Nothing Like A Rap Cover

I'm a huge mix tape guy. Ever since I was in high school, I have been checking out websites that sell the same mix tapes that you could buy bootleg style from some dude on the corner of NY or DC (of course, once Napster and other things file-sharing tools, I was able to actually check out the songs on said mix tapes, but that's neither here nor there). Mix tapes are great because DJs in NY will generally push the new singles before they are on radio, so you can get a jump on what's new, you can get some great freestyles and diss tracks and you can also get some mix tape exclusive remixes and covers (that's a Kanye remix, and if you have time and like Kanye, check it out - it includes the line, "she ain't pregnant but she's about to have twins." Genious). A lot of times, the remixes are trash, but every once in a while, you get a gem. My favorite remixes, for some reason, always seem to be when someone takes a hip-hop song and slows it waaaaay down (in other words they cover it in their own style). For instance, Alanis did that remix/cover of My Humps (which was an atrocious song) and made it awesome and actually tolerable. Another example is Jamie Cullum, who actually covered Frontin' by Pharrell, which was a cool song to begin with. Somehow Cullum made it even better - probably because he reminded me of Van Morisson and his singing is tolerable.

Wow, that was a long paragraph. Anyway, one of my favorite covers was by Dynamite Hack (Austin, Texas, baby!). They covered Eazy-E's Boyz N the Hood. This is an older one, but it is awesome.



Ah, yes - nothing like a couple of white boys singing some hardcore rap. But it doesn't stop there, you may or may not have heard of Jonathan Coulton. I don't know anything about him, but he did cover Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back.



Pretty good, right? Where is this all going? Well, you may or may not have watched the Emmy's on Sunday (I didn't as there was football to be watched), but I did catch it on tape delay (aka the Internets). There was a segment featuring Rainn Wilson where he sings the lyrics to Kanye's "Stronger". Its pretty funny if you haven't seen it.



Ah, Rainn. You always leave me satisfied and smiling.