Kid Capri - 52 Beats
Uptown’s own assembles an essential collection of breaks and beats.
During our dozens of interviews for Do Remember!, Kid Capri’s name came up—a lot. Countless mixtape DJs cited him as one of their biggest influences, or gave him props for his groundbreaking contributions to the game. And many would specifically cite one tape as particularly special and influential: 52 Beats.
52 Beats is literally just that—52 different breaks and beats that at the time were used by DJs during their sets at clubs, parties, park jams, and more. It was the first time anyone had gathered all these breaks and beats up on one tape in this way, and for that, Capri was praised as an innovator and one of the first mixtape DJs to attach a concept to one of his cassette releases. But not only was it an awesome concept for a mixtape that was executed beautifully, 52 Beats became a comprehensive collection of breaks and beats that DJs and producers could use as a reference while putting together their own projects.
Funny enough, when we asked Capri himself about the story behind 52 Beats, he surprisingly told us that it was actually just a tape he made for himself, and didn’t intend to put it out. Little did he know that once it hit the streets, it would still be discussed and praised for decades to come.
Here are some other folks we interviewed for Do Remember! on Kid Capri’s 52 Beats:
Tony Touch: 52 Beats is the one tape that really stands out for me. That set it off for a lot of New York DJs.
Ron G: That was something that was never done. No one had heard a whole tape of just beats scratched up. It inspired all of us, as far as DJs. It made us understand that there were a lot of break beats on there, and at that time it had a huge effect on hip-hop. You could hear all the breaks on one mixtape? Crazy.
Clark Kent: When Kid Capri came in, that shit was a business for him. It was totally different. It wasn’t just recording the club. He went home, sat down, and figured out, “I’m gonna do 52 Beats, I’m gonna do R&B.” That shit, I wasn’t going to do. And I respect the shit out of Kid Capri for saying, “Okay, let me put this shit in order.” He, to me, is the guy who really was the beginning of the mixtape game. It’s almost like it set a precedent. Like, “Don’t do this unless you have a plan.”
Rob “Reef” Tewlow: It was somewhat the ultimate breaks and beats, but it was like this spinal column of all of this music that made up our culture. It was a skeletal system of samples and classic records and just everything that was the tissue, the muscles, and the tendons of the hip-hop animal. It put DJs on notice. And it influenced the whole crate-digging aspect of people that were making beats early on, digging for records. 52 Beats had these break beats that people chopped up, looped, did whatever with—that was part of it.
Stream 52 Beats 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.
Kid Capri - 52 Beats