A hip hop & soultronica tribute | Re/Set 04
Re/Set 04 is a thank-you letter in musical form for the legendary Just Blaze.
Just has been my incredible Unlock Her Potential mentor this year, and I’ve grown exponentially with his guidance… as a DJ, a listener, a researcher, and a crate-digger.
As he recently said—after I thanked him for lighting the fire that got me to ten gigs and to start this series:
“They don’t call me Just Blaze for nothing.
I’ve been lighting fires under people since ’99.”
And it’s true.
He ignited a new level of determination in me—and unlocked a greater depth of sample nerdery. I started noticing how much more is needed from DJs to shout out producers, and from producers to credit the original artists they sample.
That’s why I publish tracklists for these mixes:
because music must be shared, and
for purely selfish reasons—to hopefully hear these tracks in other sets.
Before recording every mix, I hear the same voice:
This is the one I won’t be able to do.
This is the one that proves I’m an absolute amateur.
And for this set—a tribute to someone who has been a gifted musician from a young age—that voice was way louder.
A few tracks in, I found my stride.
Listening back made me emotional, thinking about the year I’ve had with music—and realizing how far influence can travel when someone lights a fire under you.
Especially if that someone is Just Blaze.
Thank you Just, for all that you do for the music.
Why Listen?
This mix is soultronica + hip-hoptronica + g-house + sample culture woven into a single story:
soulful electronic music built on hip-hop DNA.
Exploring Just Blaze’s lengthy discography and our monthly lessons sent me deep into:
old hip-hop
soul, disco, R&B, and funk
and folk music from SWANA and South Asia
Artists like:
Donald Byrd, Klymaxx, The Diplomats, Omar Souleyman, Cerrone, Siedah Garrett, Black Heat, Mandrill, Ohio Players… sounds that have been heavily sampled in hip-hop and electronic music, and deserve to be credited more loudly.
These lineages are the influence you’ll hear throughout the mix.
About the Track Journey
The mix opens with The Revolution Will Not Be Televised—a fresh rework of Gil Scott-Heron’s anthem that bridges jazz, house, and spoken word.
No genre sparks the revolutionary in me the way hip hop does.
And yes—I was today years old when I learned Louie Vega is one half of Masters At Work.
From there comes Da Rockwilder, one of the greatest beats of the late ’90s in my personal opinion—and one of my first favorite hip-hop songs. I can still remember watching its video on MTV in Pakistan.
Let ’Em In, Zombie, and Love Is Gonna Lift You Up were all inspired by Just’s shares of older influences throughout the year.
We get two Q-Tip moments (because one just isn’t enough):
Rhyme Dust, which samples Breathe and Stop
Galvanize, which samples Moroccan vocalist Najat Aatabou, merging folk tradition with breakbeats
From there, hip-hop and club culture meld further:
Regulate reimagined via g-house
Halfway Crooks showing Mobb Deep through a club lens
It was funny to me that Just has been lighting fires since ’99—and this mix unintentionally includes several tracks from that year. The Men All Pause brings feminine representation, and my husband (the even bigger hip hop nerd at home) made the connection that Kurupt’s Girls All Pause (feat. Nate Dogg & Roscoe) samples it… in ‘99. Neither of us had heard the other version, and since Nate Dogg also appears earlier on Regulate, it became this perfect little moment of hip-hop/R&B sample lineage… the kind of web-of-connections that makes the music nerd in me giddy.
There’s a remix of I Feel Love that sashays beautifully between disco and afrohouse, Erykah Badu reminding us why she’s a legend, and Doechii unpacking her Anxiety over a Gotye sample. Gotta call out the women of color in my mixes.
Doechii is one of my hip hop obsessions currently, along with J.I.D. The second last track, 151 Rum samples a Pakistani folk track by The Panthers, linking hip-hop to South Asian traditions. This lineage moment resonated deeply, in a mix shaped by listening for origins.
The Jason Nevins remix of It’s Like That is also one of my first favorite hip hop tracks… along with its epic dance off music video. An instant classic.
That leads into Shook Ones Pt. III (Nick Morgan Extended Mix) and Perspective (Nonfiction Remix) weaves in two Nas samples, merging modern club production and New York hip-hop consciousness. Together, these tracks reflect one core lesson I’ve learned from studying Just Blaze’s work:
Reinterpretation isn’t dilution if correctly credited and honored… it is continuity.
The mix closes with the iconic Harlem Shake. It only felt right to end on one of Just’s productions; he’s been influencing electronic music for decades, too. This final song is a reminder that true influence lies in knowing when to light the fire and when to step back… something Just Blaze has mastered.
Tracklist:Masters At Work, Black Thought, Brian Jackson – The Revolution Will Not Be TelevisedMethod Man & Redman – Da RockwilderBilly Paul – Let ’Em InThe Chemical Brothers – GalvanizeWarren G ft. Nate Dogg – Regulate (Destructo & Wax Motif Remix)Amine Edge & DANCE – Halfway CrooksKlymaxx – The Men All PauseThemba, Fela Kuti, Afrika 70 – Zombie (Extended Mix)Donna Summer – I Feel Love (Fracassi Remix)Bobby Womack – Love Is Gonna Lift You Up (Julio Bashmore Remix)Malaa – NotoriousDoechii – Anxiety (Super Disco Club Rework)MK & Dom Dolla – Rhyme Dust (Extended Mix)Run DMC & Jason Nevins – It’s Like ThatMobb Deep & Nick Morgan – Shook Ones Pt. III (Extended Mix)Josh Billings – Perspective (Nonfiction Remix)Jamie xx & Erykah Badu – F.U. (Original Mix)J.I.D – 151 Rum (Dirty)Baauer – Harlem Shake (Original Mix)
