Kid Sister x Kingdom (+ rant)

I'm feelin' the Kingdom take on Kid Sis. I only heard the edit as a 30 second preview last week, so props to RCRD LBL for the exclusive full freebie. It's a beauty.

Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi (Kingdom remix) (direct link for download)

The original version, produced by the heaviest of heavy house hitters, Angello & Ingrosso, has been on rotation for quite some time.

Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi (direct link for download)

I was pretty on the fence about it when it came out. The production is fantastic (can't front on that) but, as much as Mel stayed true to her old style, I just found the chorus too radio-friendly pop. Its the only thing that threw me off. But, in retrospect, I was being an uber music snob - hatin' on an artist's style morphing, when I shoulda been content that they're movin' up in the industry. It musta been stupid hard to maintain her usual technique & delivery once someone as big as Downtown (distributed by Universal Music & tightly knit with Atlantic Records) signed her. You gotta sacrifice some & be open to having a few drops of mainstream squeezed into your test tube. She did go back to studio to re-do this album, what, 2 or 3 times? I guess she had to silly putty her delivery & musical direction significantly in order to appeal to the new target audience. You can do your thing on sold out Coachella stages, merk hype machine's top ranks, and fill ipod playlists of blog-driven teens... but most of that will only you get you so far. She had gotten as big as she possibly could in the world that supported her come-up. That's where the corporate giants step in to fill the gap between being a subculture top runner & having your album on commercials & HMV/Amazom homepages. This is where Downtown does their shit right, won't lie. They're probably one of the finest labels in terms of stepping in as the bridge between our "scene's" leaders and media exposure with the massive that would otherwise never touch the material. Just peep their roster... everyone from Mos Def & Gnarls Barkley to Justice, Major Lazer, & Amanda Blank. It's no accident Santigold blew up, MSTRKRFT produced & appeared on Letterman with John Legend, or Crookers teamed up with Kardinal Offishall. Downtown does, after all, have direct label partnership deals with Fool's Gold, Mad Decent, and Dim Mak.

I guess all I'm gettin at isssssss Kid Sis Mel, good on you. She movin' on up. And music synergy, I support you. And Downtown, waddup.

/end rant