mixtape maestro (2.0)

When looking back at some of the best artist/ producer teamings in R&B and Pop music history, Timbaland and the late, great Aaliyah deserve to be recognized somewhere near the top of the pack. Though the singer didn’t have the biggest pipes, once her slinky, understated purr was interwoven into one of Tim’s mad scientist Y3K pop-funk sonics, the most incredible aural magic always seemed to happen. Hell, you could place any one of their joints next to a majority of what’s lodged on today’s Hot 100 list and their collaborations would still sound flyer, fresher and a million times more innovative.

When we got word that L.A. producer Belief (Murs, Jean Grae, C-Rayz Walz) was taking on a new remix project in which he would give some of Aaliyah’s classics some brand new flavor, we approached the results with much trepidation and our hands already palming the “Hell No” buzzer, just knowing that this dude’s “modern updating” would likely make Aaliyah & Timbaland’s greatest jams sound like some corny Lady Gaga knock-offs.

Much to our pleasant surprise though, the two re-imaginations that Belief have so far unleashed have quickly swatted away all traces of our initial pessimism (both involve enough genre-melding imagination to actually sound like beatscapes Aaliyah might have possibly considered taking on), birthing an excited anticipation for the premieres of his future Aaliyah Remix Project works in it’s place.

Take a listen/ peep the videos to Belief’s fantastic remixes of Aaliyah’s 2000 #1 “Try Again” (now bedazzled with summery synth blurbs, old school drum loops and a lil’ electric guitar rock sparkle) and her under-appreciated 2001 gem “We Need A Resolution” (re-configured with a tense, electro-R&B stomp that nicely compliments the lyrics’ relationship drama) below:

“Try Again (Belief Remix)”:

DL: “Try Again (Belief Remix)” (alt)

“We Need A Resolution (Belief Remix)”:

DL: “We Need A Resolution (Belief Remix)” (alt)