Metal Lungies

Remix Tuesdays is back after a 2 week hiatus and in honor of Raekwon announcing for the release date for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 for the 6th time (April 7th, make your calendars!), I’m doing a Remix Tuesdays on a track off the original OB4CL.

“Rainy Dayz” was the final single off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and was released on 12′ in 1996. RZA produced the track, pairing hi- hats with mournful, stirring strings. There’s an odd discordant screeching noise every now and then that I honestly can’t identity, and it also plays during Blue Raspberry’s chorus:

It’s raining/he’s changing

My man is going insane/insane

Ghostface Killah drops a verse, naturally. Blue Raspberry’s singing makes the song though: She sings her fucking heart out. Mr. Dalvin, best known for his work with Jodeci, produced a remix of the track for the”Rainy Dayz” 12′.

Dalvin’s beat is essentially a straight loop of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ “You Know How To Make Me Feel So Good”. It starts with Blue Rasperry just singing, followed by a simple but effective drum loop then these lush strings kick in paired with a killer bass line. Every few bars, this sweet little vocal sample wails.

The lyrics are completely changed from the original as is the chorus; Rae actually sings the Harold Melvin chorus, even doing a bit of the female part the first time before cracking up. Awesome and hilarious, and it certainly puts his recent antics into context. Ghostface’s new verse is dope, especially when brags about “hitting like a snare from the Delfonics”. Ghost also takes shout-out duties for the outro. The only bad thing you could say about the remix is that it’s basically an entirely new song with no real connection to the original.

Interesting sidenote: according to Discogs, Diamond D engineered and programmed the track.

Check the original sample:

And of course, the rehash: 12 years after OB4CL’s release, Timbaland reheated RZA’s beat for “Rainy Dayz” with tweaked drums for Fabolous’s song “Make Me Better”.

Props to Scott @ HipHopAndBreakz for hipping me to the original sample for this remix.

Download: Raekwon – Rainy Dayz (ft.Ghostface Killah & Blue Raspberry)

Download: Raekwon – Rainy Dayz  [Dalvin Remix]

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