Brooklyn Radio

During lockdown, we’ve been huge nostalgia junkies, revisiting all the great records we’ve collected over the years. Rub Radio fans have gotten a taste of our comfort food, as we’ve mixed the catalogs of J. Dilla, Trackmasters and Prince Paul in recent months in our History of Hip Hop: Producers Series. Madlib is one of our favorites, a beatmaker but also a prolific artist and even a jazz musician who has recorded under a dozen aliases. This mix just scratches the surface of his work with MF Doom, J. Dilla, Lootpack, Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu and a whole lot more, laced throughout with original sample sources.

Let us know which producers we should highlight next, at @itstherub on Twitter and Instagram!

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – History of Hip-Hop: The Producers Vol. 8, Madlib Invasion

Tracklist:

John Phillips – Promise Not To Tell

New music to start 2021 off right, from R&B to instrumental hip-hop to Afrobeats to throwback house and more! Mixed as always by Brooklyn’s premier party-rocking crew, The Rub.

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio (January 2021)

Tracklist:

Eli Escobar – zombieland

During quarantine, a list of 1000+ records Larry Levan played at the Paradise Garage made the rounds, and we had some time on our hands so we went through it and listened to a ton of disco songs.

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – Paradise Garage Tribute

Tracklist:

MFSB – Love Is The Message

Rub Radio is back with a second J Dilla mix! Volume 2 features production for A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Common, The Roots and Bilal, a whole bevy of Detroit rap classics, forgotten joints by Nas, Busta Rhymes and Ghostface Killah, and even a remix for Daft Punk!

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – History of Hip-Hop: The Producers Vol. 7, Best of J Dilla Part 2

Tracklist:

Nas – The Season
Ghostface Killah – Whip You With A Strap
Busta Rhymes – Show Me What You Got
Gap Mangione – Diana in the Autumn Wind
Slum Village – Fall In Love
Bilal – Reminisce (ft. Mos Def & Common)
The Roots – Dynamite
J Dilla – So Far
Guilty Simpson – Man’s World
A Tribe Called Quest – Find A Way
Yancey Boys – The Throwaway
J Dilla – Center of the Movement
Oh No – Move (ft. Roc C)
M.E.D. – Push
Common – The Movement
Daft Punk – Aerodynamic (Slum Village Remix)
Phat Kat – Dedication To The Suckers
J Dilla – Pause (ft. Frank-n-Dank)
A Tribe Called Quest – Keep it Moving
Erykah Badu – Didn’t Cha Know

Next in our Producer Series, we’ve got J Dilla! What can you say about one of the greatest beatmakers of all time, of any genre? The music speaks for itself, and we had so much fun putting together this mix that we’re going to drop another one next week. So enjoy the History of Hip Hop: J Dilla Vol 1, and watch this space for Vol 2, with Nas, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface, The Roots, Tribe, of course more Slum Village plus some secret gems!

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – History of Hip-Hop: The Producers Vol. 6, Best of J Dilla Part 1

Tracklist:

The Pharcyde – Drop
A Tribe Called Quest – Get A Hold
De La Soul – Stakes Is High
Common – Dooinit
Slum Village – I Don’t Know
Jay Dee – Fuck The Police
Slum Village – Raise it Up
Phat Kat – Don’t Nobody
J Dilla – The $
Jaylib – React
Jaylib – The Red
Q-Tip – Move
Q-Tip – Let’s Ride
The Pharcyde – Runnin
Slum Village – Players
Common – Funky For You (ft. Jill Scott & Bilal)
Steve Spacek – Dollar$
J-Dilla – Rico Suave Bossa Nova
J-Dilla – Think Twice (ft. Dwele)
J-88 – The Look of Love (Pt. 1) Excel Sample Edit

We’ve been Prince Paul fans since we were kids, starting with his production for De La Soul’s first three albums. From Stetsasonic, Big Daddy Kane, 3rd Bass to Gravediggaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School & Dr. Octagon, this tribute takes you through some of our favorites from the Doo Doo Man’s storied career. Plus you get to hear some rarities from MF Doom, a very young Jay-Z and even Marvin Gaye!

Special thanks to Brian Coleman for linking us with Prince Paul – be sure to seek out his Check the Technique books and our companion mixes – and the Spitkicker crew for hooking us up with De La Soul back in the day.

And if you haven’t been listening to Prince Paul & Open Mike Eagle’s podcast, “What Had Happened Was,” in which Paul tells the stories of albums and groups he’s worked with throughout his career, we can’t recommend it more highly: https://starburns.audio/podcasts/what-had-happened-was/

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – History of Hip-Hop: The Producers Vol. 5, Best of Prince Paul

Tracklist:

Stetsasonic – Bust That Groove

For our fourth installment of The Producers, we’re diving into The Trackmasters’ catalog of hits! The duo of Poke & Tone were responsible for a ton of hits in the mid to late 1990s, when we were starting out DJing clubs, so these songs all hold a special place for us. Their classic sound is a chopped up breakbeat with familiar old-school samples – think Mya & Jay-Z “Best of Me” Remix, with the Biz Markie samples. But if you did a little deeper, you find that they worked the boards on all kinds of stuff, from Kool G. Rap and Pudgee tha Phat Bastard in 1992 to super top-40 towards the end of the decade, like Will Smith “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” and Destiny’s Child “Independent Woman.” So there should be something for everyone, and we hope you enjoy the mix.

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – History of Hip-Hop: The Producers Vol. 4, Best of The Trackmasters

Tracklist:

Mary J Blige – Be Happy

Bill Withers was a beautiful singer and songwriter, and his death broke our hearts. We put together an hour of our favorite songs as a tribute.

Love to everyone in these trying times.

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – Bill Withers Tribute

Tracklist:

Hope She’ll Be Happier

Inspired by Black History Month, The Rub presents a new mix of black excellence including Brand Nubian, Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Public Enemy, James Brown, Meek Mill, Afro B and more!

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – Young Gifted and Black

Tracklist:

Aretha Franklin – Young, Gifted and Black

For the third installment of The Producer Series, we salute two kings! Rich Harrison dominated the 2000s R&B charts, bringing back funk and go-go samples on huge hits for Amerie, Beyonce, J-Lo and Usher, among others. Salaam Remi’s body of work goes all the way back to the early 90s, blending hip-hop and dancehall for crossover acts like The Fugees, Super Cat and Nas. Mixed by Dirtyfinger and DJ Ayres, this is a battle for dancefloor domination! Catch The Rub & Dirtyfinger spinning live on the last Saturday of the month at The Bell House.

DOWNLOAD Rub Radio – Rich Harrison VS Salaam Remi

Tracklist:

Rich Harrison (Mixed by Dirtyfinger)

Amerie – Got To Be There

Salaam Remi (Mixed by Ayres)

Funkmaster Flex – Six Million Ways To Die