You can take the man out of hip-hop (and find him a career that lately draws inspiration from 80s soul and boogie) but you can’t take the hip-hop out of the man! And so it is that Smoove returns to his first love with the Wack 23 45, featuring Bizarre Cut ‘N’ Paste Ride and Summer Cyde. As the name might suggest, the former finds our man returning to the sample source material that formed the bedrock of the beats of The Pharcyde‘s legendary 1992 debut LP, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, re-excavating the samples in question and pasting them together for jazzy hip-hop instrumental thrills. The latter also provides Bizarre Ride…-fuelled business by editing Quincey Jones’ Summer In The City (the sample source used on Passin’ Me By) with a fat drum break and bass FX to create premium blunted beats. Right – stop salivating – it’s not out for a week or two yet!
(Out 17 May on Wack Records)
