Christgau hits the stalls

The Village Voice's venerable Robert Christgau hits the stalls with an article on hip-hop mix-tapes. Mix-tapes are one of those really fascinating hip-hop phenomena – I don't really know of anything quite equivalent in any genre. As eloquently (and amusingly) outlined in the article, they're tapes of various fresh hip-hop cuts, often put together by upstarts but also featuring new material by the biggest stars in the business. They're a place for experimentation - both with beats and flow, - for disses, for b-sides, and for trying out new hits. They're under- and, on the streets, over-ground. They're basically illegal (NYC's Mondo Kim's record shop was recently busted for selling them). And as Christgau points out, they're frequently really, really great.