hearth.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/174Cr0zyzPkLjtWEfJpzkk?si=6e5e38e72ffb4f12
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/watch-your-back-instrumental/1604898980?i=1604898981
Bandcamp: https://tapehead.bandcamp.com/track/watch-your-back-instrumental

Instrumental for: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/watch-your-back

I remember when I originally flipped this sample I thought it had a real wild west vibe to it, the guitar just had that feel to me and I flipped it in a way that chopped it up even more, cause the notes had that short staccato quality to them which I wanted to exaggerate in the beat. I made the hi hats 16 note to go with that 'choppy' vibe, and even cut up the beat with some scratches to go even further with that idea. I'm still happy with this beat for sure, always felt like it would be a fun one to freestyle to.

Peace!

Watch Your Back (Instrumental)

guenther: https://soundcloud.com/guenther_kraut

luv w/ guenther.kraut

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2AfnUgZGGix4tpMKK8iqvm?si=8e4a1af51fa2416c
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/real-hip-hop-instrumental/1609523096?i=1609523097

Instrumental for: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/real-hip-hop-1

This is a rework of a really old beat, and one of the first samples I ever flipped on the MPC. I had to do a lot of work to sort out the mix on this sample, I was getting waved all the time when I flipped it, and was very inexperienced on the MPC, so I recorded it way too loud and there’s a ton of clipping to the bass sample because of that. I tried to fix it by having two tracks for the sample, one with all the highs filtered out which got rid of the clipping easy, and then one with no lows and a lot of EQ on the highs to try and get rid of the clipping. I think it came out pretty nice, and for sure way way better than the original mix, which is stupid rough cause of how waved and inexperienced I was back then. It’s always nice to improve on these early beats, really shows me that I have learnt a lot over these years of producing, and hopefully in a few more years I’ll feel the same looking back on these mixes.

Original version: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/real-hip-hop

Real Hip Hop (Instrumental)

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7jM2lCapewDIAfp2YdP3sl?si=2525429aeb35493e
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/stop-fakin-instrumental/1610689716?i=1610689718

Instrumental for: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/stop-faking

I remember when I made this beat I was stuck for ages trying to flip the sample, I just couldn't get anything I liked out of it. What normally happens in these situations is I have to get creative and 're-do' the chops by chopping up what I'd already chopped up to flip, to try and flip it again essentially. The normally leads to more 'choppy' sounding beats, and that's definitely the case here. I do like the vibe of this one though, the vocal has a nice sound to it and the bass/keys are strong cause I pitched them down so the sound would last long enough to fill up the length of the loop. I always thought that frustration showed in the vibe and attitude of this beat, which is why I remixed 'Fakin' Jax' over it. 

Peace!

Stop Fakin' (Instrumental)

Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals and scratches from ‘Cypha Session II’ by Vice Grip, Building Block, Herbal E Starchild, Phantasm, U.G and Lord Digga 

Visuals: https://youtu.be/mCMJeAoRu8Y

Apologies for the state of the vocals on this one, I know they’re too quiet but the acapella for this is so rough and full of unwanted resonance because I recorded it off my cassette tape copy of this freestyle which already has a very rough sound to it, and had to sacrifice quality to remove the bass and make it useable as an acapella. This is the outro freestyle from Volume 2 of the Underground Airplay cassette mixtapes from the 90s, which were given away as promotional items with Echo clothing and other Hip Hop related stuff, to put listeners onto underground up and coming artists. I was just way too gassed off the idea of remixing this freestyle, and personally I love the super grimey raw vibe it has, and wanted to really exaggerate and build on that in this remix, and this is as good as I could get the vocals sounding. Turning them up more causes problems because of the resonance on the high frequencies, but reducing them too much makes it sound too muffled, so I had to reach a happy medium which left me with a vocal which is a bit too quiet and a bit muffled, versus one which is too loud on the high end with too much resonance if that makes sense, cause that was really causing major problems in the mix. I knew this one would be long to mix and I’d have to make sacrifices, but for real the concept was too crazy to me, even with the beat just layered over these verses completely unmixed I was bugging out at the overall vibe and the way it was sounding. 

I’ve said this before but this raw, unfiltered pure Hip Hop vibe really resonates with me on a different level, I love making stuff that really pays tribute and captures that energy. These underground freestyles off the old Echo tapes are to me some of the best examples of that raw 90s Hip Hop flavour, they were the furthest thing from commercialisation and profit cause the tapes were actually being given away for free, so it was all about the artists showcasing their skills and talent on the mic. These beats have always felt like freestyle beats to me, especially the first one, which I always thought had a real grimey vibe when I originally made it and put a Nas acapella over it: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/the-paper-chase

I’ve been trying to use these beats in an updated remix for ages now, and I was way too gassed with how they fit the vibe of this freestyle, I was actually working on something else, and suddenly thought it would be crazy to remix this freestyle, and within an hour I had the concept completely laid down and I was bugging out, especially the way the drums came in hard after the last line, and the scratching came in. Like I said I knew it would be long to mix and I went for more of a rough raw vibe, but I’m just too happy to have come up with this idea and make it a reality. There are other cypher sessions from other tapes, so I’ll definitely be seeing if I can do something with them in the future, I’m crazily excited about that.

I hope people enjoy this one I’ve been way too excited about sharing it, thank you for listening and peace!

Cypher Session

Soulmates

payu

take your soul #trusttheprocess 💤💤💤

mida

In quiet spaces between thought and reflection, shadows hold the memory of what once was. Light fractures and transforms, revealing traces of hidden fires and paths forged in silence. Breaths resonate between symbols that endure beyond their meaning, while rhythms gently beat, guiding the way through moments lost and found. Everything tends toward a wordless understanding, revealing a stillness both fragile and infinite.

Pistachio Pulse

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