Led Zeppelin feat. Xaphoon Jones, Clipse and Birdman, “Whole Lotta Love” [Remix/Mashup]
Hearing Pusha T and Malice repeat “What happened to that boy?” between Plant’s pained yowl is weirdly thrilling — like they’re egging him on. Unlike most rock/hip-hop mashups, all the rappers sound genuinely great on this, matching the original’s toughness note for sneering note.
Britney Spears, “3″ [Slow Remix]
If this is the “slow” remix, what does the fast remix sound like? Those odd guitar arpeggios have the strange effect of pushing the song into Coldplay territory, which is fine, because we can’t imagine anyone is desperately wanting Coldplay themselves to write a song about a three-way. This remix will ensure that never has to happen.
J. Period, K’Naan, Bob Dylan, Fela Kuti & Bob Marley [Various Songs]
So this is quite the concept: Canadian narrative rapper K’Naan and producer J. Period have done the ultimate in tribute records, using the music of three of their idols — Bob Dylan, Fela Kuti and Bob Marley — as the source material for three different (free!) albums. We’d recommend you start with “Don’t Think Twice,” but each of the three samples have enough charm to warrant full downloads of each album.
Kid Cudi, MGMT & Ratatat, “Pursuit of Happiness” [Benny Benassi Remix]
Hip-hop is now so far removed from its boom-bap roots that the old stuff is unrecognizable — like someone showing you a picture of some relative who died when you were like four years old. This super-sleek Benny Benassi remix of a Kid Cudi song just reinforces that point. It’s just odd to hear Cudi sing-rapping over synth stabs that sound like they were taken from an old Dream Academy song.
Don Diablo vs. Phoenix vs. Jay-Z, “99 Fences” [Mashup]
This is shaky ground at first, to be sure — the cleanness of the music doesn’t quite complement Jay’s determined flow. But once the song gets going it hits a kind of weird cruising altitude, as if all three of them are cruising down the autobahn at 3 a.m., Jay just freestyling as they drive.
