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

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

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0MPkVo5qM7aeSkcuuHbdUI?si=4c5bf61945f848da
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/cant-stop-instrumental/1623735419?i=1623735422
Bandcamp (HQ Download): https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/cant-stop-instrumental

Instrumental for: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/cant-stop-its-on

I deliberately waited until the start of 2022 to make this beat. I found the sample a while ago and was crazily gassed off it, there was just so much potential for layers, basslines, vocal chops etc, and the energy was just too positive, exactly the kind of motivational feel which I thought would be dope to start the year off. I really wanted to take my time to flip it properly, I chopped it up into a crazy amount of pieces to get the flow right (which I’ll definitely be showing in a behind the beat video soon). The song is actually a love song talking about not being able to stop your feeling of love for someone, but I wanted to change that and only take the vocals about not stopping, that way it can be about anything really. For me it’s absolutely about making music and staying motivated with that, but it can be about whatever anyone’s passionate about really, as long as it’s true to you and what you love to do, it's all about being focused, learning and staying dedicated.

Peace

Can't Stop (Instrumental)

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)

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)

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=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/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

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/94nuGpGpbac?si=267ykIFNvCCBQGJj

One of my all time favourite tracks off of one of my all time favourite albums. I personally think Livin' Proof is DJ Premiers best work as a producer. Classic stuff, still hits crazy to this day. Always resonated how emotional this track is, and Ive always wanted to remix it for that reason. Glad to have finally done one after all these years. 

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Suspended In Time' by Group Home

Suspended in Time

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/XtWC23xgU80?si=yOoOZQ_X1fyfHC6u

I think the first Lords Of The Underground album is by far their best, this one is pretty good too though. I noticed the vocals are mixed a lot better on this one so it makes them much easier to mix for these remixes. Lords Of The Underground are always a good pick for just that fun feel good Hip Hop vibe, not super grimey or gritty etc. Honestly a breath of fresh air a lot of the time, their beats really set them apart shoutout to K Def there. 

Hope you like this one I'm defo happy with it, can't pinpoint the vibe it's kinda rugged and I defo rate it. 

Peace

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Neva Faded' by Lords Of The Underground ft Supreme C

Faded

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/XvlBScusJJw?si=TZJKTe10OKAPoHtm

Rest in peace to Old Dirty fr, the more I listen to his stuff the more I see the method behind the madness, he was insanely talented for real. It's not easy to do what he did and pull off the style, shit is really crazy to wrap your head around. I rate how little he cared about what people thought too, such a dope way to be imo. Obvs he took things kinda far but still. 

Vocal beats can remix pretty well with ODB imo cause his singing style kinda bleeds into the vocal chops in a way

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from Baby C'mon by ODB

C'mon

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/ytv_9gkdF10?si=HPYayv-ILpUYct_b

I don't smoke anymore but hash used to knock me out, crazy wack too here in the UK everyone mixes it with tobacco so you're smoking a cigarette without a filter. Same with weed too it's crazy over here. I heard you can make Hash Butter and just get waved off that which is nuts. Not my thing anymore but still defo got to be better for you than smoking. 

Love how this one turned out, beat just has that grimey vibe and this track came straight to my mind, the flows match that rugged vibe crazily, I don't even know how to describe what makes these verses so hard, it's everything really, but I think the attitude and flow is a huge part of it, has such a bounce to it if that makes sense, especially the 1st and 3rd verse here. 

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from The Hashout by Shawn Black, Sadat X and Tec

Hash Out

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/iRHUfBbZAIQ?si=NOzyvQL9A8Mdw2-I

Did you grow up in a city? I grew up in London and can't really imagine what it would be like not living in a city, always lived here. I don't like a lotttt of things about city life, but the fact that it gave birth to Hip Hop is a huge positive no doubt. Need to visit NY one day ive still never been, I just know it would be so crazy to actually go to places like Queens, The Bronx, Harlem etc after listening to 90s hip hop for so long.

Also I've recommended this album by Group Home before, if you still haven't heard it go check it!! Trust me you won't be disappointed, some of Premiers best beats imo.

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from Inna City Life by Group Home

City Life

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/IjmZvnHgkbE?si=TRjmgQGGgrP7dEn9

Who dyou think has the best verse? For me it's Cormega, his flow is crazzzy here. Had a lot of fun with this one, feels mad different from the OG in a good way. More of a fun/flowy kinda vibe if that makes sense.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Affirmative Action' by AZ, Cormega, Nas and Foxy Brown

The Firm

Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUO4aBcNacU

Mannn been wanting to remix this one forever. So glad to have done it, feel like this beat matches how serious this track is. No games at all with this one imo just facts. Hard to pick a favourite Nujabes track but this one is defo up there for me.

Hopefully I did it justice here.

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Think Different' by Nujabes and Substantial

Think Different

Instrumental: https://youtu.be/OnScaLqM0Lk?si=Z3ptd6JMS_OtTnis

Man I really do not rate the app tik tok at all, find it so weird how it works, to me it's so baitly designed to waste your time and hook you it's crazy it's even legal, especially for kids to use. That said I still post there loool tryna keep up with the times I guess but at least im not posting nonsense, I don't even have a smartphone I just don't rate them at all. Timewasters imo. 

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Tic Toc' by Lords Of The Underground

Tic Toc

Next album 'Still Myself' on the way later this year, really excited to share it. Do you think I should use this as the cover art for the album or something different? 

Music Video: https://youtu.be/uqz-Z5SIAHM
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3fLVtGFyNCIN7YLfvnOPgs?si=f004bd03e1fc4725
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/reset/1825934253
Bandcamp: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/reset

Really happy with how this one turned out, think the mix is nice and clean, hard hitting on the low end too which is always a plus for me. Also very happy with how the vocals sound on this one, hoping to have them this clean throughout the whole album. I actually made this whole album during the rollout and release of my last one, was crazy motivated by all the feedback that was receiving, and have just been spending time since then trying to get the mixes right, and mainly shooting the videos is what's delayed this from releasing sooner. Excited to drop it though, think it works well as a sequel to the last one. 'Just Myself' was about the decision to go at it alone after a more long term relationship, whereas 'Still Myself' is about the struggles of then trying to start something new in the wake of that. This track acts as the start of that journey essentially, being aware of the mistakes but still making them, in smaller ways though. A lot more hopeful and positive overall for sure.

Any feedback always love to hear it, thanks for listening. Peace!!

Lyrics:

Need a reset
Prospect of my ones
Got me re-stressed
Think she was the one to release me
Told myself don't be caught up so quick g
Man I never listen
Take way too far it's a given
Still movin' childlike
Pullin' all my trust from my heart like
Living fast life
Addicted to fast highs
Use her drugs
Been thru this enough
Still I'm caught getting spun, getting wrung
Strapped like a spliff with the kingskin
Take a big hit, now I'm sinkin'
Overthinkin'

Loop round and around
Losin control, losin my hold
Feelin the cold
Play with my soul
Needs from before
Needing it more
Think I need you to save me
From pain it's a daydream
I made it all up in my brain
Something changed me
Way too drastic
Fake love, plastic
Think I'm spitting facts
I'm living in my sadness
All I ever write, all I got on my mind
If I didn't my guy
Then I really wouldn't be here
Lost in this world
Takes strength to see clear
Tired of rebuilding, escaping these fears
I swear it's the last time
I mean this shit
Just me and myself
You're bad for my health

I can feel my mind racing
Your face is contagious
Bringin' back days
When it felt so amazing
Tangled in feelings
Pretending, scheming,
Tryna make it last
We'll be closer in the evening
Takes a toll and I feel it
Really can't escape it
Keep on repeating
Keep on repeating
We keep on repeating

Reset

Yo!!! I'm really feeling this one, hope it hits for you too. I really really love this album man Funcrusher Plus is a crazy one, I'll always remember the first time I listened to it I did not really get it at all, just sounded so different to anything I'd heard from the 90s. Each listen it always grows on me more, different things stand out, one thing recently i noticed is how rugged the flows are across the album. This track 'definitive' is one that never really stood out before like other tracks like 8 steps, vital nerve etc, but it goes crazy hard the flows are nuts and the cuts are cold too.

Man soon as I was chopping this sample I knew Id be remixing a Co Flow track over it, that alien spacey vibe just made me think of this albums front cover straight away. That cover is so dope and also Lune TNS has always been one of my favourite songs full stop, crazy stuff.

Peace!! Hoepfully ill remix more Co Flow in the future.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals and cuts from 'Definitive' by Company Flow

Definitive

Moment of Truth is such a crazy album, I love playing that version of Work in the gym, crazy motivating music. I didn't make this beat with this track in mind, but cause the sample was called 'Workin' It' by Teddy Pendergrass I thought I'd see if Guru's flow from Work fit and it acc fit crazy well imo.

Lmk what you think, peace!!

Work!

I do actually own this tape but don't have it on me at the time of uploading so I checked on ebay for an image, and damn people are really asking for a lot of money for this one. Had no idea it was so rare.

Another one from Funcrusher Plus, think this is defo one of their more well known tracks. Always liked this one but it's defo not my favourite off the album, do get why it was the lead single though it does sum up their style and sound pretty well.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from '8 Steps To Perfection' by Company Flow

8 Steps

Rae and Ghost as a duo are on a different level man, for me almost all of the best stuff from Wu came from these two. That's no disrespect to the other members too I have mad love for ODBs solo, Tical and Liquid Swords too. Just something about Rae and Ghost teaming up hits different. They compliment each others styles mad well and you can just tell they got each others backs like crazy. 

Seeing as this track was a remix anyway thought it made sense to try it with one of my beats, hope you rate the vibe. Peace!!

Beat mixing, and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'Can It Be All So Simple Remix' by Raekwon and Ghostface Killah

Can It Be?

Made this one with Distant Cry in the studio, I probably would have thrown this beat away otherwise cause the sample had no bass, but he laid down the bassline easy, really made this one work imo. Of course Nas flowed over this perfect, being real I think it's fully fair to rank him as the greatest to ever do it. Just my genuine perspective. Like for real this song is insane the way he rhymes from a guns perspective, never really appreciated it before but when I was mixing this it just stood out how well he did that.

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'I Gave You Power' by Nas

Gave You Power

Mannn very proud of this one, defo one of my favourite 2pac songs never really thought about remixing it before. All Eyez On Me is a mad strong album not sure if it's my favourite by 2pac but Book 1 is defo up there for me. This remix for sure has a very different vibe to the OG, this beat is another Smiths sample, really like working with their stuff. The basslines are crazy to chop up and Morrissey's vocals are so on point for emotional chops. The whole 'see you' vocal had me thinking of this song by 2pac, and I really just hoped that the hook would be in the same key as the sample. I don't even know if it is but it sounds good to me which was gassed, let me know any thoughts on this one. Overall just crazy happy all around on this, both the sound and especially the structure of the beat, all the layers add the variation and just hits at the right moments with the way the acapella is structured.

Also I don't know how the Snoop outro goes so hard cause he's fully just talking, but to me it goes crazy, always been one of my favourite parts of this track

Peace!!

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocal from 'All About U' by 2pac, Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg

About U

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

Instrumental: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/watch-me-speak-instrumental

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals from 'One Love' acapella by Nas
Visuals: https://youtu.be/teRpSeR39VE

As soon as I’d flipped this sample I knew I was putting One Love over it. I started spitting the verses in my head and was just bugging out. In my opinion, the song is one of the greatest ever written, and this verse is probably the best minute and a half of Illmatic for me. When I first heard the song it really changed my perspective on what music could be, and over the years different aspects of Nas’s verse continue to stand out to me, what he’s talking about is ridiculously layered and complex, and the way it's done is crazily profound it's just mad. I actually wrote an essay on this song a few years ago at university, and for my research I read ‘One Love, Two Brothers, Three Verses’ by Michael Eric Dyson from the book Born To Use Mics, Reading Nas’s Illmatic, who writes “at the heart of Nas’s description is a veiled lament of the illicit lifestyle that snares young lives, not a boast of the drug seller’s gain or glory.” This is what makes the song so powerful to me, and combined with the fact that the song is structured as a letter Nas is sending to someone in prison who is powerless to do anything to change the situation just adds so much to the atmosphere and attitude of the song. Nas is speaking on how things are in the most serious, compelling and tragic way is what I’m trying to say, and its always resonated with me crazily. 

It’s a blessing to be able remix this verse, I really am thankful that the acapella was released on the official 12”. I’ve remixed One Love a few times but I’ve only remixed the 3rd verse one other time, I’m always conscious about having to do it justice. This beat’s atmosphere got me too excited though, I think it matches the seriousness of what Nas is talking about, and I only tend to put this acapella over beats with emotion. Making this beat I was completely going off of the emotion in the sample, it was actually ridiculously long to flip because I was cutting different parts of one song together. The first 2 bar loop came to me pretty quickly but it took ages to work out the next 2 bars, because I was cutting different sections of the song together, so I had to find notes that made sense with the ones I had already flipped, and continued the melody in a way that made sense musically. It took a long time but I gradually worked it out through trial and error, and I was unbelievably gassed with the melody before I had even added drums to it, which is always a good sign. The loop reminded me of the time I made the beat for Night Time Writing, almost 3 years ago now. That was also a very emotional sample, and the feeling I got when I made that beat is exactly how I felt when I put this one together, like I conveyed the exact emotion through the chops that I wanted. Overall I’m just ridiculously happy with how this beat came out, I put my whole soul into this one, and it was worth all the time and effort for sure.

Peace.

Watch Me Speak

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

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