Justo Faison,
founder of the annual Mixtape Awards, has set out to show the world the humble
beginnings of the mixtape in his new documentary titled "Justo Presents:
The Mixtape Documentary."
Many mixtape DJ’s
have been able to parlay their success on the tapes to record deals and full-length
albums.
Almost nine years
and counting, Faison’s annual Mixtape Awards is the premier showcase for today’s
top mixtape DJ’s.
"It makes
sense for me to be the first to do a documentary cause with the awards I made
the mixtape guys popular," Faison told AllHipHop.com. "Before the
awards these guys were looked at as bootleggers and were getting chased down
the block by the cops."
Hoping to show
the importance that the mixtape has played through the years, Justo takes it
back to the roots and comes full circle to the popular DJ’s of today.
"We take it
from back in the days with Brucie B sellin’ them after the club let’s out to
Kid Capri and all the contributions he made," Faison continued. "We
show Clue and how he changed the game with the exclusive mixtape and making
that popular. Then we show you Kay Slay and how he brought the battle back.
And we got Green Lantern and the newer generation of guys like Sickamore, DJ
Screw, Big Mike from Connecticut and Clinton Sparks in Boston."
In recent years
the mixtape has also played a huge part in the success of some of today’s top
artists.
"Without the
backing of radio, many artists turned to the streets and the local mixtape king
to get new music out. We interview big artists of today and show how they wouldn’t
be here today if it wasn’t for mixtapes," says Justo.
With so many different
DJ’s on the market today, Justo said a second part to the DVD was in the works.
"There’s so
much that we couldn’t fit it all in, so we are gonna come with a part two,"
Justo promised. "We’re going to get even more in-depth with that."
While they were
once frowned upon by the music industry, the mixtape DJ has continuously played
a vital role in keeping the streets in-tune with the newest hot artist.
"People are
doing mixtapes and they don’t really know the history of it. The DJ has been
out of the limelight and now with the mixtapes it brings back the importance
of the DJ."
Justo’s 9th Annual
Mixtape Awards are slated to take place March 9, 2005.
