El Train | Loop Kitchen; How The Pause Button Became Hip-Hop’s Secret Weapon

El Train | Loop Kitchen youtube channel Hip-hop has always found new life in ordinary machines, and this is the story of how the humble cassette deck became a rough, homemade sampler for some of the genre’s most important producers. 📝 Go Deeper On Patreon: If you’ve been enjoying these Behind The Record videos and want to go deeper, I’ve just launched a Patreon. There’s extended versions of episodes, extra research, sample breakdowns and Digging Deeper Radio - a longer companion series where I explore the music, samples, gear and wider story behind the artists I cover on the channel. You can also vote on what I break down next. If you want to support the channel and get a deeper version of these videos in return, you can join here: 👉 / loopkitchen 🎉 BOGOF Offer: Right now it’s Buy One, Get One Free on all our sample packs. Just use the code 'SECONDCOURSE' at checkout to grab your second pack free. Link below if you fancy digging in. https://loopkitchen.co.uk/collections... 🎁 FREE Loop Kitchen Sample Pack - https://loopkitchen.carrd.co/ 🔌 FREE Plugin Database (Over 600 free plugins) - https://loopkitchenplugins.carrd.co/ Find out the story of Apache next: • How ‘Apache’ Became Hip-Hop’s National Anthem 💬 Join the Loop Kitchen Discord for free samples, production tips, and to connect with other producers - / discord 🧷 Connect with us on social media: El Train Instagram - / eltrainmusic El Train TikTok - / eltrainmusic Loop Kitchen Instagram - / loopkitchen_ Hip-hop has a way of taking whatever gear is available and pushing it far beyond what it was designed to do. In this video, we follow the unlikely journey of the cassette, from a Dutch engineer trying to make tape recording smaller and simpler, to the Bronx parties where live DJ sets were captured, copied and passed around by hand. But the cassette didn’t just document early hip-hop. In bedrooms, on family stereos and cheap tape decks, young producers discovered that the pause button could be used to trap tiny moments from records and loop them over and over again, creating rough, handmade beats before samplers became widely available. This is the story of the pause tape, and how a tiny plastic button became an entry point for future legends like Q-Tip, Pete Rock, Public Enemy, Easy Mo Bee, De La Soul, Beastie Boys, RZA and J Dilla. ⏰ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - The Tale of The Tape 02:47 - Live From The Boombox 04:53 - One Pause At A Time 07:30 - A Quick Interlude 08:21 - The Pause Tape Blueprint 14:01 - Still On Pause

Bonus; Nas & DJ Premier - "Pause Tapes" (Visualizer)