[Through The Flux Capacitor: Neneh meets Biggie]

Η Neneh Cherry μόλις κυκλοφόρησε το πρώτο της σόλο LP, Blank Project (Smalltown Supersound), εδώ και σχεδόν 20 χρόνια και, με βάση τις πρώτες ακρόασεις, πάει καρφωτό για 20άδα της χρονιάς από τώρα! 

Μέχρι τότε έχουμε καιρό οπότε ας θυμηθούμε προς το παρόν μια από τις πιο ενδιαφέρουσες αλλά περιέργως ξεχασμένες συνεργασίες της, 22 χρόνια πριν όταν ο σχετικά άγνωστος ακόμα τότε θρυλικός και δυστυχώς αδικοχαμένος rapper Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) κάνει guest rap σε ένα remix του single 'Buddy X' από το δεύτερο άλμπουμ της Homebrew (1992, Circa/Virgin).

 Το πολυ ενδιαφέρον απόσπασμα παρακάτω σχετικά με αυτή την συνεργασία από πρόσφατη συνέντευξη της Neneh Cherry στο Complex ρίχνει άπλετο φως (μπορείς να ακούσεις και τις δύο εκδοχές του εν λόγω ρεμιξ στο τέλος του post, να ΄ναι καλά το youtube γι' αυτό!).

Speaking of New York, I have to ask you about your 1992 single “Buddy X” because the remix to that song is one of the great Biggie rarities in the world. Was that your idea to put Biggie on the remix?

I’m really proud of that. You know what? This Swedish friend of mine, a guy called Alex Strale, was working for the label that Puffy had then—was it Big Boy Records?

Bad Boy.

Bad Boy. He was there and we were looking to do the remix for “Buddy X” and the two guys who did the remix, they were from Sweden. He was like, "Look, I know who should do this. I’ve got this guy, check him out. This’ll be really wicked." And he was Biggie Smalls then or whatever.

Right, he wasn’t Notorious yet.

He was not really at all blown up. He was just like, let me see if I can get him to do it. And Biggie said yeah, so we went and picked him up in Bed-Stuy and drove him up to the studio.

So you were there for the session?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was there.

Where was he? Did you go up to his building and ring the doorbell?

No, he was standing on the stoop wearing head-to-toe camouflage with one of his homeboys and they got in the car. We had a Volvo Estate. Me and Cameron picked them up and I think they were wondering what I was doing with this weird English white guy, and what the hell is going on. He sat in the front seat, smoked a blunt and we were playing some demos of some new Massive Attack music, which would have been from their second album and he just sat in the front freestyling to the tracks.[lkrory21: πόσο γαμώ θα ήταν να υπήρχε μια ηχογράφηση!]

Wow, too bad nobody had camera phones back then.

It was a trip. It was a good day. It was a wicked day. And then we went in, and we got stuck in the elevator with this Chinese delivery guy. So I was really happy when the doors opened on the studio floor and there was Q-Tip. I knew Q-Tip. And Busta Rhymes was there doing some other stuff. Then we went in to record the rap, and Busta Rhymes came in and he was wearing light-up sneakers. [Laughs.] And then Biggie got on and did it in one take. I think if we did two takes, then it was just for posterity. The rest is kind of history.

Did you talk with Biggie about the record, or did he just go off on his own?

No, no. We gave him the backing track and the original and I wasn’t going to tell him what to do.

That record has a whole back story to it. It's the stuff of legend in urban music circles. Was he aware of all that?

No, no, no. He just did it. And I like that part of those kind of collaborations—to me they’re about the other person’s interpretation. I think that’s the really exciting part of remixes and stuff, choosing who you’d like to remix a track. I’m never interested in telling them. You send it to whoever, to the people who you want to mix it because of what they do. It just rocked. Let me tell you, when we were in that studio and he was throwing down that rhyme, everyone was just kind of jumping around. [Laughs].

[via Neneh Cherry Talks "Blank Project," "Buffalo Stance," and Biggie, Complex Music, 18/2/14]

Neneh Cherry - Buddy X (Falcon & Fabian Mix) [audio]

Neneh Cherry - Buddy X (Falcon & Fabian Jeep Mix) [audio]

Neneh Cherry - 'Buddy X' (Official Video)