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33jones - Steel Drum Mix

Having recently moved back to Jersey just in time to experience sub-zero life (shout out to Francois Petit), I've been scrambling to find ways to cope with the cold weather. Over priced lamps with enough wattage to give me sunburn haven't quite done the trick, so I've instead turned to carribean music to trick my mind into thinking I've landed in a warmer locale.

It's an approach that apparently is being embraced by hip hop A&Rs as well these days (or whatever the soundcloud era equivalent of an A&R is), as two of the biggest rap songs right now make heavy use of one of the staples of carribean music, the steel drum (or steel pan if you want to be truly accurate). Both Kodak Black's Zeze and Tekashi's Kika - a song notable for not only proving that Scott Storch is still capable of making a solid beat, but also for its court-enforced censorship - are built around the instrument, and perhaps not coincidentally they're both doing quite well on the charts at the moment.

The success of these two songs inspired me to dig up some older hip hop tracks that also sampled the steel drum. The mix above is by no means comprehensive, and intentionally leaves out perhaps the most succesful steel drum-sampling rap song of all time, Crank Dat, but I think I hit most of the highlights. Here's the tracklist:

Big Sean - Guap
50 Cent - P.I.M.P.
Clipse featuring Slim Thug - What It Do / Wamp Wamp
Nas - Money is my Bitch
Mura Musa featuring ASAP Rocky - Lovesick
Madvillain - Curls
Big L featuring Tupac - Deadly Combination (Instrumental)
Tekashi 69 featuring Tory Lanez - Kika
Kodak Black featuring Travis Scott and Offset - Zeze
The Outlaws featuring Tupac - Worldwide (Remix)
Drake Featuring Rihanna - Take Care
Gil Scott Heron featuring Jamie XX - I'll Take Care of U
Young Thug featuring Travis Scott - Pick Up The Phone
Jaylib - Strip Club
1/13/2019 8:30:02 PM posted by Fresh