Song of the Day: Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Searching...

8:06 am - Fri, Jan 28, 2011: 6 notes

Song of the Day: Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Searching (Remix)…

I suppose this post is more a celebration of Pete Rock and the seemingly lost art of the PROPER remix as opposed to a tailored discussion about the song. I’d argue that when you take this song (and the project it’s on, Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s ‘Rare Tracks’) and other Pete Rock remixes such as ‘Shut Em Down’ (best remix ever?), ‘Juicy’ (Pete claims Puff stole the OG from him anyway) and ‘Family Affair’, amongst others, it’s difficult to crown anyone else ‘King of the Remix’ when it comes to rap songs.

Pete made remixes that borrowed a ton from the original (such as this ‘Searching’ remix that shares its drums with the original version - listen for the flip at the end) or ones that had absolutely nothing in common with the original track (the vast majority of his remixes - especially remixes of his work with CL Smooth). Either way, a Pete Rock remix always makes you wonder which version of the song is better - his remix or the original - in most cases, I’d vote for the remix.

At this point, its probably a cliched suggestion, but it would be nice to see a revival of the ‘beat remix’ as opposed to remixes that simply involve adding a Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Wayne, Ludacris or Nicki Minaj rap verse to the song. Kanye gets a little credit for the corny ‘POWER’ remix from last summer/fall. It had a completely different beat, two new guest vocalists and new lyrics from Kanye. That was pretty cool. It’s just too bad that Swizz Beatz had to sample THAT song. Could you be any more obvious? Douche. Just do what Pete does and add horns to that bitch - more ~~cowbell~~ horns make any song better (strings too). For real. When last did you hear a rap, soul or R&B song with horns that you didn’t like?

Perhaps it’s cheaper and certainly less time consuming to just add a verse instead of creating a whole new soundscape. Especially if making the new beat involves sampling more songs. I would never argue with economics, but I’ll definitely bitch about the absence of one of the best things about being a rap music fan.

Start your weekend off right with this one…