DJ Critical Hype

Today, we had the pleasure of having DJ Critical Hype join us on Sway in Morning as our guest DJ. Take a listen below as he takes over our turntables for his dope 30 minute mix - Nicky G, Sway's Universe

Chance the Rapper bars over more than 20 of the choicest Kanye West beats in Kanye West history. This would be a best-of-year-lister in any year, but it's particularly vital in 2016, when we listened to The Life of Pablo and Coloring Book—and both dudes' back catalogs—till the albums turned sentient just to beg us for some rest. The antidote? "Summer Friends" vocals over Late Registration's "Slow Jamz"! "Everybody's Something" over "Wolves"! And not that it even needed to be, but Chance the Dropout's perfectly sequenced and peppered with bars from other friends of the fam - Zach Dionne, FuseTV

Chance The Rapper has never been shy about the fact that Kanye West was his biggest influence when he first decided to pick up a mic. The very first album he ever bought was College Dropout, which made him realize he wanted to be a rapper.

Now, thanks to DJ Critical Hype and DJ Clyde, the fantasy of hearing Chance's vocals over classic Kanye West beats becomes a reality on a new blend tape called Chance The Dropout.

"I love Chance as an artist and Kanye is one of the best producers of all time," Critical Hype tells P&P. "They are both from Chicago and Chance is always talking about how big of an influence Kanye was and is. It seemed like a match made in heaven and a great way to bridge the gap of a new and older Chicago artist." He adds, "When I started to play around with the idea it sounded even better than I had thought."

In the works for a year and a half, he enlisted the help of DJ Clyde and the two went to work collecting the highest quality acapellas and instrumentals that they could find. "We wanted to have a range of Kanye beats and Chance vocals from newer to older," Critical Hype explains. "We wanted some of the best beats and verses but also limited to the instrumentals and acapellas I was able to get my hands on."

Featuring beautiful cover art from Ian Klarer (known for his excellent Run The Jewels artwork), the project is finally finished. - Eric Skelton, Pigeons and Planes

Today a pair of producers, DJ Clyde and DJ Critical Hype, have brought the two together like no one before, releasing Chance The Dropout; a mash-up project that places Chano’s vocals over classic Kanye productions, as both an homage to the Windy City giants and a placeholder for what will presumably be a future filled with Chance and Kanye (ultralight) beam-crossings. - ZO, okayplayer.com

DJ Critical Hype and DJ Clyde have joined forces for Chance the Dropout, an ambitious 23-song mixtape blending Chance’s vocals with classic Kanye beats. The result is as good as you’d imagine (maybe even better) — the combination of Chance’s witty wordplay and Kanye’s intricate sampling is pure ear candy, and gives us an idea of what that rumored collaborative album of theirs might sound like. If you had any doubt that the Chicago natives are kindred creative spirits, well, Chance the Dropout will prove you wrong. - Madeline Roth, MTV

The last time we happened upon a Chance the Rapper-related mashup—the Hood Internet’s World Series-timed Frankenstein hybrid of “Go Cubs Go!” and Chance’s evergreen “No Problem”—it somehow just didn’t add up to the sum of its parts. (Maybe Chance being a White Sox fan doomed it from the start.)
But we’re happy to say that the latest to come our way, the 23-track Chance the Dropout, absolutely passes muster. Maybe that’s because it’s a mix of Chance and Kanye West, one of the younger MC’s avowed inspirations and, of course, a fellow Chicago favorite. That stylistic and geographic symbiosis seemed to be front of mind for the creators of the project, DJ Critical Hype and DJ Clyde. - Stephen Gossett, The Chicagoist

"This is a God dream"

Chance The Rapper has been Kanye West’s biggest fan long before they worked together on The Life Of Pablo and Coloring Book earlier this year.

Chance pays homage to the fellow Chicago MC on his breakout project, Acid Rap. And now DJ Critical Hype and DJ Clyde have created a 23-track blend tape called Chance The Dropout that pairs classic ‘Ye beats with Chance’s vocals, new and old.

“I love Chance as an artist and Kanye is one of the best producers of all time,” Critical Hype told Pigeons & Planes. “They are both from Chicago and Chance is always talking about how big of an influence Kanye was and is. It seemed like a match made in heaven and a great way to bridge the gap of a new and older Chicago artist. When I started to play around with the idea it sounded even better than I had thought.” - Lauren Nostro, Genius

A cappellas aren’t exactly scarce these days. People are still trading files on message boards, but it’s rare to find someone on SoundCloud or DatPiff offering up an a cappella of a track. That means that producers are looking elsewhere for additional vocal material. “Around 2011, I started learning how to make a cappellas from scratch,” says DJ Critical Hype, the blend tape specialist who has melded newer artists like Danny Brown and Kendrick Lamar vocals over classic instrumentals from Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest. “They are called DIY a cappellas. For the most part, I use the studio version of songs. A lot of tips and secrets I’ve learned the past few years have made my [DIY] a cappellas a lot stronger.” - Red Bull Music Academy Daily

We hardly hear about dope blend mixtapes anymore. The blend art is when a DJ takes vocals of one song and mixes it with other beats from different songs. You have to love the way DJ Critical Hype did his mix masterpieces for these rare, known and exclusive verses from Kendrick Lamar and his cohorts in crazy rhyme skills (TDE fam, Ghostface, Scoe, Jay Electronic, etc.). Bangin’ beats from A Tribe Called Quest to Wu-Tang to West Coast classics, you get them all and know how ill Kendrick is as his rhymes hold up to some of the meanest beats thrown at his voice. Just play it. - Datwon Thomas, VIBE Magazine

DJ Critical Hype has released a 29-track blend mixtape titled The Art of Danny Brown Blends featuring tracks by (you guessed it) Danny Brown! Presented by DJ Booth and RefinedHype, the tape combines some of Detroit MC’s finest verses over productions by J Dilla to Hit-Boy - XXL Magazine