In our latest quarterly roundup of remixes, Jeezy manages to not rap about butts on Blac Youngsta’s “Booty,” Chance The Rapper and G Herbo rep Chi Town together, and the odd occasion of Drake on a N.E.R.D. remix prompts us to consider why Drizzy and Pharrell are rarely heard together, and why that’s probably for the best.
“Betrayed (Remix)” by Lil Xan featuring Yo Gotti and Rich The Kid
One of the trends I’ve often noted in this column is that rappers releasing an all-star remix of their big hit rarely bother to put a new verse of their own on the track. So I’ll give Lil Xan some credit for doing that, even if his verse is as unimpressive as anything else he’s done, with an obnoxious callback to the famous “her pussy tastes like Skittles” moment from the original “Betrayed.” Still, it feels like a weird song for a couple of regular degular scmegular radio rappers to just throw a standard verse on.
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Best Verse: Rich The Kid
Overall Grade: C-
“Booty (Remix)” by Blac Youngsta featuring Chris Brown, Jeezy and Trey Songz
Even in a rap epoch largely shaped by laziness, Blac Youngsta probably expended less effort in “Booty” than any other rapper’s breakthrough hit that didn’t involve riding Chris Brown’s coattails. And as it happens, Breezy is one of the stars who shows up to to bolster the remix and offer his own sex punchlines. I have to give Trey Songz credit for “know you heard that news ‘bout that BBC,” that’s a solid double entendre dick joke.
Best Verse: Trey Songz
Overall Grade: B-
“Everything (Remix)” by G Herbo featuring Chance The Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert
“Everything” with Lil Uzi Vert was one of G Herbo’s biggest recent singles, and this year he revamped it with a Chance The Rapper verse. But a few weeks later, G Herbo’s “Who Run It” freestyle went viral and more or less overshadowed it. Honestly, though, Chance doesn’t add as much to the song as I’d hoped he was—the gruff second half of his verse is much better than the annoying sing-song flow of the first half.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: C
“Gucci Gang (Remix)” by Lil Pump featuring French Montana, 21 Savage, Ozuno, Gucci Mane, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin
Much has been made of the brevity and simplicity of the 2 minutes and 4 seconds of 17-year-old Lil Pump’s breakthrough single. But the remix sets off an opposite direction, spanning 8 minutes and 7 rappers speaking in 2 different language. There’s a separate Spanish language remix with just J Balvin, Ozuno and Bad Bunny, but here they’re peppered among the English language verses. Gucci Gang jumping on “Gucci Gang” was inevitable but he just makes this beat sound better than anyone else could.
Best Verse: Gucci Mane
Overall Grade: B-
“Icon (Reggaeton Remix)” by Jaden Smith featuring Will Smith and Nicky Jam
Recently Will Smith has been busy on Instagram, making viral videos like a parody of his son Jaden’s breakthrough hit “Icon,” and returning to music to collaborate with reggaeton star Nicky Jam on this year’s World Cup anthem. So this remix kind of feels like a perfunctory mashup of other things these 3 artists have been up over the last few months, but it puts kind of a fun twist on a song that I disliked in its original incarnation.
Best Verse: Will Smith
Overall Grade: C
“Lemon (Remix)” by N.E.R.D. featuring Drake and Rihanna
Consider the fact that Drake and Pharrell Williams, two of the most prolific, ubiquitous and collaborative artists in hip hop over the past decade, have scarcely ever worked together, give or take a track on 2006’s Room For Improvement that people think Skateboard P produced. Perhaps that long-brewing Drake/Pusha T feud kept them apart in recent years. Or perhaps they realized on some level that Drake’s brooding Toronto sound and the Neptunes’ goofy, funky tracks would combine like oil and water. At least, that’s what came to mind when I heard Drizzy add an awkward verse to N.E.R.D.’s comeback single with Rihanna.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: D
“Rock (Remix)” by Plies featuring DJ Khaled and Remy Ma
Instead of tapping Juicy J for the remix to one of the many Three 6 Mafia-sampling hits on the radio these days, Plies decided to revamp his hood love anthem with one of the most hashtag relationship goals MCs of the day, Remy Ma, rapping about her husband Papoose. But her old Terror Squad buddy DJ Khaled also shows up with some ad libs too, because he’s famous, and because his “you smart” catchphrase is somewhat on topic.
Best Verse: Remy Ma
Overall Grade: B
“We Don’t Luv Em (Remix)” by Hoodrich Pablo Juan featuring Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane doesn’t callback to his own 2011 classic “I Don’t Love Her” on the remix to Hoodrich Pablo Juan’s similarly titled breakthrough hit “We Don’t Luv Em.” But Gucci is a perfect fit for this beat anyway, and the now happily married Trap God drops some disrespectful womanizer bars that evoke his earlier work.
Best Verse: n/a
Overall Grade: B+
“When We (Remix)” by Tank featuring Trey Songz and Ty Dolla $ign
It’s a testament to Tank’s longevity that “When We” recently peaked on the charts over 10 years since his last Hot 100 hit and 17 years after his first hit. The original “When We” is kind of an undistinguished sleazy slow jam, but the remix at least makes the canny decision to draft two singers who could help make the song even filthier, and fit the track’s contemporary sound better than Tank does.
Best Verse: Ty Dolla $ign
Overall Grade: C+
Al Shipley is a writer. Follow him on Twitter.
