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Public Enemy Solicits Net Artists To Remix Tracks
An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "Public Enemy is asking aspiring mixers/producers/musicians to mix background music for previously released accapella raps for their new album due out this fall. Courtesy of Davey D, here is the press release" I'm a huge PE fan, and while this is mostly a PR move, its a really cool contest. And while its not Open Source Music, its a really cool experiment. I'm gonna try to get CowboyNeal to scratch something up.
Anyone remember the Kosmic Free Muic Foundation mod which was a remix of a Tribe Called Qwest track? It was really cool... Can't remember what it was called though. Anyway, it's a cool idea, but it's nothing terribly new... just sanctioned now, I guess. :)
Coincidentally, that's the number one question being asked by VA Linux stockholders these days...
Cheers,
More like an acknowledgment that while Public Enemy used to be mindblowingly awesome, everything that they've written themselves for the past 10 years (everything after Apocalypse '91) has been pure garbage. Can anybody even name 3 songs they've done since then? Hell, I can't even name one.
The subtitle to this article should be, "Please write us some songs that don't suck. Please?"
I'll probably get whacked for pointing this out, but if this is really Open Source music as you say, it just shows Open Source yet again being a dumping ground for dying entities. SGI, Corel, etc., etc., and now Public Enemy. Congrats?
Cheers,
...until you have visited the Bjork Remix web.
Or seen a rap single with an acapella version that is there for the sole purpose of allowing DJs to work the vocals seamlessly into their live mix.
Well, ok, this *may* still be a step forward because a website for remixes is actually being hosted by the artist themselves.. and, of course, either way it is still incredibly incredibly cool for the sole reason that, hey, this is Public Enemy.
I was going to make some comments on what is the liscensing on reuse/redistribution of this stuff? But the faq doesn't say anything, and i haven't been able to navigate to the clickthrough liscense for the mp3 itself. So i'll leave that for someone else's post..
Other than that my only comment is that why are they only giving out the vocal tracks? Don't they think that people would come up with something interesting if they had the music to mess with as well? That would, of course, lead to people being unduly influenced by the original music-- as they tend to be on the BRW-- but still. I've always thought instrumental remixes tended to be the most interesting ones anyway..
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
My wish list for backing track producers:
... et cetera ...
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
I was there at Wembly, many, many years ago when Public Enemy got booed off stage while playing as support. They tried to calm the crowd by throwing freebies (cigarettes, T-shirts, albums etc.) into the crowd, but the crowd THREW THEM BACK! Exit Public Enemy, stage left, with all haste.
:v)
In my personal opinion, they've not improved one iota. This has to be a desperate publicity stunt.
Vik
Moby did a similar challenge some years ago. On an album, there was an accapella of "everytime you touch me". But the mixed song wasn't released. Moby asked people to do something with this accapella. Then, the "everytime you touch me" single was released, with Moby mixes and contributed winner mixes.
Also, a bunch of Moby fans worked on a compilation of remixes called "Thanks" (find my "emptiness" remix there) . Moby got a piece of that compilation, enjoyed it, and proposed his help (original samples) for "Thanks 2".
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A lot of people here are saying that Chuck D is doing this for less than good reasons, I disagree. Public Enemy has always been force for social change and this move by them doesn't surprise me one bit. Chuck D has been a very vocal supporter of online music, including the mp3 format and Napster, as well as an enemy of the recording industry and establishment. In this day and age of "Bling Bling" and other trivial song writting in the hip hop genre it's good to see politically and social active intelligent group with something powerful to say. Even if you don't like the music, Public Enemy and Chuck D deserve your respect.
Sigs are awesome huh?
Have fun with it... some tracks for download in OGG format. Some of them are really cool - try out "Penguin Planet" or "Open Source".
I think that "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" is their best. It's an angry song about breaking out of prison. It uses a haunting piano loop to convey a mood of desperation and momentum. "Cold Lampin' with Flav O'Flav" is one of the cleverest, with lots of tongue twisters and cultural allusions.
I can't help but think he's just trying to get out of having to write his own music for it...
Call my cynical.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
Benefit also gets props for doing a track like Warp to World 6-9 and for doing the PE remix for Napster last year.
Is "Nerdcore Hiphop" a real genre yet? (Are 2 Skinnee J's considered hiphop?)
Karma: Bored. (Thinking about resurrecting the "Anyone else is an imposter" joke.)
I remember Moby had a remix contest like 6 years ago with Everytime You Touch Me (I think). Not on the internet but he put the pieces of the track on a CD single and people sent in tapes. They all sucked. The original sucked for that matter. But I can't believe nobody else has done this yet (nobody else big at least).
On another note, I remember seeing PE live once a while back.. I'll never forget Flav's intro: "THIS AIN'T GONNA BE THE BEST MUTHAFUCKIN SHOW YOU EVER SEEN, BUT IT'S GONNA BE THE LONGEST!"
Watch this Lars! sharing might be ok after all.