Respect Authority

Looking for a new album to drive recklessly to just as the weather’s starting to get nice enough to roll the windows down? LA rapper, producer, and self-obsessed tough guy of all trades, Adrian Champion just released a White Stripes mashup album full of time-tested hip hop acapellas on top of scorching, raw guitar riffs and percussive piano-driven beats. Put simply, it’s the sonic manifestation of the term “badass.”

I’ve fallen a bit out of touch with the mashup scene in recent months; admittedly, the supersaturation of worn-out formulas was starting to get to even me and my bottomless collection of regrettable Flo Rida remixes. Nonetheless, I remain both vigilant and open-minded in my search for fresh ideas in the genre of bastardizing classic songs until they resemble more closely the musical equivalent of chicken pot pie. And let me make this certain: I’ve had a lot of chicken pot pie in my time, but I assure you, I still love me a chicken mother fucking pot pie. So check out the trailer below, it should get you salivating enough to start reaching across the table for the download link.

The White Stripes made a name for themselves with their bare bones, classic sound, and Champion maintains this theme with his selection of vocal samples from various rap legends. The gritty production quality of the instrumentation forms an unlikely but perfectly complementary backdrop to the mid-to-late 90s gangland mainstream hip hop that inhabits most of the album.

The potential to draw comparisons between the last decade’s notable ghetto warfare and rapper-brawling, and the old, lawless days of grizzled cowboys shooting each other dead in the dusty streets across the Wild West has always been there, but this masterfully produced mix has brought the parallels to the forefront like nothing before. And the result is a head-bobbing, genre-defying sonic assault that carves out new territory while still remaining reverent and faithful to the samples that made it all possible.

Champion might occasionally come across a bit like the obnoxious dude at the high school lunch table who won’t stop talking about how big his dick is with all his DJ call-outs spattering the album, claiming it as a “brand new classic.” Nonetheless, his arrogance may be undesirable but it’s not exactly undeserved — this mixtape does for The White Stripes what Danger Mouse did for The Beatles way back on The Grey Album, the album that just may have set off the entire mashup craze in the first place. It’s an illuminating 48 minutes — presented flawlessly, fun to listen to without turning into generic overdone dance trash, and best of all, more than the sum of its parts.

Good afternoon! I’m here to give you a new perspective on the word “awesome.”

In the immortal words of R. Kelly, “It’s! The! Remix!”

ThruYOU is the genius bastardization of all media through the cultural dream catcher that is YouTube by some shadowy, often pictured shirtless, character by the name of Kutiman. With a name like that, it sounds like the dude belongs in a fucking Pokéball if you ask me — instead, he’s busy ripping the entire Internet to shreds, and pushing mash-up culture’s overstuffed envelope just a little further in the process.

The results of his tireless mad science are no less impressive than they are innovative. Kutiman is the Girl Talk of streaming video montage, to put it one way. And just like the Pied Piper of neon-clad hipstards, Kutiman may not have been the first to attempt something like this, but he achieved it on a scale so much larger, and did it so successfully as to completely overshadow the clambering troglodytes that paved his way. And like in the best mash-ups, the end product is somehow more than just the sum of its parts. Kutiman makes rich, lush soundscapes out of zit-faced losers playing a cheap guitar for their webcam as if the 14-year-olds calling them a fag in the ensuing YouTube video’s comments actually care.

So I guess this is what it feels like to be living in Post Postmodernity.

Be Shareful highlights a band/musician/hip hop superstar number one in the game/whatever and offers free downloads of some of their music. The MP3s will be available for one week so get them before the RIAA gets me.

Despite the explosion of mashups available on the Internet and the insatiable consumption of tracks by mash monsters like Girl Talk, there was a hole in the genre that no amount of “Umbrella” samples could fill. R. Kelly may be a flirt, but when would he flirt with bearded indie rock supergroup Broken Social Scene? And how would Lil’ Wayne sound blazing over Modest Mouse? Would Dre ever consider collaborating with synthy sound technicians Fujiya and Miyagi? Well, probably not, but that’s why there’s The Hood Internet.

The Hood Internet

DJs STV SLV and ABX are a fearsome duo, and as unlikely as a couple of dorky white dudes having such a command over booty rocking beats may be, the rap-indie hybrids they produce are perhaps even more so. But considering the extreme oversaturation of popular samples as of late, unlikely is as disarming as a pregnancy scare but, like, way more enjoyable than that. Read More ›