With only a few days left before the Krispy Kreme Challenge, many of the deejays are beginning to mentally prepare for the arduous task. The benefit for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital has two physical challenges that competitors must overcome. The first is the two mile run from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme Store on Peace St. and then the two mile run back to the Bell Tower.

The second is the overwhelming 12doughnuts each runner must eat before returning back to the starting line, all within the hour. Over the past weeks, many deejays have been spending time outside the studio and on the track, building their frail skinny deejay bodies into lean athletic beasts. Others have taken more unconventional approaches such as avoiding physical exercise altogether and have just been binge eating. (For many this hasn’t been much of a lifestyle change.) With fighting style will win out? One can only wait to see the results this upcoming Saturday.

Now to meet the brave deejays willing to take on the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Each has selected a top playlist of songs they will wield to push them to the brink during the race.

Agent “Glazed and Confused” Orange

• Death From Above 1979 - “My Love Is Shared”
• Mindless Self Indulgence – “Tom Sawyer”
• Muse - “Knights of Cydonia”

May “Hot and Ready” Day

• Jay Z- “Run this Town”
• Muse- “Time is Running Out”
• Florence & the Machine- “Dog Days are Over”

DJ Audity

• Metric – “Satellite Mind”
• Metric- “Help, I’m Alive”
• Cut Copy- “Hearts on Fire”

DJ Jenna

DJ Hot Tamale

• Drake- “Best I Ever Had”
• Coldplay- “Life in Technicolor ii”
• The Who- “Baba O’Riley”
• The Killers- “Mr. Brightside”

DJ “Original Glazed” MICK

• Dan Deacon - “Build Voice
• Akron/Family- “MBF”
• My Morning Jacket- “Anytime”

DJ Two “Baker’s Dozen” Sheds

ASH “Gotta Eat’em All” G.

• The Juliana Theory- ”We’re at the top of the World”
• Kid Cudi- ”Day ‘N’ Night”
• Linkin Park- ”New Divide”

DJ “Doughtnut Hole” Nicole

• Amanda Blank- “Make It, Take It”
• Duck Sauce- “Anyway (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak Remix)”
• Thieves Like Us- “Fass”

Mz “Hot-N-Now” Kelly

• Thin Lizzy – “Cowboy”
• Built to Spill- “Goin Against My Mind”
• Anything from LCD Soundsystem
• Anything from The Light Pines

DJ “Donuts and Coffee” Cioffi

DJ Riff “Ka-Tose Intolerant” Raff

• DeadMau5- “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff “
• Kanye West- “Stronger”
• Vampire Weekend- “Run”

DJ Special “Tasty Fingers” K

• Animal Collective - “What Would I Want? Sky
• Gray Young- “Tilling the Wind”
• Flo Ride- “Sugar”

Eye on the Triangle’s own Saja “It’s Fresh” Hindi will be doing live air breaks on site during the race periodically through La Barba Rossa’s Mystery Roach show. The race is this Saturday (February 6) on Double Barrel Benefit 7 weekend. This year the challenge will boast 6,000 eager competitors. Be sure to check for the WKNC banner at the finish line this year as WKNC is partnering with the Krispy Kreme Challenge as a Silver Level Sponsor.

Be sure to listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

The [Abstract] Best Of Q-Tip Vol. 1

As a hip hop DJ, one of my biggest idols is DJ J.Period. J. Period has garnered numerous awards for his mixtapes including “Elemental Magazine “MIXTAPE DJ ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2003″, “Source Magazine MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR 2005″, “MTV TOP 5 DJs OF 2007″, and “Hip Hop DX 2008 Mixtape of the Year Runner Up” for “Design of A Decade Volume 1″ hosted by Skillz. Check out J. Period’s awards and press page for a complete list of his achievements.

The [Abstract] Best Of Q-Tip Vol. 1 describes Q-Tip‘s journey through hip hop. In the “behind the scenes” mini-interviews, Q-Tip explains what influences him to make music and how well-known projects like “Scenario” came together. The [Abstract] covers Tip’s most popular songs with A Tribe Called Quest, his solo joints and his production projects.

Exclusive J. Period remixes for Getting Up, What The Fuss (that “Shook Ones” instrumental can make any remix hot), Give Up The Goods (which includes an an extra verse by Nas), Buddy and others are available only on this mixtape. In addition to the J.Period remixes, artists like Skillz, De La Soul, Consequence and Kid Cudi pay homage to Q-Tip by reinterpreting his classics with ‘tribute remixes”.

If you’re a DJ, aspiring artist, old head or a newcomer to hip hop, The [Abstract] massages away all the stress of commercial rap and even comes with a happy ending! That is, the end of the mixtape hints at The [Abstract] Best Of Q-Tip Vol. 2, which you can get if you buy the Limited Edition [Abstract] Best T-Shirt. The shirt, designed by Fuse Green, sports the mixtape’s cover on the front and has three options for the writing on the back. Q-Tip is a hip-hop legend and if you aren’t familiar with him, take a piece of advice from the (recreated) Midnight Marauders Tour Guide: “For an enhanced hip-hop experience, please know your history.”

Favorites : Vivrant Thing (J. Period Remix), What (Tribute Remix), What The Fuss (J. Period Remix), Give Up The Goods (J. Period Remix)

Dj Benzi x Plain Pat x Kanye West: Sky High – A We Got The Remix Special Edition

After teasing fans with a streaming preview that was available for only one day, the finished product is finally available for download! Sky High features 21 Kanye tracks that have been remixed by top-notch producers and mixed by DJ Benzi. The first half of Sky High has hip hop sound while the last half has a more electronic feel. So after you finish breakin your neck to the first half of the mixtape, go ahead and diversify your bonds with the electronic sound of the latter half.

Favortie Tracks: Sky High (remix) ft. Kid Cudi, Good Morning (The Kickdrums Remix), Champion (Nick Catchdubs Remix), Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix), Addiction (Kenny Dope Remix), Electric Touch (Steve 1der & Mighty Mi Remix), Love Lockdown (Tom Wrecks Remix), Homecoming (Discotech Remix), I Wonder (Scottie B Remix)

If you are familiar with Dj Benzi then you know that most of his mixtapes are best described as re-mixtapes. Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas, The New Deal and Sky High are some of Benzi’s latest projects. I’ll talk about Sky High in part 2 of “Gettin Busy With Benzi” since it can also be categorized under Afterhours.

Fear and Loathing In HuntsVegas – We Got The Remix: Special Edition

DJ Benzi and producer, Diplo, hook up with Paper Route Records (see the Fader Magazine article from October 2008) to create what has to be one of the best mixtapes of 2008: Fear and Loathing In HuntsVegas. This special version contains remixes by Diplo, Emynd, and The Knocks.

My favorite remixed tracks include Rollin (Diplo Remix) by Jackie Chain ft. Jhi Ali which features a haunting sample taken from KRS-One’s Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight). Bama Gettin Money (Diplo Remix) by PRGz and Soul Glo (The Knocks Remix) by PRGz are equally addictive. (hear the original mixes of Rollin and Bama Gettin Money featured in Fader Magazine.)

The original instrumentals hold their own against the remixes and, in some cases, surpass them. Travelin by Dawgy Baggz ft. Money Addict & B. Dewitt, Shots by Untamed ft. Dawgy Baggz and Grind Baby by X.O all boast innovative instrumentals. Mali Boy ,the producer of the original tracks, deserves just as many props as Benzi. For a relatively amateur producer, his instrumentals are damn good.

While not the most socially-conscious compilation of music, Dj Benzi’s blends along with mind-blowing instrumentals guarantee an hour of non-stop head nodding.

Dj Benzi x 10 Deep: The New Deal

The New Deal is Dj Benzi’s latest collabo with 10 Deep. Does anyone know what exactly 10 Deep is? I thought it was a clothing brand but apparently they produce mixtapes too. Go figure. Anyway Dj Benzi does it again along with ridiculously bangin instrumentals! The mixtape is studded with star power, featuring Wale, Kidz In The Hall, Kanye West, Charles Hamiliton, Blu, Skyzoo and so many more.

My favorite tracks are Party Works by Donnis, 2nd Time Around by Wale ft. Brother Ali, Cool, Relax by Kidz In The Hall ft. Jay Electronica and (yet another) Rollin (Remix) by Jackie Chain ft. Kid Cudi.

This joint has a little something for everyone, from the hardcore Underground heads to the Baltimore Club fiends.