Please Listen To My (Beat) Demo
Between 1995 and 1997 seem to be the years that white label rap remix records peaked, in terms of the sheer numbers hitting the shelves – you couldn’t go near a rack of 12” singles without tripping over a bootleg remix of ‘Life’s A Bitch’, ‘Microphone Masters’ or anything from Busta Rhymes first album. At this stage, white label remixes fall into two categories – stuff that was commissioned by a record label but didn’t get used on an official release (so the producer decided to press-up it up for ‘promotional purposes’), or a 33 1/3 RPM business card for an up-and-coming beat maker trying to make a name for themselves.
Some noteworthy contributions from the former include Buckwild’s Still Diggin’ Sampler EP, DJ Eclipse’s Wild Pitch era white labels and the DJ Spinna Remixes EP (although I don’t think this was released until later), while the latter includes Frankenstein’s Live From New York, the Vinyl Reanimators/DJ Mighty Mi EP’s and DJ Honda’s Remixes (this is a bit of a wild card entry, since Honda was already signed to Sony at this point so these are officially approved remixes of artists signed to Sony/Relativity/Ruffhouse. Nevertheless, it was still showcasing Honda’s music to those who weren’t familiar).
Every now and then, some of these home-made remixes made it to the proverbial ‘big leagues’, like the time that Mighty Mi pressed-up his own version of Ghostface’s ‘All That I’ve Got Is You’ and an A&R called him to ask if they could put put it out themselves, or in the case of DJ Shame’s legendary remix of Tim Dog’s ‘Bronx Nigga’, he won a contest run by the label and received a Numark dual CD player as the prize, in addition to his mix getting a limited promo pressing on Ruffhouse!
In this 2006 interview, Shame also talks about how he campaigned to get his remix of Kool G Rap and Nas’ ‘Fast Life’ picked-up by Epic, but they went with the Salam Remi ‘Norfside’ Remix’ instead. To add more sugar to the Kool-Aid (word to Hard Knocks), original producer of the song Buckwild also submitted his own remix to no avail. I like all three versions but there’s something about the ill scratches on the Vinyl Reanimators mix that really hit the mark.1
Unauthorised remixes provide an opportunity to completely recontextualize a track and switch-up the whole mood of the song entirely, as with the Buckwild remix of Nas and AZ’s ‘Life’s A Bitch’ that isn’t the one with the Grover Washington loop (confusingly labeled as #2 on the white label but #1 on the Rare Studio Masters CD). This version captures that wonderfully bleak, eerie sound that Buck and the likes of Dr. Butcher were delivering during this period. Too depressing for ya? No worries, DJ Eclipse has got you covered as he R.A.M.P.’s up the vibe with this version without going full Gap Band.
The flip side of this, and perhaps the most valuable public service that bootleg remixes can provide, is to give songs that had really shitty music a second lease of life, thus emancipating some great raps from purgatory. Think of all the quality LOX verses, trapped behind Swizz Beats and Dame Grease ditties? Or basically everything that anyone even vaguely associated with the Wu-Tang released after The RZA changed his beeper number?
That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth having a tilt at sacred cows such as ‘Shook Ones’ accapella or anything from Illmatic, it can still be enjoyable to hear classic lyrics in a new context, even if there’s no hope of ever surpassing the original version. Unless it’s anything involving Biggie Smalls or MF Doom, that is. Please let those dudes actually rest in peace you fucks.
In my 2023 book, Past The Margin: A Decade of Unkut Interviews, I suggested to Kool G Rap that ‘Fast Life’ felt like a passing of the torch to Nas: ‘Absolutely. That wasn’t the intention, but I understand what you mean. It kinda had that appearance to it, and it probably did work out that way.’
Always a great read Robbie ✌️