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.

www.bigdada.com

By Suzie