Dancehall from the ’80s and ’90s continues to inspire contemporary pop music, with Kat Deluna and Trey Songz’s “Bum Bum” and Omarion, Jhene Aiko and Chris Brown’s “Post To Be” among the recent examples.
Now, DJ Mustard’s beat for British rappers Krept & Konan’s “Freak of the Week” represents a headfirst dive into dancehall for the moment’s definitive rap/R&B producer. Mustard, a guy who’s career is pretty much built on re-imagining ’90s dance music for today’s dancefloors, and who has already made the “Hey!” sound from Dave Kelly’s ’90s dancehall riddims a hallmark of sorts, re-interpolates Jeremy Harding’s Playground riddim (the basis for Beenie Man’s “Who Am I” and Sean Paul’s “Infiltrate,” among other late ’90s classics) on the track. The thing, which also features US R&B star Jeremih, is dancehall inspired all around, borrowing its lyrical conceit from Vicious and Doug E Fresh’s “Freaks.” (Something French Montana and Nicki Minaj also did not too long ago).
Watch the video below, and tell us if Mustard’s onto something, or if he should stick to mining classic house instead of classic dancehall.