Blaze's Mix Tape: a 2003 hip-hop mix made by an 11-year-old

Anything made by a kid is awesome. Anything this cool made by a kid is priceless.

From 2003-2004, I interned for Smithsonian Folkways in Washington D.C. Folkways is the Smithsonian's record label and one of the few places an ethnomusicologist can find a job outside academia. The label publishes new and archival recordings of everything from American folk music to "world" music. Lucinda Williams started off on Folkways and they usually win some sort of Grammy every year since so few labels do what they do.

I worked with some really knowledgeable people, both interns and staff members alike. One day I had a conversation with one of them about hip-hop, and I confessed that I didn't know much about it (I still don't). My colleague said that his 11-year-old son loved hip-hop and would probably make me a mix if I wanted him to. And guess what, he did. And it's time to share.

Why I love this:

1. The AWESOME kid handwriting
2. The fact that this kid's name is Blaze, and he names the mix after himself.
3. He calls this CD a mix TAPE (Must have hip parents).
4. The CD packaging was a piece of white paper, taped together.
   
5. Blaze is totally into Kanye, Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Ludacris, so watch out!
   

I pieced this mix together from playlist.com. I couldn't find everything and replaced a couple things, but I hope you enjoy it.

Blaze (if that is your real name): Thank you, wherever you are... probably in college by now.