‘Best of the Bean Vol. 1’ Illuminates Boston’s Hip-Hop Scene

The 31-track mixtape features cuts from such up-and-comers as Michael Christmas, Cousin Stizz, and Dutch ReBelle. —Michael Marotta

This post originally appeared on Vanyaland.


Cousin Stizz

Cousin Stizz / Courtesy photo

A new 31-track mixtape is shining a light on Boston’s blossoming hip-hop scene.

Best of the Bean Vol. 1 weaves together a wide array of Boston’s best independent rappers, including a handful who are making national waves and are poised for 2016 breakouts, like Michael Christmas, Cousin Stizz, and Dutch ReBelle. The 81-minute spotlight was mixed by DJ ReaL P, and curated by Indystry, a Boston-based platform for independent and emerging artists to be seen and heard.

“We chose to focus on hip-hop because there is a ton of great hip-hop music coming from Boston, and historically Boston has not been known as a hub for hip-hop music,” Indystry co-founder and CEO Taylor Diamond tells Vanyaland. “We’d like to change that perception.”

Diamond says the mixtape came together by surveying local tastemakers, then Indystry narrowed it down from there. “First, we combined suggestions from influencers in the Boston hip-hop community (The Museum TV and DJ ReaL P) with our own research to build a list of hundreds of great songs,” he adds. “Our team then voted to identify the top 30 or so songs to be included in the mix.”

Since it’s their first mixtape, we’ll forgive them for using the touristy term “bean” to describe Boston. After all, it’s more about the music than the title. And DJ ReaL P says it best: “Don’t say your city doesn’t have dope music. Open ya ears first.”

Check the full track listing after the Soundcloud jump, and press play for the true start of your day.

INDYSTRYmix 001 : Best Of The Bean Vol. 1
Red Velvet – Avenue – 00:47
I am the Connect – Casso – 02:05
Cheddar Bring – Cousin Stizz – 04:56
Clean – Stupid Genius feat. Tory Lanez 07:49
The Mentality – Latrell James 12:03
Muddy Sip – Big Leano – 15:12
Shoutout – Cousin Stizz -18:19
Right Now – Brandon James – 21:28
Air It Out – Dutch Rebelle feat. Jefe Replay – 24:09
Disrespectful – Gio Dee – 26:11
Boston Girls – Superstar LT – 28:39
H.B.R.A. – E Jake ft Jay Boston & Jadakiss – 31:10
Are You Around – Michael Christmas – 33:16
Bobby Brown – Bia – 36:39
No Bells – Cousin Stizz – 38:47
Bout It – Gio Dee – 40:39
Sips Tea – Jefe Replay – 42:16
Lean 4 Sale – Big Leano – 44:38
Smoke – Michael Christmas – 46:37
Selfish Miami – Treva Holmes – 49:26
Don’t Fall In Love – Kareem Skully – 52:08
Ocean Drive – Stupid Genius feat. Cousin Stizz – 54:30
Fresh Prince – Cousin Stizz – 57:44
Pass Up – Original Kadeem – 1:00:34
Favors – Nick Gray – 1:01:53
Beauty – Deon Chase -1:04:05
YNNS2W – Avenue feat. Caliph – 1:06:02
Meditate – Stupid Genius – 1:08:40
Dirty Bands – Cousin Stizz – 1:12:21
Hate – Michael Christmas – 1:14:50
Skrr – Kareem Skully – 1:18:05