Dead Prez (and The Slits) - Hell Yeah (Pistol Pete Remix)
[Left-click the above link to be taken to a magical place where you can download this song to your very own hard drive]
The first, and only really necessary reason why you want this song is that groove. This is a bad-ass piece of music, and I find it nearly impossible to listen to it without the ol' head-nod. It's probably the best mash-up I've ever heard (though I feel absolutely free to revise that statement at any time in the future). "Hell Yeah" is a hip hop track from the Dead Prez, a highly politically-minded rap group from, ahem, Florida. Here, the a capella from that is mixed with the backing track from The Slits cover of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," which has got to be up there in the running for best cover version ever. Anyway, strange bedfellows, yes, but this is not a gimmick mix--wouldn't it be fun to hear some scratchy, sort of punky guitars behind some rapping?--NO; the mix clicks immediately and unquestionably as a new sound and a good one too.
After you play the song a hundred times because it makes all the kids turn they heads when you drivin slowly down the strip, you may want to pay attention to the lyrics too. DP manage to (and why is this so rare?) be hella entertaining with stories of gangsta robberies, crime, fraud, etc., and also criticize/point out the sociopolitical context that created the need for all this crime in the first place. I ain't gonna go on any longer. Download and enjoy.
