About a week ago Phill Most The Soulman, the man behind World Of Beats and ThatRealSchitt, upped a new mix of breaks, psych, funk, and all sorts of other madness (head to the jump to download the mix itself). To a lot of us, it was a welcome return by one of the originators of the “break tape”, one of the first guys to write about digging culture online, one of the inspirations for us to do what we do.

Rather than simply linking to Phill’s site and offering a few choice compliments of the (deep, mindblowing) mix, I thought I’d hit the man up for a quick interview to chop it up on the history of the WOB column and website, his thoughts on the game, past present and future, and the life of a man many consider a legend. Thankfully, he was all too willing to oblige.

Jonny Paycheck: So basically, I want to throw it back to the World Of Beats, which this mix really brought me back to, even though it’s on, kind of, another level than what cats were checking for back then. So WOB stretched from I guess around 93-94 when you had the magazine column to 2001 or so on the WOB site. Is that about right? Can you describe the course of the column/site/blog briefly, and why you decided to end it?

Soulman: Actually the original World Of Beats column that was in Rap Sheet ran from 1994 to 1995, a little more than a year. And the internet version of the WOB started in 1999 and I kept that going for almost three years. The whole idea behind the column was just to show a side of the Hip Hop world that rarely got any coverage in the magazines or tv shows that specialized in Hip Hop, and it’s a very important part of the artform that deserved some attention. I don’t think the editors at Rap Sheet really understood what it was all about or the significance, but to their credit they let me go ahead with it anyway. Actually I first introduced the idea for an article I did on Pete Rock; after that they asked me to do a monthly column on crate digging. It quickly became the most popular regular column in the magazine; I know I got a lot of letters sent directly to my address and from what I understand Rap Sheet got a lot sent to their offices, too. One of the things I wanted to do was to interview not just famous Hip Hop producers, but also deejays, record dealers and also collectors who may not have been household names but knew their stuff when it comes to beats and old records. A lot of times the producers don’t really know as much about records as you might think they do…

Hit the jump to read the rest of the interview

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… and also dropped in the last couple of days, world famous NYC disc jock and mixtape master DJ Soul put together this mother of a mix dedicated to the late great (and “great”, here, cannot be overstated – dude was one of the illest) Harlem rapper Lamont “Big L” Coleman. Taken far too soon… Rest In Power.

Download HERE

Tracklist after the jump.

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In preparation for a new afro-disco party (separate from the already-running, already-famous Brooklyn afro-funk party, Voodoo Funk) our boy Frank, pka DJ Soulpusher, formerly of parties like NYC’s classic Vampyros Lesbos and Germany’s Soul Explosion, has put together a new, killer mix full of obscure, rare, unknown, and simply amazing disco bangers.

Peep it out below. Try to name a cut or two! We’re not telling….

A quick note about my homie Ira Lopez, a man I’ve known for nearly 15 years. I met Ira back when I first showed up at NYU, and ever since then he’s been a rare pleasure in a difficult world. One of the funniest guys I know, no question… and the owner of one of the biggest hearts in all of New York City. Ira got the record bug relatively recently but since then has been an absolute joy to serve in my shop. Curious, unjaded, beautifully ignorant of petty collecting trends, always eager to learn about something new. An appreciator of the good things. We partied together, sure, but he was not nearly the most decadent or self-immolating among us old friends. Nonetheless, he is in the O.R. of Mt. Sinai right now, going through the fight of his life.

To any readers or customers out there who’ve had the pleasure to know this wonderful cat, please say a prayer for him tonight. Here he is, in better spirits:

I love you man.

Update:  Ira is now in ICU, recuperating, and showing good signs.