Ron G - Mixes #1 (Blends #1)
Harlem’s Ron G is one of the most beloved mixtape DJs of all-time, and is often credited for helping to establish a sound on his tapes that inspired “the remix,” blending R&B vocals over hip-hop instrumentals and breakbeats.
On Mixes #1, his first of many blend-heavy bangers, Ron G shows and proves just how he gets down on the turntables, cementing himself as one of the illest mixtape DJs in the city. No wonder he was DJing on the radio while he was still in high school.
There’s much more from Ron G inside the pages of Do Remember! about his mixtape history, blend techniques, and his relationships with NYC’s biggest rap artists of the time. But for now, check out this exclusive Do Remember! list of his Top 5 Favorite Blends from our cutting room floor:
Ron G’s Top 5 Favorite Blends
Janet Jackson “Alright” b/w Biz Markie “This Is Something For The Radio” - People to this day still go crazy over that. I used to take a lot of Biz Markie instrumentals because the beats that Marley Marl did were so hip-hop and so banging. You had to use a Biz Mark beat.
Phil Collins “In The Air Tonight” b/w Biz Markie “Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz” - I was one of the first people that every did anything with that song. I was looking at Miami Vice on television, and I was like, “One day I’m gonna take that song and do something with it.” I didn’t know you could get soundtrack records like that. So when I got the vinyl, I was like, “I gotta do something to it.” And to this day, people be like, “Yo, that’s one of my favorite blends, son!” Word up.
Jade “Don’t Walk Away” b/w Big Daddy Kane “Raw” - A lot of times when you got a female singing on a hip-hop beat, it’s a feel-good energy. So when Jade came out, a lot of people in the hip-hop industry didn’t really know who they were. They were R&B. So when I mixed “Don’t Walk Away” with “Raw,” it gave people a different feel for Jade. The hip-hop audience was like, “These chicks can sing!” Not realizing they had already been out with their own single.
Freddie Jackson “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” b/w The Honey Drippers “Impeach The President” - My mother before she passed away, she loved Freddie Jackson, Lou Rawls, all those soulful singers. So I used to listen to a lot of Freddie Jackson’s music when I was in the house. And I would try to find a way to make her happy, because she’d be like, “I’m tired of all this hip-hop stuff, this ‘skippety-boo’ in my house.”
Michael Jackson “Man In The Mirror” b/w Biz Markie “Nobody Beats The Biz” - Back in the days, to take a Michael Jackson song and put a hardcore beat behind it got people amped up. Michael Jackson always had to be on my mixtape, if I was able to help it.
Stream Mixes #1 aka Blends #1 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.
Ron G - Mixes #1 (Blends #1)