Filed under: Events, Music | Tags: 213, alicia keys, amerie, Devil's Pie, freddie roach, kanye west, mashup, nujabes, one thing, pacquiao, r. kelly, remix, rich harrison, siik, step in the name of love, the meters
This Wednesday at DEVIL’S PIE, we’ll be featuring the ONLY mashup artist that I will publicly admit liking: SIIK.
Actually, I still cringe even using the word “mashup” anywhere on this blog. But that’s what most accurately describes what SIIK does. He takes the acapella of one song and combines it with a different instrumental. Seems simple enough? Wrong. What I like about SIIK’s remixes (a less-negatively associated term) is that he’s able to marry pop/rnb/rap acapellas with soulful instrumentals in a way that completely transforms the vibe of the song.
Take his Amerie remix for example. This is the one that got SIIK his 15 minutes. He transforms the original club banger, produced by Rich Harrison, who sampled the hard funk ofThe Meters, into a smoothed out head-nodder/two-stepper by surgically attaching a nice Nujabes instrumental to Amerie’s raw vocals.
DOWNLOAD: Amerie – “One Thing (Siik Remix)
Yes, I said surgical. Surgery requires training, experience, and skill. Proper “mashups” aren’t simply beat matching two different sources and smacking them on top of each other. You have to match the keys of the tracks (which SIIK is amazing at), you have match differing rhythmic swings of the tracks, you have to edit song arrangements so that musically they fit snugly, and you also have to mix the vocals just right so that they can fit sonically with the instrumental. The reason why I can’t stand mashups is because 1. their producers usually don’t take into account all those steps and end up with a terrible sounding mix and 2. nine times out of ten, they are just party songs made into more-partying party songs. I want to hear something creative and risky.
My favorite SIIK remix is “Step In The Name Of Love”:
DOWNLOAD: R. Kelly – “Step In The Name Of Love” (Siik Remix)
R. Kelly’s two step anthem (a staple record in my crate) and one of Kanye’s dopest instrumentals, used by 213 & reinterpreted by Alicia Keys, match each other like Roach & Pacquiao: perfect.
Download more SIIK remixes and dj mixes at his website: siik.org
And come through this Wednesday to hear him play live:
DJ Phatrick 