Remix Tuesdays: Black Sheep
(Love that single cover)
“Strobelite Honey” is a 1992 single released by Queens-based duo Black Sheep. The song was the second single released of the group’s debut, A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.
The song received an incredible number of remixes on 12’s, most of them dance/house remixes, so I’m only tackling the album version and one of the remixes.
The album version, credited to the group, uses house-sounding claps and hi-hats, a guitar loop and a thick, bouncy bass line. The cut starts with some keys and percussion before breaking into the main beat. Dres tells a tale of spotting a honey in the club who looks good under the strobe light, and not so great outside of it. A very literal video depicts exactly what he’s rapping about. It uses a slightly faster, more danceable beat with horns.
The remix, entitled the “No We Didn’t Mix”, starts with wailing trumpets that loop a few times before the drums kick in. These horns reappear on the chorus; the verses employ a funky organ sample and a raw drum break. There’s a less raucous horn loop that blows occasionally. The lyrics are unchanged with a few minor exceptions (for some reason, Dres switches around a few lines in the first verse.) About 1:30, the beat strips down to just drums and some understated keyboards. The trumpet loops come in again in on the chorus and briefly at the start of the verses. An interesting remix that gives me a headache after a while – I think it’s the trumpets.
Listen to both versions:
Black Sheep – Strobelite Honey (Album version)
Black Sheep – Strobelite Honey (No We Didn’t Mix)
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P-Zero said,
Wrote on May 27, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
Each to their own, but for me, I’ll take the remix. The trumpets oddly enough are what really do it for me. Not too sure about that video mix though. Not heard it before and not one I’d go out of my way to find.
Remix tueday, educational as always. Keep it coming.
Jos-B said,
Wrote on May 27, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
If I remember correctly, there was also a “Yes We Did” and a “Maybe We Did” mix on the single for this…I remember liking the “Maybe We Did” one the most, but I don’t remember the three being all that different.
AaronM said,
Wrote on May 27, 2008 @ 11:22 pm
I haven’t heard all the remixes yet, but I might at some point in the future.
After writing this piece, I didn’t want to listen to “Strobelite Honey” for another year or two.
Thank for the comments, guys.
The Meaning Of Dope » Blog Archive » Oh Sorry, I Thought You Were Someone Else said,
Wrote on June 13, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
[…] at Metal Lungies have already done a comparison of the 2 versions which is quite on point, so peep that out for mp3 […]