July 11, 2015

The Boombox "Underground Airwaves, Vol.1" (Mixtape, 1999)


All the freestyles on the tape were recorded live on the Boombox Show on Oxygen 107.9FM, in Oxford. This gem of a tape was put together by "Da Boombox" on Oxford radio station Oxygen FM (later Passion FM now Oxford's FM 107.9). The Boombox crew consisted of Kid Fury, DL the Controller, Mr Ben, Ant Style and Bennie G of the Mixologists, The show's guests included the like of Roots Manuva, Braintax, Lewis Parker, Rodney P, Aspects, Scratch Perverts, MK and Jehst as well as a number of prominent US Artists such as Co Flow, All Natural, Lootpack and the X-Ecutioners. The Boombox crew disbanded in 2001, leaving Kid Fury to carry on the show solo. This particular tape compiles together some of the best live mixes and freestyles from the show between February 1997 and May 1999. The guest list is impressive, putting together a veritable who's who of the UK scene at a really exciting time just before the likes of Low Life and Big Dada blew up and started shifting significant quantities of product. DJ sets from MK and Tony Vegas alongside freestyles from Rodney P, Braintax, Lewis Parker, Task Force and Skinnyman amongst others are all entertaining and paint a decent audio picture of the musical moves being made at the time. An added bonus is the significant contribution of the US emcees and DJs make to the tape. Freestyles from the the likes of El-P, Big Jus and All Natural alongside awesome DJ sets from Mista Sinista and Rob Swift of the X-Men ensure the sandards are kept very high from the first to the last minute. The tape doesn't have a catalogue number or anything like that but seems to be sponsored by Mat C's Fatboss Magazine - yet another early example of the man now known as Jaguar Skills heavy involvement in UK hip hop throughout the 90s. - via Discogs. Dig into this dope mix tape from '99...