AUDIO MIXTAPE: Thaiwanda Thai – Bangers And Mashups 4 #BAM4

Zimbabwean producer, dancer and artist Thaiwanda Thai is one of the region’s most underrated creatives. His ability or craft melodies and memorable hooks is definitely a skill that isn’t missed on me. From the work he did with Radix on Pretty Black Rose to the anthemic Sliqe release Mercy last year he has certainly established his talents behind the scenes as a talented writer and hook man. Now on the verge of touring across Zimbabwe for the first time with Tehn Diamond it would seem that Thai is getting a well deserved opportunity to display his talents to a new audience.

The Bangers and Mashups series which is now in its 4th iteration has been one of the most refreshing mixtape series that I have come across in recent years. Within the confines of this brand, Thai takes existing songs, melodies and lyrics and melds them together into a highly entertaining and engaging musical stew.

On BAM 4 Thai takes songs like the popular Desiigner release Timmy Turner and uses it as the pizza base for the rework while throwing in elements from Ragga Ragga, Mercy, SIDLUKOTINI and New Level as toppings to create a musical pizza that is the hip hop mutation of EDM bootleg Mashups.

On Mayo, Thai takes the popular DJ Speedsta song and mixes it with AKA’s 2016 Dreamwork and A$AP Ferg’s New Level to form a uptempo trippy /trap hybrid.

The highlights of the projects are definitely the first two tracks where Thai takes Drake’s Controlla and reworks the beat to create a great sounding Dancehall -Hip Hop. Considering I can’t the sound of anything from Aubrey this is particularly impressive.

On track 2 Tekno’s Pana is masterfully reworked and mixed with Travis Scott’s Pick Up The Phone.

The BAM series will be restricted to living within online spaces and DJ sets but if marketed right this is a great concept that could help Thai attain a certain level of cult like popularity.

Enjoy!