John Doe / 1200 Hobos - The Last Amateur

Once a year you get a project like this. So skillful, so immaculately put together you've listened to it a dozen times and still hear something you didn't hear the 12 times before. I've written the review three times now, first it was too long and winded, the second time too vague, this is number three.

John Doe hails from Cincinnati, he's riding with the 1200 Hobo's. He was/is a battle DJ with a crazy ass ear for music and the ability to paint concepts in a mix like no other. This project right here is a collection of select battle routines from over the years juiced up a lil bit and conceptualized into a whole piece of work. The title of each "set" ties in with the music used, the quotes, the cuts, the snippets of clips and at the end of each they actually say something. His message was conveyed and he didn't even have to say a word. That's skill.

We're talking 16 separate sets so it's impossible to cover each. I will however go over a couple of my favorites and give you the snippets to hear what I heard.


First up is "The Big Hit". It jumps off with an obvious classic break but then the WU hits and later when John was chopping up M.o.P and the beat was flipped into GZA....man. Mad energy and he even took the time to pan some of the cuts. Shit was like a classic extended 90s intro thru and thru.

The joint that was on constant rewind was "Executive Decision". How he broke down "It Takes Two...To Make a Thing Go Right" then into classic Chubb Rock into classic EPMD into "Funky Child". That's the energy that's missing from hip hop right now.

Now a project like this isn't for everyone. If you don't like skill on a mixtape keep stepping. You need a special ear for this CD cause not only is John Doe a skillful DJ he's a true blue hip hop head. You can tell by all the tracks used, even the clips that only lasted 3 seconds. He knows his shit and is shows. I most def appreciate the work he put into this project. Shit is so intricate and well timed he might of put in a whole 10,000 hours on this one CD. Either way it's a classic and let me just say, thank you John Doe for doing what you do.