The labels began to move with an Avenger mentality, seeing power and popularity in adding big names for even bigger numbers. It became imperative for every ringtone seller to follow up their verse with a verse from every hot rapper in the game. This predates the two being commercial darlings, and Wayne especially benefited from crossing over into space where he didn’t have much footing post-Hot Boys.Īround the time of André’s appearance on “Walk It Out,” the industry began to also see a rise in the mega posse cut remix. Destiny's Child was a group of young, innocent darlings who wanted a “ Soldier” so it fit the song’s theme to get thuggish ruggish rappers like T.I. When the remix format changed, the focus was no longer on crafting production that could push a single into new spaces but finding the right feature to push the music further. Puff was a banger guy, he prided himself on having the hottest hit, but the remix format he helped to popularize was killed because it made tracing hits more difficult.ĭupri’s “Welcome To Atlanta” couldn’t have a Coast 2 Coast remix with each new location getting production to match it’s heralded city, Puff and Snoop would have to represent for the East and West over one of Jermaine’s Southern slappers. A new beat suddenly meant lower spin totals, not ideal for measuring a song's success. Then again, if the production is changed for the remix, or the beat is slowed down or sped up, the radio’s computer system would recognize the new version as a completely different record. Preferring the remix over the original no longer mattered, as Nielsen would judge them as a single entity. By keeping the production untouched, both the single and the remix would account for the same amount of spins. Simply, radio’s Nielsen BDS spin generator, which tracks how often a song is played on the radio, only attributed remix spins to the original record's total provided the beat is unchanged. In a 2010 interview with SoulCulture, Just Blaze provided insight into what inspired such a small but noticeable change. Nothing in the music industry ever does.Ī change occurred during the mid-2000s, though, when the remix ceased to be an art form that produced new instrumentation. There was an art to topping the previous version, but it wouldn’t last. Revitalizing singles with new production or features became the wave of repurposing music. Countless classic, Diddy-engineered remixes throughout the ‘90s and 2000s became engraved in history while the originals aren’t as immortal Craig Mack’s “ Flava In Ya Ear," Biggie’s “ One More Chance/Stay With Me,” Jagged Edge’s “ Let's Get Married,” Mobb Deep’s “ Quiet Storm,” to name only a few. He wouldn't let anyone forget about it, either. The entire industry would actually follow, but everyone knew Puffy was the pioneer. He made sure his name was involved with the first huge remix joining the worlds of pop and hip-hop, which eventually opened up doors for contemporaries like Jermaine Dupri and Irv Gotti to follow in his footsteps with So So Def and Murder Inc. Neither artist was signed to Bad Boy but Diddy was one of the producers on the track. Imagine the look of confusion in the Columbia office the day ODB's vocals reached the suits. Not only did Mariah go hip-hop, she brought the otherworldly Ol' Dirty Bastard along as her Prince Charming. The two worlds were separate, and the executives didn’t understand why she was so adamant about bringing this rare and raw element to her clean and pristine image. One of the biggest, more unforgettable moments of the mid-‘90s in hip-hop was Mariah Carey fighting her label for a hip-hop remix to her hit single, “ Fantasy.” This was 1995, Mariah was a pop princess and hip-hop’s commercial appeal wasn’t yet solidified.