Diplo - Diplo Rhythm
Hot on the heels of Diplo’s debut LP, the peeps at Big Dada have had the good sense to give this a proper release – it’s been causing a stir on white label for a while.
The 12″ consists of an original instrumental track but Diplo and 3 vocal versions. The instrumental is a strange beast, it fits somewhere between hip-hop and dancehall with a hint of electro thrown in – if I’m not mistaken he’s sampled Egyptian Lover’s ‘Egypt Egypt’. There’s a rumbling bassline and snappy rhythm, which gives it dancefloor appeal, but the track makes lot more sense with vocals.
Definitely the catchiest version is ‘Newsflash’ – Sandra Melody’s fly dancehall vocal transforms it into a real booty-shaker. Not sure what she’s singing about – something about shopping – but it sounds wicked anyway!
‘Percão’ features more female vocals, this time from Pantera Os Danadinhos, rapping in an unidentified language. Her tight MCing brings out a bleepy robotic electro vibe in Diplo’s production – again, great stuff.
‘Baby’ is a bit disappointing, Vybz Cartel’s ragga lyrics are cheesy and derivative – it might as well be Shabba Ranks. Luckily the first two mixes make up for it – this is gonna be big.
