Rob Swift - Soulful Fruit
The X-Men turntablist constructs an underground mixtape masterpiece.
Hailing from Queens, Rob Swift is one of the original members of famed turntablist crew the X-Men, also known as The X-Ecutioners. He has always been respected for his skills on the wheels, especially after his 1992 DMC victory.
And one mixtape that not only highlights those skills, but also his innovation as a DJ and ability to create a next-level, meticulously constructed body of work, is his 1996 street release Soulful Fruit—which eventually would get a wider release the following year via Stones Throw Records.
Here’s DJ/comedian and former Fat Beats employee Cipha Sounds on the impact mixtapes like Soulful Fruit made with underground heads that would frequent the West Village hip-hop hub in the ‘90s, and the distaste that particular community had for the mixtape DJs that were better known for their exclusives versus their skills:
Cipha Sounds: The best thing about Fat Beats was that it was all vinyl except for a couple of mixtapes. They didn’t respect Clue, S&S, or Doo Wop in Fat Beats. They were too commercial. There were Tony Touch tapes and some really underground, indie stuff, and Stretch and Bob tapes from the show. Stretch and Bob mixtapes would sell like fire in Fat Beats.
Once in a while some hood dude would come in and be like, “Yo, you got Clue tapes?” They got treated like dog shit. Ill Bill would be like, “Nah, we don’t sell fucking Clue tapes.” We used to have the Beat Junkies, Qbert, and those guys. Roc Raida. Rob Swift’s Soulful Fruit had to be like platinum in the underground world. It was like jazz hip-hop. They were mixtapes, but they were like art.
And to connect the dots, watch Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg’s recent Juan Ep Is Life interview with Rob Swift, where he dives deep into his hip-hop history coming up with The Beatnuts, and so much more.
Stream Soulful Fruit below, and stay tuned for more 50 TAPES posts as we make our way toward the release of Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes, out October 3rd via Rizzoli.
Rob Swift - Soulful Fruit