Clark Kent - Spinbacks
God's Favorite DJ cuts up the classics.
When we interviewed DJ Clark Kent for Do Remember! he barely wanted to talk about himself. Instead, he spent over an hour praising his peers, from Brucie B to Kid Capri to DJ Clue.
But the Brooklyn legend did make a few tapes back in the day, though he didn’t exactly remember the origin of all of the ones with his name on them that circulated in the streets. Case in point, Spinbacks.
We showed Clark the tape cover at the top of this post during our interview, and here’s what he had to say:
Clark Kent: What the fuck is that? See that might not even be—somebody might have just named it. It could have been some shit that was on the radio and they just put it on tape.
When you’re as important to hip-hop history as Clark Kent is, and you’re busy doing things like introducing Jay-Z to Biggie (yes, he literally did that), it must be hard to keep track of things like this.
Whether he recorded Spinbacks himself or not might still be unknown. But what’s most important to us is that it still exists!
If you want to hear some Superman-level scratching and mixing of classic breakbeats by one of NYC’s true GOATs, let this tape rock. And we’ll assume from the intro where he cuts up “sucker DJs” with “suck my d*ck” that this probably wasn’t recorded off the radio.
Salute to God’s Favorite DJ Clark Kent.
Stream Spinbacks below, and stay tuned for more 50 TAPES posts as we celebrate the release of Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes, out now via Rizzoli.
DJ Clark Kent - Spinbacks (SIDE A)
DJ Clark Kent - Spinbacks (SIDE B)