New Music for This Week: Yasiin Bey, "Next Universe" (Remix)

"Light up the sky like the Fourth of July..."

I've been messing around making beats for about 15 years. It goes in fits and starts. I'll come back around to it once every 16 months or so and really get obsessed — like two years ago when I found a bunch of old recordings of in-store Kmart Christmas music that they used to play in the '70s and '80s and made an entire beat tape using samples from those songs.

But I don't have much to do with all of these beats. I might be a writer by trade, but I'm no MC, that's for damn sure. I'm a 40-year-old white dude who couldn't be less connected to the local hip-hop scene. And most of what I've seen is not so inspiring.

So why not just share them for now, right? The other thing I've collected over the years is tons of acapellas, mostly just random stuff I encountered back in the Wild-West days of the Web. Sometimes I got enough of one artist to cobble together a sort of collection. I was able to find all of the acapellas for one of my all-time favorite records, Freddie Gibbs' "Piñata," and I've done a bunch of stuff with those.

But I figure, may a well share one new song per week. So this week it's another of my favorite MCs, Yasiin Bey, p.k.a. Mos Def. I first heard "Next Universe" on the "Soundbombing II" mixtape. Not every rapper would sound at-home on the quirky beat I put together to remix this, but I think Bey does.

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Remix I Totally Forgot to Post on Linkin Park's Contest Site

Well... Linkin Park had this really cool contest where they gave out five stems from their forthcoming single, "The Catalyst," for fans to remix and repost on their MySpace site.

Unfortunately, I stupidly thought the deadline was July 30. It wasn't. It was July 25, and I completely missed it. Now, I'm not a Linkin Park fan, per se, but I always love the chance to remix a song and give it my own spin. So I've posted a link to download my version of "The Catalyst," where I took the stems and re-ordered them into a sort of dubbed-out version complete with Nyabinghi drumming.

Click here to download "The Catalyst (Beat Doctor's Dub Mix)." And lemme know what you think! (Link will be active until Aug. 4)

FREE DOWNLOAD! Redman Mix: 'Funk Doc vs. the Beat Doc'

Click here to download as a single MP3 (the link will likely expire on July 22):

TRACKLIST

1. Double Deuces (Madlib Mix) feat. Method Man

2. Check'n Me Out feat. Def Squad

3. Get Dirty (Beat Doctor Remix)

4. So Ruff

5. Pick It Up

6. Funkorama (Beat Doctor Remix)

7. Father's Day feat. Method Man

8. Lookin' Fly

9. Blow Your Mind

10. The Game (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Def Squad

11. Yeah Yeah You Know It (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Def Squad

12. Love Me Now (Doom Mix) feat. Beenie Man

13. A-Yo! feat. Method Man & Saukrates

14. A Million and 1 Buddah Spots

15. How High, Pt. 2 (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Method Man

16. Can't Wait (Beat Doctor Remix)

17. 'NIN' Interlude

18. Soopermanluva, Pt. 3

19. We Run N.Y. feat. Hurricane Gee

This mix was created to promote Redman, and not for profit. Be sure to check out Reggie Noble 9 1/2, slated for a fall release date!

FREE DOWNLOAD: 'It's Like That' Remix

'Put the ras klaat in bumbo klaat..."

So, as I continue finishing up a mixtape of remixed and classic Redman tracks, I wanted to toss up a quick little teaser. So click here or below to download the Beat Doctor remix of Redman & K-Solo's "It's Like That (Big Brother)," from Red's '96 record Muddy Waters. I couldn't find a good spot for it on the mix, which will be uploaded shortly.

DOWNLOAD: Redman & K-Solo, "It's Like That (Beat Doctor Remix)"