Diggin In The Tapes

This is part 1 of a two part post that I'm going to do on tape collecting, the first being VHS. Alot of people have asked me about the rare footage that we show at our Hot Peas parties and I don't think they understand the amount of work that goes into putting footage together for these parties. Hot Peas isn't just about the music but also that visuals that connect it all together from a certain era and time. I've been recording on VHS since well, the beginning to be exact so of course I've accumulated a ton of tapes over the years of TV shows, cartoons, movies, commercials, sports and more that you'll probably never see again. Now your probably saying you've got something on a DVD boxset and I'll say I've got it with the original commercials and I've been watching it since they took it off the air while you haven't seen it in 20 years. For me to put footage together I have to comb through hours of footage just to put 2-3 reels together for a 4 to 6 hour party which when you think about it is a long process. After finding the necessary pieces it's all about putting it together so that it looks correct when showing along with the music. Why go through this process? Well because that's what makes a Hot Peas and Butta party unique, special and your not doing it that's why.

There's an art to having footage and watching it on Youtube is not it, having a physical product is more personal and not everyone else will have it, the same applies to having and actual vinyl record versus having an MP3 of a song. Some of the best in the game have crazy collections and the great thing about this inner circle is that NO ONE is giving up copies of ANYTHING to ANYONE. The circle runs deep but tight from people like Biz Markie, DJ Paul Nice, Big Chan, DJ Cash Money, J-Zone all the way up to the more insane collectors of old ball games that only aired once. Now this isn't about being "old" or out of touch but more of having something unique that you mere mortals don't possess.

I don't know how many tapes that I own but you do the math. I was getting movies when pre-records cost $39.95 starting price up $100.00, when there were no corporate chains like Block Buster but only Mom and Pop video rentals, when there was only one cable channel and that was HBO, when I was setting the record timer to capture every TV show and movie that came on 7 days a week. Let's just say that's a whole lot of tape!

*Note
My homie Fredy Blast takes it a step further by having the most insane collection times 10 on Betamax alone so you can imagine what his VHS collection is right?! You name it we've probably got it plus everything you forgot. That's true Diggin in the tapes!





Quote from Complex Magazine

"We've reported on past Hot Peas & Butta events because they're excellent. Combining classic soul 45s with vintage footage of wonky cartoon shows and forgotten b-flicks is a brilliant idea. Somewhere there are DJs still suffering from anxiety insomnia because they didn't think of it first. They're too afraid to go to sleep because in their dreams they see grainy footage of Godzilla slowly stomping on their hopes and aspirations in time to William Bell's "I Forgot to Be Your Lover."