The word mixtape has plenty of different interpretations. It used to be that mixtapes were actually DJ sets recorded on cassette tapes, but with the coming of the digital music age, the name remained the same, but the definition expanded. Nowadays, people call mixtapes many different things, some of which are not necessarily mixed and most of which were never taped. Here we try to cover them all. In this column, Juan Data gives you a worthy one every week.
DJ: J.Rocc
MIXTAPE: The Best of Quantic
English-born producer Will Holland, better known as Quantic, is our favorite honorary Latino by cultural adoption. He started over ten years ago releasing mostly soul and funk-inspired downtempo gems until he discovered Latin music on a trip to Puerto Rico and soon after that he moved to Cali, Colombia from where he hasn’t stop putting out new (and rediscovered old) music while digging deep into the Afro-Colombian roots. Of all the gringos that had approached cumbia since it became trendy a few years ago, nobody took it as seriously as Quantic.
Celebrating his long and prolific career Tru Thoughts recently released a Best of Quantic double disc compilation and to help promote it they commissioned this mixtape to one of the greatest turntablists there are, Beat Junkies‘ J. Rocc. So, not only you get to listen to a good recap of Quantic’s eclectic output, you get it mixed down by a true master of the ones-and-twos. Doesn’t get much better than this.
Best Of Quantic Mix by J.Rocc by Tru Thoughts