Combining straight-up, undecorated
hip-hop
beats with a fun house's worth of eerie goofiness is the way producer/remixer
Kutmasta Kurt
woos folks like
the Beastie Boys
,
Kool Keith
, and a sizable portion of the
underground rap
fan base. The title of his stunning, career-spanning compilation,
Redneck Games
, is just another joke from the Mexican-wrestling, mask-wearing producer, a man who's too street to be redneck and too hardcore to play games. Besides his work with
the Beasties
Kurt
's highest profile track has to be his remix of
Linkin Park
's
"In the End"
-- included here. It's one of the most real mixes of
attitude and
alt-metal
angst, but everything else is down-low, killer street stuff. That doesn't mean
is inaccessible;
's beats are as lively and engaging as they are visceral and urgent. The word-filled
"Redemption"
from
Blackalicious
is positively bouncy in
's remix, and that the great
"360 Degrees"
Del
and
Mr. Lif
didn't burn up radio must be radio's misjudgment since the beat is right there and demands repeat listens. You can't experience the way the man evenly tempers an album by this loose collection of tracks, but the man who has most benefited from
's full-length mentality,
, is brilliantly represented by the mad-funky
"I Don't Believe You."
Motion Man
"Show Up for Practice"
should be on every motivational mixtape you make from now on, and if
's scratching on
Planet Asia
427
"Bringin' It Back"
doesn't get your party started, it's hopeless. If your
needs are a solid beat topped with wild ideas and mad skills sprinkled on top,
is 22 tracks of funky noise for your pleasure and a taste of
's great contribution to
. ~ David Jeffries