Jay-Z Explains his Remix of Beware of the Boys
I know I haven't been leaving this topic alone even though I said I would, but I just found the whole scoop on the Jay-Z Panjabi MC collaboration. The fact this track is getting so much airplay makes me kinda proud, that a south asian diaspora track can be successful in Britain and America is really exciting.

My friends and I were just yesterday trying to igure out how "The Roc" managed to catch up with PMC, and I have pasted below the snippet from MTV.com. It turns out Jay-Z heard PMC's original "mundian to bach ke" while in Switzerland and then remixed his anti-war wrap over the track. PMC's original track will be released in the states as a single on Sequence Records (if you click on the link, the website has mundian to bach ke streaming), a week after Jay-Z's Blueprint 2.1 comes out. Read below for more...

"Jay-Z has broken his silence about the U.S.-led coalition's war with Iraq. In the remix of European artist Panjabi MC's overseas hit "Beware of the Boys," Jay mixes his Brooklyn braggadocio with anti-war sentiments. "We rebellious, we back home/ Screamin' 'Leave Iraq alone,' " Young Hova rhymes over a sample of the theme from the "Knight Rider" TV show. "For all my soldiers in the field/ I will wish you safe return/ But only love kills war/ When will they learn?" I guess this means the track that will be released on Jay-Z's new album has a different verse than the one currently making the club/radio circuit, which in my opinion, leaves something to be desired.

"It's all good," Panjabi MC said Tuesday from London about Jay's flavoring of the remix. "Originally this track was about something [different]. The track has become more of symbolic vibe of how it's crossed over to the East and West markets." Translated, Panjabi MC's lyrics, which are sung in Punjabi, are a warning to a 16-year-old girl to be leery of guys who are trying to take her innocence. "Be careful of the boys/ You've only just grown up./ It's not your fault that you've got beautiful eyes/ Once you've realized this, you will become shy/ Look after your youth/ This time won't come again."

Jay and Panjabi were hooked up through their managers after Jay became aware of the track on a recent trip to Switzerland. "He heard the song three or four months ago when this thing started blowing up in Europe," Panjabi MC remembered. "On the radio, in the clubs [and] even on the underground out here, it's been blowing up. He seen the reaction to it and wanted to get involved. He jumped on, basically." The original and the Jay-Z remix of "Beware of the Boys" will be sold in U.S. stores as a single on April 15. A week prior, Jay-Z will put out The Blueprint 2.1, setting off a bevy of Roc-a-Fella releases that will carry on through the summer (see "Jay-Z Cutting Away The Fat And Releasing Blueprint 2.1").

There is also a little item about this in Rolling Stone Magazine and the Jamaican Observer.

posted by sajit @ 10:29 PM