A Very British Gangster

After posting Beirut Gangster I received loads of emails from other budding remixers who had got hold of Jay-Z's American Gangster Acapellas. I felt loyal to Beirut, who crafted such a perfect remix album that after a brief listen to the original made me wish Beirut was the original producer, so I didn't post any more reviews or links.

Beirut managed to create beats that sounded as if they were the ones Jay had spat over, Irn Mnky has done the opposite, and that's a good thing too. The beats are matched tightly to the acapellas and the beats are tight in their own right but you just know that Jay-Z would never have the sense to rhyme over rhythms like these. Hova sticks to what he knows these days and as a result he sounds boring on the whole. American Gangster, unlike The Black Album, was an album made for remixing (perhaps why the acapellas were available almost before the full version) so we can be thankful that this world has produced folk like Irn Mnky because he makes a Hip Hop fan like me happy. Now I get Jays verses (he is a lyricst I admire and respect) and some quirky and jolly beats and it suits me just perfectly.

The tracks I've selected for you to hear (but really, just go download the whole ting ting) are 'Pray', 'Hello Brooklyn 3.0' and 'Blue Magic'. Irn Mnky has chopped and stuttered The Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony', a Britpop classic, to great effect on 'Pray'; it's familiar but different. 'Hello Brooklyn 3.0' has been cleverly mashed with 'Little By Little' by Oasis, it even has Noel being egged on by a hype man during the chorus (Hype man: Sing it//Noel: Little by little//Hype man: C'mown Noel: gave you everything you ever dreamed of) - genius. 'Blue Magic' is just pure trumpety jaunt with a simple ploddy but comical bassline.

Irn Mnky vs. Jay-Z - Hello Brooklyn 3.0

Irn Mnky vs. Jay-Z - Pray

Irn Mnky vs. Jay-Z - Blue Magic

Download all of 'A Very British Gangster' here