beat, it really is one of my favourite verses of all time: hope people enjoy this version!  

I made this beat in February 2019. I had just spent all night in a library to meet a university coursework deadline, and got home at 6am wide awake. I thought I'd want to relax after working all night but I really felt like making a beat to celebrate I guess. It was still early in the morning and all my housemates were asleep, so I made the whole thing using headphones, which I remember being a really immersive experience. Using headphones actually allowed me to be more precise with my chops, and ever since I've always chopped samples this way. I must have chopped around 20 seconds of the track into 16 pieces, because every pad on the MPC was taken up, and from there I was able to just be creative and work out which parts I wanted to use for my flip. I had a couple of loops sequenced but this one was my favourite, so I added drums which I had chopped from a break a while ago. By the time I had mixed and saved the beat it was the afternoon, so I worked on which acapellas sounded good over the beat, narrowing it down to a couple by the end of the day. I crashed at around 10pm, and the next day I finished up the remix, choosing the acapella from C.R.E.A.M.

Peace!

Tapehead - Crime Side (Extended Mix)

MF DOOM Remix Album Out October 31st!

Instrumental Album: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-enter-the-crime-side-instrumentals

Beats, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from ‘Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ by The Wu-Tang Clan

Visuals: https://youtu.be/sV8c50Usa04
HQ Download (Individual tracks): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tAGRIOkUcia4qS7HeRH9ZSV63GnAzE1u?usp=sharing

From the start of this year I knew I wanted to update the mix on Crime Side, thought it would be dope to have a full length remix of C.R.E.A.M. over that beat, and had been planning on dropping that on 26th July. On Monday 13th June I was trying to work out what to do as a remix for that week, and I decided to see if I could do anything with ‘Bring Da Ruckus’. That immediately got me thinking about doing a full length remix album for ‘Enter The Wu-Tang’, and the rest is history. The last month and a bit have been crazily intense but I was so motivated to get it done and each track kept me dedicated to completing it. There were times when I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to remix every track cause I didn’t want anything sounding forced, but I kept coming back to certain tracks, trying out different beats and eventually got everything worked out. ‘Clan In Da Front’ and ‘Shame On a Nuh’ are the two last tracks I worked out, and they ended up being some of my favourites off the album. Very glad I persevered and got the whole album done, it got me thinking about the future too, this is without a doubt something I will be doing again for different artists: MF DOOM, Nas, Big L, Mos Def, the list goes on. I’m very happy with how this project turned out, and think it works well as a tribute to one of my favourite albums by the Wu, which if you haven’t heard I highly recommend. Will defo be dong remixes focused on all their solo albums too. Can’t wait to release more projects like this, next one will be a MF DOOM tribute album. Peace and thank you for taking the time to listen, let me know what you think of these remixes!

Tracklist:
00:00 Ruckus
04:05 7th Chamber
08:25 Mad Deep Methods
12:06 Can It Be (Ways We Were)
16:22 Clan’s In The Front (Ways We Are)
20:31 Chessboxin’
25:33 Shame
28:53 Keep It Raw Interlude
30:59 Nuthing Ta F’ Wit
34:40 Death Penalty Interlude
36:12 Crime Side (Extended Version)
39:35 Tearz Time
43:18 Protect It’s Magnetic
47:49 Lifetime Chamber
52:45 Ojay Outro
53:46 Crime Side (Remix)

Tapehead - Enter The Crime Side (36 Chambers Remixes) (Full Album)

Track 2 off the album 'Enter The Crime Side (36 Chambers Remixes)': https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-enter-the-crime-side-36-chambers-remixes-full-album  

Instrumental: 
https://open.spotify.com/track/43VeHU1H4jUPCQxP77vMTO?si=c855505777d84718
https://music.apple.com/us/album/7th-chamber/1637200056?i=1637200058
https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/7th-chamber

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber' by The Wu-Tang Clan

Visuals: https://youtu.be/ITHInp7AHwY

I switched the beat multiple times here, wanted to match the different energies that each verse has on this acapella. I thought the boomy low end heavy beat fit the start of the track, setting the tone for that hardcore style. I thought it was then cool to go into a smoother beat, it just felt right as a switch up, and the way Ghostface's verse sounded over that beat was sick, I even added an extra layer of drums to try and emphasise how hard the flow was hitting. For ODBs verse I thought it made sense to then have an even smoother beat that fit the laid back slurry flow. 

I do think these 3 beats work well together here, have also released them separately, here's the links to them in order:
https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/sick-influences-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/guitar-swing-instrumental
https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/street-dreams-instrumental

7th Chamber

Rest In Peace

Roughs & Rares Bonus Remixes: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/doomsday-tribute-remixes-roughs-rares

Instrumental Album: 
https://open.spotify.com/album/73pCwiQHHv0WnZXL8bPtvA?si=tkTpBWB_SEO0AUfQIpV1rw
https://music.apple.com/us/album/doomsday-tribute-beats/1651521860
https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/album/doomsday-tribute-beats

Beats, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals by MF DOOM, MF GRIMM, Tommy Gunn and Count Bass D

Visuals: https://youtu.be/A3m2K5zpGpU

I've got serious love for Hip Hop and a real wide range of artists inspire me, but there's a special place in my heart for DOOM. When I first discovered his music I listened almost exclusively to his different aliases (and MF GRIMM) for a year straight - the year before I decided to get into producing my own beats. I really think DOOM's approach to music properly inspired me to make my own, his style is so unique it really cements the idea of anyone being able to do music as long as it's what they're passionate about. I hope people enjoy the remixes I made with these beats, always trying to pay tribute to DOOM and celebrate his legacy. Peace and thank you for listening.

Tracklist:

00:00 - Smooth Operation
02:01 - DOOMSDAY
06:34 - Dedicated To You
09:37 - Bad Dreams (Gas Drawls)
13:40 - Finest
17:59 - Hoe Tapes
21:56 - Red Morning (Gold Sun)
26:25 - Stretch & Bobbito Freestyle
29:26 - PotS*@%
33:05 - Smooth Hands
34:05 - Dead Gems (Too Good For Me)
37:05 - M I C
39:19 - Some Fancy Clown
41:25 - Ladies
44:14 - Blunted
47:14 - ? (Only We Save We)
50:25 - Voices
54:54 - Hero's Fate
56:53 - Love Rhymes (Not Dimes)

DOOMSDAY TRIBUTE - Tapehead Remixes (Full Album)

Dedicated to my brother on his 21st birthday. Thank you for really putting me onto 50 as an artist, would never have made these remixes otherwise and they genuinely are some of my favourite tracks I've ever made. To me this feels like the best body of beats I've ever made, they all feel like they're in the same world and I've always wanted to make an album which has that cohesive feel to it. Hopefully people feel similar and enjoy these tracks, thank you for listening.

Instrumental album: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-remixes-50-the-instrumentals

Deluxe version with the remixes and instrumentals up on my YouTube: https://youtu.be/QeXpOCwoRbU

Individual Instrumentals available on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/08tJ85aJnkG3qUW5OfQ4ar?si=DKxHn4b4T2OKOXdbdft8GQ
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/tapehead-remixes-50-the-instrumentals/1681959175
Bandcamp (w/bonus track): https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/album/tapehead-remixes-50-the-instrumentals

Individual Tracks: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/sets/tapehead-remixes-50-full-album

Peace

Beats, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals by 50 Cent, Eminem, Young Buck and Lloyd Banks

Tracklist: 

00:00 I Get Money
01:17 Patiently Waiting
05:07 21 Questions
08:31 I Smell P*ssy
11:49 Gatman & Robbin'
14:59 Beg For Mercy
17:51 Ghetto Qu'ran
22:33 Just A Lil Bit
24:56 Back Down
28:04 Wanksta
31:21 Lay You Down

Tapehead Remixes 50 (Full Album)

Rhythm Roulette (Shows how I made this beat): https://youtu.be/CkQBAxAQbbY

2pac Me Against The World Remix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/against-the-world

Initially this was the beat I was the least happy with from the rhythm roulette video. Worked on it the most after the video and tweaked the flips slightly, worked a lot on the mix too to get it sounding smooth, and am defo a lot more happy with it now. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7w3fvYTeHIyIjuEpXA5Ulk?si=9ab5116839484b5f
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/against-the-world-instrumental/1708215596?i=1708215597
Bandcamp (Free HQ Download): https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/against-the-world

Against The World (Instrumental)

Instrumental for: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/check-the-rhemix-hightopbeats-x-tapehead

Collab with  @hightopbeats  , he drops beats every Monday, very very unique style trust me every week the vibe is completely different, very versatile producer. He also normally plays all his melodies himself which is crazy to me as a sample based producer. For this collab I sent him my flip from the 'Calm Piano' beat off my most recent beat tape, and he then flipped it completely different, chopped up my flip and reversed etc to make it way more chill. 

We then went back and forth adding drums, working out the arrangement etc, was a dope workflow and will defo be doing this fairly regularly. We've got a lot of collab stuff on the way full stop: Ive got mad lyrics over his beats: once my albums released the next big project will definitely be a full length album where I'm writing over his beats. So excited to share that all I feel like I've been sitting on it way too long.

We did drop a track together last year called New Scapes: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/new-scapes

Loads more on the way hopefully towards the end of this year. 

Peace, thank you for listening!!

Check The Instrumental (@hightopbeats x Tapehead)

Available on CD and Cassette (includes bonus track): https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/album/just-myself

Official music videos are up on my YouTube (more dropping in the next few weeks): www.youtube.com/@Tapehead

Also up on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3b9IfhMBYhpeGgHBAlqmOE?si=sE1nRkqCQtGesU8CwymAow
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/just-myself/1736574497
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/tapeheadlinks

Huge love to my whole family: my Mum, Dad, Brother, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts for all your support throughout the years before and since I started music. To both Jayu and Josie who aren't here to hear this, you continue to inspire me no matter what, all the positivity and motivation you gave me to work hard and do what I love will never be forgotten, hopefully that shows throughout this album. Huge huge shoutout to Steezy Selections for the dope jumper, and for coming all the way to the beach to get the shots for Light My Life, we've got mad collabs on the way so be on the lookout over on his instagram. Huge thank you and love to my guy Distant Cry (@user-283060156) for all the help full stop: from putting me on crazily with using Crime Side and motivating me to even take music this far: and for all the help with making the Rhythm Roulettes, plus the crazy dedication to film and edit the Raise Up Video in two days, I could go on and on listing mad stuff from you man thank you for the support for real. Peace to @hightopsfeed for teaching me everything I know about mixing vocals, shoutout to Kamaruu too be on the lookout for that project from Hightop hoping that drops asap g. Can't wait to get our collab work moving properly now I've got this album released, we got to drop a project in 2025. Huge shoutout to my brother @lemurecho and @tothenth for shooting the video for 'Words', having me perform at Village 2023 up in Leicester and for always putting me on to the craziest most inspirational hip hop out there. If I didn't perform live last July then this album wouldn't have got made so huge huge credit and thank you for putting me on and having me at the show. Got me mad inspired to make new stuff to share and test out, will forever remember that one. Can't forget Elmo The Spaceghost for shooting the cover art and the videos for the Intro, thank you for really helping me make the album a reality. Got to give props to Cass for helping me record 'I Use It For Expression' and create the 'Tapehead' soundcloud to upload it to that same day. Since then I never looked back, and I'm really so grateful for where I've been able to take it with the help of everyone, most importantly including you reading this, and everyone who plays my music on any platform from the bottom of my heart thank you for everything. I wanted to list everyone but I got scared I'd miss people out. This is what I love and what I live for, it's a real blessing to be able to release and share what I make and get any kind of feedback and support. I honestly look forward to hearing your thoughts each week when I drop something new. I did actually try and list everyone in the booklets for the cassette and CD, so if you cop that hopefully you'll see your name in there. 

Very very very happy with how this album turned out, the support for this has been so crazy I've been insanely motivated and I'm already halfway through making my next one, so until that drops, I really hope you enjoy this one. Thank you so much for listening, if you left any feedback I'll see you in the comment sections asapp, very excited to talk about this one. Peace one love!!

Produced, written, mixed and mastered by Tapehead

Tracklist:

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - First Steps
02:21 - Time's Racing
04:04 - Strife
05:55 - What Love Is
08:21 - Back To You
09:40 - Light my Life
11:21 - Going Along
13:03 - Lovesick
16:17 - Mistakes
19:12 - Words
20:53 - Clearly See
23:30 - Stressin'
26:53 - Raise Up
30:38 - Change Up
32:17 - Myself
34:14 - Realise
36:49 - Got Love
38:57 - Beginning

Just Myself [Full Album]

Back on the remixes again, let me know what you think! Thanks for listening. Me Against The World is up there for me in terms of Pac albums, can't decide if it's my favourite though. I think All Eyez On Me has the craziest beats but for me the lyrics are defo a bit of a step down from MATW. Was feeling this remix brings more of that emotion to the track, hopefully you enjoy. 

Peace and thanks again. 

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Temptations' by 2Pac

Visuals now on my 2nd YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/6k9sHmYe5sQ

Temptations Going

Onyx always going to be one of the most fun artists to remix, their vocals are so crazy they work well with mad different types of beats. I still rate their debut album very highly, there's for sure a few questionable tracks, but the classics stay classic. Throw Ya Gunz is one o the best shouty tracks they did, crazy how they flipped Nautilus for it too. 

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Throw Ya Gunz' by Onyx

Throw Ya Gunz!!

Music Video: https://youtu.be/ir4m7MfG6Bg?si=9AW8k4wqtM3eqOAk
Instrumental: https://youtu.be/lCTfbv84S-s?si=hp8i5GrPXV_bIRwT
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7EI8kF9p43QnLGY3YWbWP0?si=483867d2cb8044ff 
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/whatever-prod-hightop/1792793700?i=1792793703
Bandcamp: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/whatever-prod-hightop

Hightop really snapped on this beat, it was crazy cause he dropped it in the lead up to Christmas 2024, and I had the busiest day ahead of me, I think I only managed to write the hook as soon as I heard the beat, then had to be out, then got back with 30 minutes to write before I had to be out again, and just got the whole song written asap cause I had so many ideas and just wanted to be playing the beat on repeat. Was really on my mind the whole day. This is defo one of my favourite verses I've written I really rate the abstract kind of lines but feel like it does get to the point.

And man if that wasn't enough Distant then came through in the new year and absolutely snapped on the video, craziest one we've done imo. As soon as I made this track I knew I had to change up the mask for the video and I'm gassed with how it looks. I work in a theatre so we just shot there after hours, the way the lighting was reflecting off the lens of Distants camera was so crazy, gave the visuals this really hazy smoky feeling which is exactly what I wanted to happen I just didn't think it would be this crazy.

Yeah mad love to Hightop and Distant on this one, really proud of the track in every way. Hope you enjoy!! Thanks for listening.

Lyrics:

Caught up in your path
Man I swear this is the last
Made it out the dark just to pack it up and spark
I ain't even got the heart
Sold it for a laugh
Hold my soul in your palm, you don't even know

Feelin' cold and alone, you don't need me though
It's a dream, it's a dream, I'm believing though
Seen it all through a screen I don't even know
Easy way to deceive, now I'm feelin' broke
Spit it out cause the beat hit my heart where it hurts
Push play, but I gotta work through this in reverse
Goin' backwards, never makin' tracks good
Never took a life but it feels like you're taking mine it's such a lie
Such a lie outta time, take mine
What it's like, all my life
Change my whole mind
Change my whole grind
Try and face what I'm like
Need to change what I'm like
That's a must

Swear this is the last
Made it out the dark just to pack it up and spark
I ain't even got a heart
Sold it for a laugh
Hold my soul in your palm you don't even know

You don't even know
Why I'm feelin' low
I gotta dream I spose
What's this even for
Now I need it more
Leave me needing more
Can't you see the score?
See it's really now or never
Get this shit together
We should never be together
It's just me myself whatever
Whatever

whatever (prod hightop)

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/o-hMQK_DFYU

I know I say this a lot but this album is actually underrated, should have been way bigger than it was from day one. This track especially is ridiculously hard, K Def is a mad versatile beatmaker the stuff he did for Lords of the Underground is also nuts and honestly is  a big part of why I rate their music. The flow from Larry-O is insane here, mad varied and fits nice over both parts of this beat imo. Hope you enjoy the remix thanks for listening!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Real Live Shit' by Real Live

Real Live Ish

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/X9ll2N7sKMQ?si=vK0-LIJU2dh09Ye2

Man this remix had me losing my mind, the way both Raekwon and LA flow over this is crazy. Making tracks like this really keeps me motivated to make remixes fr, feels like it breathes something completely different into the track. This beat is the next one I've made sampling off Classic FM, this time it was a movie soundtrack they were playing. This kind of beat always seems to fit Wu-Tang artists mad well, kind of like how the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album is like a movie, their tracks just match that cinematic vibe. Next remix will be 'Investigative Reports' off Liquid Swords with a similar kind of sample, I lost my mind on that one on a different level.

One thing I've been rating with these classical/soundtrack samples is the music is long and it changes a lot throughout, so there's a lot to choose from - which has got me really training my ear for good chops, and also giving the beats mad variation cause I can normally get at least 2 flips. had to persevere with the 2nd flip but soon as I got the low end layer working I knew it was right. 3rd flip kind of shows what I mean about the music having a lot to choose from cause that switches the vibe completely. I duno I just feel like I'd reached a bit of a block producing wise towards the end of 2024 and this has really made me start enjoying it again and taking it back to the essence of grabbing some crazy chops and making it work.

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Az The World Turnz' by LA the Darkman and Raekwon

Nine Lives

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/sJuyRcDRE1I?si=QlF4hjkntb-LHWPY

My god man I really lost my mind making this one, both beat and the remix. On a pretty good streak atm just trying to stay focused and keep on flipping stuff from classical/film soundtracks. The way I'm digging has been crazy cause I have Classic FM as my alarm in the morning, and fully some mornings I've woken up hearing some insane samples, instantly wide awake trying to find out what they're playing loool. 

Making this one was just such a dope process, the first flip already had me bugging but I wanted to switch it to give the track more variation, and man that second beat took a while with a lot of layering but it was so worth it. 

This is definitely my favourite track off Liquid Swords so it was great to remix it, everyone kills it and the flows sound insane to me over these beats. Liquid Swords used to be my favourite Wu album by quite a bit but as I've gotten older I just like them all equally for different reasons, not to say I like this one less, although maybe it is more accessible, cause people who aren't as immersed in Hip Hop tend to gravitate a lot to this one. Of course the OG is crazy also one of my favourite beats by RZA. Whereas that one is more stripped back and the drums are insanely rugged, I thought this was a cool remix cause it's almost the opposite with a pretty complex/varied soundscape on the sample, hard to describe really i just think the blend works. Got to do something different if you're remixing imo. 

Thanks for listening hope you enjoyed this one as much as me. Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Investigative Reports' by Raekwon, GZA and Ghostface Killah

Investigative Reports!

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/ENu5sHyqulk?si=brtaq9116fIinvwW

Man I know aspects of this diss haven't aged that well, but imo this is still one of the best diss tracks ever, wayyy better than Takeover - Nas was out for blood on this one. Defo evidence for him being one of if not the greatest to ever do it. You can just feel the passion in this track he must have been so pissed writing these lyrics you can tell he just kept on going mad inspired to tear Jay apart. 

Had fun remixing this the beat had that grand vibe which i thought fit the scale and magnitude of this track well if that makes sense. A lot faster than the OG too which ups the energy of Nas's relentless approach on the lyrics.

Peace

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Ether' by Nas

That Ether

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/ws5d2Na7ZrU?si=7X6y50gO9M0w1xQU

Man this album by Gang Starr has grown on me loads over the years, it never used to have many standout tracks for me (this one included), but on my most recent listen I don't think there's a single dud on it. Guru is really on fire the whole album, lyrics are relentless and hard hitting whilst also being pretty low key and subtle if that makes sense. And the beats are really timeless too, sure they don't all have the heaviest drums but the loops from Premier are crazy. So so hard to pick a favourite Gang Starr album but this is defo up there for me along with Hard to Earn and Moment of Truth. I also have a remix to Ex Girl to my Next Girl dropping in a few weeks, really excited about that one. Also completely separate point but man Gurus storytelling is so good on this track, really paints a vivid picture of everything that's happening so well. Shame this track never got an official video.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Soliloquy of Chaos' by Gang Starr

Chaos

Man this album is insane I remember finding it when I was heavy into Wu-Tang and couldn't believe this album came out before Enter The Wu-Tang. Imo it's still pretty underrated, one of the best hardcore Hip Hop albums ever made imo, it's just a proper fun listen and the beats hit crazy to this day. Man like the first track 'Powaful Impak' fully is one of the best intros ive ever heard, hits you straight away no games at all. The track titles are jokes too, some of the weirdest spellings ive seen. This album is one that sounds crazy good on tape too, especially with the mega bass on the walkman. This then put me onto the whole Boot Camp Click and tbh the same goes for all their albums, especially Dah Shinin and Nocturnal, they defo build on what Black Moon started here. 

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'N_guz Talk Shit' by Black Moon

Ain't My Steel

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/gds99UJjfUw?si=yHTg-8Rqa15tVRNh

Man what a song, feel like I really did something different with this remix which is always a dope feeling - I rate the uptempo vibe it defo fits how carefree Guru is about the subject matter. Stuff like this is really easy to get mad depressive over and make a moody kinda track but he does a great job at being nonchalant about it all, defo fit his style well to approach this like that. 

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Ex Girl To The Next Girl' by Gang Starr

Ex To The Next

Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_HFjDw4peg

One of my favourites from Nujabes and Substantial, they're a mad dope duo he always brings proper lyrics that real conscious Hip Hop. Think Different is crazy cause it's a completely different vibe to this one, mad upbeat and carefree sounding.  What's your favourite Nujabes album/track? I honestly can't pick it's really a tough one, probably albums it's in between Metaphorical Music and Modal Soul. Track is even harder there's so many good ones. I'll always have a place in my heart for Feather just cause of how much it blew me away when I first heard it. Discovering his music was so dope man I remember I was playing his albums back to back for weeks, really has a different kinda vibe and the emotion is so so on point it's crazy. 

Hope you like my remix, thought this beat fit the vibe of this track with that ethereal sound fitting with the cloud imagery. Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Waiting For The Clouds' by Nujabes and Substantial

Waiting For The Clouds To Part

Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP-SVeGexCA

Man this one just came together, don't know what to say, just really happy with how it turned out. Love making these kind of beats, nostalgic vibe is so heavy here, so I thought this track from Artifacts would fit perfectly. If you haven't heard of Artifacts you've gotta go check their albums man they are insane, nothing but gems especially their first 2. Highly highly recommended, RIP to Tame One, gone way too soon. They've always stood out to me cause of how much they show love to proper graffiti culture, something that for me goes hand in hand with Hip Hop. I love all types of graffiti from tags to pieces, always brings a smile to my face and makes me think of Hip Hop. The stuff that was going on in New York in the 70s and 80s and even then London in the 80s and 90s is insane man, especially all the trains that were covered with crazy complicated pieces. 

Hope you like this track, peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Whayback' by Artifacts

Way Back

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/6LZISAwgyy4?si=kFrDY1hv8SY_Bhmq

man I should just remix a full gang starr album at this point, I've done so many. Do you think I should drop like a compilation album of all my favourite Gang Starr remixes? I've defo got an albums worth, and could start doing that for other artists too like Nas, Raekwon, Masta Ace. So not remixes track for track of a specific album, just say 45 min worth of remixes for the artist. Kind of like a beat tape but a remix tape. Let me know what you think of that idea.

Peace, thanks for listening!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Take It Personal' by Gang Starr

Personal

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/fhJAhahnK0A?si=MwRS2LKev0Vp3PLB

Collab with @user-283060156

Can't believe me and Distant haven't collabed on a beat sooner, he sent me this sample flip cause he wasn't sure what drums to do, it made me bug out immediately I had to flip the sample myself, then added drums to my flip and his. Just has such a beautiful vibe to it and all the chops layered ontop really give it dope variation. Distant went crazy on the vocal layering too, I think it sounds like 'miss it it's over' but those chops sound sooo nice over the main melody. Distant should be doing his own remix with this beat over on his channel, be on the lookout for that.

Also yo if you haven't heard Heltah Skeltah; go check their album Nocturnal right now!! So many dope tracks, this is defo one of my favourites, also Operation lockdown is insane. Whole album is dope though very underrated, might be my favourite of the 3 boot camp click albums in terms of production. 

Peace!!

Undastand

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/uDOZiLGGFhI?si=4O9mj-QtoVlv0tB2

This beat was a lot of fun to make, I wasn't sure the sample had enough to work with but luckily layering chops worked really well here and gave the beat mad energy. Drums came mad natural too I knew exactly the kind of rhythm I wanted to go for. Feel like I did something different here for sure never really used snares/clicks in that way before. 

Thought Das EFX fit the energy well, always rated their music highly. Not 100% sure but I think Straight Up Sewaside is my favourite album by them. Their production was always top tier and they were mad consistent throughout the 90s aswell imo.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Gimme Dat Microphone' by Das EFX

Gimme Dat Microphone!!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5HNp8cu3j6dr6M9JLDxSOv?si=Fmu-aAFBR7216NwiM2y9KQ
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/classical-boom-bap-beat-tape-2025-vol-i/1809217722
YouTube: https://youtu.be/lBbdQ8ZO1Ec
Bandcamp: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/album/classical-boom-bap-2025-vol-i-beat-tape

Been really enjoying sampling a ton of classical music this year, feel like it's the change I needed to really stay creative and invested in making beats. I'll leave the backstory behind it all here, posted this when I uploaded the first classical beat I made:

Had to clear my Grandparents house out this January which was really bittersweet, was nice going through all the memories with family but also really sad to see the place empty by the end. Will miss staying there by the sea in Swansea always found it mad peaceful. One real positive was being able to keep so much stuff that can be put to good use, between me my brother, Dad and Uncle we saved loads of different stuff, from pots and pans, plates, cutlery, ornaments, records and turntable etc. One thing I saved was my Nan's old radio which she always had tuned to Classic FM, we had it on a lot of the time when clearing the house and I've brought it to work to listen to during the days etc. It's crazy cause I was just hearing so many samples in the music they were playing, this is the first one I heard when we were clearing the house so I Shazamed it, and since then I've heard loads more I want to flip. 

It's been a good way to keep digging for samples when I'm working and also a breath of fresh air cause I haven't really sampled classical in a while, it's always a bit long going through classical records for samples but the radio has been a blessing, not really sure why I guess on classical records there's a lot of filler tracks whereas on the radio they focus more on relaxing stuff and the classics? I've made a lot of my favourite beats sampling classical stuff and I know Havoc went absolutely crazy sampling classical on 'Hell on Earth'. Another dope thing about Classic FM is they play film soundtracks a lot and they're always full of serious atmospheric gems to sample. Only thing that's wack about it is the adverts lool, forgot how many adverts radio stations play.

Since then I've flipped loads of classical stuff, all heard in this tape. I left two beats out of this tape cause they didn't come from classical samples, wanted to keep it all in a similar sound for this tape. Those beats will drop soon in my next beat tape, looking forward to flipping some more soul/jazz again Ive got loads of records to go through. Will still be listening to ClassicFM too I've already got a backlog of samples to flip from there again. Hope you enjoy these beats, fingers crossed next thing I put out will be the sequel to Just Myself, then another beat tape after that. Also, I've done remixes of classic Hip Hop tracks over all of these beats over on my 2nd channel, in case you're interested. Peace!!

Tracklist:

00:00 - Nine Lives
02:01 - Way Back
03:50 - Oceans
06:25 - Clouds
08:25 - Sanctuary
09:54 - That Ether
11:42 - Content
12:33 - Thyme
13:51 - Chaos
16:04 - Move
17:44 - Bluebirds

Classical Boom Bap - 2025 Vol I [Beat Tape]

Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQuzX4oRKNo

You know what my friend was saying this is his favourite Wu solo album and I wasn't sure about that take at first, but man I relistened recently and this album is hard!!! Imo it's crazy underrated tbh, there's so many hitters on this the beats are especially crazy. I think it takes a few listens to get used to ODBs style and general insanity but once that's less offputting it's actually such a great listen, and his crazy style is actually mad deep like it's not just a random mess he really does know what he's doing the flow is really really complex a lot of the time. 

This beat was super quick to make, one of those ones where I heard the sample and instantly knew what I wanted to do with it, really like the vibe of this one, feels carefree and content, defo where I was at when I made it, no stress at all.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Hipa To The Hopa' by ODB

Hip Hopa

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/U3UNAv7-n7k?si=sTGxqQwWdCFi6jth

This tracks grown on me loads throughout the years, one of the hardest off Enta Da Stage imo. Smif-N-Wessun are dope too, their debut album is crazy, Wontime always stands out to me but there's loads more gems on that one too. Buckshots verse on this track is insane too, opening line is such a classic been sampled sooo many times.

Let me know if you recognise this sample I think it's quite a bait one. 

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Black Smif-N-Wessun' by Black Moon and Smif-N-Wessun

Black Smif-N-Wessun

Show & AG got to be one of the most underrated Hip Hop duos of all time. Both their albums are insane classics, and wayyy ahead of their time too. Can't believe Runaway Slave is from 1992. Have you heard their albums? I relistened to both Runaway Slave and Goodfellas the other week, enjoyed both just as much, but honestly may have even enjoyed Runaway Slave a bit more which I didnt expect at all. Something about Showbiz beats are just insane to me, he gets the rugged sound on a different level, similar to Diamond D as well. Also Dres from Black Sheep really kills it on this track, flow is ridiculous, and again in 1992 this must have been mindblowing for real.

I was really thinking about 'Check It Out' off Goodfellas when I made this beat, that track is just stupiddd and then once I made this beat I instantly heard this verse from Bounce Ta This over it.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Bounce Ta This' by Showbiz & AG ft Dres from Black Sheep

Bounce

Slept on this track for years tbh, lyrics are pretty deep imo especially compared to the other tracks on the album. One day I'll defo have remixed this full album will be cool to drop that as a whole compilation. What's your favourite 'Hardcore' Hip Hop album? This one's defo up there for me. Hard to really define cause a lot of albums have tracks with this kinda vibe but imo this is one of the albums which goes all out no holding back at all.

Peace

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Slave' by Black Moon

Slave

More Of The Raw

Yoooo 200K streams thank you all!!!!!

Debut Album Out April 26th!! https://linktr.ee/tapeheadlinks

50 Cent Remix Album: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-remixes-50-full-album

MF DOOM Remix Album: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/doomsday-tribute-tapehead-remixes-full-album

Full Length Crime Side Album Out Now! https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-enter-the-crime-side-36-chambers-remixes-full-album

Extended Version: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side-extended-mix
Crime Side Remix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-crime-side-remix

Behind the scenes of how I made this beat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOv3jo2zljI

Thank you so much for 100K streams: happy to say that the instrumental is now out on Spotify (and other streaming services):
https://open.spotify.com/track/7E7XrsH9croPa5CCiRy0DB?si=e9841bdf0b7a4d96
https://music.apple.com/us/album/crime-side-instrumental-instrumental-single/1577843527?uo=4&app=apple+music

Beat by Tapehead
Vocals from 'C.R.E.A.M.' acapella by Wu-Tang Clan

Instrumental now available:

https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side-instrumental

Crime Side

Debut Album Out April 26th!! https://linktr.ee/tapeheadlinks

50 Cent Remix Instrumentals: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-remixes-50-the-instrumentals

MF DOOM Remix Instrumentals: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/doomsday-tribute-tapehead-instrumentals-full-beat-tape

Full Length Crime Side Album Out Now! https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/tapehead-enter-the-crime-side-36-chambers-remixes-full-album

Full length remix over this instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side-extended-mix

Behind the scenes of how I made this beat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOv3jo2zljI

Now out on Spotify (and other streaming services):
https://open.spotify.com/track/7E7XrsH9croPa5CCiRy0DB?si=e9841bdf0b7a4d96
https://music.apple.com/us/album/crime-side-instrumental-instrumental-single/1577843527?uo=4&app=apple+music

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArcfLLPFnY
Bandcamp: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/crime-side-instrumental-2019
Crime Side: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/crime-side

I made this beat in February 2019. I had just spent all night in a library to meet a university coursework deadline, and got home at 6am wide awake from all the caffeine I'd been drinking.

I thought I'd want to relax after working all night but I really felt like making a beat to celebrate I guess. There wasn't space for tons of vinyl and a turntable in my room that year, so I was sampling through YouTube. I can't remember the name of the sample sadly, but I know that these strings were at the start of the track and as soon as I heard them I went into autopilot and turned on the MPC to chop them up. 

It was still early in the morning and all my housemates were asleep, so I made the whole thing using headphones, which I remember being a really immersive experience. Using headphones actually allowed me to be more precise with my chops, and ever since I've always chopped samples this way. I must have chopped around 20 seconds of the track into 16 pieces, because every pad on the MPC was taken up, and from there I was able to just be creative and work out which parts I wanted to use for my flip. I had a couple of loops sequenced but this one was my favourite, so I added drums which I had chopped from a break a while ago.

By the time I had mixed and saved the beat it was the afternoon, so I cooked food and worked on which acapellas sounded good over the beat, narrowing it down to a couple by the end of the day. I crashed at around 10pm, and the next day I finished up the remix, choosing Raekwon's verse from C.R.E.A.M.

Crime Side (Instrumental)

Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/lifetime-impression-instrumental

Beat, scratches, cuts, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Visuals: https://youtu.be/zPoxbmlxVGA
Free Instrumental Download: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/lifetime-impression-instrumental

All We Got Iz Us is probably my favourite Onyx album, it doesn’t have a single weak track imo, the album is just mad motivating. I think its mad underrated too, obviously its fairly well known, but cause it came out in ’94 it’s definitely been a bit overshadowed by the insane amount of classic albums that came out that year. To me this album is a classic, one of my favourites from ’94 for sure. The singles are decently known for sure, Last Dayz being the most recognizable, but the whole album doesn’t seem to get as much love as the singles, and the whole project is a must listen to me. Putting the Evil Streets acapella over this beat was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I fully can’t believe how well the Onyx acapella fits, its truly nuts to me, and pretty rare that something comes together this well. I’m pretty sure the hook is ‘sung’ in the same key as the sample I flipped, and all the verses fit ridiculously well, but not just the flows, the voices sound right over the beat too. 

I had to go all out when I mixed this beat. The drums are all layered so thick, there’s about 4 hi hats, 6 kicks, and 6 snares which are all mixed together to give the drums a punch which definitely matches Onyx’s style. The way I chopped this sample left some vocals in for split seconds, which sounded like scratches because of them being right at the end of a chop and cut off, like how a fader cuts out a scratch when the DJ spins a record back. I thought this sounded cool but it only happened once in each 2 bar loop of the sample, so I decided to add some of my own scratches from a few break records I have. I used ‘Super Seal’, and recorded some scratches of snares and the famous ‘yo’ sample at the BPM of the beat. Layered with the drums this sounded crazy to me, it gave the beat a different vibe, I’ve definitely said before how much I love how scratching sounds, and it was cool to incorporate it into this beat in a more permanent, less obvious way, not just something for the hook. Normally I don’t like how censored acapellas sound over beats, but I think with this one it works, because of all of the scratches and cuts that play in the beat, it sort of makes the gaps in the verses make more sense as if the record was being cut up, and then sometimes the scratch/break fills up a gap left by a word being censored, it was definitely a part of what made this acapella work so well over the beat. I also layered the sample 3 times, 2 filters, one high one low, and a standard mix, which I layered, soloed etc throughout the track. This was unbelievably long to do without quantization (which is how I flipped the sample originally), so all 3 had to perfectly match each other, which took hours to sequence. I fully kept giving up but knew the beat needed the layers on the sample to really do it justice (especially the groove that’s added by filtering the lows), so I just stuck by it, and sequenced each chop individually, so I was hitting the pad at the exact right time, which ended up with the beat sequence being 30 tracks on the MPC (they’re usually 15 or so). It was definitely necessary to do this, because the contrast of the smooth flows of the low end to the scratches and samples really gives the track variation, and gives it a lot more presence throughout, definitely was worth the time and effort.

This is by far the happiest I’ve been with a remix in time, and it’s all positive, because making this has given me an unbelievable boost in energy music wise, and I’m mad excited to make the next beat, and now for the first time I’m equally as excited about mixing and mastering, because of what I was able to achieve with this one. 
Peace.

Lifetime Impression

Beatmaker / Emcee
Contact: tapeheadloops@gmail.com

<--MPC2000 Classic                     

Underground Airplay

Trying to give something back to Hip Hop - really appreciate any comments or feedback.

Peace

Tapehead

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