Smile Davis 'Uh La La' (Uluru)
13th December 2022
Smile Davis
'Uh La La' / 'Breathe'
(Uluru)
There's no debating that mash-ups are a popular genre all in themselves, they have long been the playground of producers seeking the perfect blend between sometimes opposing styles. When that is achieved magic can happen. Of course, the mash-up is really just an extended and committed-to-wax version of a DJ doing a mix live in a club. You only have to go back to the late 80s and into the 90s when hip-hop 12s featured acapella versions that DJs could throw over literally anything to blow people's minds on the dancefloor. Eventually and unsurprisingly people started to record these blends and press them up, DMC used to send out mash-ups and remixes to their members every month, and countless white labels appeared in dance music record shops. It is the wild west of dance music still.
One such proponent of the art is Smile Davis. He has been stirring the pot of hip hop and reggae and conjuring up sweet mash-ups that put smiles on faces on the dancefloor for a good few years now. Here on 'Uh La La', his latest 7 on Uluru, Run The Jewels sit sweetly on some fine roots riddims, but not just simply placed on top, the arrangement here is refined and detailed. More importantly, it has VIBES! Flip the vinyl for Q-Tip's beautifully delivered 'Breathe and Stop' marrying a jerky funky rhythm, solid B-side action.
For those buying on Bandcamp and who use digital, there are also the instrumentals thrown in.
