Green Lantern - New World Order Pt. 2
The Evil Genius concocts a CD-era classic.
DJ Green Lantern, also known as The Evil Genius, became one of the most well-respected DJs on the scene for his ability to drop mixtapes that were heavy on both skills and exclusives. And inside our Do Remember! interview with him, he breaks down a bunch of the tricks and techniques he used back in the day to make his tapes have more replay value than his peers who were relying solely on playing new music.
Though Green got his start when cassettes were still the standard, some of his most notable mixtape releases came during the shift in format from cassettes to CDs. His Invasion series, which featured scathing diss tracks that are still being talked about to this day, was monstrous in the streets. As was his 2Pac Rap Phenomenon II tape with DJ Vlad and Dirty Harry, and his Jadakiss The Champ Is Here mixtape with Big Mike which we highlight and get the back story of inside the pages of Do Remember!
But one tape that preceded the ones mentioned above was particularly special, and it happens to be Green’s personal favorite—New World Order Pt. 2. Here’s an unreleased snippet from our interview with the man himself, speaking on why the follow-up to his first New World Order mixtape was such a memorable one for him and what he was doing on it to stand out amongst the current mixtape giants of the time in 2002:
Green Lantern: That’s actually my favorite tape, because I had come into my own technically. The CDJ was out, which was a really big thing for me. It allowed me to not have to fuck with a sampler anymore when I had drops and exclusives that were on CD. I got to cut and scratch drops from Busta Rhymes and guys I was getting freestyles from. I specifically remember on that tape being able to do things with the CDJ that I couldn’t do before. And I was coming into my own. I had some industry contacts, so I was getting some exclusive content.
I can’t remember if the Eminem “Business” acapella was exclusive or not, but that tape came out literally when I started DJing for him. There might be a drop on there from him. But on that tape, there’s some Sheek Louch, LOX stuff I did, like an extended “Grindin’” thing. At that point, through my industry contacts, I was getting people to give me acapellas of freestyles they had put out. Like, “Let me get that acapella, and I’m gonna do something different with it.”
People wouldn’t even realize that they had just heard that verse, because I was cutting and scratching and doing all sorts of different shit to it. And the shit was just moving from the next song to the next song. Mind you, we’re still fully in the exclusives era where the song starts, fades out, DJ talks over the fade out, and the next song comes on. Whereas if you’re listening to this shit, you’re like, “Whoa, this shit is all over the place.” That’s why I was able to stand out on my own two. Not against, but next to the Clues and the Kay Slays, who were killing the game because they had the new shit from whoever was hot. I made my own exclusives. I was able to semi-trick the game.
Check out Do Remember! for a full-length interview with DJ Green Lantern that dives deep into his early mixtape days and the technical and creative aspects of his work that made him into The Evil Genius—and lots more. Much respect to that man for his contributions not only to our book, but to hip-hop overall.
Stream New World Order Pt. 2 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.
Green Lantern - New World Order Pt. 2