PMD's Original Squad

(Youtube version is here.)

Glow-Stick Dance To EPMD

Here's something that happened about 10 years too late. Back in '89, Mantronix and EPMD were Sleeping Bag label-mates. Imagine how dope it would've been to have Kurtis Mantronik, back when he was in beat making mode for guys like Just-Ice and T La Rock, to have come up with a remix for EPMD's "Strictly Business" 12", with a new guest verse by MC Tee. But that never happened. Instead, after the surprising and irrational success of the Jason Nevins Vs. Run DMC single, where this Nivens guy made a clubby techno remix of Run DMC's "Hard Times," imitators started jumping out of the wood-work. And now that Mantronik had left Mantronix and hip-hop and was just making club music, he became one of the earliest to jump on the bandwagon with his own remix of an old school hip-hop classic.

So this came out in 1998 on Priority and Playland Records, and it's even got the same cover style as the Nevins single, with both artists logos' over solid black. There's also a second version that came out the same year on Epic Records, because this was picked up for the Blade (Wesley Snipes vs. vampires) soundtrack; but it's the exact same track-listing on both: four versions of the one remix. There's the main MBA Formula mix, a Radio Edit, the MBA Instrumental and a longer Rascal Dub. It's called the Rascal Dub because it was edited by Albert Cabrera for One Rascal Productions, so named because he's one of the original Latin Rascals gone solo. But I have no idea what the MBA is supposed to stand for.

Still, it's a fun little remix. Of course, not a patch on the original; but it also keeps pretty much everything from the original: the chunky piano notes, the Bob Marley vocal sample, etc. It speeds it all up and lays it over a high bpm dance track... and their flows sound good over a faster track. Plus Mantronik actually uses the turntables and cuts up the acapella a little.  He doesn't really cut loose and go all Skratch Picklz on us (which would've been really cool) or anything; but having his cuts on top of K La Boss's, over the faster, thumping track is actually pretty catchy.

Really, apart from speeding it up and adding a little bassy keyboards and some light, spacey percussion bits; he's not doing much remixing it all. If he put this on a mix-tape, you wouldn't really label it a remix, you'd just say he sped it up to blend in with the other tracks. I don't know if Mantronik quits his original keyboard riff right after the introduction, or if they just get completely drowned out by the original version's bassline; but either way, it's essentially just the song sped up with a little added flair. You can't really get impressed by it as an artistic achievement; but it's an enjoyable listen nonetheless. And let's face it, if were at the club in 1998, this is something you could request - unless the DJ was specifically playing a hip-hop set, he'd never slow it down to put on the original. But with this record, your girl could do her glow-stick dance while you get to hear Parrish Smith lay down the law on biting (relationships are all about compromise, you know). So artistic achievement, no; but it provides a genuine service, which is more than you can say about most of the crap these labels come out with. I'll approve it.

Candyman's EPMD Diss Record (and Super Lover Cee Gets It, Too)

(And here's the Youtube version!)

Whata Ya Want fur Nuthin'?

Let me start off my saying I haven't really been keeping up with the EPMD comeback hype, but what I have heard of their new reunion album, We Mean Business, (the CD is already out now; the vinyl drops later this month) was pretty respectable. So when I saw this second single (following the "Blow" 12", which came out ages ago) being offered as a freebie with any purchase from accesshiphop.com, I threw it in the cart. That single is "Run It (Remix)."

Now, from what I understand (feel free to correct me in the comments if I'm wrong; like I said, I haven't followed too closely), "Run It" was one of several tracks promotionally leaked onto the internet in advance of the album. The beat (self-produced by EPMD like most of the album) was cool, but response was a little underwhelming. So this was later leaked again, as a remix. The beats and rhymes were the same, but they added a new verse by Krs-1 at the end (he also threw in some ad-libs behind Eric and Parrish's vocals). That version was better received, and that's what finally wound up on the album.

Well, this single makes the bizarre choice to go back to the non-Krs 1 version. It's brought to you by Scion, the same car company(?) that put out that kinda cool Big Daddy Kane/Percee-P collabo last year. Supposedly you can hear samples of all their hip-hop promo singles on their website, but I can't get it to do anything but crash my browser.

So anyway, you've got three remixes here: the "Herve's Got His Hands Up Remix" by Joshua Harvey, the "Sinden Remix" by Graeme Sinden and the "Duke Dumont Mix" by Duke Dumont. No, I've never heard of any of those guys, either. And I'll tell you straight off, the first two remixes are crap. Can I just leave it at that? I guess I shouldn't.

Ok, well, any element you liked about the original instrumental is out - the ill piano looop right down to the hip-hop drums. Both remixes use typical club beats instead, and just use a different sample set on top. Harvey's variation is an irritating collage of straight-off-the-laptop sounds. He also rips out all the vocals, and just endlessly drops in a few repeating vocal samples from Sermon's verse. It's sort of a cross between the sounds of a construction site and a dentist's drill.

Sinden's remix, on the other hand, is like you might expect to hear in a London dance club, if you're an American who's never been overseas and has the worst possible opinion of Europeans. He also spends a lot of time looping short snippets of Sermon's verse, but eventually lets P's verse play through, albeit often chopped and juggled. I'm sure you've heard every sound on this mix in other dance club mixes, and you hated them then, too. I was left wanting to break up with my girlfriend for making me experience this, but then I realized I subjected myself to this.

Fortunately, Duke Dumont's remix is on a substantially higher level. I mean, it's not great; but compared to the other two it's like vintage Paul C. For one, it's back to being a hip-hop verse, with real drums and EPMD both actually spitting their verses (though still no Krs). It sounds like something you might randomly catch on Hot 97 in the evening. The hook is reduced to simply the phrase "Hands Up" looped a few times, but it's passable. Dumont adds some cool, Egyptian-sounding musical elements and marries them fairly well to the track - it's even catchy, but it kinda sounds like this track would fit a lot of artists better than EPMD.

In the end, though, the clear winner is the album version - which, for the record, isn't included here - followed by the promotional leak that wound up being rendered obsolete. But Duke Dumont's version isn't terrible, and you might finding yourself revisiting it every couple of years as a curiosity piece, if you've got the single in your collection. At least it's free.