Free on iTunes | #87 BREAKBEAT LOU – ULTIMATE BREAKS & BEATS MIX

Stones Throw Podcast is back after a one year hiatus. Our podcast is a free. Subscribe here or on iTunes. This is a series of DJ mixes by Stones Throw crew & friends since 2006.

“Breakbeat Lou” Flores has been Djing in his hometown of The Bronx since 1974, 5 years before the first hip hop record was ever released. He’s from the same old school that bred Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash, but his contribution to hip hop history came a few years later when in 1986 he, along with Lenny Roberts (RIP), created the Ultimate Breaks and Beats vinyl compilation series. Long considered the main catalyst and common thread of the golden era of hip hop, UBB was originally compiled of rare songs from 1966 to 1984 for hip hop DJs to integrate in their sets in a time when there was no internet, Serato, or even sampling in hip hop yet.

Even though the series was originally created for party/club DJs, after the introduction of sampling in hip hop in the late 80’s, it was soon used in the recording studio as well, becoming as important as the SP1200 drum machine sampler for producers to create what’s now considered the golden age of hip hop from the late 80’s til the early 90’s. This series of 25 records has been sampled by hip-hop’s elite producers like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, RZA, Q-Tip, and Marley Marl and has been instrumental in the production of countless classic recordings over the years. Eventually, more contemporary producers such as J Dilla, Madlib, Swizz Beats, and Just Blaze went back to using songs from Lou’s UBB series in a new way to give their modern works that “classic, hip hop sound”. This podcast mix was made by Lou using some of his personal favorite breaks of all time that were originally in his series that forever changed the face of hip hop.

On Nov 21, 22 & 23, we celebrate Breakbeat Lou’s first DJ appearances ever in California, as he's joined by DJs Peanut Butter Wolf, Biz Markie (in L.A.), J Rocc (in L.A.) and E Da Boss (in San Francisco & Oakland). Lou has one of the illest 45 collections in the world and more importantly knows how to put together incredible DJ sets with them.

NOV. 21, OAKLAND at Leo's 
NOV. 22, SAN FRANCISCO at Brick & Mortar 
NOV. 23, LOS ANGELES at The Echoplex