Video: YP, “The Come Up”

Until a few years ago, the Chicago region’s Power 92—a contemporary rap and R&B radio station—was known for DJ Boolumaster’s forays into house music and disco. During his tenure, it wasn’t surprising to hear James Brown’s “Doing It to Death” or a house edit of Bill Withers’ “Harlem” on the “#1 in the Streets” radio station; a half an hour later, it was back to Drumma Boy beats and Gucci Mane cameos. The suits put a stop to the old school four-on-the-floor in early 2009, although the station still has DJs who play more contemporary juke styles.

Rapper YP’s “The Come Up,” originally released on last year’s Still Awake mixtape, is a genuine meshing of the two worlds Boolumaster fused on Power 92. Producer Jeff Wallace‘s chop of James Brown’s “Payback” is a complete re-invigoration of what had once been a played-out sample source. And YP’s bar-filling flow has the right swag to match the track’s shag-carpet blacksploitation groove. The end result: a song that could only be more Chicago if it were about the time Iceberg Slim ate Harold’s with mild sauce while taking his own picture in the bean.

POSTED January 13, 2012 12:15PM IN MUSIC VIDEO Comments (1) TAGS: , ,

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