Max Tannone - Dub Kweli

Dub Kweli
(Download Here)

As the art of the mash up continues to permeate the mainstream, many artists are popping up with their own interpretation of the incongruous musical style. Some go down the easy route, putting two similar songs together and hoping for the best, while others do it the right way, combining tracks that were never meant to go together in the first place. Arguably the best known example of the mash up can be found in Danger Mouse’s seminal 2004 release The Grey Album, which overlayed acappellas from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles’ self-titled release (also known as The White Album). New York native Max Tannone is another one doing it right, and has become mash up’s wunderkind along the way.

Armed with his computer and a copy of Fruity Loops, he burst onto the scene in late 2008, bringing together the indie alternative sounds of Radiohead and the hip hop stylings of Jay-Z. The resulting mix, Jaydiohead, gained mass acclaim on blogs across the globe, and even appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. This led to the Beastie Boys contacting him to rework their 1992 classic, Check Your Head. Here, Tannone mashed up the Beasties’ with themselves, pitting their vocal samples up against their instrumentals, which resulted in Doublecheck Your Head. Tannone has been even busier of late, releasing a reggae inspired take on Mos Def’s tracks, aptly titled, Mos Dub, and follows that up with the sequel, Dub Kweli.

Reggae royalty such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Rico Rodriguez, King Tubby, Scientist and Errol Thompson find their music cleverly spliced against Talib Kweli’s vocals in what can only be described as a seamless display of Tannone’s musical sensibility. From the opening number it’s clear we’re onto something special. What Tannone has managed to achieve is a perfect blend of dub and reggae vibes, coupled with the hard hitting lyricism found in hip hop. On Panta Move, he takes the memorable flute intro and steely drums of Black Panta and mixes it with the acapella lyrics from Kweli’s Move Something. The album as a whole manages to create a bit of a paradox, coming across as both laid back and fierce at the same time.

Other highlights include Your Gospel (a mix of Draw Your Breaks by Scotty, Stop That Train by Keith & Tex, and Kweli’s Hostile Gospel Pt 1), Ms. Good Lady (Black Princess Lady by Lee “Scratch” Perry & Prince Jammy, Mos Def’s Ms. Fat Booty Pt.2 featuring Ghostface, and Life is Good by DJ Deckstream featuring Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Garvey Gets By (Marcus Garvey by Burning Spear, Marcus Garvey Dub by King Tubby & Errol Thompson and Kweli’s Get By), Words High (Words by Jah Marcus and Get Em High by Kanye West featuring Talib Kweli and Common) and Listen Fe (Butter Fe Fish by Skin, Flesh, and Bones and Kweli’s Listen).

Sticking with the reggae theme has worked wonders for Tannone. Despite being only 23, he has displayed an innate ability to match the two styles with ease, and will no doubt see Dub Kweli (and Mos Dub) become the perfect soundtrack to a lazy summer afternoon, and will probably open up the genre of reggae to even the most diehard of hip hop purists. And for those who aren’t familiar with either Kweli or reggae music in general, you might just have discovered something completely fresh.

Anthony Trinidad

Tracklist: Dub Kweli
01. Your Gospel
02. Country Of Loving (Feat. UGK And Raheem Devaughn)
03. Ms. Good Lady (Feat. Mos Def And Ghostface Killah)
04. Panta Move
05. Garvey Gets By
06. More Or Less Dub (Feat. Dion)
07. Words High (Feat. Kanye West And Common)
08. Mourning Unknown
09. Listen Fe
10. Away Dub (Feat. Zap Mama And Common)