³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

(. , without the video.)

Now, it's easy to scoff that Wiley has done very little except erase the Plastic Little verses - they originally rapped on it, y'see - and replace them with his own. His voice sits slightly less well in what Beatles fans are now constantly calling 'The Mix' (with an undeserved air of superiority, to boot), and it's kind of jarring when he stops and the song as we knew it first resumes.

Matter of fact, it's at the point when the "OH!" of the chorus kicks in, seemingly from a different part of the building, that it becomes clear that Wiley sits about as well in the mix as a rodeo rider sits in the bull. But this might just be overfamiliarity with the source material talking.

And believe you me, ever since the original, Wiley-free version of 'Tupac Robot Club Rock' (or 'tupacrobotcubrock', as I mistakenly labelled the mp3) first came out, I've devoted a considerable amount of time to familiarising myself with it.

And the reason for this is simple: The Drama. There's a ridiculously pumped up atmosphere, Important Things Are Happening, and Nothing Will Ever Be The Same.

If there's a visual equivalent, it's watching an angry sea pummel the rocks on a darkened, stormy afternoon, while a calm, unmoved, but foolhardy man strides along the harbour wall. He could be knocked into the waves at any moment, and if he is, he won't be coming out, but he doesn't care. He just keeps on walking...

That man is Wiley, that boiling sea is the Filthy Dukes, and the howling wind is me yelling "OMG THIS SONG IS AWESOME!" over and over again, until the moon comes out.

THE END

Download: Out now
CD Released: September 28th

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(Fraser McAlpine)