It's Pronounced Forty Two

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Current revision as of 19:53, 29 June 2011

It's Pronounced Fourty Two is a DJ Nerd42 mixtape released originally on April 2, 2010 featuring Christian rapper KJ-52 mashed up with Daft Punk as well as other mashups featuring members of LA Symphony and Deepspace5. The title is a parody of KJ's album title, "It's Pronounced Five Two." A special edition was released on the Get Some! Records netlabel on April 24th, 2010. It contains the bonus track "Dear God vs Born Yesterday".

• Download on Get Some! Records
• Hear it on Fairtilizer
• "It's Pronounced Forty Two" on last.fm
• Download on Archive.org
• Hear it on YouTube (A City All In is missing from the YouTube version)
• Get instrumentals from archive.org

• See the original cover

[edit] Track list

• 01 Five-Two Television Rules The Nation (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:00 - 160 BPM
• 02 Tweezydynamic (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:25 - 125 BPM
• 03 Da Funk Yo Thing (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 5:33 - 110 BPM
• 04 Calling You Around the World (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:09 - 121 BPM
• 05 Headline News at 5 (Insane in the Brain Mix) feat KJ-52 and Theory Hazit - 2:21 - 102 BPM
• 06 Push Up Nobody (KJ-52 vs Linkin Park) - 4:10 - 100 BPM
• 07 Timeless (Maclane Remember the Name Mix) feat LA Symphony - 3:44 - 91.5 BPM
• 08 Hard Knocked Tape Decks (LA Symphony vs Annie) - 3:58 - 87 BPM
• 09 Girlies Meet the Mario Bros (Rootbeer vs Super Mario Bros) - 3:00 - 85 or 170 BPM
• 10 Chrono Trigger Takes All My Moneys (KJ-52 vs Chrono Trigger) - 3:11 - 123 BPM
• 11 Headline News at 11 (Insane in the Brain Mix) feat KJ-52 and Braille - 2:21 - 102 BPM
• 12 Breathe42 (Mars ILL vs Pink Floyd) feat Adam Thorton - 5:20 - 88 BPM
• 13 Three More Miles (BillyBo vs Three Dog Night) - 3:27 - 92 BPM
• 14 Merry Go Round (Name Basic feat Playdough vs Alan Parsons Project) - 3:01 - 91 BPM
• 15 5tuck in the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:30 - ~124? BPM
• 16 A City All In (Grouch & Eligh feat Pigeon John and Gift of Gab vs tobyMac) - 4:57 - 144 BPM
• 17 Complicated Broken People (KJ-52 vs Avril Levigne) - 3:53 - 90 BPM
• 18 Dear God vs Born Yesterday (KJ-52 vs Rob Dougan) - 6:06 - 86.2 BPM? - Bonus Track

[edit] Acknowledgements

The title is, of course, a parody of KJ-52's "It's Pronounced Five-Two." The cover art was my idea but most of the credit for actually putting it together goes to ifcwdjd from TheDaftClub.com The beat from "Calling You Around the World" was blatantly stolen from DJ Hero. The beat from Timeless is by Maclane. The beat from "Chrono Trigger Takes All My Moneys" is from The Chrono Trigger Mixtape by Compromised, which I used extensively in my last album, "Chrono Tied." I think DJ Zap made the "Nobody's Listening" instrumental. Special thanks to Adam Thornton for providing the bass synth on Breathe42. I would like to thank myself for making the beats from Breathe42, Three More Miles and Merry Go Round from scratch. (well, from samples) This is primarily a mashup mixtape but I did throw those three original beats on there. :) All others are copied from the obvious places, cause this is a mashup mixtape, so just chill and enjoy it.

[edit] Brief rant

I made this for me to listen to. But also because I think there's alot of talent in the Christian hip hop scene that ought to get more mainstream exposure.

If you want to hear more Christian mashups in the future, bug all Christian hip hop artists (especially Mars ILL) to release their acapellas! Instrumentals are a dime a dozen but Christian rap acapellas are hard to come by!

[edit] Somewhat longer rant

[edit] Director's Commentary That Nobody Listens To Like On A DVD:

Yeah, I'm a Christian. But you don't have to be a Christian to appreciate good hip hop. Mars ILL was once asked to describe what they do in two words, and answered, "Revolutionary hip hop." Not "Christian rap." Revolutionary. Hip hop. I do revolutionary mashups.

I made this for me to listen to. But also because I think there's alot of talent in the Christian hip hop scene that ought to get more mainstream exposure. This album is, I believe, worth listening to no matter what you think about God. Of course, anything a Christian does is done for the glory of God, so their Christianity is going to be evident in everything they do. But I don't believe in the arbitrary boundaries that are set by an industry that seems to think that adding a reference to Christ to something automatically makes it "Christian" as if Jesus was a topping that you can put on your pizza to make it into a "Christian" pizza which you can then sell to youth group kids. Mere "Christians" don't make good hip hop. Talented people do.

Some of you who only listen to music that gets labelled "Christian" by the industry are going to be totally shocked and offended that I'm mashing up Christian hip hop artists with "secular" beats. News Flash: There is nothing "Christian" or "secular" about a beat. Beats are beats. A beat can't have a relationship with God. Only a person can.

Christianity, the system of thought that turned the world upside down, is just about the only truly rebellious philosophy left in our modern age. So I'm a rebel. To quote the lyrics of Pigeon John, "Not doing this for money. Not doing this for fame. I'm doing this to change the whole freaking game."

[edit] 01 Five-Two Television Rules The Nation (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:00 - 160 BPM

The similarities in titles and themes between KJ's "Five-Two Television" and Daft Punk's "Televison Rules the Nation" made this mashup a "no brainer." This whole album is kind of themed around KJ-52's "Five-Two Television." That wasn't the original plan - originally "Breathe42" was supposed to be track 1, but when "Five-Two Television" came out, the idea of this intro just stuck in my head and wouldn't go away so I had to rearrange everything to make the album "Five-Two Television" themed.

[edit] 02 Tweezydynamic (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:25 - 125 BPM

This one actually went through several evolutions before I settled on using Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic." I'd originally thought about using music from Batman; The Animated Series. (BTW: Bruce Timm FTW) But I think it came out sounding great.

[edit] 03 Da Funk Yo Thing (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 5:33 - 110 BPM

KJ-52 released a "Do Yo Thang" mashup with Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" on his "Stuck in the 80s" mashup mixtape, and I noticed (as many other people have) that Da Funk was obviously inspired by Another One Bites the Dust. This particular mix was way ahead of the curve of the DJ Hero thing, which put those two songs together, evne though DJ Hero totally stole the idea from Party Ben. Also I included a little Mike Shinoda sample in there the people anyone who follows my work will recognize from another project, just like they'll recognize the beat on track 10.

[edit] 04 Calling You Around the World (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:09 - 121 BPM

The beat on this track was blatantly stolen from the DJ Hero game. "Around the World" and "Calling You" are in such different keys that getting the musical parts of the two songs to harmonize and still sound decently good is impossible. I can change pitches a couple notes in either direction but when you go too far, the voice sounds either comical or crappy. I didn't want to ruin either track by changing the pitches too far and no compromise was possible.

I like the chorus of "Are You Online" but don't like the verses all that much, and since people use the same leetspeak language on the Internet as they do in text messages (what "Calling You" is about) swapping the chorus out made lyrical sense. Adding the Firestarrter verse didn't, but since I didn't have a Firestarter remix on this project because of the same pitch problem, I really wanted to stick that verse on the project somewhere because it's so awesome. I was even willing to let a couple slightly off pitch backing vocal notes slip past. (Which is a huge compromise for me because I HATE doing that with a hot fiery hate) Remember, I'm a nerdcore DJ at heart so switching the lyrics around to be a little more Internet focused is totally up my alley LOL. The Internet is very "Around the World" and we're trying to spread Jesus "Around the World" so doing this mash was kind of ideological in a way as well.

[edit] 05 Headline News at 5 (Insane in the Brain Mix) feat KJ-52 and Theory Hazit - 2:21 - 102 BPM

I made this comment on the KJ board about this track:

"I like the beat on the original "Insane in the Brain" and wanted to get a version that has Christian lyrics instead of the Cypress Hill lyrics ... kind of like a hip hop ApologetiX. And that's about all on that one. I was kinda hoping people would get a chuckle out of my use of the "ABC World News Tonight" theme."

Now that I think about it, that wasn't quite accurate. There was also an ideological component. The lyrics saying, "In spite of street wars and a twisted system" and just how crazy the news is these days made me sort of think about how the whole world is really insane in the brain and Christianity is supposed to be bringing sanity to a crazy world.

[edit] 06 Push Up Nobody (KJ-52 vs Linkin Park) - 4:10 - 100 BPM

KJ-52's "Push Up" vs Linkin Park's "Nobody's Listening." I think both songs are really about overcoming adversity and they sound really great together. I believe DJ Zap did this instrumental.

[edit] 07 Timeless (Maclane Remember the Name Mix) feat LA Symphony - 3:44 - 91.5 BPM

The quote at the beginning is C. S. Lewis. No, not some actor portraying him or some voiceover guy reading his books. Yes, the man's original voice. People in London in the darkest days of World War II would listen to him explain Christianity on the radio with the Blitz going on outside. Needless to say I am a bigtime C. S. Lewis fan. I think his ideas were what the hip hoppers call "off the chain."

I thought that was a really awesome way to introduce this awesome "timeless" track by LA Symphony, which I think really is timeless. They've got some really great lyrics going on here. A long time ago, a dude called Maclane made this beat for Fort Minor's "Remember the Name" remix contest. He didn't win but he should have because his beat totally PWNed everybody else's and the original song too and I hope I've put it to good use here.

[edit] 08 Hard Knocked Tape Decks (LA Symphony vs Annie) - 3:58 - 87 BPM

First this song was in the Broadway musical "Annie" which was a play about the 1930s. Then Jay-Z sampled it back in the 1990s. Then, Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies did a parody of Jay-Z's version and MC Hawking also did a cover of Jay-Z's version. I like the Jay-Z beat alot (probably just like Dr. Evil and MC Hawking did) and I wanted to put some Christian hip hop lyrics over it to replace the crappy mainstream ones. I've also been a fan of Broadway showtunes alot longer than I've been a hip hop fan. This track is supposed to totally weird people out - I think that's why Jay-Z made it in the first place and it's kinda silly so don't take it too seriously.

[edit] 09 Girlies Meet the Mario Bros (Rootbeer vs Super Mario Bros) - 3:00 - 85 or 170 BPM

I mashed up Root Beer's "Girlies" acapella and the Cocoa Brovaz underground instrumental track "Super Brooklyn" which samples Super Mario Bros. (NES) The guys at Rootbeer actually emailed me their vocal track which I really appreciate. The awesome Mario 64 samples were my doing.

[edit] 10 Chrono Trigger Takes All My Moneys (KJ-52 vs Chrono Trigger) - 3:11 - 123 BPM

This beat is by Compromised sampling "Kingdom Trial" from the SNES game Chrono Trigger.

DJ Nerd42 trivia time! What track on another project of mine recently used the same beat? If you know the answer, email me at nerd42@gmail.com :)

[edit] 11 Headline News at 11 (Insane in the Brain Mix) feat KJ-52 and Braille - 2:21 - 102 BPM

A continuation of track 5.

[edit] 12 Breathe42 (Mars ILL vs Pink Floyd) feat Adam Thorton - 5:20 - 88 BPM

This was actually the most work I've ever done on a single track. I had to pull in samples from multiple versions of the Pink Floyd song and matching up the complicated and advanced rhythmic flows of Manchild's lyrics is very difficult. But I was very pleased with the end result and think the two songs now sound like they were made for each other. Manchild is my favorite MC and I hope Mars ILL will release more acapellas so I can do more tracks of their stuff in the future! Also, Dark Side of the Moon rocks. If you think it doesn't rock, you have no taste in music and need to be taped to a chair and forced to watch the Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon on a loop until you admit that it rocks. Cause it does.

Special thanks to Adam Thornton for providing the bass synth on Breathe42.

[edit] 13 Three More Miles (BillyBo vs Three Dog Night) - 3:27 - 92 BPM

I thought of "One" by Three Dog Night immediately when I first heard BillyBo's incredible lyrics on "One More Mile." Awesome, awesome stuff. Making this beat took FOREVER because I had to get the piano chords to sound just right together in the order I wanted them and also had to get the chorus just right. Didn't take as long as Breathe42 though. I was tempted to sample the Eddie Murphy version from Shrek but decided on balance, no, the song was too serious for that.

[edit] 14 Merry Go Round (Name Basic feat Playdough vs Alan Parsons Project) - 3:01 - 91 BPM

This samples "Nothing Left" from the 1984 Alan Parsons Project album, "Turn of a Friendly Card." I love Alan Parsons. This was done for a contest on the sphereofhiphop.com board. I didn't win but there's more to life to winning: there's also losing and I lost. PWNED! LOL.

[edit] 15 5tuck in the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (KJ-52 vs Daft Punk) - 3:30 - ~124? BPM

This mashes KJ-52's "Stuck in the 80's" with "Crescendolls" by Daft Punk.

[edit] 16 A City All In (Grouch & Eligh feat Pigeon John and Gift of Gab vs tobyMac) - 4:57 - 144 BPM

This one was inexplicably pulled down from YouTube. I've tried contacting EMI's so-called "Christian Music Group" but they won't even talk to me.

[edit] 17 Complicated Broken People (KJ-52 vs Avril Levigne) - 3:53 - 90 BPM

I have to confess to having been inspired by the Weird Al Yankovic parody, "A Complicated Song" which is where I first heard the original track. I think Al's version is better than the original and my KJ-52 mash probably isn't as good as Al's version. But I really hope people are still taking KJ's lyrics on this song seriously - I didn't make this to make fun of what KJ is saying but to get what KJ is saying out to more people. Especially the verse about abortion.

[edit] 18 Dear God vs Born Yesterday (KJ-52 vs Rob Dougan) - 6:06 - 86.2 BPM? - Bonus Track

Not much to say here. C. S. Lewis introduces this bonus track that I added as an afterthought and I think his points about God and prayer connect directly to what KJ is talking about. Also, I love Rob Dougan. He's just too perfectionist to ever get anything done which is unfortunate but at least he did get "Furious Angels" done which is one of the greatest albums ever.

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

~ C. S. Lewis