Ez Elpee - 9/25/91
The now multi-platinum producer takes us on a hip-hop ride through 1991 like no other—which includes one of Big L's first mixtape freestyles ever.
Ez Elpee is the man behind classics like the Biggie and Lil’ Kim duet “Get Money,” CNN “Bloody Money,” Shyne “Bad Boyz,” G. Dep “Special Delivery,” Nas and Bravehearts “Oochie Wally,” and many more. But before he started lacing artists with fire production, he was making fire mixtapes.
Ez Elpee is featured in The Producers chapter of Do Remember! where we dive deeper into his transition from mixtape DJ to multi-platinum producer. He’s also credited by DJ S&S in the book as being one of the people that pushed the importance of playing exclusives on his mixtapes, which would go on to cause a major shift in mixtape culture in NYC in the ‘90s.
As for 9/25/91, Ez Elpee himself was playing some exclusives from the early ‘90s, including a Big Daddy Kane song that had never been heard to set off Side A, and one of the late Harlem MC Big L’s first mixtape freestyles. Here’s how Ez Elpee remembers it:
Ez Elpee: As time went on, when I didn’t have exclusives, I got Lord Tariq on my tape. And as soon as we met Big L, I said, “Let me get Big L on this tape.” I knew it would separate my tapes from everybody else's.
I knew this tape had to be special. The Big Daddy Kane track wasn’t out, it was nowhere near daylight. I said, “I’m gonna put this on here first. That’s going to give us the exposure when they see Kane.” Then, Kane to Big L rhyming? That was one of my classic tapes. It’s crazy.
Right after we met Big L, we started doing this Big L run and having him rhyme on mixtapes to make sure he had the exposure. We went to the studio one night, and Finesse was like, “Listen, I’m going to make this record, and I’m going to take L and put him on it.” And that was the “Yes You May (Remix).”
Lord Finesse ft. Big L “Yes You May (Funk Flow Mix)”
Banger, right?! And here’s the story behind “Oochie Wally,” which is interesting because it shows how a song making noise on a mixtape can lead to its overall industry success.
Ez Elpee: “Oochie Wally” got sped up because Horse gave it to DJ Clue, and he put it on the beginning of his tape. And it just took on a life of its own to where that became the single. That started from the DJ Clue mixtape. That was a power move. It forced the hand of Sony. “The Bridge” record was the single, but everybody was like, “Yeah, I don’t know about that playboy. That record right there, that’s the single.”
It was always controversial because for that song to represent the Queensbridge album. I know how I felt and I know how the Bravehearts felt. But in the grand scheme of it all, I don’t know how everybody felt about it representing Queens for that album. But it took a life of its own, and no one could do anything about it. They remixed it and put Nas at the beginning of it so Columbia could spend the bag. Then it turned into politics.
Shyne heard “Oochie Wally” because “Bad Boyz” was on his beat tape. He just didn’t pick it. Cipha Sounds had the beat tape because I took it to Rawkus Records. I was like, “I gotta do some records over here at Rawkus.” But nothing came out of it.
There you have it. “Oochie Wally” became a single off the strength of a clutch DJ Clue placement—and who knows, it could have been a Shyne or Rawkus record first.
Okay, let’s jump into this Ez Elpee 9/25/91 mixtape, which also includes music by A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Nice & Smooth, Queen Latifah, D-Nice, N.W.A, and many more. Get ready for the ultimate hip-hop ride through ‘91.
Stream 9/25/91 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.
EZ Elpee - 9/25/91 (SIDE A)
EZ Elpee - 9/25/91 (SIDE B)