[fetusboy]

Here’s what Aaron Parsons has to say:

Originally Posted by Double_A_Ron

This is a slammin‘ good remix, JBR. Will Smith has taught you well. The vocals have been professionally done way better then any song I’ve ever produced in my life, even in DaCapo Studios when I once apprenticed there. I love what you did with Knuckles original vocals. You’ve added your own rappin’ style and fresh novel rhymes barely swearing while keeping’ it soft core for the kids. Sometimes in the original, the raps don’t even come close to rhyming, not even with imperfect rhymes. I also like the Jet Li or John Lee reference for the original “feet like fire” metaphor used in the original tune. The rapping is done way better than anything I’ve ever done, but I’m sure I’ll reach your skill level if I get more time to practice.

As for the instrumentation, the beat is a normal kick with a pull-back snare. Good shuffle execution with a cool bongo beat in the back. The hi-hats aren’t the greatest things I’ve heard, but there’s some variation that can stand out once in a while. The bassline is exactly what I was thinking of before when I heard about this remix before listening to it. Great stuff. Even though there’s a bit of Wild Canyon sax and “Mariah Carrey“-ish synths there, the mix could use one or two more instruments besides the Rhodes, bass, and beat. Perhaps a guitar might solve this problem. But if you want to keep it minimalist, it’s all good. If the vocals are the main focus, keep it that way.

To conclude, the instrumentation sounds very mainstream-ish as it is a little too repetitive. It’s not a bad thing, most people won’t notice it too much. For the bits with syncopation, it‘s very noticeable. Really, a lot of people will agree with me on this. Even though you’ve taken many snippets from the original Knuckles rap themes, the lyrics are very basic, the novelty of your own style is there, they’re very easy to understand, and will appeal to all ages and people who either love or hate hip-hop or rap. You, Jose’ the Bronx Rican, are an example of what hip-hop should be in a corrupt culture, ma man. And because of that, this remix has been nominated the best rap remix on Overclocked for 2004.

Keep it real, brotha!

Double A Ron

Well that’s it! He’s summed up almost exactly what I was going to say. I hope to see more rap remixes on this site. There’s been one for each month so far.

[Khrystoph]

Word, this shit is tight, yo. Trust.

[zyko]

Originally Posted by Double_A_Ron

My gosh, the rap in this song alone is the best thing I’ve ever ever heard compared to “Nigaz for Life”, (I’m sorry, zyk. I had to put it out there like that. Please don‘t flame me).
Double A Ron

what does that mean?

[SelectaNovel]

Definitely the best Hiphop-Remix of a videogame score that I've heard as yet. Great organ, cool g-funk scratch, and a damn tight flow. Love it!

[DistantJ]

Being a fan of rap music myself I've found it kinda hard to enjoy this. The style and pace of the music is dated and the attempts at freestyle inbetween verses make me shudder a little at the kornyness. I hate to be grumpy, and I'm not saying the mix is particularly bad, but it's hard to see what everyone loves about it so much. The vocals are well done and I could imagine this guy up there rapping away with the professionals, but these are some hard lyrics to take seriously. The chanting of the zone names at the end is really pushing the cheese boundaries to the limit.

I had been expecting more of a modern rap approach to the song, with an Outkast-esque beat maybe, and some more aggresive sounding vocals, so this may have come across differently to my expectations after the download was done(Ruddy 56k). A nice attempt, and a good idea, but I really can't see what you all see in it.

[Shadow Theory]

I enjoyed it a lot, the lyrics in and of themselves are inherently corny I don't think any approach could entirely take that out. This is a lot smoother than the version in the game, and remixes usually give you a different flavor on a song rather than make you think "Wow this song is better than the one in the game" (unless it's a mix of a song from a game back in the cartridge days) but this one made me think that.

So good song, great work on otherwise inherently corny lyrics.

[DarknessTear]

Hate rap, but let's cut to the chase. This is very good sounding, especially for a remix involving vocals. Good job.

[Mysterious1ne]

I mainly have nothing to say... that's how good this remix was. Well, to me at least. :D I can't help but be a little jealous though...I wanna get in on the whole 'lyrics for remixes thing' . I'll warn everyone now though...I'm not you average run-of-the-mill rapper . I'll put it like this...mix Twista and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony together and you get me . but that's not the point...

[Nario]

Dude. This song is so awesome! I thought that the original music was awesome to begin with, but you made up more! Congrats! I just LOVED the chorus! It is well arranged. Instead of just having that part in the song like the original, you made it as your chorus! Rock-on yo! "Echidna! That's what I'm representing!" That's too cool. To be honest with you, I did find something wrong with it. You forget the lyrics that sounded cheesy. Maybe you did this on purpose. I just thought it would have been way better with those playing at the same time. That's just my opinion. Not many people like those lyrics of the song anyways. :D Anyways, uber-schwaness! 94.7 out of 100 :D

- DJ15Nario

[José the Bronx Rican]

Note to self: that's enough lurking....

To answer Gecko, this is the José that hangs around at vgmusic.com (also a current moderator of the Visual Art board there), who really needs to get back to doing some MIDI's, but who's just starting out with something resembling a software studio, and is learning and trying to squeeze some quality music out of it. I'll get this out of the way, and offer a gigantic *salute* to Computer Music magazine, without which it might've taken me another several years and several thousand dollars.

Now, some more insight on this mix than I could spare in my email to pretzel...
The general idea was, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, to come up with something sounding basically like the stuff many onliners absolutely hate about hip-hop on the radio - something funky, maybe bob your head a little to, but very cliched. The lyrics were re-written and recorded to that end, especially the vocal overdubbing, the way the chorus was laid out, and little touches such as the shouts to different "neighborhoods" (in-game zones), the "KN-UC-KL-ES" done in the style of Fabolous, and for Wu-Tang fans, a shout to "TIKAL" (the echidna ancestor's name, but also the phonetic nickname of Method Man [Tical]). The not-so-easy part was to make the track sound that way, but with recognizable elements of the original songs (the Rhodes, synth and sax); some parts were more successful than others.

What was most important to me, however, was that the quality of the mix was reasonably professional-sounding to enough of you listeners. I'm still starting out, and this mix took me over a year of on-and-off effort, as I spent more time gathering sounds, samples, Soundfonts and VSTi's and effects than I did actually making music. Considering this was 85% arranged and mixed in FL Studio (vocals included, which is not kosher in a system running Win98 on a 400Mhz Celeron), I'm gratified the response is encouraging. Please keep the mix comments coming, good or bad! I especially appreciate that some of you were feeling the "funk," because I like funk more than anything, and I was hoping to have some of you feel it.

Double_A_Ron's "minimalist" comments I found most interesting. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist sometimes, and even after I finish any project, be it music or a drawing or something else, I constantly have a feeling it needs a little something more, followed by another feeling of, "cut it out! That's quite enough; you don't want overkill." It's a struggle once in a while to find a perfect balance between "incomplete" and "too complete." I guess I might hang around the "Work In Progress" board periodically, although I have a hang-up about sharing unfinished work.

Shouts to everyone who replied, and who will reply.
I'm eager to start another one; I'm not doing rap mixes regularly (I don't even really write verses, although I've been a fan of hip-hop from the very beginning, and I like to think I'd be decent)... might be jazz, soul, might be techno. I even have a salsa/merengue idea in my head; I'm into everything. But I do know (hope, at least) it'll be funky...

Thanks for pseudo-listening....

BIG P.S.: For anyone interested, here is a link to the instrumental....

(EDIT: The Bronx Rican website is finally rolling as of July 30, 2005, and the following link is 100% working)
http://bronxrican.com/music/Sonic Ad...strumental.mp3

and the complete lyrics:

KNUCKLES' UNKNOWN FROM M.C.

Yeah... y'all know me... the fighting freak Knuckles... still fearless... still got no weak spots...
back once again after the Master Emerald... fools still after my jewels... I stay on point e'ry day,
from da Island... gotta protect this place... do it for my race... I'm just gon' creep... stay knuckled
up in the deep cut... and whoever want it, bring it... I don't care, we can do this.

VERSE 1
I'm comin' through, rougher than the rest of them, brother, I'm the best of them, tougher than my breth-ren
N----- call me Knuckles, cause when I swing knees buckle, nuttin' but trouble when I'm flexin my muscles, yo
I'm hard as nails, it ain't hard to tell, that's word to Tails, break 'em all off, solid or frail
Unlike the rest, independent ever since my first breath, first to test, feel the right then my words left
It's the new porcupine on da block wit the buff chest, straight out da wilderness with the ruggedness
Knock knock it's Knux y'all, the blow thrower, independent flow-er, magic Emerald holder
Prone ta give you the cold shoulder, and my spikes go through boulders, that's why I always stay a loner
Born with no help, so I'm just out for delf, get it on by myself, adversaries get shelved

CHORUS
(Echidoena!) That's what I'm representin', never seen a mic hog spit like a menace
It's goin' down (Why?)... the Master Emerald's gone, somebody gon' get theirs quick my word's bond
(Echidoena!) Fightin' my foes all the time, but I gotta do it, they always stayin' outta line
Guaranteed I'ma find my gems and emeralds, they don't call me Knuckles for nuttin', I can't lose!

VERSE 2
Yeah, the KN-UC-KL-ES was... born to live my life on Angel Island cuz...
My duty's to protect the M.E. diamond, thugz... holdin' it down cause I'm searchin' for shinin'
But every time I'm lookin for sun I can't find it... Is this the way? Is this the path that I chose? Damn
Why am I livin' like my heart just froze, and, all that I see is a storm of gemstones, man
I like to dig holes searchin' for pure gold, large pots of treasure always make me feel better
If I need to fight anybody for whatever, I clench my fists tight, then we can go head-up
Though I don't wanna hurt none, I'll leave ya head shattered, been lonely all my life... doesn't matter
I'm here for da mission and whoever wanna bring it, n----- call me stubborn, but still I'ma live it
Do anything to collect the Master Emerald, climb mountains, glide thru valleys, run down every road
Wild and hungry, ain't nuttin funny, my philosophy's my knuckles, my feel kick like Chun-Li

CHORUS

VERSE 3
I was born like this, scared of no one, fear nuttin', straight thuggin', I'm out fo da ones and bling huntin'
Diamonds and gems, yo we can battle to da end, but beware of my namesake, the knuckles dat I send
'Cause when they penetrate, death is certain, it's pure hurtin', they're hard as steel, footwork is blazin', for you it's curtains
Never see me run from, never see me surrender, lay you out then fly away like there's no other contender
Render opponents tender, career ender, run up in one-round wonders, end up switching their gender
Put up your dukes, these mooks wanna blow up like nukes, nuthin' but flukes, I send all ya kooks cryin' to Ma Dukes
'Cause I'm Unknown from M.E., but not from G.E.N.E.... S.I.S. cause ain't no shame in my G.A.M.E.
Peace to 32X and the clique called Chaotix, peace from the Island and to Bronx Rican for da remix...

CHORUS

Don't let it hit ya, move... shouts to Green Hill, Labyrinth, Hill Top, Ice Cap, Marble Garden,
Speed Highway, Red Mountain, Lost World, Mission Street, Wild Canyon, Pumpkin Hill,
Death Chamber... shout out to the old earth... TIKAL!