"Can I call myself a Remix King when nobody knows who the fuck I am?"
Purple Bastard has a beard. Or maybe A Beard has a purple bastard? Not sure. No matter. It's not important. What is is that he stands out, even though it's the least overwhelming STANDS OUT of all. And that's maybe the most apt scenario that serves as a microcosm of someone's existence of all. Or something. (Or nothing, duh.)
Purple Bastard is a mantis-thin, light-bulb-bright man. He is 30 years old, married, from Houston. He does not have any children, and he works a day job at Whole Foods and [lots more sentences], probably. All of those things are lovely details and certainly a part of a story, but not this one, at least not obviously.
Recently, he had his name mentioned in a flattering way in an interview. The interviewee, a local rapper named D3, referred to Bastard as "the Remix King of Houston." Within that particular circle, the designation could maybe be made to fit; PB has remixed several tapes for local acts (most enjoyably Nasty Nique's Breakfast of Bastards). But eventually it irked Bastard.
"Can I really call myself a 'Remix King' when I'm not consistently putting out material," rhetorically asks Bastard, remembering the moment. "Can I call myself a 'Remix King' when I'm not also remixing major artists? Can I call myself a 'Remix King' when nobody knows who the fuck I am? The answer to all of these questions was ultimately no."
The solution: "I started doing this Remix Wednesday series remixing tracks from major artists to get my name out there and keep it out there by putting out a new remix every week."
So that's what this is; an examining of the tracks that Purple Bastard has released thus far for #RemixWednesdays, coming after one of his dubs, a re-imagining of the gonzo Danny Brown's "Lie4," earned him his first solid traction outside of the Houston market.
PB included some very insightful commentary from with each track. Free for download too.
Danny Brown, "Lie4"
That Purple Bastard: First let it be known that I am not a huge Danny Brown fan. I don't dislike his music, but it's real hit or miss with me, so I figured I would challenge myself to make a Danny Brown remix that I, or even a more conservative "head" than myself, could jam unabashedly.
I tried out a bunch of samples before I landed on a Rhodes piano sample from an old cut from the '60s mod group The Zombies. It was real subtle and subdued and I felt it was a good compliment to Brown's over-the-top delivery. From there I just laid the drum patterns and then dropped in little extras here in there.
I challenge my listeners to find the snippet from "Number 1 Stunna" and "Man In the Mirror." I'll send you a free T-shirt if you can do it.