Out of all of the tracks we’ve covered here this year, few were as surprising yet totally logical as “Safari,” the Pharrell Williams collab from J Balvin‘s Latin Grammy award-winning album Energía. The song, which also features go-to producer Sky (on vocal duties!) and Boricua rapper BIA, finds J Balvin at his most organic. Along with a wealth of his other tracks – like Phynx’s underwater rework of “Ginza” – “Safari” has been the subject of countless remixes. But few have been as fresh as Yelram Selectah’s take, which we’re happy to be premiering here at Remezcla.
The Tijuana producer is no stranger to juke; his latest EP, released through Liga Mexicana del Bass several months ago, was called El Jukero 2 for a reason. Although his reimagining of “Safari” holds some of the genre’s recurring elements, above all, this rework embraces the carefree spirit of juke. Yelram couldn’t pass up the chance to extract that bare “a ella le gusta” intro and sample the hell out of it, injecting it with accelerated kicks and claps, and bursts of hi-hats. And to add that extra punch, he keeps the original’s acoustic drums. Yelram Selectah’s (juke) party es un safari.