The Beatnuts - "Watch Out Now (Altered Tapes Re-Work)"

With an ear for samples and taste for classic vibes in the modern era, Chicago's Altered Tapes follow their masterfully funky re-working of Biz Markie

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Image via Altered Tapes

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With an ear for samples and taste for classic vibes in the modern era, Chicago's Altered Tapes follow their masterfully funky re-working of Biz Markie's early 1990's rap classic "It's Spring Again" by heading back to rap's earliest of days in dropping their latest dance floor-ready masterpiece, a re-work of The Beatnuts' 1999 hit "Watch Out Now." Taking it back to Queens in an era before KRS-One deemed that Queensbridge "was over," the track moves from Psycho Les and Juju getting busy over a whistle-laden and salsa-fied break to the sonic equivalent of sticking up David Mancuso at the front door of the famed pre-disco era dance haunt The Loft, and not looking back until they're safely getting off the 7 train and ready to rock a block party.

"Watch Out Now" directly samples French bandleader Enoch Light's "Hi-Jack," a song with a distinctive Spanish edge that was re-recorded by proto-disco Mancuso's Loft favorites Barrabas in 1974. Curiously, '74 is also a year after Kool Herc DJ'ed a party that will live in hip-hop birthing infamy in the South Bronx, where the early culture-establishing DJ played other tracks sampled in this re-working, most notably James Brown associate Lyn Collins' "Think." Extra frunk and stoopid fresh, this one is outstanding and feels more ready for the "Soul Train" line than being played by Altered Tapes at Chicago's North Coast Festival this weekend.

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