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Though it may be hard to believe with all of the posts that I've devoted to Zilla Rocca over the past couple of years, there was a time when I was not a full blown Clean Guns groupie. I had originally heard of Zilla's group after he mailed me a copy of their first album, Sometimes There is Trouble, which featured several solid tracks and one standout, Say Goodnight. It was a good debut, but it wasn't until they hooked up with LA-based produced BNUT (alias "World Domination Headquarters" or "WDHQ" for the txting and blackberry crowd) and put out a collaborative EP filled with songs that were undeniably "hip hop" despite beats using samples from decidedly un-hip hop genres that most other rappers wouldn't know what to do with, that they truly began to find their own unique sound and set themselves apart from the glut of indie rap groups.
Given that, I knew the remix for Pepsi With Ice, which was easily my favorite track on Zilla Rocca's mixtape Bring Me the Head of Zilla Rocca, was in good hands. So for week seven of Bring Me the Remix of Zilla Rocca, the blockbuster blogging event of the winter in which Zilla has reached out to several of his favorite producers for remixes of songs from his mixtape, BNUT has delivered an amazing beat that uses a snippet from the Doobie Brothers (which, if the-breaks is to be believed, makes it one of only two hip hop songs to sample the group). Prior to this, the only time time I had heard a Doobie Brothers song was when Rerun was busted for bootlegging one of their concerts, so I will confess to being surprised at how much I liked the remix.
Zilla's thoughts on the Pepsi With Ice remix:
I reached out to my man BNUT aka World Domination Headquarters for this remix 'cause I hadn't gotten a beat from dude since we collaborated on the Producer Series EP ["Clean Guns = World Domination"] back in '07. That project really validated Clean Guns critically so we're in debt to dude for bringing out a different chamber in us. "We Just Run Things" from that EP is still probably Nico's favorite song I've ever done...or at least for this week haha!Zilla Rocca - Pepsi With Ice (WDHQ Remix) (d/l link)
I like BNUT as a producer because he reminds me of myself in that his arrangements are ill and his sample sources aren't always just soul/R&B based. No disrespect to that style, but BNUT goes the harder path by pulling different genres and making them hip hop, whether it be country or acoustic rock or the Doobie Brothers (for this joint at least--shout out to Michael McDonald!). "Pepsi With Ice" is a serious fan favorite from my mixtape, so I wanted to go totally left with the remix and make it something radically different just to fuck with people's heads. BNUT answered the call!
And as we always do about this time, here's the original version produced by Alex Wood:
Zilla Rocca - Pepsi With Ice (O.G. Alex Wood Mix) (d/l link)
To hear more beats from BNUT a.k.a. World Domination Headquarters, check out his MySpace page. Also be sure to check out this interview that we did with BNUT back in '07.
As for Zilla Rocca, you've no doubt added his excellent haiku blog Clap Cowards to your must read list by now (if not, start off your reading with his interview of Hezekiah). And I'm sure you already have your own personal copy of Bring Me the Head of Zilla Rocca at this point, but since it's free, why not download another copy? Here's the sendspace link for it.
To find out more info about the original collaboration between WDHQ and Zilla, the Clean Guns = World Domination EP, head on over to beatgarden's website (or you can d/l directly from sendspace).
Previously on Bring Me the Remix of Zilla Rocca:
Part One (Nex Millen)
Part Two (Douglas Martin of Fresh Cherries from Yakima)
Part Three (Small Pro)
Part Four (DJ Apt One of the Philadelphyinz)
Part Five (Y?Arcka a.k.a. Young Architect)
Part Six (Zilla Rocca)
01/08/2009 08:31:01 PM posted by Fresh