[rating: 5]
As many DJs will tell you, just because something bumps on the dancefloor doesn’t mean you want to hear it in the car or on your mp3 player – and the opposite is also true. Happy the person, then, who gets hold of this second volume from the kings of reggae mash-up/ remix-land which, like its predecessor Vol. 1 (and hopefully any future successors) run tings in both clubland and pretty much anywhere else you care to play it. Once again the main contributors are J Star (recently nabbed to remix Madness’s last single LISTEN HERE) and Nice Up label boss DJ Shepdog – though on Cut Ups…2 they’re also joined by Jeff Li (the fashion designer? Surely not?) and Brighton’s Black Grass.
The vinyl faithful, who no doubt already snapped up more than a few of these cuts when they came out as limited 45s over the last year or so, will already know the drill followed by this team of irie souljahs: basically grab either a reggae beat or a hip hop beat and put the first in bed with some manner of vocalist who’s not a reggae toaster (usually a hip-hop rapper) and the second (i.e. a non-reggae beat) in bed with a reggae toaster – either way the non-reggae element gets shown a healthy dose of Jah love.
Some of the treats available on this second crack of the whip see J Star mixing and mashing a host of skanking classic cuts with Snoop Dogg’s Drop It Like It’s Hot, Lil Kim’s Lighters Up, and achieving the virtually impossible by providing Diana Ross with more credibility than she’s had in years. On second thoughts – make that ‘ever.’ Not to be outdone, Shepdog gives the reggae re-rub treatment to Dee-Lite, Gorillaz, and even The Nextmen and M.I.A. at the same time, the naughty boy. These boys want to watch out – sooner or later somebody will be after them to do an original. Pretty much essential.
Listen to Nice Up & J Star – Cut Ups, Bruck Us and Muck Ups Vol.2