Yes, its a remake of T.R.O.Y, .... Yes, I did it. Me and my production partner DJ Simonsayz produced it.

It was something he wanted to do, and I thought his lyrics were cool. We did it with no samples, as per instruction, and it was pretty damn tough to pull off. I think we did a pretty good job. I did not know that Pete Rock would be so pissed..... Truth be told, I thought he was in the loop with it.. but no matter.


I certainly didn't intend to come out and shit on pete rock in any way. He's always been one of my biggest influences, and he's a hip hop legend. It feels kind of bad to have one of your idols come out and diss you. But I understand his perspective. I will say that the vast majority of kids I talk to have never heard the original, and maybe this will get them to go back and pay attention to the first record.

The legal issues with using the original made it pretty impossible from a modern major label perspective, My intent was to pay tribute in the best way I could and maybe make something cool and new, with an obvious homage to the original version.

I have tons of original beats, people that know me on here know that. Its not even the first time I've been asked to remake this track for someone. All in all I thought it came out pretty dope.

Maybe I shouldnt even be speaking on this, but there it is. Redoing it gave me a new appreciation for Pete's original production and how intricate and complicated it was. I dont blog and I'm not active on twitter, so I figured Id put this here.

Anyways, you can hate me now. I'm just trying to get over like the rest of yall though.

Peace,
B

What a fiasco!

Good job doing that with no samples.

No diss to you, but it's weird to me how even the drum programming, like the rolls, is the same.

Has Lupe ever listened to Mecca and the Soul Brother in its entirety?

Good job. You seem like a nice guy. This will be no news in no time. The Internet moves fast.

I'm not really excited about this remake but can't see how someone who spent all his life using other peoples work can be such a pussy when he's being "sampled" for a change.

From Petes twitter: "It's so hard for folks to make original music, I possess that, but these dudes are scared of that and this is supposed to be HIP HOP?"

This is really weird, as if Pete has forgotten himself what Hip Hop is supposed to be. It has always been an appropriative artform. This is so weak.

I mean, i know it probably doesn't mean anything, but my version was made with no samples. We called in a sax player and everything. When you look at the original, its a sample of tom scott, covering a Jefferson airplane song and using james brown drums. Not really possible to use these days.

I can't really blame anyone who knows the original for not being excited for the remake, but theres a lot of kids out there that have never heard the original before.

For what its worth, Tom Scott gave his blessing. Technically Im not even sure we needed to clear things that far as its an interpolation of a cover song.

I've got a couple other joints with dude that will hopefully make the album that are much more original. In the meantime, its cool to say I have a single for a major artist. I've been doing this shit a long time without that. No one can say I havent paid my dues.

Just wanted to come back to the strut to talk about it. Cause if it weren't for this place, I probably wouldn't have known the original in the first place. I hope that it helps to know I worshipped at the alter of mecca and the soul brother, and have tracked my own copy of honeysuckle breeze out of the dollar bins years ago.

I did my best to keep things as funky as tom scott's Birkenstocks, and I hope Pete will see this as the honest tribute it was meant to be eventually.

Oh well, hopefully y'all enjoy it and hear something more original from me next!

I think you did a fine job in recreating all this without any samples. The drum programming just sounds a tid too clean compared to the original but as you said, when you've grown up with the original you don't really need an exact recreation of it. I'm totally fine with that. Just really disappointed about Pete Rocks reaction. Hate it when people proclaim their own legendary status this way. Nobody should be untouchable and a sampling artist should be least. If somebody has merits like Pete has, he should really have enough grandeur and confidence to be above these sorta things.

Thanks man. Yeah, it was hard to get it as grimey without drum loops.

Hopefully Pete Rock will come around. I think his emotional response has alot to do with the fact that the original song was made to mark the passing of a close friend. I totally get that. My hope is that younger fans will listen to this version and seek out the original in the same way that I did with the sample all those years ago.

I'd still like to meet the dude someday as I've always thought he was a genius.

Bsides - 22 May 2012 06:26 AM

I think his emotional response has alot to do with the fact that the original song was made to mark the passing of a close friend. I totally get that.

I get that too. Still, as an artist you have to accept that you putting things into the world that develop their own dynamics. Once it is out you can't control what people make of it. If it's too close to your heart and you can't accept other people messing with it, you better keep it to yourself.

I haven't heard it yet, so I'm not going to get all kneejerk about tainting sacred texts like some YouTube troll. Moreover, I'm happy that you're making moves because, as you rightly point out, you've paid your dues.

But I do want to say - and apologies if he's your boy, B-Sides, but I'm going in - motherfuck Lupe Fiasco. To me, dude is the biggest fucking jackass in hip-hop. Time and again he tries to align his bogus dilettante bullshit with things that are way bigger than he could ever be, in the hope of grabbing some shine by association in the process, whether that's via a remake of T.R.O.Y., or acting like he can invoke the spirit of Gil Scott Heron on that Robert Glasper album. Something like that Ab-Soul album pretty much renders him redundant in any event. CB4, MC Gusto-ass mufucka.

Rap iz n art u cannt one no loopz itz how u hook it up an tha rimestile troup!!!!! Nas new war he waz taking bout guyz! Breakz blong 2 everryone! New school guyz like Pet Rock and legenz liek Loope Fiasco! NO ONE OWNZ THA BREAKZ!!!!!!!!!

Plur !!!!!!!!!

Covers in Hip Hop are one of the worst looks ever.

I would just like to say that this is very WACK... Pete Rock is a LEGEND and it's IMPOSSIBLE to recreate it. It is foul to even ATTEMPT.

B-Sides why don't you go back to flipping those ill samples that is definitely what the fans want to hear.

Personally I don't like Lupe Fiasco at all, but I was HOPING that he would use the ORIGINAL beat. I never mind hearing TROY because it is a CLASSIC.

Yikes.

I can see why the Chocolate Boy Wonder would be mad.

I've heard cases of beats being recycled that I've liked, such as Mac Dre lifting Just Ice or Z-Ro lifting Ahmad, but TROY is simply too monumental a song for that.

I'd call it untouchable.

So yeah, y'all committed a no-no.

Bsides - 22 May 2012 05:54 AM

I can't really blame anyone who knows the original for not being excited for the remake, but theres a lot of kids out there that have never heard the original before. !

So this "remake" is for "Kids Out There" to reconnect with Pete Rock & CL Smooth or for Tom Scott?

What did T.R.O.Y. do for Tom Scott? I dont recall a Tom Scott revisit by kids in '92 or afterwards.

And Im all for Beat/Break jackin'. Take whatever flip that shit. But REMAKES is Biting.

Number 1 would've been to confer with Pete and get his blessing.
Number 2 would've been to make sure the MC is adding or doing something so significant, that its really worthwhile, sensible or even necessary to remake TROY.
Number 3 would've been to flip the beat / sample in a way that truly adds to or departs from the OG in some significant way, speaking to the fans and or the makers of the OG.

I think the Elzhi project sonically kinda did justice with some of the Nas remakes (lyrically not so much) because they really added to the sound if you go back and forth and compare the old and remade beats.
With this I dont see any marked improvement - not feeling the argument that kids today dont know TROY - let them get familiar with the Og.

I can see how Pete would be especially salty since troy is a personal memorial to a deceased loved one for LF to come along and just run with it without his cosign. Even more so since its on a major label.

Since you as a producer are a relatively unknown gun for hire, just looking to get paid and get some exposure, more power to you I guess.



Did Pete ever comment on this? Not a bad reworking of the beat imo. breezy.

I mean, TROY (trouble t-roy) was a tribute to their dead homeboy and an immensely personal song for CL.

B-sides, I don't blame you for doing what you were asked to do - I blame Lupe. Song is bullshit and in the bigger picture of hip hop is in extremely poor taste IMO. What's the point of trading on this classic? Why not just make a new song, Lupe isn't saying shit anyways. What a jackass. If he really wanted to do this he could have rapped over the instrumental and put it on a mixtape.

oh and Lupe's pete-esque delayed overdubs at the end>? oof.

B-Sides...as you anticipated there is no doubt you will feel some heat for this.

All I can say is I hope the controversy just gets your name some more attention cause you are a sick producer and I've been feeling your work since you started posting it up here.

Wouldnt it be cool to be noticed for your art instead of some fake controversy?

batmon - 22 May 2012 11:10 AM

Wouldnt it be cool to be noticed for your art instead of some fake controversy?

Not that I know first-hand, but my guess is that the music biz does not necessarily work that way.