Serengeti is one of the few underground rappers I find interesting these days. Mind you, this isn’t really because I’m anti-underground rap in any real way, it’s just hard to find the time to find this stuff when my focus has been club-related stuff for so long. But, he’s really a talented, charismatic, and fun rapper. The strength of his songs is not lyrical (though he’s certainly not a bad writer by any stretch of the imagination), nor is his rapping technically very impressive in the virtuosic Bun-B/Rakim/KoolGRap/Micah9 type of way (though he’s certainly technically sound enough to enjoy). What’s remarkable about Serengeti is the characters he portrays in his songs. They’re usually over-the-top caricatures of prototypical character types, but he does them in really funny and equally convincing ways (whether we’re talking about a middle aged Chicagoian who loves Chicago sports and bratwurst, or a teenage girl that wants to go to a concert). He really knows how to sound good on a beat as well–almost like he was a singer in a previous life or something. Whatever the case, I’m really happy with the songs I’ve done with the guy and wish I could find the time to do some more with him. I believe he’s recently signed with Anticon records which is kind’ve funny because the Anticon dudes are dudes I produced for way back in the day before going a completely different direction with my tastes and production. Anyway, here’s a bunch of songs I did with Serengeti. I like them all, but I think the clear stand out is “I Don’t Know.” There’s a really good video for it on youtube as well which is linked below.

Serengeti “I Don’t Know” (Produced by Emynd):
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VIDEO

Serengeti “Jim Duggin” (Produced by Emynd):
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I’m currently going through tracks, trying to decide what will and won’t be released officially on vinyl over the coming months. I’ve got a bunch of stuff in the pipeline, some of it that is definitely useful, but just not something that I really feel compelled to commit to permanence on vinyl. So, over the next few weeks and months, I will be posting a bundle of these songs that won’t be released on vinyl any time soon. The first is this Club/Party Music track I made using elements from 2 Live Crews “Back At Your Ass” Megamix from their album “Back at Your Ass for the Nine-4”. It’s really simple track, but I think that’s part of what makes it so effective. The deep bass kicks work realy well in the club and I really like the chopped melody. I’ve posted the excellent 2 Live Crew song below as well.

Emynd “Back At Your Ass”:
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2 Live Crew “Megamix” (Back At Your Ass):
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I just realized I never posted this song on this blog. It’s gotten quite a bit of shine on Discobelle and elsewhere on the internets. Just putting it up here for anyone that may have missed it and because that pic above with dudes nips is hilarious.

Flo-Rida ft T-Pain “Get Low (Emynd’s Passion Remix)”:
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Linked below was my first attempt at a remix of SRC’s perfect song “Mad Again.” I don’t think it’s quite as successful as my Bounce remix that ultimately wound up being on the official digital release, but I do like it enough to share with y’all. The idea is fairly similar in that I sampled “Automan” and there’s a Bounce breakdown near the end of the song, but aesthetically, this is quite a bit different from my Bounce remix. For one, it’s much more obviously House inspired with the four on the floor drums and the reverbed House piano that adds the melody on top of the twirling “Automan” synth. It also just feels a whole lot different in mood and uses significantly more of the acapella. The Bounce remix is hard, aggressive, and energetic, while this has a bit more of a smooth and melancholy feel. I do really like the Bounce breakdown in this, but I also think Diplo was wise to advise me to get rid of the pianos and make a full on Bounce song out of it. That being said, I think this song is interesting in its own right and would love to hear some thoughts.

South Rakkas Crew “Mad Again (Emynd’s More on the Floor Remix):
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Once again, purchase my New Orleans Bounce remix of “Mad Again” at Turntablelab right here: COP IT!

DJs, if you’re too broke or don’t want to SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT WITH YOUR $$$, hit me up on the myspace and I’ll get you an MP3.

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I never provided a link to buy my New Orleans Bounce remix of “Mad Again.” You can cop a high quality MP3 or even WAV file right here at Turntablelab. I guess that little check mark means it’s a “pick” or something. Yay!

Once you’re done buying my inauthentic imitation of Bounce music, go and cop all that REAL NOLA Bounce ish, starting with the Shake, Twerk, and Wobble compilation.

Stay tuned for a Mad Decent podcast by yours truly with a bunch of Bounce stuff. It’s going to be sick and hopefully have some special appearances and drops from some heavyweights from outta the NO.

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When I originally set out to make a Bmore club version of the Blackbyrds classic b-boy jam “Rock Creek Park,” I wasn’t really planning on making it too “hard.” I was kinda just messing around and hoping to make a useful transition record that updated the aesthetic of the OG so it wouldn’t sound terribly out of place when I played it in sets of some of the more bass and drum heavy club stuff I’ve been playing the past several years. But, when chopping the samples up into their parts, the stabbing synth lines were really energetic and forceful, so I went all out and added the cliched Lil Jon “WHAT!”s and some syncopated, menacing “HEY!”s a la Blaqstarr. I know Diplo was opening a lot of his sets with this track about 6 months ago and I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on it from Scottie B, Blaqstarr, Sega, and big homie Dirty South Joe. It should be released on vinyl on the next Emynd & Bo Bliz EP that will be out this summer. This version is mixed and mastered by DJA but a new mixed and mastered version might appear on the vinyl.

Anyway, hope y’all like it and find it useful.

Emynd “Rock This Park”:
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The original of Kenny Dixon Jr.’s “I Should’ve Known” is without a doubt one of my favorite house songs ever. The shit is just so soulful and painful, while still grooving real hard. The drums on the OG, however, were preventing me from playing this song out, so when making the Crossfaded Bacon 2008 Mix, I thought I’d whip together a beefed up version with some more traditional house drums. I wound up adding the Rihanna vocal and the Nightcrawlers horn loop just to spicen it up a bit and keep it familiar for folks who aren’t totally into this style of shit. This is by no means a replacement for the OG of this song however. The OG is perfect. In comparison, this is just some random bullshit thrown together.

Whatever the case, I hope you find it useful and enjoy it.

Kenny Dixon Jr vs Emynd “I Should’ve Known (Emynd’s Party Break)”:
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