DJ Eclipse - Hip Hop Independents Day, Vol. 1

DJ Eclipse is a name that should be familiar to you. If not, refrain from self-flagellation because the good people of the Rock Steady Crew have provided us with a great bio. Here are just a few of the highlights of a life dedicated to music:

In his own right, Eclipse quickly became recognized as a pioneering DJ in the underground hip hop scene, djing at clubs ... most notably Tramps. Spinning every few months for Crazy Legs at his Break Beats parties enabled him to join the world famous Rock Steady Crew DJs in the late 90s. Eclipse has also dj'ed on tour with other groups such as Natural Elements, Arsonists, Beatnuts, Kardinal Offishall, Dynasty, and 3rd Bass.

Eclipse and DJ Riz went on to start The Halftime Show on 89.1 WNYU in March of 1998. The show airs on Wednesday nights from 10:30 pm - 1:00 am and can be heard worldwide over the internet at www.wnyu.org.

Throughout his career, Eclipse has put out numerous projects and mix tapes. Hip Hop Independents Day Vol. 1 (Nervous Records), Give the DJ a Break 12" (AV8), O.C. Time's Up & Born 2 Live remixes (Wild Pitch), Fractured Breaks battle record series and most recently Remixes Circa 94 are only some of the highlights of what this DJ has accomplished.

And those are just his accomplishments as a DJ and producer! Today's post is most concerned with his mixtape Hip Hop Independents Day Vol. 1. This mixtape brings together the illest joints from the highly acclaimed three-part vinyl series of the same name released on Wreck Records in 1998. For those that were preoccupied by the meteoric rise of Drag-On in 1998, Wreck was a sublabel of Nervous Records that was primarily known for releasing classic material by the likes of Black Moon, Smif N' Wessun, and Funkmaster Flex. In the later '90s they began releasing material that today is more associated with the "backpacker" scene and the label became something of a giant in that small, overcrowded, often defeatist scene.

Hip Hop Independents Day and it's follow up Hip Hop Independents Day: The Sequel were something of a big deal at a time when major labels were dropping low-selling but highly respected acts and the whole world seemed to be going jiggy. These vinyl compilations featured many artists who had been steadily making names for themselves in the New York DIY "independent as fuck" scene for some time, most notably on those coveted Echo Tapes. While none of these artists ever broke far beyond their niche or released noteworthy full-lengths, the vinyl series and this mixtape showcases them in their most comfortable context. Eclipse is virtuosic on the wheels of steel, and his expert manipulations of sound more or less steal the show from the impassioned if mostly indistinct crop of rappers.

Big up to Da Publisher and Vaporized for the hook-up. T.R.O.Y. Movement 4 Life.

DOWNLOAD HIP HOP INDEPENDENTS DAY

BACK-UP LINK @ MEDIAFIRE

1. Bobbito - Intro (Declaration Of Hip-Hop Independents)

2. Polyrhythm Addicts - Not Your Ordinary feat Shabaam Sahdeeq, Apani B. Fly Emcee & Mr. Complex

3. Wizdom Life - Fruits Of Labor feat Shawn J. Period & Matt Fingatip

4. Shabaam Sahdeeq - Any Minute Now feat Black Sun

5. Night Breed - I Got Your Back

6. Mike Zoot - Live & Stink

7. Breez Evahflowin' - Forsaken

8. Apani B. Fly Emcee - The Woman In Me

9. L Fudge - A Conversation With Hip Hop

10. Jigmastas - Comments: To The Sure Shot feat Joe Max

11. Duodie - Maintain

12. Capital A - All Day

13. Natural Elements - Tri-Boro

14. Kid Thun - I Wonder (Life)

15. The Raidermen - Strategy feat Mr. Vooodo, L-Swift, Sean Prince, Lace Da Booms & Mike Zoot

Related Posts:

Philaflava's 100 Greatest Obscure Tracks (includes DJ Eclipse's remix of O.C.'s Born To Live)

The Source Fat Tape August 1994 (includes DJ Eclipse's remix of O.C.'s "Time's Up")

Non-Phixion "The Past" (Non-Phixion Mixtape)

-- Thun