Notorious B.I.G. vs. Frank Sinatra

[The NZA]

 

Like Jay-Z & The Beatles "Gray Album" - and the rumored one of Destiny's Child & Nirvana, "Smells like booty" that ive never seen - DJ Cappel, Smitty & Jon Moskowitz put together some of Frank White's best verses over classic Frank beats. I've just finished downloading it (less than 3 minutes, that's gotta be a record), ill post a review soon when i get a chance to check it out...looks great though, here's the track listing:

 

Juicy - New York, New York

Everyday Struggle - A Day In The Life of a Fool

Nasty Boy - For Every Man There's A Woman

Come On - My Way of Life

Interlude - The World We Know (Over & Over)

Dead Wrong - In My Room (Nancy Sinatra)

Let's Get In On (feat. 2Pac) - Rain In My Heart

Hypnotize - Little Green Apples

Interlude

10 Crack Commandments - Fools Rush In

Runnin/Victory 2004 - A Long Night

Unfoolish (feat. Ashanti) - Out Beyond The Window

[WhoDey]

That sounds tight, burn me some of that hottness. Oh wait, you forgot cd's.

[The NZA]

Here's a fair reveiw...

 

DJ Cappel & Smitty, Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuy (Dirty A-Rabs, 2005)

Not unlike Dangermouse's The Grey Album, which blended Jay-Z acapellas with beats sampled from The Beatles' White Album or, as I like to call it, The Beatles, DJ Cappel and Smitty's Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuy combines the late, great Biggie Smalls' vocals with beats created from samples of Frank Sinatra records.

 

JUICY - NEW YORK, NEW YORK

 

You'll have to hear this one yourself to get an idea of how cool it is, but they blended Biggie's spoken intro from "Sky's the Limit" ("Good evening, ladies and gentlemen...") with the music from "New York, New York." I do kinda wish that they would've used more than just one verse from "Juicy" though.

 

EVERYDAY STRUGGLE - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOOL

 

"Everyday Struggle" over "A Day in the Life of a Fool" actually works a little bit better as a song just because the music from "Fool" lends itself a little bit more naturally to a hip-hop beat than "NY, NY." It's not in the ballpark of the original though and there's less of a novelty here if you've never heard the Sinatra original.

 

NASTY BOY - FOR EVERY MAN THERE'S A WOMAN

 

"Nasty Boy" was always one of the lazier ideas for a beat on Life After Death anyway, so it's cool anytime someone attempts a remake of it (and there must be quite a few of them by now), but this beat didn't really do much for me at all. Listening to it, you wouldn't even necessarily know it was Sinatra if it weren't for his voice on the chorus.

 

COME ON - MY WAY OF LIFE

 

Awesome. Sinatra's "My Way of Life" has a dark feel that matches the ominous nature of Biggie's lyrics.

 

INTERLUDE - THE WORLD WE KNOW (OVER & OVER)

 

Whatever.

 

DEAD WRONG - IN MY ROOM (NANCY SINATRA)

 

Not unlike what they did with "Come On," though I don't like it as much. I should mention that they did a pretty good job of matching Biggie's vocals with the tempo of these beats throughout, even if it was just a matter of a few mouse clicks in whatever software they used.

 

LET'S GET IT ON (FEAT. 2PAC) - RAIN IN MY HEART

 

One of those songs Biggie did with 'Pac.

 

HYPNOTIZE - LITTLE GREEN APPLES

 

Part of the problem I'm having with this is that they don't always seem to do much with the Sinatra originals other than loop a few bars of the instrumental parts of his records and then they might have him sing a little bit where the chorus would be normally.

 

INTERLUDE

 

I mean it works, but there's very little novelty to it, especially after the first coupla songs on here, which I thought was supposed to be the point of these mash-ups in the first place.

 

10 CRACK COMMANDMENTS - FOOLS RUSH IN

 

Weak. They should've known better than to go near the 10 Crack Commandments if they weren't going to bring their a-game.

 

RUNNIN', VICTORY 2004 - A LONG NIGHT

 

Meh.

 

UNFOOLISH (FEAT. ASHANTI) - OUT BEYOND THE WINDOW

 

Ashanti? Nooooo! Actually, this is the lyrics from "Fuckin' You Tonight" with the chorus from "Unfoolish" where R Kelly's vocals would've been normally, if you can imagine.

 

COMMENTS: I like this, of course, as a concept, but I can only really give it like a C as far as the actual execution is concerned. It would be interesting to see what Dangermouse could do with Biggie's vocals over Sinatra, or anybody for that matter. If P Diddy had any sense, he would try to hook that up rather than whatever that Biggie Duets album is he's been talking about.

 

BEST TRACKS: "Juicy/New York, New York" "Come On/My Way of Life"

 

Cant argue much; they picked some of BIG's most know tracks, only a few others id like to have seen, but they made many of them work. I wanted to like "Everyday Struggle" more, but i still think that original beat is one of the best samples ive heard in a while.

Its a good compilation for what it is, even the voice samples with Frank talking; i was suprised how much they made these 2's styles fit here & there, it was cool shit.

[The NZA]

There's talk of all kinds of mash-ups this year: Led Zeppelin with Snoop Dogg, Bob Marley with Mobb Deep, but this one's gettin the most attention. Another review:

 

In 2003, the world witnessed a remixing rampage through Jay-Z releasing an acappella version of "The Black Album." Producers, fans and anyone who had the opportunity to try their hand at creating a remix for their favourite track, did. Some became notorious for what they'd done, others went beneath the radar. One of those that succeeded was Dangermouse, being noted and legally obstructed by remixing the LP using beats taken from Beatles material. DJ Cappel & Smitty, ignoring what EMI tried to do to Dangermouse, carefully pieced together a nice little remix album combining two late iconic figures; the Notorious B.I.G. and Frank Sinatra.

The secret to a great remix is meshing the pace of the rapped performance, and the beat/sample behind it. Many a time, DJ's and producers seem to just think slight synchronization is enough. It isn't. Thankfully, Cappel & Smitty put together a remix album worth your money.

 

Beginning with the combination of "Juicy" and "New York, New York," we're brought to understand this won't be your typical feeling release. The duo managed to find the perfect songs to couple with one another. It appears that they examined both artist's catalogues very carefully as the combination seem like they were recorded as if the remix were the original. Sinatra gets brilliant excerpts of his placed in between Biggie verses.

 

The choices are at their best with "Come On" (above Sinatra's "My Way Of Life") and "Dead Wrong" (above Nancy Sinatra's "In My Room"). The latter features a very bold and elaborate beat. It's powerful, and aids Biggie's verses to a tee.

 

"10 Crack Commandments" takes on a much more profound feel by being slapped above "Fools Rush In." The otherwise sinister feeling track has a completely different light provided for it. "Unfoolish" also works nicely, being brought into much more charming tone.

 

All in all, "Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuy" is a great little remix album which is worth your time. The short length of the release leaves you in awe, but not bored. Devoid of filler, this remix album is quite worthwhile.

 

Also, this page says it has audio snips:

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/06/30/notor...big_meets_.html