Around that same time, or possibly not long afterwards, I started becoming aware of America’s own Hip Hop radio shows – and once again I became obsessed with tracking down cassette dubs of any show that I could find. It was quite a feat too! Long before the age of the internet where these coverted stateside radio shows from the eighties are now digitally archived for the ages – No, back IN the eighties and early nineties the only tapes to reach these Australian shores were those that had been hand dubbed and passed through the hands of a lucky few. I happened to be one of those hands, and my collection of New York radio shows from the likes of DJ Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, and The Latin Rascals were tapes that I have cherished right up to this day (some of which I’m yet to discover on the internet. Note to self: I must digitise those tapes before they degrade with the passage of time).

So, fast forward to 2023 and here we are celebrating fifty years of Hip Hop culture. I knew I wanted to do something special on my Groove Therapy program. I decided I wanted to create a mastermix paying tribute to those radio shows from New York that I collected. And so I scoured my collection for inspiration: The Zulu Beat, The Awesome Two, The World Famous Supreme Team, Marley Marl, Mr Magic, and the aforementioned Kool DJ Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, and The Latin Rascals.

My aim was to create a radio show in the same style as those radio shows that I adored – and as I started on the production of this episode over a month again it quickly became apparent that this would be my most ambitious radio show mastermix that I have ever attempted.

So contained within these two hours are well over 250 songs, cut up, mixed, blended, reduced, boiled, baked, and reconstituted. Some may be unrecognisable and some may still contain hints of their former self. The earliest part of the mastermix is very much a tribute to the first years of Hip Hop – the years where Hip Hop DJs relied on the “breakbeat” of old Funk and Soul songs because there just weren’t a lot of actual Hip Hop records available at that time. As the years progress, so does the complexity of my mastermix, culminating in a crescendo of tunes layered upon layers in a true multi-track style. This is not your standard DJ mix. I admit, there is no way I could recreate this mix live in front of an audience. This mastermix is more akin to a painting where each colour bleeds into its surroundings.

I’m not sure there is much more I can personally say apart from thanking you for your attention, for this mix does demand it. It may require multiple listens as it is as audibly dense as it could possibly be. I’m immensely proud of the finished result. Please enjoy.

I love to know that you and your friends are listening to the show. Hit me up on the email with any shoutouts and requests. I might not always get to them through the program, but I’ll always do my best to mention you in the coming weeks.
groovetherapy@2ser.com