The great Kanye, Raekwon, Justin Bieber collaboration is actually a mashup of “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” and young Bieber’s “Runaway Love.” The story begins on Twitter when Kanye shouted out Justin. The two got to patting each other on the back and Kanye suggested they work together… along with Raekwon.

Justin Bieber, a throwback to virginal Mickey Mouse Club pop, recognizes the irony aligning himself with big scary rappers. Both he and Kanye understand the pop culture magnitude and humor in remixing “Runaway Love” with Raekwon the Chef. Delighted to see his name mentioned by two of the biggest artists in the world, Rae got his ass over to Kanye’s studio.

Kanye is the master of making authentic yet mainstream rap music and thus the ideal candidate for such an undertaking. Raekwon raps his heart out because he knows what it means for his career to make headlines with Kanye and Justin Bieber. Kanye breaks out his sharpest Wu references to keep up.

Heads can rest easy. The “Runaway Love” remix is unfettered Wu-Tang with Justin Bieber doing his best Michael Jackson impression. Not only does the song work, it sounds eerily natural. Justin appears as a sample on the hook and Raekwon doesn’t strain himself to accommodate the teenyboppers.

The track is more a quirk of the Internet age than a major crossroads in popular music, but if Team Bieber starts bumping Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, we can look back on “Runaway Love” as “Walk This Way” 2010.

Download: Justin Bieber – Runaway Love (Remix) (ft. Kanye West, Raekwon)

via Kanye West

City of God and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, two of my all-time favorite movies, have one man in common: the throaty, gravelly-voiced Brazilian crooner Seu Jorge. For the latter, Jorge recorded an entire album of acoustic David Bowie covers, which I listen to whenever I’ve had my fill of obnoxious rap music. His first two albums, Samba Esporte Fino and Cru, also get regular rotation when I’m trying to shake stress. For his latest album, Mr. Jorge connected with band Almaz to record covers of American pop hits as well as famous Brazilian songs, all with a deep psychedelic slant.

Seu Jorge & Almaz drops July 27. And what better home for their mind-expanding journey than Now-Again Records? Their global psychedelia compilation Forge Your Own Chains is another must-have.

The album also contains a cover of MJ’s “Rock With You.” I’d post it, but y’all ain’t ready.

Download: Seu Jorge & Almaz – Everybody Loves The Sunshine

And the original:

Bonus: Roy Ayers – Everybody Loves The Sunshine

Tour dates after the break, yo.
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Estelle’s new single sounds like “American Boy” lite, but it’s still an essential on my slumber party mixtape. Very clubby poppy, but without today’s compulsory electro inclination. Nas put more vigor into this verse than anything on his latest African hippie excursion with Damian Marley. Something about pop tracks entices rappers to punch the beat in the face.

Download: Estelle – Fall In Love (ft. Nas)

via Nah Right

It don’t matter what the blogs say,
I go hard like ain’t nobody signed me

O RLY? I’ve got a dozen Distant Relatives email blasts that say otherwise. And “say” doesn’t rhyme with “me.”

You may remember last week I posted the Chat Roullete Piano Improv video? Well, a lot of the internets theorists were saying that Merton in the video was Ben Folds. It’ wasn’t, but all of this buzz didn’t go unnoticed by Mr. Folds, who decided to perform a hilarious tribute/rendition of the Chat Roullete Improv Piano thing live during a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Be sure to watch it through.

In late December I found out about a little site called ChatRoulette, a site which pairs you with random strangers in the world that have video cameras and have nothing better to do with their lives than talk to strangers (if you didn’t know this you might live under a rock, age can’t be an excuse because old dudes stay posted up on CR). I wish I documented all of my interactions on there, I’ve had Frat Brahs curse me out for a few minutes to talking to Mainland China residents (who were wearing heavy winter coats indoors) about Yao Ming. I’m still trying to convince KnobbzXL to give it a whirl, I think it would transform his life. Anyways, this video is one of the most hilarious things I’ve seen in a bit. It’s some guy serenading random people on the piano, and doing it with amazing wit. I had to play it back a few times (I mean you guys probably don’t remember when I wrote a full paragraph about something, right?!). I hope more videos come out soon.

After the jump I’ve added a few things CR related that I’ve come across over the past few months you might have missed.

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A perfect slice of rolling, summery funk backed by a killer Big Boi verse. Bit confused why they’re leaking this now; “Tightrope” was clearly made for BBQ season. Janelle’s debut on Bad Boy, The Arch-Android, drops on May 18.

BTW, go see Janelle live if you ever get the chance, she puts on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Hit the jump for some upcoming tour dates.

Download: Janelle Monae – Tightrope (ft.Big Boi)

Via Janelle Monae’s site

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J. Rocc is the second DJ in two weeks to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, but unlike DJ Jazzy Jeff’s spectacular mixtape, J. Rocc’s project is equal parts Dilla and MJ.

Calling this track a mashup isn’t doing it justice. J. Rocc didn’t just slap the “Butterflies” a capella on a Dilla instrumental, he carefully mixed the two with sexy results.

The project is called Share My Bed and I’m going on a hunger strike until it drops. Think about that when you go to sleep tonight, J. Rocc.

Download: Dil Jackson – Player Has Butterflies

via Stones Throw Records

Update: DJ Babu to battle J. Rocc with his own MJ x Dilla mixes?

(Photo by Hannah Lipman)

View the full photo set here (Thanks Hannah & Joshua)

[Ed Note: Here is the grand recap of all the on-goings that happened this past weekend in New Orleans, as seen through the eyes of ML contributor Julie. Be sure to check out Julie's twitter stream which had a bunch of nuggets from the festival. Also, if you would like to check out Eminem's performance, I got word that it will be airing on Fuse as a part of the Best of Voodoo 2009 TV Special, tonight, November 6th @ 10PM EST (check the trailer here).]

Taking place during Halloween weekend in a city known as one of the greatest places in the country to don a costume, listen to music and get drunk, The Voodoo Experience 2009 inspired a lot of expectations. We’re talking Eminem, KISS on Halloween night, P. Funk, local artists that sound like nothing you’ve heard before, funky folk artists and talented craftspeople… and overall, Voodoo brought it. This festival required a stamina that most don’t because it was interrupted by some of the wildest Halloween parties in the nation. Voodoo, however, proved worthy of every ounce of effort it required to dance through each and every show.

The festival got off to a rough start with the chilliest storm New Orleans has seen all season. Mud, rain and kicking The Knux off stage didn’t make for the most promising opening day. Yet the festies got creative, borrowing trash bags from the grounds crews to make ponchos and huddling together at Justice to keep warm. With the help of a few beers and an other-worldly dance party/light show, the crowd managed to forget the cold and have a blast. Most people who lasted that long trudged through the ankle-deep mud to at least catch the first few songs from Eminem + D12 before heading out. Eminem’s decade of fame has taught him how to really wake a crowd up, showing a gory short film of a psychotic, asylum-bound, murderous Marshall Mathers. They threw in gunshot noises between songs, keeping the audience on their toes throughout Eminem’s energetic performance. When the audience finally dispersed, most people looked pumped for the next day’s shows.

Saturday’s lineup included The Black Lips, Mates of State, a cancelled K’naan show, Mutemath, Gogol Bordello, Parliament-Funkadelic and KISS. Few people showed up without a costume, and the crowd started drinking early. The festival had a friendly, frenetic vibe, people getting more and more excited as the day wore on. Strangers took pictures of and with one another, and the festival-goers traded tips on where to spend the evening between the countless after-parties, Halloween parties and Frenchmen Street.  Security wasn’t too tight, and most shows smelled strongly of pot, contributing to the audience’s already relaxed, comfortable vibe. K’naan’s cancelled show changed the locations of many artists slotted to perform around the same time, making for a confusing afternoon. Yet things got back on schedule by Mutemath.

Gogol Bordello got the festies dancing harder than any other show all weekend, save Justice. P. Funk, on the other hand, played for a relatively small, chill crowd on a quiet stage between folk art vendors’ tents. As they got funky, the majority of the festival-goers rushed toward the KISS stage, dancing through art installments on their way. The crowd was packed, and KISS was, in a word, insane. Pyrotechnics, Gene Simmons flying across the stage, an infomercial between songs to buy their new album — it’s available at WalMart, apparently Simmons has seen it there. Teens and college kids were busy texting their dads, blown away that rock ‘n’ roll used to rock this hard. Older women in leather jackets and KISS-style face paint sang every word of the KISS classics (though, as Simmons reminded us, just because something is a classic doesn’t make it an oldie). People walked out of City Park that day high from the music and drunk from the spectacle, ready for an even wilder show: the New Orleans Halloween scene.

The entire festival crowd seemed at least a little bit hungover Sunday. Relatively few people showed up before The Flaming Lips, but the Voodoo producers seem to have anticipated this. With an emptier schedule than any other day, Sunday’s big shows included The Pogues, Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips and Lenny Kravitz. Yes, Lenny Kravitz. It was almost as if they wanted to clear the park before the final performance. Yet those who did leave before Lenny walked away with a most beautiful ending to an exhausting weekend. The almost too-mellow show saved itself by concluding with the sound of “Do You Realize?” playing under the full moon, tens of thousands strips of confetti floating in the dark sky like psychedelic stars, and an entire audience singing together “to make the good things last.”

Whenever a major artist dies, there’s an initial media blitz where you have a ton of people talking about everything except the music. You know, those people who watch cable news for 3 hours a day. Eventually, those people find something else to talk about, usually a sex scandal or someone winning American Idol.

But even after the story’s buzz dies out, the music-lovers continue to carry the torch. Even though Michael Jackson isn’t front page news anymore, artists continue to pay tribute.

With He’s The King, I’m The DJ, DJ Jazzy Jeff runs through Jackson’s greatest moments and also throws in some rare remixes. Yes, Michael Jackson is synonymous with controversy, but take an hour to remember why his death shook the planet. He made timeless music.

Download: DJ Jazzy Jeff – He’s The King, I’m The DJ

via UNDRCRWN

DJ Ayres did his thing too.

OH SHIT. Aziz (of Human Giant/Parks & Recreation/Funny People fame) drops such a crazy hot exclusive, I had to play it 8 times in a row before my ipod died. heat rock. Download/listen/stream now.

Download: Jay-Z feat. Aziz Ansari and Kanye West – Hate (DJ Aziz Ansari EXCLUSIVE)

Sidebar: I’m sorry for the lack of updates (and e-mail responses) lately (ie last 6 months), real life/9 to 5/debilitating twitter addiction have been getting in the way heavily. But you best believe your boy will overcome.