You might be thinking that cover in the box to the left looks familiar. Yeah, it's the exact same cover as the promo version of Big Daddy's Kane's Veteran'z Day (the promo is spelled "Veteran'z" and the official spells it "Veteranz'") from my last post, except with "Hold It Down" written across the bottom instead. In fact, Black Jam used this same cover image AGAIN as the sticker cover for their "Hold It Down" b/w "Uncut Pure" 12". I guess since they paid for that photo, dammit, they were gonna use it.Anyway, this is a pretty interesting, European-only remix single of "Hold It Down," featuring remixes from Der Wolf (who also raps here - hence the big, red sticker), DJ Tapesh and Brian R. Busby. No, I didn't know who anyo f those people were, either... but I did some research:
Der Wolf is described on his new crew, Killergroove Formula,'s myspace page as "former German pop music star and long-time HipHop and BreakHouse DJ Jens Der Wolf Albert." He put out a bunch of 12"'s and an album or two in the late 90's and has recently become one third of the aforementioned Killergroove Formula, who released their first album in '06. DJ Tapesh is a "trance" DJ in Germany who's did a little production in the late 90's. And Brian R. Busby, who I never heard of, but according to discogs.com has done a couple remixes for a Netherlands group called 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor.
So all that research was an interesting lesson in German club music... and an interesting look into the genre of "artists who shouldn't be doing Big Daddy Kane songs." Ha ha Nah, I'm just playing. Actually, none of the remixes are too bad, and they're definitely in keeping with the vibe of Kane's original mix (no acid club house trance mixes here). They're maybe slightly jazzier than the original version, but not in an old school DITC kind of way... more like a Tribe vibes kinda way. Both the "Radio Mix" (which despite its misleading title is a full instrumental remix) and the Busby remix.
Der Wolf takes the final verse on the first "Radio Mix"... It's hard for me to say how he is, because he's rapping in German. If you speak German, maybe you will enjoy this version. If you're like me, and you don't, you'll probably want to skip right to track 2, which is the same remix, but reinstates Kane's third verse and ditches Der Wolf (sorry, Der Wolf!). The whole reason this track exists is for Kane's slick wordplay, so Der Wolf would need to have a very impressive verse to make it worthwhile even for the German speaking listeners.
Like the original US 12", this single is also b/w "Unda Presha." No remixes, just the album version. But it's a good pairing with "Hold It Down" - both are just about flexing his skill, showing off slick wordplay in battle rhymes over smoother tracks. "Unda Presha" is a little harder than "Hold It Down," though, and has no R&B hook; but I'd say they're about equal in terms of quality. Two good, underrated tracks. And these remixes don't hurt.
Before I bounce, of course, BDK has a myspace, and here it is. He also has a pretty cool website at: officialbigdaddykane.com, with some clips of unreleased tracks on there.
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