Cipha Sounds - Ya Heard! Vol. 1 Penalty Mixtape
Don't call it a sampler—Cipha Sounds helps promote N.O.R.E.'s debut with a Penalty mixtape hosted by Funkmaster Flex.
Nowadays, you might catch Cipha Sounds middays on 94.7 FM The Block, or hosting shows at the famous Comedy Cellar on Bleecker Street, or out on tour doing stand-up with everyone from Dave Chappelle to Bert Kreischer, or co-hosting his Juan Ep Is Life podcast with Peter Rosenberg, or featured on the new A&E show Hip Hop Treasures with LL Cool J. From hip-hop to comedy, the guy does it all.
But back in the mid-’90s, Cipha Sounds was an intern at Hot 97 with Funkmaster Flex trying to make a name for himself. And yes, as he hilariously loves to remind everyone, he was Lil’ Kim’s tour DJ for a hot minute. But what really helped put his name out there was his mixtapes. And one mixtape in particular had the streets unexpectedly buzzing—his N.O.R.E. Penalty tape, hosted by Funk Flex.
So how was it that a sampler-esque tape that came out in support of N.O.R.E.’s first solo album became so memorable? Well, for one, it was a chance for Cipha to flex his skills (pun intended) on the turntables. But it was also a chance for him to showcase his supreme taste in underground tracks and play some N.O.R.E. songs and collabos that never made it to the album. This was no album sampler filled with snippets—he created a dope mixtape with scratches, mixing, exclusives, Flex drops, and all.
Inside the pages of Do Remember!, Cipha Sounds breaks down just how his relationships with Funkmaster Flex, N.O.R.E., and the A&Rs at Penalty led him to the opportunity to make the tape, and how it was approached in a different way than other album samplers of the time. And he also talks about how he was able to get his hands on some of those fire N.O.R.E. exclusives. Here’s a quote from our interview with Ciph:
Cipha Sounds: They gave me this exclusive N.O.R.E. Christmas vinyl, it was green and red and promotional, but it had some unreleased songs. Like the song, “Married to Marijuana,” which didn’t make the album or the CNN album. This is before CDJs, before Serato, so they gave me all of the new N.O.R.E. songs on DAT. I had to mix the records of the old CNN songs, and then I would have to pause it and play the DAT and go back to mixing. But I tried to make it seamless.
To this day, that tape got me the biggest response of anything I’ve ever done or put out.
Stream Ya Heard! Vol. 1 Penalty Mixtape below, and stay tuned for more 50 TAPES drops as we make our way toward the release of Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes, out October 17th via Rizzoli.
Cipha Sounds - Ya Heard! Vol. 1 Penalty Mixtape