Why Is It So Hard To Make A Mixtape???

I've been making mixtapes primarily for myself and my friends since 1992. Back in the '90s I was on some old school shit when it came to putting together a mixtape. For one, it was really a cassette tape (unlike the more modern mix CD or now iTunes playlist) and for two, I would keep it real ghetto and steal tapes from my parents or grandparents and put scotch tape over the two square holes on the top edge of the tape so I could dub over whatever was originally on the tape. Anybody who doesn't know what I'm talking about here simply ain't a true hip-hop head.

In high school, I would get those 120 minute blank tapes and make the illest two hour mixtapes that my boys and I would all bump in our whips everywhere we went. In college, I had Technic 1200 turntables and I would plug my mixer into a stereo and record mixtapes live while I spun the records on my turntables. I used to think I was so ill when I was fuckin' with my turntables. They actually replaced my computer on my desk in my dorm room.

Now in the age of iTunes and play-lists, I simply throw roughly 20-22 tracks on a play-list, rename the tracks so they organize into the same folder and make sure that the list is no longer than 1 hour and 20 minutes (so the play-list can fit onto one blank 80 minute rewritable CD). Now with the beauty of iTunes, play-lists, mp3s and computers, making a mixtape should really be easier than ever for me.

WHY, then, IS IT SO FUCKING HARD TO MAKE A MIXTAPE NOW????????

I'll tell you exactly why: BECAUSE THERE'S A SERIOUS LACK OF QUALITY HIP-HOP RIGHT NOW.

I've been trying to put together a new collection of 22 tracks for my "Money Mixtape (Vol. 9)" and it has been 2 months and I still don't have enough quality tracks. My criteria is that the tracks have to be fairly new (released within the last 6 months, but preferably in the last 2 months), have bangin' beats (meaning that they're good ridin' music for your whip), have some ill lyrical content and flow, and not be any of the songs on heavy rotation on the radio.

I'm two tracks shy right now, but my problem is that most of the songs I have are practically old now 'cause it's taking me so long to find enough good shit to put on this mixtape. Plus, I wouldn't even have half of the tracks if it wasn't for my boy Khamal who is my hip-hop supplier. This dude can find gems in the fucking desert.

Bottom line: There's way too much bullshit out there and not enough real hip-hop. What kills me the most is that artists who are supposed to be underground, put out the worst "wannabe commercial" shit ever. They're not good at commercial shit because they're underground, so why the fuck don't they stick to what they're good at instead of trying to sell-out? These mutha fuckas don't even know how to sell-out properly. Shiiiiiiiiiiitttt.

What the fuck is my ass supposed to do???

P.S. That mixtape picture above is the illest thing ever. Inside the mixtape is a USB memory stick and the mixtape is just the packaging for the memory stick. That shit is mad cool, I have to admit.