Remix Tuesdays: D’Angelo Part 3.
Welcome to the third instalment of D’Angelo Remix Month at ML. For those who slept, check out the previous two posts in the series covering remixes of “Brown Sugar” and “Me And Those Dreamin’ Eyes Of Mine”. “Lady” was released in 1996, the 2nd single off Brown Sugar.
“Lady” is produced by Raphael Saadiq and this album marked the start of his second career as the go-to producer for neo-soul. “Lady” is smooth yet subtly funky, starting with thick snare drums and claps. Gradually jazzy guitar figures and delicate piano chords enter the mix. It’s a fantastic slice of modern soul and D’Angelo sings beautifully over it.
DJ Premier remixed the song for the promotional 12′ release of “Lady”, turning in a version called the “Just Tha Beat Mix.”
The “Just Tha Beat Mix” strips the song down to heavy drums and a thumping 4-bar horn loop. AZ adds a decent verse that actually manages to stay on topic (unlike Redman and Kool G Rap), but his usually effortless flow sounds thrown off by the chunky Premier beat. A video was made for the remix, with cameos from Joi, Erykah Badu, and Faith Evans (thanks to reader DANJ! for correcting me). Oh, and AZ shows up at one point too.
My personal favorite is the original, without a doubt. Much as I love AZ, D and Premo individually, the Premier remix of “Lady” sounds a bit off. For a better AZ/Premo collab, I’d recommend seeking out “The Come Up”. And D’Angelo and Premier did great work together on “Devil’s Pie.” The remix of “Lady” is fine, it’s not awful, I just think the OG is a better listen. As always, tell me which version you like better in the comments.
Download: D’Angelo – Lady (Brown Sugar, 1995)
D’Angelo – Lady (Just Tha Beat Mix ft.AZ) (Lady promo 12′, 1996)
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Mike Czech said,
Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 12:37 am
The remix wins 100% for me. In 1996 this was the version I would always play in the club for the “couple skate” joint. It could turn hardcore hip-hop heads into jello… Back then, Premier was to hip-hop what Timbaland or Pharrell are today. People would KNOW a Premier record and pay attention to it, and it would get people going no matter what. This was between Mass Appeal and Moment of Truth, when the Primo was at his peak… Group Home, Jay-Z’s 1st album, Jeru’s 2nd album, crazy MOP shit… so to have a record like this to balance it all was refreshing.
The OG bangs for the bedroom, but the remix wins for public consumption.
mothra jones said,
Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 8:13 am
If you really wanna cover D’angelo you should be including the live versions he did of these tracks in stockholm. Like in the devil’s pie version, the drums don’t come in til the premo scratch, before that it’s all bassline!
AaronM said,
Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 11:39 am
Thanks for the comments, guys.
Mothra: If you have those, I’d love to hear them.
Mike: That’s an interesting perspective on it. It makes sense that the Premo version is what would sound better in the clubs.
I always forget that he did a ton of R&B remixes too.
$port said,
Wrote on July 23, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Definitely the OG for sure. The piano chords take it over the top.
Looks like I’ll be playing this when I get home….’Such a beautiful lady….’ *spins around*
DANJ! said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
I think you’ve mistaken Eve for Faith Evans…
AaronM said,
Wrote on August 3, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Ah, that’s who it was!
My bad.
Thanks Danj!