Filet-o-Mix 15: Pete's Extremely Bootleg Essentials

Download "Pete's Extremely Bootleg Essentials" HERE 

I have a mixtape to share with you that is extremely personal and dear to my heart. The above is a picture of the actual cassette tape on which this mix resides and the paper below is the handwritten tracklist given to me for my 14th birthday by one of my best friends at the time, Pete. I can just imagine it now; Pete recording this mix in his room hitting pause-record on his boombox transferring each song individually from CD to blank cassette tape. This was around the last time cassette's were used for making mixtapes.

Pete was WAYYY ahead of the curve with his taste in hip hop at the age of 14. He was listening to the classics and yet, back then, many weren't even considered classics yet. You can thank Pete for being my musical mentor over a decade ago, shaping me to be the obsessed hip hop junkie that I am today. His influence drips through every track that I post on HeadPhoneHome and his two Technics 1200 turntables now reside in my basement and serve as a reminder that hip hop lives through those that keep it alive. The phenomenal mixtape below has not been taken off the cassette, but rather I have compiled all the digital versions for your enhanced listening pleasure.

Download "Pete's Extremely Bootleg Essentials" HERE

Tracklist

01 De La Soul - D.A.I.S.Y. Age
02 Eric B. & Rakim - Move The Crowd
03 De La Soul - Oodles Of O's
04 Gang Starr - Above The Clouds Ft. Inspectah Deck
05 Notorious B.I.G. - Unbelievable
06 Common - I Used To Love H.E.R.
07 The Pharcyde - Return Of The B-Boy
08 Eric B. & Rakim - Let The Rhythm Hit 'em
09 High & Mighty - BBoy Document '99 Ft. Skillz & Mos Def
10 Dr. Octagon - Earth People
11 Company Flow - Bad Touch Example
12 Public Enemy - Bring The Noise
13 Organized Konfusion - Sin
14 Nas - N.Y. State Of Mind
15 Dr. Dooom - I Run Rap
16 Thirstin Howl III - Brooklyn Hard Rock Ft. Unique London
17 Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagon
18 Company Flow - Info Kill II
19 Eric B. & Rakim - Lyrics Of Fury
20 Company Flow - Tragedy Of War

Share it. Don't be selfish.

-Filet Of Sole

Producer Spotlight: Apollo Brown

Download "Clouds" HERE

Maybe I've missed something, maybe I haven't, but it seems that Apollo Brown has exploded out of nowhere in the past year with perhaps the best production work of any producer in hip hop right now. After producing the entirety of the album "Gas Mask" by The Left, which in my opinion was the best hip hop album of 2010, Apollo Brown has dropped consistent non-stop bangers.

Now Apollo is back with a 28 track instrumental album that is appropriately named "Clouds" that takes the listener on a spiritual journey. These tracks are not the same kind of hard-hitting anthems that were found on "Gas Mask", but rather Apollo shows off his versatility with an offering of smoothed-out soul sampled chopped loops with his signature pounding drums - making the whole album a consistent listening experience. Every track is beautiful and drips with quality. If you want to hear how hip hop is supposed to sound, then look to Apollo Brown as your musical tour guide. Spread the word.

Tracklist for "Clouds"
1. Sound of Guns
2. Blue Ruby
3. Never In a Million Years
4. Balance
5. The 11th Hour
6. Wisdom
7. Black Pearls
8. Shoot the Heart
9. Push
10. One Chance
11. Human Experience
12. Know the Time 
13. Heirloom
14. Seed of Memory
15. Bridge Through Time
16. Just Walk
17. Shadows of Grief
18. Time Passed Autumn
19. Choices
20. Father and Son
21. A Conscious Breath
22. Drinking Life
23. Imagination
24. Tao Te Ching
25. Heart of Glass
26. The Baghdad Sun
27. A Day’s End
28. God’s Creation

Filet-o-Mix 14: The Pump UP

Being in the music industry sometimes blinds you to the reason why you got into it in the first place. It's all about the music and the people united by it. Today I asked on Facebook, "Anyone want some new hip hop?". The first response was from one of my best friends that I haven't spoken to in a while. He requested, "Something that'll pump me up". So here you go: a 20 track mix of all relatively new songs entitled "The Pump UP". This is sure to keep you going from the A.M. through the P.M. Use this music to help push yourself at the gym or to run red lights while cruising down the block.

Download "The Pump UP" HERE

01 Kanye West - Power (Feat. Dwele)

02 Drake - Over (Prod. Boi-1da)

03 Wiz Khalifa - Black & Yellow (Prod. Stargate)

04 Cambatta - So Good Feat. Nino Bless, Crooked I, Sha Stimuli & Big Moss

05 Young Jeezy - Put On Remix Feat. Jay-Z

06 Reks - This Or That (Prod. Statik Selektah)

07 Muneshine - Gotta Feeling (Feat. D-Sisive & Shad)

08 Playboy Tre & Joell Ortiz - Work

09 Reek Da Villian - Mechanics (Feat. Busta Rhymes & Swizz Beatz)

10 Statik Selektah - Rollin Down The Freeway Feat. Glasses Malone, Termanology & Kali

11 Kanye West - Good Friday (Feat. Common Pusha T, KiD CuDi, Big Sean, Charlie Wilson

12 Big K.R.I.T. - Country Shit

13 Shad - A Good Name
14 Styles P - Sometimes

15 Ghostface Killah - In Tha Park Feat. Black Thought

16 The Left - Desperation

17 Eminem -  Session One Feat. Slaughterhouse

18 Glasses Malone - Haters Feat. Lil Wayne & Baby

19 Statik Selektah - For The City (Feat. M.O.P. & Jadakiss)

20 H.O.P.E. - I Do It

Share the music if you like it.

-Filet Of Sole

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Gods of Music

It's been nearly 1 month since I've posted new music. I guess I just had to take some time away to figure out where my priorities lie. Music will always be that inescapable #1. Perhaps the only thing in the world that I can't live without (excluding food and water). That being said, the below is the best of the best. It was a sign for me to get off my ass and post this. New videos and new music from my favorite artist this past year - MACKLEMORE and his faithful producer Ryan Lewis. Mack will be huge - mark my words.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Wings

A track about coveting sneakers and the traps of materialism. "Wings" is the first leak off the full length Mack & Lewis album coming not soon enough. I CAN'T WAIT!

Oh yeah, and there are two new Macklemore videos that dropped recently below. 1) "Irish Celebration", the smash Irish pride drinking anthem released in late 2009 on The VS. EP and 2) "My Oh My", a tribute song to and catch phrase of the late Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus (featured in my last post).

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Irish Celebration (Video)

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - My Oh My (Video)

And please let me know if you love it in the comments down below. I miss you guys.

-FiletOfSole