I met Omega:NYC in June of 2000 while standing in line at Slum Village’s “Fantastic Vol 2” album release party/concert. As I’ve mentioned before, the El Rey Theatre was 70% full at best that night. All the Dilla Stans of the last 20 years were nowhere to be found that evening. In fact, Dilla was also nowhere to be found at the show.
At that time, O had just moved out to LA from his native NYC. He had yet to move his turntables and records out here and was reduced to using pause tapes to communicate his musical fix.
I was standing behind him in line by pure chance. Like a typical New Yorker, he was wearing his backpack filled with a stash of pause tapes ready to play for a deserving ear. The bouncers told him his backpack wasn’t allowed inside the venue. I agreed to hold his spot in line while he put his backpack in his car, and we were friends from that moment forward.
He invited himself over to my house the next day as soon as I told him I had a pair of turntables. Though I had been deejaying for years at that point, I was on the verge of quitting and selling my turntables when I met O. I was wack and wasn’t getting any better. Keep in mind that this was pre-YouTube and being able to watch all the tutorial videos that are now available to anyone who wants to learn.
O coming over to my house for the first time changed everything for me. For the first time, I could actually see a dope DJ do their thing and get a look behind the curtain. From this point forward I started to improve and ultimately master my instrument.
O was the essence of Hip Hop, and he was the essence of NYC. He gladly shared all his knowledge with me and I soaked it all up. Some people can draw. Other people can play the piano. My instrument is two turntables, a mixer, records, and knowledge of music. I have Omega:NYC to thank for all that. For the last 25+ years, my turntables have been my therapy.
As playlists replaced the mix(tape), the only ones left listening to mixes became fellow DJs (not a very large audience). In the end, mixtapes have always been a FUBU (for us, by us) type of thing. More specifically for me; I always made my mixes with O in mind. I knew he’d be the only one to notice all the subtleties. I knew he’d be the only one who would call me to say things like; “that blend you did at 3:14 was fire! How’d you do that?” He was like a proud father.
O died in February 2024 after a one year battle with pancreatic cancer. With his passing, I didn’t just lose one of my best friends; I lost my love for music. Instead of music being a refuge, it became a source of pain.
This is my tribute mix for O that I finished a few months ago. It’s filled with all sorts of musical inside jokes between us that only he’d understand. I’m going to provide some linear notes in a few weeks explaining all the song selections and their respective meanings. For now, I’ll just let the music do the talking.
It’s a shame O will never hear this mix because it was made for him. It took me way too long to make this. 2024 was the most chaotic year of my life and O’s passing made it all the more difficult for me to seek refuge from that chaos in music.
As I started to heal from the wounds of 2024 toward the latter stages of the year; I slowly worked my way back into my home studio and back onto my turntables. This mix isn’t just a thank you letter to O, but it’s also proof of my healing.
R.I.P. Omega:NYC:
4:O (Standing in Line at the SV Show)
Future Shock
As promised, another mix released into the universe that was collecting too much dust. Last mix I'll release in 2024, and then I'll start 2025 (late January) by letting go of the tribute mix I made for Omega:NYC (RIP).
The O tribute mix (Standing in Live at the SV Show) is actually the most recent mix I've made (completed two months ago). I'll follow that up with more mixes from the vault, followed by some new mixes I'm putting the finishing touches on.
As far as this "Future Shock" mix: it's a Death Row mix, stoned-out, with extended multi-track blends. Some of the blends are so in pocket that the untrained ear probably won't even hear the blend. As always, a lot of effort went into creating this mix. Hope you enjoy.
91 Fix - Mixed by Pipomixes
Stoned-out mix where all the songs blended together have some common element (shared sample, vocal drop, lyrics, etc.). Multi-track mix blended to the level of the 91 Rebels.
Blended Blunts - Pipomixes
Sitting on way too many mixes. Life got in the way a little bit, but that's no excuse for not releasing the mixes collecting dust in the vault. Many more on the way. Hope you enjoy.
Burn some blunts. Blend some blends. Slow it down. Hear how it ends…
86 Accord Coup - Mixed by Pipomixes
Titled "86 Accord Coup" because that is the car my brother had as he would drive me around before I was old enough to drive. I was fortunate to have a brother who was not too embarrassed to allow his little brother to tag along while he would do all the "cool" things 18-22 year olds do. All the music in the mix was music that would be regularly played in his car as he would drive me around. My brother was never a big music guy, but he had a BMG subscription at the time where he'd get random CDs every month of an eclectic array of music. That's how I recall hearing PE and the Beatnuts for the first time. Our neighbor died and left the car to my brother. We never figured out why. Fast forward 6-7 years where I decided to take the car out alone and teach myself how to drive stick. The car did not survive that day lol My brother is still mad at me about that. Enjoy the mix!
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