50 TAPES - The Recap
Check out the complete collection.
When we first came up with the Do Remember! newsletter-based idea for 50 TAPES—50 mixtapes by 50 DJs celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop—we looked at each other and said, “That’s dope!” But after working on the book for over two years straight, what we thought was a great concept also felt like somewhat of a daunting task.
Still, we went for it. Because we love mixtapes, and we were excited to extend Do Remember! into the digital space, giving fans a chance to listen to the music that birthed the book.
So we grinded it out, carefully curating a collection of 50 TAPES through regularly-published posts. And it ended up taking us all the way to the first anniversary of the book’s release earlier this month on 10/3/24 when we dropped the 50th and final tape in the series.
To be honest, we had a blast putting it all together. We were able to include images and interview segments we loved that didn’t make it into the book, dig up vintage videos and footage UpNorthTrips-style, and of course, provide subscribers with the actual mixtape audio of 50 different classic NYC golden era hip-hop mixtapes by 50 different DJs.
Now, make no mistake. This isn’t exactly our definitive “Top 50 NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes.” That wasn’t our goal here. Think of it as our version of a Do Remember! digital museum exhibit, where we hand-selected mixtapes that either had a special meaning to us, were related to the content in the book, or represented the movement and culture in an important way. And in some cases, we highlighted tapes and/or DJs we weren’t able to feature or expound on in the book, but we thought deserved some shine.
So without further ado, we present to you the full 50 TAPES recap, with links to all 50 mixtapes/posts in one list.
Thanks for reading and listening along! Stay tuned for more Do Remember! newsletter posts coming soon…
Do Remember! - 50 TAPES
[billy danze voice] salute!!!