DJ Envy - If I Ruled The World

Some monster exclusives for the nine-six.

Aug 02, 2024

Before DJ Envy became co-host of The Breakfast Club and one of the biggest radio voices in NYC, he was killing the mixtape game. Not unlike fellow Queens mixtape legend DJ Clue, Envy was known for his exclusives. And his 1996 tape If I Ruled The World helped take him to the next level of both popularity and earnings.

Not only did the mixtape have Nas’ new It Was Written single “If I Ruled The World” (featuring a red-hot Lauryn Hill) on it before its release, but he had 2Pac’s scathing Biggie and East Coast rapper diss “Hit ‘Em Up” early too. Actually, he had it so early that it was labeled “Take Money” on the tracklist. See the alternate cover below.

Here’s an excerpt from “The Hustle” chapter of Do Remember! where Envy’s business partner Splash tells the story behind If I Ruled The World and the impact it made when it dropped, especially that first day in Queens at Dynasty Records:

Splash: We were doing a few mixtapes with Envy and it was fine. Then we went to Scarecrow’s house, and he got the call for a song—2Pac “Hit ’Em Up.” Also, Nas and Lauryn Hill “If I Ruled The World.” The tape had a globe on it. This is where Splash starts to make money with Envy.
The Nas record being first makes sense—it was new, we were the first ones with it, the connection with Scarecrow and Steve Stoute being brothers, and the fact that Nas came to the house. Envy had met Nas recently. Envy reached into his pocket to pull out a mixtape and Nas pulled a gun on him in the middle of getting a haircut. I’m guessing that’s the reason for the name of the mixtape and the song.
I was at Dynasty Records playing the tape, and you would’ve thought I was 2Pac. I’m asking the store owner to send everybody who comes in to the back. I’m playing “Hit ’Em Up” and at the beginning, middle, and end of the song people are going up to the counter and buying it. They start telling other people about it, so more people start coming into the store. So now it looks like a mini-concert instead of everybody just listening to the song. As soon as it was over, I would rewind it and tell everybody to give me like 30 seconds and then I played it again and again. No exaggeration, we probably sold like 70 mixtapes in about an hour and a half.
I feel like this mixtape gave Envy a name, and it was the first mixtape that I made major money on. I used to get a few dollars before, but that one blew it up. We made tons of money on that mixtape. It was an eye-opener for me.

Fat shout to Splash for sharing all his incredible mixtape memories with us. And congratulations to DJ Envy on all his success.

Stream If I Ruled The World 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 Envy - If I Ruled The World

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Bonus: Stan Ipcus - The Mask Tape

Do Remember! author Daniel Isenberg is also the MC known as Stan Ipcus. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Jim Carrey classic The Mask, which is the movie that spawned the Stan Ipcus name (Carrey’s character in the movie is Stanley Ipkiss), Ip linked up with Tape Kingz to release The Mask Tape.

Mixed by United Crates in vintage mixtape fashion, The Mask Tape features over 80 minutes of Stan Ipcus exclusives, blends, unreleased demos, freestyles, throwbacks, collaborations, remixes, live recordings, skits, and more.

Stream The Mask Tape below, and head over to the Stan Ipcus Bandcamp page to pick up the Tape Kingz limited edition green cassette before they’re all gone. And stay tuned for the new Stan Ipcus album Sleep If You Want, coming soon on Tape Kingz vinyl and cassette.