RAPMULLET.COM review   THIS DOUBLE CD HAS CATAPULTED DJ TOPSPIN INTO - 'THE HALL OF FAME' -  out of = CLASSIC! "THIS WHOLE TAPE IS HOT!"

The Northwest strikes back. "Seattle's Finest", DJ TOPSPIN, comes correct with VELOUR VIBES 2. He gives you a nice tour thru some of today's (& a few of yesterdays) smoothest & most soulful jams - NEO & CLASSIC SOUL, if you will. He even manages to throw in some cuts & scratches that compliment the CD like hot butter on popcorn. The emcees that are present, fit right in with the format too. Now Topspin doesn't freak anything that will have you jumpin' up & down sayin' "Oh snap, he killed it, Did u hear that?!?!?!" but this is not the type of tape for that. Velour Vibes #2 will have you sitting back, nodding your head, blowing that haze, calmly saying to yourself "Ah, he's killin 'em with this smooth s**t". There aren't a ton of remixes or blends on this double CD, but the 3 that are on here are definitely on point. The Hi-Tek mashup of Teedra Moses' track "Be Your Girl" was fly. Topspin had to chop the Jon B "Lifting Me Up" beat real well to get it to fit the way he did. He basically made his own instrumental from the voceless sections of the Jon B vocal track, laced Teedra's accapella over it, & then mixes straight into the Jon B track after that - NICE. One of the many standout's on this tape is the "Rainfall" joint from Nitin Sawhney. I can't front tho, THIS WHOLE TAPE IS HOT & the way it's put together & keeps the same vibe the whole way thru, will put you in a zone. This is a straight R&B (neo-soul) tape at its best. There is a drop from Wajeed, the cat that used to be down with Slum Village, from the Platinum Pied Pipers. After hearing the Platinum Pied Pipers exclusives on this tape, I gotta go cop their album & I'm on the lookout for more music from St. Juste. Also, after hearing the 2 EXCLUSIVE new Dwele joints, I can see why his 1st album, "Subject", was nominated for a Soul Train Award last year. With me being the old school head that I am, I was feeling the 'back in the day vibe' of "Flashback" from Gift of Gab. I mentioned a lot of standout tracks, which I don't normally do, but the whole CD was filled with them & this was just the 1st CD of the double, so you get the idea of how nice this release is.


Now for CD #2. Again, every track is hot. Did you hear me say every track? Well, there was ONE track on that I was not really feelin & that was "Oblighetto" from Jay Dilla. I'm only gonna drop 2 things on you from the 2nd disc & that's Topspin's Jay Dilla remix of "Back For More" from Glenn Lewis & Kardinall Offishal & the last track of the tape is a brand new EXCLUSIVE Earth, Wind & Fire track featuring Rafael Saddiq.


This tape is a definite must for anyone that needs a classic coolout tape. Yeah, I said CLASSIC!  Welcome to THE HALL OF FAME.



By King Apex