Drivin' Me Mad Inside - Q-Tip Beat Series Part II

Cypress Hill - Illusions (Q-Tip Remix)
taken from Unreleased & Revamped (Sony, 1996)

Having waxed lyrical about Q-Tip's proficiency behind the boards in the first installment of this series, his work with Cypress Hill on the 'Illusions' remix actually comes as a slight disappointment. Trav of WYDU fame recently noted that if you're going to remix a track then it better be as good, if not better, than the original, and in this case I am sad to say that The Abstract's reinterpretation of Hill's dark and moody classic falls short of the mark. Don't fret though, there's still a quality to this particular work that demands discussion, and despite its shortcomings, it displays another angle to Tip's production style that is relatively unique amongst his wider body of work.

Let's start with the good stuff. What I like about Tip's production here is his incorporation of dub reggae influences that work well when teamed up with the heavy drum track, and in particular, the crunching snare hits that punctuate the groove. The main loop and its dose of reverb clearly nod to a dub aesthetic, as does the percussive track that replaces the traditional high hat. The last 30 seconds of the song are the most extreme point at which these influences come into fruition, with big slabs of reverb applied to some of the key elements of the cut, creating a whirlwind of sound that would perhaps be better suited to your local bredrens' soundclash than a regular hip hop jam. The bouncy, open nature of the beat is enjoyable and original, and it clearly demonstrates Tip's wide spectrum of musical influences as well as his ability to translate these into a different context.

However, the reason why I am not totally won over by this song is that the production seems to bear little regard for the vocal performance of B-Real, whose distinctive nasal delivery seems uncomfortable here. When paired up with the original beat, the rhymes feel dark and sinister, but Tip's remix detracts from this quality and the impact of these verses is somewhat lost. A truly great remix avoids this fallacy, putting a different spin on existing rhymes and providing them with a new and complementary platform, but in this case, the beat and lyrics jar rather than mesh.

So it's a thumbs up for the beat, but a thumbs down for the remix as a whole. If you're in any doubt as to what I'm getting at, peep the video of 'Illusions' in its original incarnation: to my mind, there's no contest between this and Tip's version:



(As a brief aside, I love the Apocalypse Now reference in this video as it works incredibly well with the vibe of the song: it's seriously dope.)

More Q-Tip beat-based goodness to come in the future: enjoy your Friday night folks.