Many, many, many, MANY albums have been chopped and screwed before but very few are actually good and well put together. I have the Chopped and Screwed version of Watch the Throne and it made me not even want to listen to the original…but then again, the Chopped not Slopped version of Echoes of Silence by The Weeknd is not that bad. Obviously, nothing beats the original (especially when The Weeknd is involved), but once in a blue moon, a DJ will go rouge and create a really good chopped/slopped/screwed remix of an album. Luckily for us, Slim K’s Chopped and Screwed version of Channel Orange is pretty great.
Hot Chip – “Look at Where We Are” (Major Lazer Remix)
This remix does “Look at Where We Are” right. Major Lazer’s (Diplo & Switch) adding some 808 snares, slowing the track down and giving it a bit of edge too. It’s being digitally released through Domino with a B-side remix featuring Major Lazer vs. Junior Blender.
Notorious B.I.G. – “Big Poppa” (Woody Remix)
Producer Woody is working on a new project, Woody x The Notorious B.I.G.: Remixed, which is going to be amazing, especially if the rest of the songs are bumping like this one. Woody’s remix of “Big Poppa” maintains Biggie’s original lackadaisical “lemme get at that” flow on this track, but also adds in a more “indie-fied” chorus (sing along time anyone?) and outro. Check out Woody’s remix of “Big Poppa” below and stay tuned for more tracks from Woody x The Notorious B.I.G.: Remixed!
Skinny Friedman – “Back to the Trap”
WGWI loves Skinny Friedman, and I personally have been making all of my friends listen to Trap Rave 2.0 whenever they ask what music to play in the car. So OBVIOUSLY when I saw that “Back to the Trap” came out a good 2 hours ago, I gasped, dropped everything what I was doing and starting writing this post.
This song has all of the things that I love about Skinny Friedman: a head bopping beat, some rappers yelling every so often and the feeling that you must start dancing. “Back to the Trap” might not be the next “Beez in the Trap“, but it is a very close second. Check it out below.
Game – “Pop That”
Game goes hard on French Montana’s “Pop That” beat. Sure, the song does not have any real substance (in fact, this is basically the stereotypical rap song that just talks about strippers / degrading women. You know, the usual), but it is a nice song to have playing in the background as you work. Oh wait, I am the only person working over the summer? Awesome.
Check out the remix below and let me know your thoughts!
Nas – “The Don” (Massive Attack Remix)
You can never go wrong with Nas, so it is no surprise that this Massive Attack remix is still as awesome as the original (well maybe not AS awesome, but it is still pretty great). With more technologically advanced sounds (alien communication galore!) and more trippy musical sections than the original, Massive Attack’s remix of “The Don” creates a sound that will be familiar enough when we begin to populate Mars. Check it below.
Justin Bieber – “Boyfriend” ft. 2 Chainz, Mac Miller and Asher Roth
Yes, this is originally a Justin Bieber song and yes this came out a few weeks ago, but lets get over that and get to the point: this is my favorite song of the summer. Without the Biebs’ creepy whisper-rapping, “Boyfriend” is a really sick song with great verses from each rapper. Even though I have been following Mac since forever, I am super down with Asher’s verse. Stream the song below!
Skinny Friedman – Trap Rave 2.0
Skinny Friedman’s newest releaseTrap Rave 2.0 which you can download (for free!) right here, just came out on Tuesday but I have no been able to turn it off since. Not much to say about this album except that it is an instant banger and I’ll be bumping this for all of finals week. Check out some of the tracks below (my favorite being “Beez in the Trap”).
Yasiin Bey – “Bey”
Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def, continues with his Top 40 Underdog Series by releasing “Bey” today. “Bey” straight up takes (no samples here) the beat of “John“, a 2011 track by Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. The song is alright (even though the internet would have you thinking differently), but I do wish more of his Top 40 Underdog songs would be more like “Ni**as in Poorest“; it is interesting to note that his songs seem to be coming out whenever he feels like it. “Ni**as in Poorest” came out on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and “Bey” came out today, which would have been Biggie’s 40th birthday. Just because of that, I have to give the song props.
Also, can we just take a second to appreciate this album cover? Those are some nice vintage Gucci loafers Yasiin, damn.
RIP Donna Summer
So, full disclosure, I am 19 years old. But thanks to a father with an expansive music collection, I listened to a lot of 70s soul and disco music, including, of course, Donna Summer. Summer was the first artist (ever; not just first female, and not just first black person) to have three consecutive double albums reach #1 on the United States’ Billboard chart, and if that is not enough to get you impressed, she also charted four singles on the U.S. Billboard charts within 13 months.