Exclusive Download: Andy Mineo – Heroes For Sale Remix EP

In September of 2013, Andy Mineo, Reach Records and Rapzilla teamed up to bring a remix competition to you like we never have before. The challenge and opportunity was to remix any song on one of our scene’s highest selling albums, Andy’s debut album Heroes For Sale. Reach Records gave the instrumentals and stems for the tracks and the result was over 1,000 submissions.

Over the last 5 months we sifted through the submissions with Andy and dwindled it down to 10 remix submissions per song. Originally we were aiming for an entire remix album, but for quality sake, Andy decided the result would be a 6 song Heroes For Sale Remix EP. The EP is available for free download, exclusively on Rapzilla.com

The Grand Prize Winner – picked by Andy personally, is OnBeat Music! OB wins:
– Song on the official remix EP
– a signed Heroes For Sale skate deck
– the entire Reach Records catalogue on CD
– the Reach Records vinyl collection!

OnBeat Music

I chose the track “Cocky” cause it was one of my favorites on the album, mainly because it was the verses he spit on the underground cypher video from YouTube. I felt like it just needed to be on a beat like it was when I first heard it, so I made one. I went digging for a sample and I found the perfect one, then I took Andy’s intro from one of the cypher videos and the outro as well – I wanted the listener to have the same feel they got when listening to the original video of the cypher. I also wanted to incorporate the New York rawness to it, whether it was the hi hats, snare, or kick – I wanted everything to sound like I was in New York, on a street corner, with an MPC, surrounded by dudes who wanna do a cypher.

The track “Curious” was predestined, LOL. But seriously, I was just in the studio one day listening to that Rihanna song “Stay” cause I really enjoy the musicality of that song. I thought to myself “How could I redeem this?” I started to chop up the song and put pieces together to build a beat, it wasn’t until I started messing with the pitch that I realized I hit a key that was in the same key of “Curious”. Not to mention that the lyrics that I chopped were hitting on the same thing, especially the chorus. It all just started to come alive on its own, I knew I had something, and I was just praising God as it was happening.

The tracks I chose both have something in common, they’re both something I wanted to hear. I like to make music that I want to hear, I get tired of listening to the same stuff all the time so I like to explore music and break any limits or boundaries that I think I might have. Thats why you hear “Cocky” as an East Coast boom bap feel and “Curious” as a mainstream radio type feel.

Follow OnBeat Music on Twitter @OnBeatMusic

Quinten Coblentz

I chose to remix “You Will” simply because it’s my favorite song on Heroes for Sale; the first time I heard it, I loved it. I knew that it would be challenging to create a great remix for such a great song, but I figured I’d give it a shot!

Once I decided I wanted to try and give it a rock sound, I plugged in my guitar and messed around on it until I found the chord progression that I wanted to use; I ended up recording 4 different guitar parts. Once that was recorded, I imported a bunch of drum samples, which I used to make the loops I used through the song. Lastly, I added a few synth pads to fill and smooth the mix out, and a melodic synth lead to add an extra boost to the hook. After that, I just added some EQ and compression to the whole mix and it was done!

I’m incredibly honored to have my remix chosen for this album. Thank you!

Follow Quinten Coblentz on Twitter: @quintencoblentz

Marz Ferrer

Gabriel Ramirez, Manny Ferrer, Mic.O, Marz Ferrer

I chose to remix “Caught Dreaming” because I resonated with the vulnerability of Andy’s Lyrics. The candid overtone of his words Inspired me to check the motives of my heart and encouraged me to strive for a more intimate relationship with God.

Sonically we aimed to capture the “awe” of the emotions of the music. We chose an ethereal overtone for the production of the song which we felt would best create a dreamy landscape for my vocals. We went with a slightly darker four chord progression using an atmospheric piano sound that instantly solidified the emotion we desired to capture. We let strings dictate the majestic tone as well as some orchestral brass elements. We also decided to maintain the hip-hop vibe of the track through the sampling of the original chorus as well as the drum selection. As in most of my music, we wanted to introduce exotic eastern world sounding elements to create an almost in-toxic atmosphere which we felt added eclectic originality. Lastly we decided to extend the bridge which culminates into a variation of the chorus. We had so much fun creating the song and we are overwhelmed by the response to it.

Follow Marz Ferrer on Twitter: @MarzFerrer

Skrip

When someone first played “Uno Uno Seis” for me I was expecting some Spanish verses or words from my non Latino bro’s. So I thought about a remix to add some Puerto-Rican juice to mix in some authentic. Alcapurria.

I think the best way to go about remixes is creating a sound that brings about a very different feeling than the original mix. I decided to darken the track a little and ixnay the cool dance feel by making it a grimy mid-anthem sound, and keeping it simple. I love gritty synths so I laced the foundation with them and wanted to have a rugged retro drum to compliment them. A lot of records are over produced and sound like they are all related so I wanted to keep this a part from that, having bass but not the same style of bass we’re used to.

I didn’t find many changes necessary to this particular remix just a steady head knocker with subtle Spanish percussion and a bounce throughout. For the ending I decided to keep it within the Latino vein, and played some basic alsa to dab some adobo on it some more, which I originally did as a joke but decided to keep it. Since I also rap and sing whenever I do a remix I always add a 12/16 bar verse in it-so I quickly wrote a Spanglish verse with a Spanish opener and gave my city Chicago a little love!

Follow Skrip on Twitter @Skripmusic

Soul Glow Activatur aka Solomon Olds

I met Andy Mineo last year on some spot dates he had with Family Force 5 while I was still in the band. I was working on some tracks and didn’t get to see him much for the few shows we had. I hadn’t seen him live yet, which he is amazing by the way, so we started talking beats, what artists we liked, 116 stuff, & just started joking around with him and his boys cause they seemed fun. He ended up showing me his album Heroes for Sale before it was about to drop and I was blown away. He showed me the track “Wild Things” cause it had him screaming on it like some emo/metal kid … haha. He asked if he sounded alright screaming and I told him he sounded legit. Andy said Lecrae wanted me to guest/scream on “Wild Things” but they ran out of time to get it to me. Dang!!! Anyway, I became a big fan of his after hearing all the amazing music he was coming up with. I hit Andy up a few months later and asked him if he would let me remix the song and if he would jump on a track with me one day. Right now the favor has been pulled and I’m looking forward to have him jump on a track with me in the future 🙂

I loved Andy’s aggressive take on the song and the lyrical content of him going into “wild” places to reach people. I wanted it to sound “wild” like in the Congo-wild! I’ve been listening to EDM trap a ton and wanted to mix trap elements with jungle like elements. I wanted to make drops that make the track go off so I started with his vocals and then went in on some trap drums that felt hood to me. I wanted the 8o8s to sound angry so I made some of them bend to get a crazy sound! After I got the drums right – I found an Asian loop of some kids playing water gong/bells that sounded like another world but kinda hood too. I added some jungle noises and a giant lion growl right before the drop and it sounded like magic to me! I sent the track to him and he asked if I could scream on it. I made more of a chorus out of the original vocals and screamed on it along with him. So the choruses, the drop, & his verses feel like some jungle safari you are going along with Andy & I. I’m super happy with it and so was Andy and think its one of the coolest remixes I’ve ever done. I was honored that such a creative guy would let me go in on his song! God bless Andy and Neverland is amazing too 🙂

Follow Soul Glow Activatur on Twitter @SoulGlowActivtr

Chad Horton
Chad Hortonhttps://rapzilla.com
Chad Horton has been in the music business since 2000 with a focus on digital distribution, streaming, playlisting, and social media marketing. Chad is currently a Partnership Producer at hi5.agency working with clients such as Blizzard Entertainment, Google Pixel, and more. Chad also owns and operates Rapzilla.com. Originally from Northern California, Chad became a San Diego resident in 2004 where he currently resides with his wife and children.
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