Reconstructing Vinroc’s Recon-Struction

Words By DJ Sorce-1
Graphics By P.

Lately, I’ve been listening to nothing but pre new millennium music. With a few exceptions, if it came out post 2000, I haven’t been fucking with it. Call me bitter. Call me a hater. Call me whatever you want to, but I sorely needed a break. I needed to go back to a time where ringtone sales had no meaning and there were no mix tapes only featuring 50, Jigga, and Weezy.

Shit, I needed to go back to a time when the word “Weezy” meant nothing to me.

One thing that has been in constant rotation in my ride during this phase is Vinroc’s Recon-Struction mixtape. DJ Neil Armstrong, Vinroc’s crewmate, cites Recon-Struction as his favorite mix tape of all-time. Released in 1997, it’s a perfect mix of great early to mid-nineties hip-hop, flipped with a turntablist aesthetic. Vinroc’s presentation of this era is a unique one as each track represents a mix of a specific group. He crams in three to five minutes of dopeness from each group and then moves on to the next. Vin successfully rides the fine line of displaying his skills as a DJ without going over board throughout. He flexes enough cuts and juggles to make Recon-Struction unique while simultaneously letting songs play uninterrupted when appropriate. The result is one of the purest hip-hop mix tapes I’ve ever heard.

These days, Vinroc is known more for his production accolades than mixtapes. The world of music is a much different from the world in which Recon-Struction was created, yet Vinroc’s memories of the tapes genesis remain fresh. Take a walk down memory lane as TSS’s Sorce-1 revisits Vinroc’s mixtape masterpiece.

TSS: What tapes influenced you before making Recon-Struction?

Vinroc: Hmm. That’s a tough question. I used to just listen to local Jersey stuff during that time period. I always checked my homie Ed Swift and bought tapes by cats like Camillo and DJs from Queens. But I can’t really say that stuff influenced Recon-Struction. That was just hip hop shit I was into.

TSS: So was the turntablist and battling scene more influential than the mix tape scene?

Vinroc: Yeah, that scene influenced Recon-Struction. At that time, other than battling, I was straight hip hop with what I listened to. I was all about Mobb Deep, Raekwon, and neighborhood music. Recon-Struction was paying homage to the stuff that came out a little before that and up to that time. I can’t say it was really influenced by anything but my personal taste.

TSS: What did Recon-Struction mean to you and your career when it was released?

Vinroc: My manager at the time pushed me to put Recon-Struction out and I’m still selling it to this day. It first came out around 1997 and was originally on cassette tape, to put the time in perspective (Laughs). If I recall correctly, I also did the cover art for it. At that time, I was a heavy duty battle cat…a real turntablist type. It was always on my brain. I was young and the turntablist and battle scene was at its peak. The music I used on Recon-Struction was the music I grew up with. I wanted to create something like a team turntablist set with golden era hip hop samples that flowed together well.

One of the first times I owned any “real” studio equipment was during the creation of Recon-Struction. I had a Tascam 424 tape based 4 track, which everyone used back then. I had just moved to Cali and I’d bought my 4 track from Canal St. a few months earlier. I basically pooled all of my favorite artists and the joints that they made and put them together as I was hearing it in my head. A lot of the composition and mixing philosophies that I used on that tape were part of what the Triple Threat DJ’s eventually became. If you’ve ever seen some of our videos, there is a lot of Recon-Struction-style composition mixed with Skratch Piklz techniques.

TSS: Can you talk a little bit about how things have changed since Serato? Back in the day you had to have a physical copy of each record that you used on a mix tape, or at least borrow one from a friend. How was it different having to collect each and every piece of wax?

Vinroc: I would have certain sections like the Jungle Brothers where I didn’t have doubles of “J Beez Comin’ Through.” I had just met Shortkut a few months earlier and I had to borrow a copy of his. I also had the advantage of living above and working for Cue’s Records in Daly City, so I would borrow a double or a record if I didn’t have it. All I had to do was walk downstairs. Those were fun ass times. Sometimes I freaked the 4 track but most of the time you need doubles to correctly do juggles and shit you just can’t fake.

TSS: So you primarily used the 4 track for sections that layered lots of different stuff?

Vinroc: Yeah, there’s no way you can do those sections without a 4 track, unless you have other DJ’s working with you. A lot of the tape features juggle mixes. That means I’d use a juggle for a transition instead of a blend. You can’t 4 track those on their own. I would sometimes do juggle mixes and layer on top of them using the 4 track, which was a lengthy process considering the technology for the time. Nowadays I could do a Recon-Struction type tape in a week. That took months.

TSS: Yeah, I remember hearing complex mix tapes back in the day when I was still playing them in my Walkman and thinking, “This shit must take forever to lay out!”

Vinroc: Yeah. You gotta give props to cats like Spinbad. A lot of his stuff took serious work. Recon-Struction was just a more turntablist way of doing a Spinbad kind of tape.

TSS: Can you break down how you came up with the “TROY” routine you did during the Pete Rock and CL Smooth section? The way you cut up the horns is so ill. That’s one of my favorite songs and I’d never really heard a DJ freak “T.R.O.Y.” like that.

Vinroc: Yeah, that song is everybody’s classic of classics. Sitting here and listening to it while we talk, I used the “Creator” drums and the Tom Scott horn sample. I scratched the drums to make a new beat and then messed with the horn sample over the drums. I used a guitar pedal delay for the horn and the vocal part. Throughout Recon-Struction, I was basically doing team style DJ battle routines with pieces from each group’s records. “T.R.O.Y.” was the A-side of a Pete and CL single and “Creator” was the B-side. That’s why I mixed up all the track names for each groups section and made them one long name. I thought I was being clever.

TSS: What made you decide to put the songs in sections by group and do you have a favorite group section?

Vinroc: I thought it just made sense to do it in group sections if I was going to do a best of golden era tape. I actually did the B-side first. At the time I was a humongous Boot Camp fan and I think I made that part of the tape first. I think the different sections are part of the reason why people still like Recon-Struction. There was always something on there for every hip hop head. If you were a real head, there was at least one section you would get drawn too.

Yeah…the Boot Camp section, I’m listening to it while we talk. That was my shit. I started making beats a year after this came out. I haven’t thought about this stuff in awhile, so it brings me back. I like the Tribe section too. Oh shit, “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo” just came on! (Laughs) The music is so different now. I guess it was just a different era.

TSS: Why do you think most DJ’s eventually move away from mixtapes? They are so much easier to make, as you said before, with all the new technology out there. But it seems like most DJ’s hit a point in their career where they just drop them. Do they get burned out on the process?

Vinroc: I think it’s just a stage. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, the creative energy I had for mix tapes now goes into beats. I know cats that have trouble even getting one tape out and just do clubs instead. I think it’s all personal preference. I still make mix CDs, but now it’s mostly just about song selection with a little skill. I’m happy doing that. The So Much Soul series is a big hit with people and reflects where I am now. Recon-Struction was something that I made at another point in time that reflects my mind frame back then. I’ll always appreciate that era of music. I feel sorry for the kids now. All they see is money and this and that. I don’t mind that. We had that too, but we had more choices.

Vinroc of The Almighty 5th Platoon – Recon-Struction (Tracklisting Included)

To find out more about Vinroc, check out…

www.myspace.com/vinroc

www.5thplatoon.com

youtube.com/vinroc – YouTube channel

djvinroc.blogspot.com – Vinroc’s personal blog