El Michels Affair re-imagined classic Wu-tang Clan cuts through the instrumentation of a live band. Diamond District remixed the re-imagined and we're getting headaches trying to recall the source.
After a little digging, it's all come back to us. The original “The PJ's” was Pete Rock doing a RZA impression for the Nature Sounds compilation Natural Selection. “The PJ's” featured Raekwon and Masta Killah on the mic. While, it's a dense production that El Michels Affair probably viewed as a challenge to re-create, like that Indian horn sample or the collapsing string sample had to have been a bitch to mimic, it's an obscure Pete Rock song and less of a Wu-Tang song.
Putting Diamond District on the Enter the 38th Chamber project was the right call. DD's obsession with 90's rap has them flexing Shaolin styles with lines like “shit is no surprise / in the cliff notes they sniff coke… reaching that apex / taking the best route/ but where the air's thin/ n***as sticking they chest out.” Enter the 38th Chamber is advertised as a remix project, but it's really just rappers putting their words to the El Michels beats. The compilation features contributions from Del The Funky Homosapien, A-Plus of Souls of Mischief, Kam Moye, Nightclubber Lang of Boom Bap Project, Sandpeople and Von Pea of Tanya Morgan.
