Mad Mix Mustang / Jay-Z : 99 Problems

Let's close the week with what seems like a totally obvious mash: take Jay-Z's classic "99 Problems" and mix it with Nena's classic "99 Red Balloons". Har-de-har, we all get the joke. Except, man, I don't know how he did it, but the tune totally works.

Listen to the musical progression underneath the rap. As Shawn spits the verses, the samples underneath build tension, adding a little bit of organ every few bars, until right before the chorus where in comes the drum roll and the song speeds up double-time. This continues well into the next verse until, at exactly the right moment, it drops back into the slower funky riff. I think this is the key to a successful mash and really underscores the craft that goes into it. Rather than just looping a single sample, as so many rap songs have done previously, they really dig into the instrumental bits and build an actual song underneath. You could totally play this live and it would be awesome.

As with the others, I don't think you can buy the mash anywhere, but you can pick up "99 Problems" on Jay-Z's The Black Album and "99 Luftballons" on Nena's original album which has both the English and German versions.

[You can listen to Mad Mix Mustang's mash of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" by navigating to the post "Song085" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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