Scratch Bastid / Various

Halifax’s vinyl assassin quickly follows up his terrific Blazin’ 2 mix with another truckload of current chart-topping flavours that are blessed by skilled hands. Scratch Bastid is quickly making his name in hip-hop with these high energy musical mash-ups, always selecting a fine blend of underground MCs versus the likes of Cee-Lo and Kayne West. Better Ask Somebody is a much more raw mix for this 1200 Hobo, who demonstrates he’s got the fever for the crunk by flipping some dirty, dirty beats from Lil’ Jon and Ghostface Killah. Friends come along for the ride and we’re treated to some nice integrated flows courtesy of Pip Skid, John Smith and Birdapres, but overall it feels that Better Ask Somebody has less of a personal touch than Blazin’ 2. Bastid’s previous mix also blended a lot more styles and moods than this time around, but even if you’re feeling the appearance of Madvillain’s "America’s Most Blunted” over Jadakiss, you can’t deny this mix is solid, full of insanely sharp turntable trickery and will easily warrant repeated listening.