blackstreet - no diggity (teddy riley jungle mix)

i remember seeing this version on the back of the blackstreet single "don't leave me", probably saw it in a charity shop but i had never heard of that track before. but the idea of teddy riley making a jungle version of "no diggity" did catch my attention and warranted it definitely a buy.

i did however know that there was a jumpup version by urban takeover (aphrodite & mickey finn) and i don't know if this was done before or at the same time. maybe teddy riley heard of the bootleg and thought of making a proper rerub himself. i have to say though that i'm don't rate the effort of aphrodite & finn did, it does have some good ideas but then it also has that awful bass that aphrodite over-used.

while the urban takeover mix was done by using a combination of acapella & original, riley did his remix with a few new vocals. queen pen's verse which kicks the track off (beside the jamaican style hype-ups that riley added himself) is not the same one from the original but the verse that was used for the new remix of no diggity called "das diggity".

other than that riley built this with a crisp rolling break that i can't name at the moment, the bass is subby and it's not that accentuated like urban takeover did. the track loses the bill withers sample of the original but it does use that piano-fill. i quite liked this version and it does rate high within the versions i've heard of "no diggity"

i.e. the all-star remix that uses the same charmels sample as rza and features queen pens original verse uncensored. also the infamous billie jean remix/version and the das mix which uses the beat/samples from das efx's "they want efx".

it's always fun to see or hear people who are defined to a particular sound, in this case with teddy riley it's new jack swing and r&b, doing something else way outside of their usual comfort zone. i think it would have been less shocking if riley's done a bumping house version because he's delved into that before. i quite like this remix and while it's not anything i would play in a set i think it's steady and really good. well recommended

listen here (youtube)