Summer break is where I began my journey as a DJ.

This blend is full of funky, upbeat songs that I have heard from other DJs who have shared it on their own mixtapes. This is my way of paying homage to them – and thanking them.

No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks. I used to love yelling that out on the last day of school because of the three glorious months known as “summer break.” While I spent a good amount of time at the pool, riding my bike and playing flashlight tag, I did spend quite a bit of time listening to the radio. I would record my favorite songs on numerous cassette tapes and label them “HOT MIX”. I didn’t know why I gave them that name. I guess it just sounded cool at the time. One year I had reached Volume Six by the end of August which would probably be the most I had ever created.

Now that I think about it, the “HOT MIX” series were my first mixtapes. This was before I even knew anything about DJ culture. For me, a DJ was someone on the radio with a goofy personality… until I was introduced to Jam Master Jay, Eric B. and Spinderella. Thanks to MTV I was introduced to the art of turntablism. Watching these legendary hip-hop DJs create soundscapes for their MCs was a revelation. I thought you could only create music with musical instruments. How were these sounds being created? Where did they come from? And why are they scratching the needle across the record? What was this dark sorcery that was being conjured right before my eyes?

As I got older, and began listening to more hip-hop, I learned how this sorcery was created. While my friends would immediately begin playing their new CD or cassette, I would lose myself in the song credits, sample sources and artwork. Yes, I was a big nerd for this kind of thing but it only made me gain a deeper appreciation for the music. Learning what samples were used turned me into a crate-digger before I even knew what crate-digging was. My friend’s parents must have thought I was strange because I knew the lyrics to the music THEY were listening to on the radio. Thanks to the liner notes of several hip-hop albums, I became an Encyclopedia of Useless Information to my friends and their parents. Why should they care that Sean “Puffy” Combs sampled Herb Alpert’s 1979 jazz-meets-disco masterpiece “Rise” on “Hypnotize”?

(For the record, my mother owned the 7” for “Rise” which she used to play all the time.)

What does any of this have to-do with summer break? Everything, now that you ask. It was during these summer months that I spent many nights creating my first mixtapes. Assembling, re-assembling, and giving my “HOT MIXES” to friends and family started during summer break. I never really made any new mixtapes during the school year because – well, because I was supposed to be doing school work. I suppose this particular mixtape is, unofficially, “HOT MIX VOLUME SEVEN.”

TRACKLISTING:

1. Fatboy Slim – Talking Bout My Baby
2. Beastie Boys – Sure Shot
3. Show & A.G. – Party Groove [Instrumental]
4. Sam The Beast – Gucci Dance (Oh My God Mix)
5. Mooqee vs Beatvandals – Back Up
6. Betty Wright – Clean Up Woman (Father Funk Remix)
7. DJ Icey – Double F
8. The Freestylers – Breaker Beats (Part 2)
9. Big Daddy Kane – Warm It Up Kane
10. Lionrock – Packet of Peace (Chemical Brothers Remix)
11. W.H.A.T. – Say What Again (Freestylers Raw As F##k Remix)
12. >2 Bad Mice – Bombscare (E94 US Mix)
13. The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip – Go
14. Moby – Everytime You Touch Me (Freestyle Mix)
15. Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock (Classic Mix)
16. The Electroliners – Loose Caboose
17. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam – Let the Beat Hit ‘Em
18. DJ Icey – Tricks Theme
19. Josh Wink vs Public Enemy – Higher State Of Bring Da Noise
20. The Crystal Method – Keep Hope Alive
21. The Chemical Brothers – Chemical Beats
22. Red Seal – Freak Me
23. Coby Johnson & Patrick Lindsey – Walking Saw
24. Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two (Mik’s Poison Remix)