When they announced this online yesterday it was one of those stop-the-presses kinda moments for me. I had to stop doing whatever I was doing (watching cartoons) to first, make sure it wasn’t a well-crafted prank, and second, once that was established, pay full attention to it.
I’ve been a huge fan of Ana Tijoux (she goes by Anita on this one) since her Makiza days in the late ’90s. I’m also a huge fan of Quantic, since he relocated from his native Great Britain to Colombia, where he fell in love with cumbia and Afro-Colombian soul. Also, it’s at the intersection of cumbia and hip-hop where I find myself most of the time, both as a listener and DJ. And when it comes to hip-hop I always lean more toward the ’90s sound, for obvious reasons.
So, the idea of my favorite rapper and my favorite producer collaborating on a cumbia cover of a ’90s hip-hop classic sounds too good to be true, hence my disbelief. And then I found out that it was being released as a 7” vinyl, my favorite format for music reproduction, so I was like, “Wait a minute! Where are the candid cameras? Who’s pulling this prank on me?”
I guess somehow the planets aligned with the mere intention of pleasing all my fetishes at once, because it’s no prank, it’s true. Tru Thoughts is releasing this dope single on vinyl (it’s available digitally already) and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and spin it during my next set.
The A side is obviously the translated Spanish cover of Lauryn Hill‘s “That Thing” with a Portuguese chorus. On the flip side there’s a gorgeous version of Lizandro Meza‘s classic “Entre Rejas.”
What could be better than this? A full album of these two working together? I don’t know if I can expect so much gratitude from the universe, but maybe…
