September 11th, 2009. By Niklas
No one wears a mullet like Cobra Krames and few can get their mix on like he does.
“It was the beginning of what would become an epic summer, and I was restless from the heat. Unanswered questions arise to any man seeking meaning in what has become many moons of partying. I decided to go on a vision quest to seek inspiration; for the future of the dancefloor depended on it! I spent my summer on the isles of the great Shamans, smoking ceremonial pipes, eating mushrooms & chanting till the wee hours of the morning. At times it was if the sun never set and I found myself in enormous drum circles with the high chiefs of many forgotten tribes. In sweat tents we sipped tea and meditated over the powerful trance-inducing drumming of the Shaman. At the summer’s end I returned to Bushwick Brooklyn a changed man. The sounds I’d heard on those beaches and mountains had inspired me to re-create those feelings on the dancefloor.
Download: Cobra Krames – Mixin It Up for Discobelle (zShare)
“New Mission” – Cobra Krames & “Make Em Shake It” (acapella) – Wahoo
I wanted to start the mix with a big rave anthematic intro so make that happen , then I sampled Tangerine Dream’s “Kiew Mission” to make the melody for the riddim, it really sounds a lot like Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” I think.
“Club Love” Dub – Cobra Krames
This is a riddim I made for The Cataracs from the bay area for a remix of there “Club Love” single. I like the dub version so I used that w/ the Wahoo acapella as well for that mega mix feeling!
“Allah Ma Diana” – Le Zagazougou & “Party Hard” – Donaeo
I like the drum riddim in “Allah Ma Diana” and Donaeo has a great voice, really cool in that context. I thought it would be a good seg-way into the rest of the mixtape.
“Afreaka” – Solo & “Brooklyn Anthem” (acapella) – 77 Klash
I got this acapella from Klash and I really wanted to rep Brooklyn right in the mix, I live here so its important to rep that in the music and we’re creating some dope new styles here and Klash really is pushing new music and the direction of the party. “Afreaka” has a dope tribal feel to it that I am really driving through the mix.
“E Samba” (Cobra Krames Remix) – Junior Jack
E Samba is a dope Latin House tune that I really wanted to put a twist on, so I worked with the acapella and turned it into a Puerto Bass Banger, I think the industrial power saw bassline combined w/the ringtone and techno synths makes for a dope combination.
“The Leak” – N.B. Funky
Dude is pushing the UK Funky scene for sure and he’s got a buncha tunes, it was really hard to choose which one to pick for the mixtape, but I think “The Leak” really fits in with my production sound for the mixtape and works to bridge my original tunes together.
“Bajo del Bongo” Dub – Cobra Krames & “Mas Que Nada” (acapella) – Sergio Mendes
One of two beats I made recently with a Baile Funk and Tribal House vibe in mind, so you catch elements of both of those styles, with the tambors and fills, but you get a 4 on beat as well with some heavy bass. The “Mas Que Nada” vocal I thought was simply a good fit and also seg-ways really nice into the next section of the mixtape.
“Wonton Garden Riddim” – Spoek & “Nice Green” (acapella) – Jahdan Blakkamoore & “Delirio del Sotano” Dub – Cobra Krames
This Riddim is currently one of my favorites, I’ve heard it used a few different ways and it just seems to work no matter how you flip it, Spoek killed it with this one. The “Nice Green” acapella is dope and Jahdan be killin’ it right now , dude is about to blow up on some major shit , he has to!! “Delirio del Sotano” is the other Tribal Funk Riddim that I recently made, taking from some influence of Masters At Work on the snares and really driving in the whistle, thats my shizz, the whistle!!!
“Hey Rumba” – Bangana & “Makonde” – Uncle Bakongo
I really like the breakdown in “Hey Rumba”, it really symbolizes the style of the movement in the music and what puts this apart from other things you hear, the chanting and melodic percussive instrumentation and then putting that w/ the Riddim of “Makonde” which is very organic.
“My Penis” (Cobra Krames Remix) – Larry Tee & Perez Hilton
This is one of those tracks that people tend to get a kick out of, the original is on Larry Tee’s summer release of “My Penis” and “My Pussy” b-side, I have got a lot of comments on how this is simply a fun tune! Produced in a similar vain to the other original tracks featured on the mix.
“Inflation” – Crazy Cousinz & “Do Dis Thang” (acapella) – Cobra Krames ft. 215TFK
Crazy Cousinz doing some big things in the UK Funky scene and I wanted to flip one of there tunes on the mixtape, so I did that with an acapella from an upcoming single I have coming out w/ 215 The Freshest Kids, we recorded these hooks at the crib while Buddy Lezzle was in town and Cerebral Vortex lives in NYC now so thats a good look.
“Calinda” (Cobra Krames Remix) – Ritmo-Dynamic
This is one of those tunes that really reps the style on the mixtape. Like the other ones, its got some rave synths and heavy bass with a tribal riddim. I really like the track “Calinda” so I thought it would be dope to put a bass feeling to it and get it poppin’.
“Uptown Pon De Floorever” – Cobra Krames
I was on a journey and I thought to myself, what is a reggaeton melody that everyone knows that I could flip w/ my style. At that same moment I realized how similar the words Baltimore and Pon De Floor sound if you say them fast together ya know. I decided to make it epic w/ some big reverb and a simple bassline to drive the horns from “Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)” and do something tonal w/ the pon de floor phrase making it go up and down.
