Mash-Ups

Definition (from www.salon.com): The wacky juxtaposition spawned its own kind of revolution, inspiring legions of the club remixes now called “mash-ups” – with one classic example being “Smells Like Booty,” in which Destiny’s Child wails over Nirvana’s classic dirge and drone. Mash-ups involves blending samples from two songs – generally, one song’s vocals atop another’s instrumental or rhythm track. The sum of the parts often surpasses the originals. The more disparate the genre-blending is, the better; the best mash-ups blend punk with funk or Top 40 with heavy metal, boosting the tension between slick and raw. Part of the fun is identifying the source of two familiar sounds now made strange – and then giggling over how perfect Whitney sounds singing with Kraftwerk.

Last weekend as I was driving down South Super Highway, 99.5RT aired this mash-up. It was the very first mash-up I’ve ever heard played on local radio. It was the juxtaposition of Alicia Keys’ “Karma” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious”—Keys’ singing over Wonder’s instrumentation. What a bitchin’ track! I’ve been trying to search for it on the net, but so far nada. But I was able to download “Drop It Ms. Jackson,” a mash-up between Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson.” Not as seamless as the Alicia/Stevie wonder, but interesting still.