mixtape maestro (2.0)

So…did Clipse think that the only reason why folks weren’t all that madly in love over their ill-fitting feel-good summer jam “I’m Good’ was because of their initial lyrical contribution, the video, and the lack of guest stars?

Or that re-releasing the same damn single with the same damn beat and Pharrell-featured hook, but a brand new video clip, a so-so Rick Ross cameo and entirely different lyrics would change people’s minds about the record?

Beyond the nice-to-know FYI that as far as drug dealer code words for cocaine go, Taylor Swift is the “new” Christina Aguilera, the point of giving us an “Im Good 2.0″ that’s just as needless as the original has us perplexed. Why can’t they just do like 50 Cent did when each one of his fifty or so Before I Self Destruct lead singles failed to click with audiences: act like “I”m Good” never happened, and move on with the release of a totally new single?

Here’s a slew of new remixes that were either crammed into our uber-stuffed in-box or caught our attention via some other corner of the World Wide Web. Enjoy!!

Beyonce “Ego (The Twins Remix)”:

You may remember The Twins from their twinkly keyboard-decorated re-haul of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” that premiered a while back. On their latest hot-like-fire project, they completely strip away the old-school R&B influence of Beyonce’s “Ego”, giving the double entendre-laced ditty a Timbaland-like futuro-club sheen complete with hard knocking drums, synth sine waves that seem to fold in and out of eachother and re-processed vocals that re-imagine Mrs. Carter as this icy, stiletto-toed cyborg-diva.

DL: “Ego (The Twins Remix)” (alt)

Jackson 5 “The Love You Save (The Knocks Remix)”

We’ll never get enough of today’s producers/ DJ’s giving our favorite MJ records a brand new twist. Our latest favorite: Those consistently entertaining Knocks cats bringing an energetic new spirit to the Jackson 5′s 1970 classic, “The Love You Save” without losing sight of the original’s prized candy-soul magic.

DL: “The Love You Save (The Knocks Remix)”

Florence + The Machine “You’ve Got The Love (The xx Remix)”

It’s amazing how an inspirational-themed tune originally recorded in the 1980′s solely for a direct-to-video documentary has managed to enjoy so many chart lives over the following decades through mash-up-after-remix-after-remix-after-cover. The song’s latest incarnation involves ’09 music darlings The xx deliriously chopping up bits from the magnificent Florence + The Machine cover version then adding in their own signature unisex vocal treatment, and it’s arguably the best take of the song yet.

DL: “You’ve Got The Love (The xx Remix)”

Chew Fu & Steve Clisby “Purple Rain (Prince Cover)”

Take an old Prince staple, a solid funk-dance construction by one of the hottest re-”fix”-ers of today, and a fuzzed-out (and oh-so-soulful) vocal performance from a guy more people should really be aware of, and what do you get? A “Purple Rain” you’ll want to be showered over with again and again.

DL: “Purple Rain (Prince Cover)”

Sugababes “About A Girl (Serotonin Thieves Remix)”

From their recent line-up changes to the horrid, Pussycat Doll hand-me-down that was “Get Sexy”, the Sugababes’ 2009 attempt at coming back/ re-invading American shores has been met with so much disaster in it’s beginning stages, we really don’t understand the purpose of the girl group even continuing on (that is, unless they change their name entirely and start over from scratch).

But, in an effort to spin some strand of positivity out of their current troubles, we will say that we like their new single “About A Girl” a thousand times better in the remixing hands of UK duo the Serotonin Thieves. In this frame, the record grasps an appreciable early Madonna-like feel that couldn’t at all been heard in the original’s pounding and waaayy over-produced Red One-helmed theatrics.

DL: “About A Girl (Serotonin Thieves Remix)”

Lloyd featuring Pusha T “Pusha (Alternate Version)”

Less an actual remix than it is a simple switcheroo of guest rapper (Lil’ Wayne out, Clipse’s Pusha T in), this version of Lloyd’s controversial R&B simmer is basically one for the folks tired of hearing Weezy on every damn thing, and the dopes who think a song called “Pusha” featuring someone named Pusha is a “cool move”.

DL: “Pusha (Alternate Version)”

The last rapper we’d expect to embed themselves in gospel duo Mary Mary‘s Auto-Tuned-slickened crossover jam “God In Me” (think “Blame It On The Alcohol” with a hip, inspirational slant) would be Clipse‘s Malice, but here he is on this remix, dropping an intro sixteen that he questionably opens with his nickname tag “Patty Cake” (because, remember, he’s “the baker’s man”) before delving into some Him-appreciating dialogue (“See I was wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked/ Without the Lord, how could I make it?”).

We wouldn’t have predicted this collaboration (ever!!!!), but in the end, we must admit, they make for a pretty cool team.

DL: “God In Me (Remix)” (alt)

Peep the original’s video (featuring cameos from Kanye West, Farnsworth Bentley and…whoa, Holy ’90′s Flashback, Batman!!: Miss “I Love Your Smile” herself, Shanice!!) below:

It’s funny how after all the stunned reactions arising from the news that The Neptunes wouldn’t be the sole beatsmiths on Clipse‘s upcoming Till The Casket Drops, out of the three tracks leaked over the last couple months, the one not helmed by the ‘Tunes team has ended up the most appreciated.

“Kinda Like A Big Deal” may have lacked some truly solid verses or a sturdy enough hook (and remarkably saw them outshined by guest star Kanye), but hearing Pusha T and Malice atop DJ Khalil’s hard-knock tumble just felt right, this sinister combination that excitingly hinted that Casket was going to be something special (and maybe…perhaps…hopefully produce the “Grindin” Pt. 2 we had pathetically been anticipating for so damn long).

Then arrived the worrying “I’m Gone”, a summery track swimming in slippery glossy synths, Pharrell soul-boy chirps and materialistic focus, that even when gifted with a couple oh-so-Clipse-y lines failed to really register as an actual Clipse cut for the first four or five listens.

On the latest Casket drip “Eyes On Me”, the Virginia duo unfortunately give off a similar “what the hell is going on with this album” impression. A blatant aim at commercial/ club attention (which the duo have always seemed to only be able to achieve by accident, or at least attain without losing their street grip), “Eyes” gets it’s coke-rap rhymes out early (“I’m talking cooking up that slumdog millionaire” goes one opening line) before shifting it’s entire heart during the last three-quarters at admiring the name brand-fixated vixens who love the boys’ bottomless bank accounts.

Further solidifying the record as a ladies’ anthem of sorts is a poppy boom-bap shuffle more fitting for a pop tart’s sex purr, Pharrell’s hook boast of “getting dressed like I belong on TV” and a random Keri Hilson cameo that lasts no longer than sixteen seconds. All elements that would have felt perfectly fine if this was a Pussycat Doll/ Britney Spears creation, but when placed as a backdrop for the Clipse, disappoint in it’s bid for Top 40 love.

We’ll try not to come down too hard on the duo for trying to earn some mainstream money (they did go on about blowing through “a hundred thou in a recession” on “Deal” and might just be playing things smart), but let’s hope that after this and “I’m Good”, the whole of what’s left of Casket delivers nothing but the oft-kilter production menace and clever drug-lord rhymes we’ve been yearning for.

Till The Casket Drops is set for a September release.

DL: “Eyes On Me” (alt)

Midway through Clipse’s new, pre-junior LP mixtape, Road To Till The Casket Drops (which you can pick up for free here), the Brothers Thornton opt on proving that they can do “girl records”. But while “So Fly (Now We’ve Had Her)” is based around an instrumental that the ladies will un-doubtfully enjoy (former 112 member Slim’s seducing late-summer jam, “So Fly”), this isn’t some wimpy “thug & B” drivel they’re unleashing.

Cutting through the track’s sublime snap bounce, Pusha T and Malice relate their joys concerning the much-cherished rock star pasttime of “groupie passing” (“I had her/ Then he had her/ Then he had her/ Now we’ve had her”, the chorus snickers). Breaking apart girlfriends “like Kit-Kats”, the boys hit it, quit it, than sit back and compare “notes and chokes” with the all the other fellas who’ve ran through it, expressing very little apology along the way. “Not to demean ‘em/ That’s just how we see them,” one simply shrugs. Well, when you put it that way…

DL: “So Fly (Now We’ve Had Her)” (alt)