Some Ras Reggae Tunes

I gotta admit that I am totally out of touch with the current scene in Dancehall Reggae. Once upon a time I was up on all the new tune and riddims, was cutting remix dubplates and was playing some wicked juggling segments all over the world. I was at Super Power records, Barry U, Original Records, Tiger’s Reggae Hut, VP, Ethiopian Taste and many more on a regular basis to wait around and listen to the newest 45s and pick them as they were played. The customer service was usually as bad as the typical Jamaican restaurant but I digress. LOL

Well, nowadays I don’t have my finger on the pulse like I once did but I still love real reggae music. Most of the riddims nowadays don’t even sound like “reggae” and I found myself longing for a nice little juggling on a bad riddim. I was looking for a classic riddim to revive and I decided on one of my favorite tunes and riddim of all time, War Is In The Dance by the legendary Frankie Paul (R.I.P.)

I reconstructed a new version to cut some “dubs” with from a dub version that came out a few years ago that was cool but had no “direction” as far as voicing to it. I was only looking to do one remix and I ended up doing a medley of 2 Rihanna songs. I thought it was pretty hot and decided to “build a new juggling” around it. I cooked up a few more tunes to the riddim and the final result of that was War Is In The Dance 2030 which is some guaranteed vibes.

Below is the original Rihanna Medley Remix and the entire mix that it inspired. Enjoy =)

Recent Hip Hop Releases

Wow. Already almost thru winter. The world is a blur. Here are a few recent drops from my YouTube channel.

Hold Dat Remix is what I think could and should have been an official release from Das Efx. Over a decade ago Krazy Drayz brought this beat to the table. It was from a producer he met over the internet. It came with the hook already built in so I didn’t do the chorus on this one. Dray laid a verse to it and left the 2nd open for Skoob. I don’t think Skoob was too crazy about the beat so we never got a verse from him. One day while going over some files I came across the incomplete song with the open verse and decided to mix in an acapella verse from Skoob I had on a record. The song was “Raisin’ Hell” and was a very small white label type of release that not many people heard and made absolutely no noise. Everything seemed to be tailor made and it sounded like a hot record. I played it for the guys and they knew it was fire but Skoob didn’t want to release a recycled verse and never got around to recording a new verse. Dray went on the touch up his first verse and add a second for the original version of Hold Dat that appeared on his solo album “Showtime”. We shot a video for it, made a Big L Remix and everything.

Recently while going thru some old hard drives digging up some gems to post on my YouTube channel I came across the “demo” mix I did. I decided to use the upgraded, mixed and mastered studio version this time from Krazy Drayz’s album and recreate it. I rolled up my sleeves and got in the lab to work my magic and this was the final product. I also edited down an animated still video for YouTube which is below. Everyone that hears it swears its some new Das Efx heat but little do they know the true story behind it.

Also posted are 2 other classic remixes from G-Unit, Mobb Deep and M.O.P. taken from Napalm 1 & 2 which YouTube has taken down when I tried to post the entire mixtape. =(

YO HIPS YO THIGHS/SHOW ME MY OPPONENT

Every great artist in the music business has a “run”. Some are short, some are longer but a good “run” is when the artist/group is at their top relevancy. There is no denying Lil Wayne had one of the best runs ever in hip-hop. From around 2007 until the mid 2010’s he was everywhere. Several multi-platinum albums and an endless stream of features and mixtape music solidified his legacy around this time. Here are 2 of the many Lil Wayne remixes I made during this period.

THE CARTER

When “New Jack City” came out it was an instant classic. There were countless quotables in that movie. Years later as I was making one of my Napalm projects I decided to tell a story about the Carter. Over an experimental type beat I produced and some “hustler” verses by Biggie and Young Buck I put together an ode to the Carter with the help of some Wesley Snipes soundbites. Check it out below and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel.

DIRTY BU$INE$$

You have to strike while the iron is hot. After the 4 Horsemen 1 & 2 and Knights of the Roundtable 1 & 2 I showed that I was no flash in the pan. There was no denying I was an official player in the game now. It was pretty much classic or bust at this time.

One day I was riding I-95 down the southern east coast with my business partner Alex, who would go on to own the legendary American Bully “Tungsten”. The radio station was playing the classic song “Who Run It” by Three Six Mafia and he suggested I do a mixtape with my remix style but feature southern music. He lived in Texas & Virginia and knew something like this would be accepted in the south and everywhere else as well. This was around the time when southern styled Hip Hop was beginning to take the lead in the music business. I knew a project like this could help expand my steadily growing fanbase.

I once again locked myself in the lab and after weeks of mixing I emerged with Dirty Business. I definitely got the results I was looking for. It was received well all over but especially in the south and also out west. Below you will find the mix in its entirety. YouTube has been giving me some problems with my mixtapes so unfortunately it is blocked in America unless you use a VPN but all my people in other parts of the world should be able to view. Do remember this is always available in the cd shop. Enjoy.