Radio · Archive
MixtapeKings Radio Vol. 1
By Diony C.
•March 13, 2026
The tape that came from the show. DJ Kast One mixes 33 tracks of New York street rap straight from the mixtapekings.com Sirius Satellite Radio broadcast. Styles P, Saigon, Nas, Jae Millz, Papoose, J.R. Writer, and Kanye West. August 2005.
Before there was a website with a proper archive, before there was a newsletter, before there were articles, there was a radio show. And before most people knew what Sirius Satellite Radio even was, the mixtapekings.com crew was already broadcasting on it.
This is the story behind the tape. But to get to the tape, you have to start with the show.
How It Got on the Air
The mixtapekings.com Countdown came out of an opportunity given to us by Ron Mills Triana and Reggie Hawkins. They were building out the mixtape content on Sirius Satellite Radio and were looking to add a dedicated mixtape show. They brought the crew in, and mixtapekings.com had a platform.
The show started on the Wax 42 channel, which was Sirius’s 24-hour dedicated mixtape channel. Eventually it moved over to Hip-Hop Nation. Either way, the mission was the same: bring the energy of the street-level mixtape scene to satellite radio and give it the context it deserved.
The show was hosted by Black (Gilberto Hernandez) and Lboogs, a Heavy Hitter. The boards rotated between DJ Kast One — also a Heavy Hitter — DJ Deebow, and DJ Beans depending on the week. DJ Deebow was not just any DJ on the roster: he was the first mixtapekings.com DJ, part of the foundation the show was built on. And then there was Wander (Rene Castillo), who would drop in periodically for side commentary and made every session feel like you were in the room with the crew. The whole thing was produced and coordinated by Diony C. and Charlie C., co-founders of mixtapekings.com.
What the Show Was
The MixtapeKings Countdown had a simple premise: highlight the hottest mixtapes of the week, one or two tracks at a time, and let the music speak.
But the format built into something more. The show was pulling in live interviews — artists like Styles P., DJ Kay Slay, Papoose, Jae Millz, and Murda Mook came through and talked. These were not long-form sit-downs. They were raw, real conversations in the middle of a broadcast, the same way a street tape used to do it.
In March, there was a tradition. A special segment: a March Madness Freestyle, where artists would come through and lay down exclusive cyphers just for the show. You will hear some of that on this tape — the tracks tagged “March Madness Extra” were exactly that. Those verses were not on any album. They were made for the show.
Black also ran a segment called the Flop of the Week. Some random outrageous topic from current events, treated with the seriousness it deserved — which was none. It was the kind of commentary that made the show feel like a community, not just a content block.
The Tape
In August 2005, DJ Kast One took the best of what the show had captured, mixed it, and pressed it as MixtapeKings Radio Vol. 1.
The goal was simple: put you in the room. Give you the experience of the show the way the people who were listening live felt it — the freestyles back to back, the live interviews cut in, the March Madness extras, the Wander commentary, all of it. The 33-track runtime was not meant to feel like a conventional mixtape. It was meant to feel like you had just tuned in.
33 tracks. New York street rap. Live interviews, exclusive freestyles, March Madness extras. Press play and let it run from the top.
The Artists on This Tape
This was New York street rap in 2005, before the industry had caught up to most of these names.
Artists
Jae Millz
Interview, Keep It Thoro, Bang Bang, Ain’t No Click, Banned From TV (March Madness Extra), 1,2 Y’all
Papoose
Interview, Gangsta Music, The Truth, I’m A Hustla (March Madness Extra), Body Bluffin’
@papoose
Kanye West
Weak Ass Producer Rap Segment, Late Night Extravaganza ft. Jamie Foxx, mixtapekings.com Outro Pt. 2
@ye
The Crew Behind the Boards
DJ Kast One hosted the tape and ran the boards for the show. A Heavy Hitter with roots going back to this era and earlier, the fact that this tape exists in the form it does is because of how he mixed it. Today he is on the boards for Hot 97 Mornings with Mero, the new morning show that launched in January 2026 with The Kid Mero as host. From Sirius satellite radio in 2005 to Hot 97’s morning slot in 2026. That is the arc. Collector Spotlight Issue #01 is dedicated to him. Tune in on March 20.
Lboogs co-hosted alongside Black and is a Heavy Hitter. Today he is an on-air talent at Power 105.1, iHeartRadio, and Apple Music. Follow him at @lenboogsonair.
Black (Gilberto Hernandez) was the voice in the room, the host who kept the show moving and the Flop of the Week segment alive. Find him at @black181.
DJ Deebow was part of the rotating board presence on the show and holds a specific place in mixtapekings.com history as the first DJ to hold it down for this platform.
DJ Beans rounded out the rotating board crew. A New York DJ and producer still active today. Find him at @djbeans.
Wander (Rene Castillo) was the crew’s periodic side commentator, dropping in to add his take and keeping the energy loose and authentic. He would go on to serve as Director of Radio Promotions and Marketing at G-Unit Records — the kind of move that tells you everything about where his head was at even back then.
Special Thanks
To everyone who made history with mixtapekings.com and supported the movement at some point of the journey — this one is for you too. I may have forgotten more of you and for that I apologize, it has been some time. But the story is not done being told. Stay tuned.
Rhudy A. Correa · Dayana Hoffman Concepcion · CC · Terrence · Yanley Reyes · Yudy Reyes · Angel Checo · DJ Enuff and the Heavy Hitters DJs · Blade · DJ E-Tunez aka Eddy · LMP DJs · Dominique · Johnny Nunez · Dukedagod · Devo Harris · Olivar D.
Press play and let it run from the top. That is how it was meant to be heard.
And if you make it all the way through — listen for the outro. Vol. 2 was announced. It never dropped. But the crate never got thrown away. You never know what might surface.
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