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Sometimes scrounging up tapes to record radio shows would lead to desperate measures. Spending too long searching for a C-90 could mean the difference between catching a white label pressed in the hundreds or a dope freestyle by some MC you'd never even heard of. So it goes with this tape of Rob One on The Drum. I don't recall the specific night, but I'm sure I heard Kevvy Kev say Rob One just walked into the basement and I frantically grabbed whatever tape was in front of me, stuck it in the deck and hit record. Unfortunately it ended up being some promo tape of some shitty metal band some crap label had sent me. For those not in the loop of the classic "I do a music zine, send me free shit" scam of the 90's, this meant I was dealing with a cassette giving me a meager 30 minutes (if you're lucky) a side. Typing this up is stirring up regret for too many lost tapes with songs I still haven't recovered in years of digging. Who knows where the tape(s) of the rest of this show ended up. But you don't throw away the fossil just because you broke the rock, right? With this view, we present to you a brief excerpt of Rob One's 1997 visit to Kevvy Kev's legendary show. Rob drops then unheard Rakim and Ghostface tracks plus a nice Sunz of Man drop. EB the Lyrical Storm stops by and a then unknown Chali2na starts to bust right when the tape cuts out. Yep, that's just how it goes sometimes. Rob was one of the illest ever to put records to cassette and the flawless mixing on this short bit just hammers it home. Check the fossil.
Rob One on The Drum
Rob One was one the tightest mixtape crafters from the left coast until his untimely death from Leukemia in 2000 at only 27 years young. Back when mixtapes were really on tape and were actually mixed, Rob was relentlessly rocking the set. You may be able to catch downloads of a few of them floating around on the web, but it's a shame whoever inherited his master tape legacy didn't keep them in print. This promo record he put together for EMI in 1996 may even be rarer than some of his original tapes. The only time I've ever seen it is when I picked up this copy. While the mixes are done in the unmistakable style of Rob's tapes, the track selection is what keeps them from really standing out since they were all new EMI joints they were promoting at the time.
The real gem here is Rob's "Bring It Back To Philly B-Boy Mix" of Bahamadia's "Uknowhowwedu". Rob basically gives her track a Double Dee & Steinski style makeover, giving us all a history of Philly hip hop and a panic sweat inducing display of just how deep his crates went. It's a shame this track is practically unknown in comparison to both Shadow's and Cut Chemist's versions of "Lesson 4" as it definitely can hold it's own right along with these cut n' paste hip hop classics. Listen and learn!
Bahamadia - Uknowhowwedu (Rob One's Bring It Back To Philly B-Boy Mix)
Mix One
Mix Two
Bahamadia - Uknowhowwedu (Kool DJ EQ Remix)
I admit, I fell behind with working on the blog the past couple weeks. Tomorrow is the two year anniversary of ROBME and it kinda snuck up on us. I had an idea for a special megapost, but it became somewhat of a larger project than I anticipated so it will not see the light of day for a minute. BUT we do have some DOPE exclusive shit that will be dropping later this week. Just need to hook up the RCA's and clean the tape heads. STAY TUNED!! So in the meantime and inbetween time, I figured I'd drop some recent discoveries I made in the mess that is the ROBME archives.
In that same issue of Hole In The Ozone there was this cool stream of conscious page put together by DJ Sake 1: "Anyone who has the original colored sleeve Super Disco Breaks (Winley) is like my older brother." Amen to that. 
Then we have an issue of the Bay Area Hip Hop Coalition newsletter from September 1998. The BAHHC was a group radio DJ's united together to promote hip hop in the Bay. Check the calendar page to see just how poppin shit was back in 98. Damn...
