Collector Spotlight: Issue #01
Twenty-one years ago, DJ Kast One was on the boards for the mixtapekings.com radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Counting down mixtapes. Pulling records nobody else had. Running the grind the way the grind was meant to be run.
Today he is the DJ on Hot 97 Mornings with Mero, holding it down every morning on the most storied hip-hop station in New York alongside his old Bronx friend The Kid Mero. From satellite radio in 2005 to Hot 97's morning slot in 2026. The crate has been with him every step of the way.
We sat down with Kast One for the first issue of Collector Spotlight, a new monthly series featuring the DJs, collectors, and curators who have been building their crates since before the algorithm existed.
He told us about the Biggie single that hooked him. What the mixtape era grind actually felt like from the inside. Why most vinyl releases today are cash grabs and what separates the real ones. And what he tells independent artists who want to press something worth holding onto..
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From the Crate
"If it's something that's fire, it makes it to the crate. If it's not fire, it don't make it to the crate." — DJ Kast One
The record that started it all for him: Biggie's first single, Juicy. Juicy on one side, Unbelievable on the other. He went looking for the one with Method Man. That one wasn't out yet. He grabbed the Unbelievable joint instead. That was it. He was on it after that.
That's the collector mindset. Not waiting for the full catalog. Getting the one thing that's available right now and understanding what it means.
One More Thing
Collector Spotlight is a monthly series. It lives at mixtapekings.com/collector-spotlight. Every issue adds to something that compounds over time: a permanent record of the DJs, collectors, and curators who built the culture from the crate up.
Issue #01 is Kast One. He also dropped a name for Issue #02 at the end of the interview. We are already moving on it. You'll see it next month.
Experience the culture at mixtapekings.com
— Diony C.