DJ Instynctz and Kut the Producer team up to bring the worlds of U.S. and Japanese Hip Hop together.
In one of my Yahoo! Voices articles, I talked about Hip Hop still impacting music worldwide and Street Khemistry 8 just proves my point in a major way. Brought to the table by DJ Instynctz for his Street Khemistry series, Japanese producer Kut serves us a huge dose of verifiably real Hip Hop tracks, which act as the music bed for some of the most deadly delivery of lyrics by artists from two different continents.
Those in the know are already hip to DJ Instynctz and his insane mixtape compositions and as the official show DJ for rap artist Torch. Instynctz’s “Street Khemistry” series has blessed us with some of the cream of the crop in the world of Hip Hop.
DJ Instynctz was raised in the North East Bronx and was influenced by the sounds and styles of urban life in New York City. His curiosity led him to explore his older brother’s vinyl records and he became interested in Hip Hop. With his brother’s records and a belt drive turntable he fun a way to express himself creatively.
DJ Instynctz aka Mr Problematik Status can now be seen energizing a club with his diverse arsenal of genres, making the airwaves sizzle with signature mixes, exclusive interviews and quality mixtapes. He’s now one of the most sought after mixtape DJs with a growing catalogue.
Kut is a Hip Hop producer from Tokyo bay area of Japan. He started out in Tokyo spinning parties but soon he purchased his first sampler and began making tracks on his own. Shortly thereafter, he quit Djing in favor of production. Kut has spent time in various U.S. cities, absorbing the vibes and techniques from various studios including New York’s D&D Studios.
After returning to Japan, Kut took a break from production but that didn’t last long. MC Nyche from the Bronx had connected with Kut while he was in New York and when he got his distribution deal with Universal, he got with Kut to produce “Ziplock” feat. Cam’ron and Fred the Godson as a single from the album project. Now he’s produced and worked with the legends Marley Marl, Talib Kweli, and Fiend, in addition to Cam’ron Fred the Godson and more.
Kut produced 11 of the 17 tracks on DJ Instynctz’s Street Khemistry 8 including the aforementioned “Zip Lock” by Nyche.
One of my favorites from this set is track 8 “Friday Night” by Lil Lexy (Prod. by Kut), the driving beat and evil sounding synths are a magical match for Lexy’s singsong flow, she works really well with this joint.
On a whole other side of the coin is the old school snare and clap flavored “Thirst Cream” by Reynos (Prod. by Kut) which is track 8 of the mix. I was feeling track 3 “New Jap Swing” which is a mashup of some Rhianna vocals fit in between some cold ass riffs by Japanese Hip Hop Heads Knell, Naoya, and Dizzy Doeswell, DJ Instynctz CLOWNED ON THIS MIX!!!
I enjoyed the Japanese flavor to the familiar yet original grooves and I can’t for the life of me figure out how the hell they can make that language sound like it belongs to Hip Hop naturally! These cats are good!!!
If you have ever been to a underground set like Project Blowed in LA, Dragon’s Den (also LA) or the Wet Joint hosted by Joint One DJs, Joey Slick, DJ Kev and The Shuzz, then track 4 “Play on” (Prod. by Kut) by Gee Dubs is going to take you home with some real certified Hip Hop flavor, usually reserved for those exclusive underground spots.
Overall, this is one of the most original, solid mixtapes I have heard in a long time, while I won’t be corny and say I don’t have any favorites because the are all so good that I can’t pick, I AM going to #COSIGN this mixtape as one worth having and keeping.
You don’t have to understand all the words to appreciate the artists and production value…don’t trip Cam’Ron isn’t ripping in Japanese!!! This is a great mix and kept me rocking for 17 straight tracks…track 17 is actually a bonus track “The Jig’s Up” by Kwan Lee (Prod. by Kut). Yeah that one is special too…Kut brought out so many weapons on this track, I KNOW we are going to hear his name on the regular here in the States real soon.
In my opinion, there HAS to be a part 2, 3, 4….I couldn’t get enough of this mixtape…good stuff…trust me.
Follow@DJInstynctz and @KutTBA on Twitter. Check out StreetKhemistry.com for some of the hottest joints, videos, etc,…DJ Instynctz and crew have got your daily fix!
DJ Instynctz can be heard live every Saturday from 8-9 pm EST on Swurvradio.com
RATING: 4/5 fists!
#Cosign? – YUUUUPPPP!!!
jd
