Just Another Mash-Up Monday

"A lot of people just assume I took some Beatles and, you know, threw some Jay-Z on top of it or mixed it up or looped it around, but it's really a deconstruction. It's not an easy thing to do. I was obsessed with the whole project, that's all I was trying to do, see if I could do this. Once I got into it, I didn't think about anything but finishing it. I stuck to those two because I thought it would be more challenging and more fun and more of a statement to what you could do with sample alone. It is an art form. It is music. You can do different things, it doesn't have to be just what some people call stealing. It can be a lot more than that." - Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton


Mash-Ups, like covers songs can be a thing of beauty....they can also be a frickin apocalyptic-level disaster.

Run DMC started the ground work for the mash-up game over two decades ago but I don't think people really understood the impact they have on the music industry until Danger Mouse released The Grey Album in early 2004.

Jay-Z followed with the mainstream mash-up blueprint (pun intended) when he brought Collision Course, his collaboration with Linkin Park and claimed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 200 chart later that same year.

In recent years, we seen the emergence of Viva La Hova, Jaydiohead and countless other mash-up releases that have been widely praised by audiences and critics alike.

Both Jay-Z and Lil' Wayne have said that they feel Drake is poised to rise to the top of hip hop. So it was only a matter of time before someone decided to take his rhymes and set them to a new soundtrack. Enter producer Chi Duley and here's what you get...




While I'm not feeling all the tracks on "October's Very Cold", due to the fact they lack the imagination of The Grey Album and the seemlessness of Collision Course, I still found this 10 track offering well worth a listen or two. There are some high points ("The Fly Scientist", "The Best Strawberry", "Troubles Over") and some downright silly moments ("Money to Fix", "Viva La Forever"), but overall let's call this what it is...A great way to spend some time on a Monday morning.

Here are a few of my personal favorites..and you can click here to hear "October's Very Cold" in it's entirety.

Just Another Mash-Up Monday by EmoSarah