Call us huge nerds for making such a comparison, but local superstar DJ export Z-Trip has a few things in common with Doctor Who. Stick with us on this one for a moment. Both, for instance, scamper through the annals of history in pursuit of their raison d'être via equipment that's a bit on the obsolete side -- which in Z-Trip's case involves laying down vintage hip-hop and R&B gems on a turntable rather than bombing around in an old school police call-box.
Plus, there's the fact that both Z-Trip and the fictional Gallifreyan time lord took over the airwaves of the BBC over the weekend.
While the television side of the UK's longest-running network was in the midst of wall-to-wall coverage of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, its BBC Radio 1Xtra digital/satellite radio station featured a 12-hour-long "Hip-Hop Takeover" on Saturday.
A dozen big-name turntablists and DJs from throughout the world -- including Mixmaster Mike, Cash Money, DJ Premier, and (of course) Z-Trip -- each provided 44-minute-long mixes.
Much like a majority of his sets, Z-Trip (who grew up in the Valley and rose to fame here before moving to L.A. in 2001) bounded through the time vortex of hip-hop with mashups and remixes of rap favorites, classics, and old-school cuts during his session.
A reworking of the Troubleneck Brothers' 1994 jam "Back to the Hip Hop" (not to mention an audio drop from Super Friends) with a few jags of record-scratching sets the tone for Z-Trip's mix. Just like the good doctor, the DJ jaunts through the '70s, '80s, and '90s with samples, raps, and rhymes from throughout the decades, ranging from Myra Barnes and James Brown's throwback track "Message from the Soul Sisters" to stuff from The Notorious B.I.G. ("Party and Bullshit"), Ice Cube ("Jackin 4 Beats"), Dead Prez ("Bigger Than Hip-Hop"), and De La Soul ("Tryin People"). A few of Z-Trip's remixes and collaborations are also interwoven into his session, including previous work with Talib Kweli ("So Fresh") and dubstep star Brillz ("808 in the Trunk").
Check out the near 45-minute mix below, which will be available for listening over the next four weeks, especially if you need a break from watching the James Franco/Seth Rogen parody of Kanye West for the kabillionth time.
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