While the use of ’90s samples has becoming quite prevalent recently, some make more sense than others.? British DJ/producer Mat Zo is best known for his big room progressive tracks (“Easy” with Porter Robinson, “Mozart” with Arty) and remixes (Empire of the Sun “Alive,” Kylie Minogue “Get Outta My Way”). He is also is a drum-and-basshead under the pseudonym MRSA, so digging back to seminal ’90s jump-up/drum & bass track “Rock the Funky Beat” by Natural Born Chillers doesn’t seem like too big a stretch.? For “Pyramid Scheme,” he constructed a progressive stadium house track which moves between big beats and quite a pretty midsection.? Enlisting Chuck D to come back and rerecord the vocal line (which was originally sampled from the Public Enemy track “Caught, Can We Get A Witness?”) is quite the genius move.? Though the track is strong in its current form, I have a feeling there will be another version forthcoming with an additional topline aimed at the pop market.? As for the title “Pyramid Scheme,” one can only wonder if it could be a sarcastic reference to the behind the scene mechanisms of the EDM industry.
Imagine Courtesy of Astralwerks/Anjunabeats.