Redneck Games

• Artist: KutMasta Kurt
• Rating:
• Release Date: November 02, 2004
• Type: Enhanced CD-ROM
• Genre: Rap

Review

Combining straight-up, undecorated hip-hop beats with a fun house's worth of eerie goofiness is the way producer/remixer Kutmasta Kurt woos folks like the Beastie Boys, Kool Keith, and a sizable portion of the underground rap fan base. The title of his stunning, career-spanning compilation, Redneck Games, is just another joke from the Mexican-wrestling, mask-wearing producer, a man who's too street to be redneck and too hardcore to play games. Besides his work with the Beasties, Kurt's highest profile track has to be his remix of Linkin Park's "In the End" -- included here. It's one of the most real mixes of hip-hop attitude and alt-metal angst, but everything else is down-low, killer street stuff. That doesn't mean Redneck Games is inaccessible; Kurt's beats are as lively and engaging as they are visceral and urgent. The word-filled "Redemption" from Blackalicious is positively bouncy in Kurt's remix, and that the great "360 Degrees" from Del and Mr. Lif didn't burn up radio must be radio's misjudgment since the beat is right there and demands repeat listens. You can't experience the way the man evenly tempers an album by this loose collection of tracks, but the man who has most benefited from Kurt's full-length mentality, Kool Keith, is brilliantly represented by the mad-funky "I Don't Believe You." Motion Man's "Show Up for Practice" should be on every motivational mixtape you make from now on, and if Kurt's scratching on Planet Asia and 427's "Bringin' It Back" doesn't get your party started, it's hopeless. If your hip-hop needs are a solid beat topped with wild ideas and mad skills sprinkled on top, Redneck Games is 22 tracks of funky noise for your pleasure and a taste of Kutmasta Kurt's great contribution to hip-hop. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Intro		Bavarian Samaritan	(0:25)
Body Movin' [Remix]	Beastie Boys, Mario Caldato, Jr.	Beastie Boys, DJ Revolution	(3:16)
Work the Angles	M. Taylor, R. Taylor, Kamaal Fareed, Kurt Matlin	Dilated Peoples	(3:46)
Wylin Out [Remix]		Mos Def, Diverse	(4:04)
Mike Calling to Say "Hi" (Skit)		KutMasta Kurt	(0:18)
In the End [Remix]	Linkin Park	Motion Man, Linkin Park	(4:00)
360 Degrees [Remix]		Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Mr. Lif	(3:54)
Golden Age	J. Green	KutMasta Kurt, Planet Asia	(3:42)
1, 2, 3, 4 [Remix]		Titan, Motion Man	(4:21)
Skit		Jason D.	(1:10)
Ready 2 Rock w/-Us		Rasco	(3:19)
Redemption [Remix]		Blackalicious	(4:06)
Every Five Minutes		Grand Agent	(4:17)
Message from DJ Easy P (Skit)		KutMasta Kurt	(0:53)
Straight From the Heart		PMD	(3:08)
Rest in Peace		7L, Esoteric	(3:47)
Bringin' It Back [Remix]		DJ Revolution, Planet Asia, Eclipse 427	(4:00)
Morning's With Marv Mack (Skit)		KutMasta Kurt	(0:46)
Show Up for Practice		KutMasta Kurt, Motion Man	(3:47)
Brota [Remix]		Resorte, Die	(3:23)
I Don't Believe In [Remix]		Kool Keith	(6:05)
Groovy D Interviews With the Funky Redneck [*]		KutMasta Kurt	(9:33)

Credits

Beastie Boys (Remixing), KutMasta Kurt (Arranger), KutMasta Kurt (Producer), KutMasta Kurt (Remixing), KutMasta Kurt (Mixing), Kool Keith (Remixing), Mos Def (Remixing), Dilated Peoples (Remixing), Kurt Matlin (Executive Producer), Kurt Matlin (Project Coordinator), David Cheppa (Mastering), David Cheppa (Remastering), Scott Zuschin (Photography), Bavarian Samaritan (Performer), Resorte (Performer), Die (Performer)