The future of dubstep is actually hip-hop — and Kemal Berk Alkanat, better known as Tape B, is leading the charge.
Known for flipping modern classics of hip-hop’s beloved “mixtape era” that defined the early 2010s (Mac Miller’s “Loud,” Wiz Khalifa’s “On My Level,” etc.), Tape B has become one of the hottest dubstep acts in North America.
But how did a kid from Istanbul make his way to the top of the charts, and make a track with Juicy J? By combining two of his favorite things: nostalgic hip-hop music, and old-school dubstep.
He has a clear vision for what he wants the Tape B project to be, and he chases that vision relentlessly. His fans love him for it; so much so that he recently sold out Denver’s Mission Ballroom in a matter of minutes. Not to mention a sold-out national tour in 2024, and millions of streams across Spotify and SoundCloud.
But SoundCloud is where Tape B thrives. It’s where he releases the vast majority of his music, which consists of flips, remixes, hour-long mixes that he calls “CarTunes,” and his own mixtape series, “Driptapes” and “Vibe Check.”
Because SoundCloud is where Tape B fell in love with music in the first place. It’s where many Millennials and Gen Z fell in love with music. And, in 2024, Tape B wants to remind us why. In this exclusive interview with UKF, the young star shares his origin story, his endearing connection to hip-hop’s mixtape era, his new track with Juicy J, and more.
Your creative output is crazy. This year alone, you’ve already released two original tracks, two official remixes, Driptape Vol. 5 mixtape (with seven new flips) Vibe Check Vol. 2 (also with seven new flips), and the CarTunes Vol. 3 mix. How do you manage to release so much new music all the time? Is there a secret sauce to staying in the creative zone?
There’s not really any secret sauce — I just love this shit. All I can think about is making music. Whenever I’m not making music, like even when I’m playing video games or whatever, I find myself wishing I was making music instead. I make music when I’m on tour too, and that’s cool, but nothing beats the feeling of sitting in my room, in front of my studio speakers, making new music. That’s my main hobby, and I love that so many people are ready to listen to my music whenever I drop something new.
How much music do you make that never actually gets released?
Dude… so much. I probably make between 5-10 songs a week, but i doubt anyone will ever hear 8 of those songs. I know I’m going to share a new song if it makes me giggle while I’m making it. Because, at the end of the day, music is about having fun. If I’m not giggling and having a great time, what’s the point? I’ll just trash it and move on to a new song. I think that’s another reason I release so much music, because if an idea doesn’t work, I’m good at moving on. That’s a great skill to have!”
A big part of your catalog, and a part of what makes the Tape B project so special, is how you flip hip-hop tracks from the beloved ‘mixtape era’ that defined the early 2010s. Would you say the Tape B project is a byproduct of the mixtape era?
Definitely, 100%. When I moved to Florida from Turkey when I was three years old, my parents only listened to Turkish music. Obviously, none of my new friends in America listened to that, and they kinda looked at me funny because the music was so different. But when I got a computer in 5th grade, I discovered YouTube and Vivo. That’s where I first fell in love with hip-hop, thanks to artists like Lil Wayne, Akon, T-Pain, and Young Jeezy. Hip-hop has been my favorite thing to listen to ever since.
But when I started smoking weed in high school, that’s when I REALLY fell in love with it all. Those were the golden years of the mixtape era, when SoundCloud was at its absolute peak. You had Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo, Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap, Flatbush Zombies’ Better Off Dead, and Black Hippy dropping hella tracks left and right.
That era means so much to me. Honestly, whenever I think back to the happiest moments of my life, it’s really just smoking weed with my friends and listening to SoundCloud mixtapes while the hotbox fogged up our car. Literally, I couldn’t be happier than that.
Do you have a favorite mixtape of all time?
Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott, for sure. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Travis Scott. Days Before Rodeo came across my SoundCloud one night when I was in highschool, and I clicked on it because the cover looked cool. But the music spoke to me — I stayed up all night listening to that mixtape over and over until the sun came up and I had to go to school. I was on such a high, I’ll never forget it. I was just thinking ‘There’s no way this exists.’ I was in awe the entire next day, too.
I think that’s why people resonate with my remixes and hip-hop stuff. Because there are a million people out there that have a story just like that, discovering their favorite mixtape for the first time and being blown away. It’s fun to be reminded of those times, you know?
So when did you discover EDM then? Was that also something you listened to growing up, or did you find that later?
I would say I got into electronic music around 8th grade. I loved Glitch Mob and that kind of EDM. It was very ethereal and sort of lo-fi, but still UKF vibes. Honestly, I didn’t really realize it was ‘electronic music’ at the time. I just knew it sounded cool.
But I actually discovered dubstep through anime music videos. I was super into anime, especially Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, and I would watch random YouTube videos of fight scenes from my favorite animes. At some point, they started incorporating dubstep in those videos. I went down a rabbit hole and eventually found all the UKF dubstep stuff, and the rest is history.
Oh, and Amazing Lights gloving videos. I thought that stuff was so cool.
All these years later, and you’ve managed to make a name for yourself by combining these two genres (EDM and dubstep) for some of the craziest tracks I’ve ever heard — including “Trippy Land,” your recent collaboration with Mersiv and Juicy J. How crazy is it you got to create a song with a legend like Juicy J?
It’s so insane! Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real. When we sent the track over to Juicy J, we didn’t think they were going to reply… but a few hours after we sent it, his team hit us back like ‘Juicy J likes the tune, we’ll get you vocals.’ The next week, we got the verse. Within the month, the track was out. It all happened so fast.
The whole time I was like ‘is this actually happening?’ The first time I heard Juicy J say ‘I’m rollin with the homies, Mersiv and Tape B,’ I thought I was dreaming. That dude is one of my idols. A top-five favorite rapper of all time for me.
What does the name ‘Tape B’ mean, and how did you land on that name for the project?
The name ‘Tape B’ actually goes way back for me. When I was in highschool, I drove a 2005 Volkswagen Passat, and the only way to use an aux cord was through a cassette tape. So, whenever I plugged in a cassette tape, the screen would light up and say ‘Tape B.’
I was hotboxing and freestyling with some friends one day and my homie was like ‘yo, you should be a rapper, and you should call yourself Tape B.’ I couldn’t really rap like that and it was kind of a joke, but I loved sharing music with my friends on SoundCloud, so I made my SoundCloud account Tape B. When I started producing music, it made sense to keep that name.
Still, it took a while for me to really figure out what the Tape B project was. The first day I started producing music, I asked myself ‘Who is Tape B? What does Tape B sound like?’ and for years, I never knew what the answer was. Then, one day in 2020, I came back home from a set I played in Tampa that just wasn’t good. I was so frustrated with myself, and I just started going through a bunch of old tunes on UKF’s YouTube channel. All of a sudden, it clicked. I though ‘I love these songs so much, why don’t I just make shit like this?’
That night, I made three remixes to Eyes On Fire, For The Kill, and Gold Dust. That was the moment I finally knew the answer. I Finally knew exactly who Tape B was.
I see the cassette tape in a lot of your branding — from your live visuals to your cover art. It’s funny, because in the intro to “Yo Tape B,” the narrator is talking about how people who were born after the cassette tape era still feel a connection to cassette tapes.
So, I gotta ask: why the cassette tape? Do cassette tapes hold any special place in your heart?
Not exactly — it’s more of the idea of what a cassette tape represents. Cassette tapes feel nostalgic. They represent a rewind in time, which is kind of what I’m aiming for with Tape B. A lot of the music I make and the songs I flip are nostalgic. Tape B is supposed to highlight an era of music that has kind of been forgotten about, but so many people have a connection to those tracks when they hear them.
I love how you incorporate the cassette tape into your visuals, especially during your two-night run at the Ogden Theater last year. You’ll be doing another two-night run at Denver’s Mission Ballroom in November, which will be your biggest headline yet — plus, you sold out the first night in minutes! What should we expect from that show?
It’s going to be crazy — when I did the Ogden Theater last year, I didn’t think I could get any bigger than that. When I stepped off that stage, I thought “Are we done? Is this it? Did I finish EDM?” Now, less than a year later, we’re doing two nights at Mission Ballroom, and it’s like… woah. I guess we’re not done yet.
We’re going insane with production at Mission Ballroom. I want to throw the coolest show possible, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. I hope it’s the coolest show you’ve ever seen in there. Plus, the support is incredible — we’ve got Kill Safari and so many other sick legends and dope artists. I can’t wait.
What else can fans look forward to this year?
Dude… I’m sitting on way too much music right now. There’s a Ganja White Night collab in the works, and so many other collabs I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about yet. There are a few EPs I’m working on, but I don’t think I’m dropping an album any time soon. I know fans would love a Tape B album, but I think that’s something I need to put much more thought into. I want to work with a ton of musicians to craft my debut album, and it needs to be something really special.
You can’t rush these things — that’s one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in life. Because every time I rush something, I fuck it up somehow. Or I realize that it wasn’t the right time, and I ask myself ‘Why did I do that? It would have been so much better if I waited and took my time.’ I feel like that’s something life has been trying to teach me for a while, and I’m trying to listen. I’m not in any rush.
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