Steve Newsense - A Baltimore Club Tribute To Disco D (83 South/Debassed)

Steve Newsense is a DJ who recently dropped off this CD to me, which is a tribute to someone he used to DJ with, Disco D, who commited suicide last year. I wasn't real familiar with Disco D's work beyond a couple songs, although he produced one of my favorite 50 Cent tracks, "Ski Mask Way," so I don't know if he used to spin Baltimore club or what, but he seemed to be a guy who was into a little of everything, so it wouldn't surprise me. But anyway, Steve put this CD together to honor the memory of his friend, and all proceeds from it go to a teen center in Ann Arbor that helps people with the kind of problems that Disco D apparently had, so it's a real good cause and a lot of love behind this project.

As for the music itself, it's a very uptempo, high energy mix even by Baltimore club standards. There's several old school classics by familiar folks like Booman, Rod Lee, and Scottie B., as well as a number of producers who I don't really know of. Newsense seems to like spinnin everything fast, and most of the beats on here seem to be closer to 140 BPM than the traditional Baltimore club tempo of 130 BPM, so sometimes the tracks feel almost too fast, or like Rod Lee's voice sounds higher and all sped up. But it's cool, it gives the whole thing kind of a different vibe. One of my favorite parts of the CD is the "Motown Megamix" on the last 7 tracks, where Scottie B. runs through a bunch of classic club remixes of Motown songs.

Doo Dew Kidz - "Who's In The House" (mp3)
Can't go wrong with a joint from Booman, K.W. Griff, and Jimmy Jones.

Labels: Baltimore club, DJ Booman, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rod Lee, Scottie B.