Figured we’d better drop this before “Watch The Throne” leaks and gobbles up all Jay-Z-related discussions. It’s a simple little blend, perfect for warming up a party and inspired by the similar bass lines in Michael Jackson’s “Liberian Girl” and Jay-Z & Jermaine Dupri’s Steve Arrington-sampling “Money Ain’t A Thang”. Say what you will about “The Throne” (Jay & Kanye’s new moniker) but Kanye certainly makes a better rapping partner than Jermaine ever did…..which is why we cut his verse out altogether on here. Enjoy!
When Cut Copy dropped “Take Me Over” a lot of people took note of its strong resemblance to Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere”. Whether they were biting, borrowing or paying homage is up for others to decide but they certainly made no secret of Stevie Nicks & Company’s general influence on them during the making of “Zonoscope”, their third LP.
Hearing the album’s 15-minute closing opus “Sun God”, another song-specific melodic ancestor leapt out at us: Chicago’s “Street Player”, best known as the source of Kenny Dope’s house classic “The Bomb”. So we proceeded to do what we do and put the two together by cutting the Cut Copy in half, matching the melodies, and finally, giving their epic electronic breakdown an organic horn-layered counterpart.
P.S. In looking up YouTube videos for the above links, I realized the unfortunate business that is Pitbull’s “I Know Want Me”, which also uses “The Bomb”/”Street Player”. We made this edit with the blissful amnesia of its existence. Hopefully you can enjoy it in the same way.
Company Flow is reuniting this weekend so we thought it’d be as good a time as any to drop the extended version of our Vital Nerve remix. First found on our “5 Boro Bass Mix” which paired some classic hip hop songs with drum-n-bass breaks, this one always seemed to stand out, so we doctored it up and made it a stand alone track.
It’s been a while since I’ve graced a hip hop stage in NYC…and you’ll have to continue waiting, because my next performance will not include 2 turntables and a microphone. That’s right, Sunday the 10th of July I’m doing an acoustic set (no rapping just guitar and vocals) with my homegirl Hana Mess of The Mess. We’ll be performing under a grape arbor. There will be refreshments as well as a beautiful garden in Park Slope to check out. It’s a super relaxed environment; come out and chill, enjoy the flowers, the sunshine and oh yea the music.
The Garden of Union is located on Union St. between 4th and 5th Aves. (closer to 4th). The R train to Union will suffice. Music will start around 1pm. See you on Sunday.
In honor of the Independence Day weekend, 100dBs and I decided to leak a track fitting the occasion. “Power…” is a gift to our “fans” who have waited 4+ years for a new release from us. We’ll try not to keep you waiting any longer. Until then…
Though better known for his R&B doings, Ryan Leslie did a pretty nasty job on the beat for Fabolous’ “You Be Killin Em”. I guess I’m still a sucker for the “Synthetic Substitution” drums despite them being amongst the most overused in rap history. They do sound as tough as ever on this though, so between that, the addictive melody, and the way the bass comes in with Fab’s harmonizing, the first 40 seconds of this track are pretty undeniable…..
Thinking that such an intro deserved an intro of its own, we put together this little tempo tool* that goes heavy on the build up (flipped to a BPM of 125) and uses the original track as its climax. By adding a context-appropriate Barrington Levy sample to serve as a verbal air horn of sorts, hopefully we achieved the rare feat of making a tempo tool just as equally headphone worthy.
*for non-DJs: a tempo tool is generally used by DJs to transition smoothly from one BPM (for example, an electro song at 125 bpm) to another (a hip hop song at 95 bpm).
The Bangles “Walk Like An Egyptian”
Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”
Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”
We’re well aware that this one has all the markings of a gimmicky 2005-era “mash up”. I think we started out trying to find a tamer but still dance-friendly blend for the “Walk Like An Egyptian” acapella and somehow ended up taking it in the complete opposite direction, making it more of a mellow party break instead. Ultimately, it’s a flip of the Lou Reed more than anything, and with the ghost of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It” floating in the background, I hope you’ll find the result a whole lot classier than most of the “just add water” gimmickry from years back.
1. White Magic - ceo
2. Take You (Nadastrom Remix) - AC Slater
3. Dark Fantasy (Its Overture Remix) - Kanye West
4. Take Me Higher - Rogerseventytwo
5. Baby Get Higher (Chew Fu Remix) - Van Velzen
6. Spaceship (Nadastrom Remix) & (EDX Remix) - Benny Benassi feat. Kelis
7. Xtatic Truth (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix) - Crystal Fighters
8. Church - The 2 Bears
9. Revolving (Ramadanman Remix) - Spark
10. Never Forget (Cut Copy Lifelike Mix) - Fleetwood Mac
The term “summer anthem” is being thrown around for this DJ Khaled & Drake collabo that dropped last week.While not the track’s biggest fans there’s definitely something to it, so we decided to write it a new bassline, put it at a more dancefloor friendly tempo and make it something we could see as OUR summer anthem.
