Summer Sounds...

Like Mix Tapes.

In the past week countless mix tapes have been promoted via twitter. Tonight I am going to share with you two that you need to have in your iTunes rotation, if you don't already.

Coming to America from Scoob Doo and Wyclef

First released December 2007, not only does this mix tape take you back to Mona Lisa days when Wyclef spit, yes Wyclef is a rapper, but the thing has like 32 tracks! Yeah, that includes intros to the different tracks, but take those out and you're still looking at 20 legitimate tracks. Tell me who these days can come with that? You're lucky to get more than 10 tracks today. I would have been happy to go back to the days when a CD like this could cost between $15-$20...and happily forked over the cash. Featured artists include Lauryn Hill ,The Fugees, Raekwon, Lil Wayne, Styles P, and others. This re release was for the newbies who only know Wyclef as a guitarist, singing hooks. Wyclef is for real in my opinion and I was glad to see some excitement around this again. Mixed by Scoob Doo, this is a summer must have.

Elec-sick Circus Common and Los Angeles Leakers

Found on Break The Crates

Retrospect For Life was this first Common song I ever heard. From that moment I was a fan. And if you appreciate the level of poetic originality found in his entire body of work than you will appreciate this mix tape. An anthology of his career, this download is an hour and eighteen minutes of history and good music. The closest thing you can get to time travel, the sound of each song is so distinct to the time in which the work was created. From 'I Used To Love Her', to 'Come Close', to 'Respiration' 'G.O.D.' and 'So Far To Go' this could have been labeled the Best Of Common and it wouldn't have been a lie. Smooth listening, and real hip hop the entire time.