BJ Smith ‘Dedications to the Greats part 2’ [OutKast Covers] Sampler

Here’s something a bit different. An acoustic cover of Outkast’s Hey Ya. I didn’t recognise it and it sounds just blissful.

***RELEASED 21st JULY ON NUNORTHERN SOUL RECORDS***

A little over a year ago NuNorthern Soul brought you BJ Smith’s gorgeous cover versions of two Hip Hop classics. Last time out he tackled Mos Def’s ‘Umi Says’ which Gilles Peterson proclaimed as the ‘soundtrack to sunsets for years to come’ and The Pharcydes ‘Runnin’ Away’; this time he is bringing his unique touch to the recently-reunited Outkast.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi are hitting the festival circuit during the summer; this celebration of their greatest work should tide you over until they get back into the studio. And would they approve of these two radical re-interpretations of their music? We like to think so, see what you think.

BJ Smith – Hey Ya!

Cover versions are always at their best when they take the original song to places it never went before, which this version of Hey Ya! most certainly does. Imagine Adventure Time’s Jake and Finn bursting out into song and what comes out of their animated mouths just happens to be a cover of Outkast’s most enduring hit ‘Hey Ya’. If sunshine could be captured on vinyl, it would sound like this.

Starting with an acoustic guitar, Hey Ya! builds into a rich collage that goes through folk, onto balearic and bounces to a close with a reggae groove. It is best enjoyed at sunset or sunrise with a cool drink in hand.

 

~ by acidted on June 28, 2014.