Otherworldly turntablist Mix Master Mike has returned with a new project, the aptly titled War (The Mix Master Mike Remixes). Comprised of just two tracks—"Slippin Into Darkness" and "The World Is A Ghetto"—the nine-minute offering effortlessly showcases Mix Master Mike's innate skills for scratching, skills that took him from a DMC World Champion to a member of the Beastie Boys.
Always an innovator, Mix Master Mike has continued to push the boundaries. In July 2021, he dropped the biggest DJ posse cut in hip-hop history. Appropriately titled “Megaton 10,” the track features DJ Premier, DJ Jazzy Jeff, A-Trak, Q-Bert, Dilated Peoples’ DJ Babu, The Beat Junkies’ D-Styles and Shortkut, DJ Craze, Melo-D and, of course, Mix Master Mike.
Speaking to RAPstation's Kyle Eustice at the time, Mike explained, "I was sitting in my movie theater watching the Avengers: Endgame and in a weird way, that kind of sparked the idea of this. I’m thinking to myself, ‘OK, who are my Top 10, greatest of all time? Who are my Avengers? Who am I going to recruit to save the world? Who am I going to recruit to save the culture, basically?’ And that was my mission was to give new life to the culture and that’s my intention.”
Recorded from Paris during the COVID-19 pandemic, the track came together rather organically. But then he got stuck in France for over two months, unable to fly home due to travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
“It was historically romantic, but at the same time, I couldn’t get home to my family because of the pandemic,” he said. “By listening to it, you could tell the head space I was in. I put a lot of my heart into that single. I’ve been holding on to it for a year, not saying anything. At that point, it was a sin I wasn’t putting it out.”
The ambitious song ultimately landed and can be found on all DSPs. Meanwhile, you can listen to War here.
