kelis - milkshake (freq nasty's hip-hall mix)

i bought the cd-single when this one came out and i love the original but i was really after the x-press 2 remix which took the song and worked it out for 9minutes. the fact is that i could do an entry on a boat-load of versions, my single included four and all of which where excellent. however "milkshake" became on of those tunes that everyone had to get on and do something with.

it happened sometime in the noughties where there was a pop or r&b tune that had so many bootleg remixes that counting them was pointless. many more examples included jill scott's "golden" or blur's "song 2" or white stripes' "7 nation army" and that was just the tip of the iceberg. it always have to do with the original song either sitting in the right tempo or having a vocal that was brilliant or just being that awesome that it needed a now drumtrack & looping and it was good to go.

"milkshake" had all three of those as it was in 113 bpm, a tempo that was perfect for timestretching to housetempos (the days before the easy timestretching of ableton). it had one of the best hooks out there but the thing that everyone loved was that bass. a big luscious force in the lower end which was this very midrangy saw sound that got so much space because the drum track was really compact. but it did have all the elements of a trademark neptunes production and especially how the kicks hit deep and highpitched clacky clap

i was quite sure that if i'd ever do an entry on this one i'd write about the dj zinc remix as on later days it was my favourite version of the song. but then i revisited the single again and heard freq nasty's remix and it blew my mind. a certainty is that i know that it was a version that i disliked when i bought the single as i didn't get this kind of breakbeat or uk garage for that matter but i do now.

freq nasty writes on his own website that he's still proud of this remix and i agree because it was quite forward thinking. it operates in halftime and maintains the heavy soundscape of the original but translates it into the west london or brixton state of mind. the rhythmic background for the track is something that in a modern setting would be called dubstep but i'd rather say grime. it's really no difference from a beat you'd hear from someone like wiley/eskiboy, jme, jon e cash, dj target or any of the bigshot grime producers.

this remix just has all things right and i love the sub bass that's incredibly heavy and hits you with that low frequency punch with every note. the other thing that makes it sound properly uk is that freq nasty let spoonface go in and deliver some bars and they are quite good.

listen here (soundcloud)