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Being a lover of real hip hop, I understand real loss of true hip hop talent.

In the early 80’s, I used to listen to the pirate radio stations, mainly Solar Radio and appreciated the impact of a new song or sound or lyric in its purest form. I was introduced to LL Cool J via my cousin late in 85, but he was already no.1 on the electro-hip hop charts, so his initial impact was lost to me.

I could talk in great depth about the song Roxanne Roxanne, because I remember that song first coming out. I say that to say this; we lost a hip hop great with the passing of Phife Dawg and although I could try my hand at producing a mix of his great moments, I have to confess that I was not around for his initial burst on to the hip hop scene so would not be able to produce a true enough product that encapsulates his essence and reminds the hip hop world of why he was a great...blame Essex for this!

I always try to put 100 percent into everything I do and so on this occasion, I entrusted this sacred task to a DJ who was around at the time and understands The Tribe Called Quest impact on the game...DJ Drematic aka Drematic XL.

He forewarned me that mixtapes were not really his lane, but when listening to the finished article, I couldn’t help but think what was he on about, because the mix was brilliant. It is just the type of thing that I would’ve done.

The mix takes you through some brilliant Phife Dawg moments, of which there are many. As a neat touch, he has included some great tributes included the news casters song name dropping throughout the day after his death.

On this one, the intention is that you sit back and take a ride in the world of Phife Dawg, he will always be remembered as a true school pioneer!!

RIP Phife Dawg