Top 10 Mash-up Albums

The best thing about a mash-up album is that they are usually free to download. This is simply because you can't really re-sell other people's music, unless it's your music of course. So I realized that in this new age of mass DJ population, I have sat back and thought, "Hmm... there's quite a few of these mash-up albums out there now, so why not showcase the greats?" I know mash-ups are a love/hate style, but there are a few out there that really make sense, and sound pretty awesome. So here's a list of a bunch that I thought you should hear:

(Click the links to download)

10. Q-Unit - Greatest Hits - G-G-G-G-G-UNITT!! and the seducing voice of Freddy Mercury have been smooshed into this. Its worth a shot if your a Fitty Fan, but personally I'd rather just stick to straight up killer Queen.

9. Raekwon Vs. Mobb Deep - Hells Kitchen - DJ Chong Wizard had a vision of Raekwon and Mobb Deep combining their music, so he made it happen. Haha. That was so lame; anyway check out this mash, it'll do the job.

8. The Rise and Fall of Thuggy Stardust and the Hustlers From Mars - This is actually a pretty sweet mash, it's David Bowie's classics mashed with your favorite hip hop lyrics to create a sound you know, but don't! OOOOH, WOO WOO WOO!!

7. Notorious vs. Sinatra - New Yorks finest dual from the grave. Their greatest hits combined makes everything so much easier, especially if you want to listen to Biggie and Sinatra at the same time (which ALWAYS happens to me, because they remind me of each other...?).

6. The Kleptones - A Night at the Hip Hopera - With a mixture of classic rock tunes and hip hop's great lyricists, 'A Night at the Hip Hopera' gives it a shot. The outcome is pretty good, but you give it a listen. It's one giant track so you can't miss anything. Oh, also, most of the rock is Queen. Thumbs up.

5. The Beastles - Let it Beat - DJ BC introduces the fab four to the new age fab four, 3 MC's and 1 DJ....I'm setting you up. Anyway, great mixture of tunage that takes you to the roots of music and back. A solid masher that does a great job in intertwining tunes to sound so entertaining that these guys made this together... in the 60's....or the 90's.... I'm confused.

4. Wu-tang Vs. The Beatles - Pretty self-explanatory, unfortunately they've taken down the link for this one, but I'm sure you can find it if you look harder than I just did. But it's definatly worth listening to. Never thought The Beatles could be so hardcore.

3. Adrian Champion - Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined - An amazing mix of some of rap's greatest songs, dubbed on White Stripes hits. This is a definite listen. It's a wicked combo of new rock with new/not-so-new hip hop that will catch your ears. LISTEN TO THIS.

2. The Jay-z collection - The Grey Album, Jay-Zeezer, Jaydiohead, Collision Course, The Double Black Album etc. - If you've been a Jay-Z fan, or even a newbie to his track list, you've probably heard (or must hear) these albums. Apparently DJs these days have a fetish with 'The Black Album' because they all seem to want to re-produce the classic. The Grey Album is probably the highest quality album out of the group. Mixed by DJ Danger Mouse (of Gnars Barkley, and Jay's own DJ), he succeeds to throw the Beatles' 'White Album' in the mix, hence 'Grey Album'. Then there is Jay-Zeezer, which is a combo of HOVA and Weezer. Jaydiohead is another high-qual album, putting Radiohead into the picture makes it all make sense. Collision Course was the Linkin Park colabo that was personally made and rerecorded by both artists (no freebies there). And for all those die hard Metallica fans who are too embarassed to tell people that you like rap, there's some Jay for you on 'The Double Black Album'. Lots of music to check out.

1. Amp Live - Beats, Remixes & A Side of Mashup's - Amp Live of the 'Zion I' franchise, has delivered the highest quality remixes, mashes and his very own material, for that matter. The man has great taste when it comes to choosing his 'mashed' music. Everyone from Atmosphere to The Rolling Stones, this is a solid mash album. Mash-bum? Mmm... The best way to stay up-to-date with Amp, is to check out his Myspace page, where he releases mashes and remixes quite regularly. A good one that he has on his page right now is Tokyo Police Club mashed with Aesop Rock. This is a must-listen. One of the greatest producers, Amp Live directs you to a library of music that is creating the new sound for hip hop/rock. Get it on.

If you have any albums that you think I missed or you're choked because you don't like any of these, leave a comment and I'll fight you later.... Enjoy.