Retro gaming rap: Mario gets hard-core hip-hop makeover
What happens when you mix Mobb Deep and Mario? You get a jangly, hip-hoppy good time full of curse words and retro gaming sound effects.
I don't know how much crossover there is between fans of old-school Mario games and fans of East Coast hard-core rap duo Mobb Deep, but there's at least one guy who qualifies. Teddy Faley has so much love for each, he created an entire mashup album of the two.
"Mario Deep" (fair warning: adult language in the lyrics) consists of vocals from Mobb Deep playing over a soundtrack culled entirely of samples from the first few Mario games. At first, you might think the combination would be pretty jarring, but after a few seconds, you can really get into the groove of it.
There's something about the combination of lyrics like "You try to stop mines from growin', I'll make your blood stop flowin'" and the jingly, happy sounds of Mario that kind of works.
I think the ideal way to consume this album would be to listen to it while playing your favorite Mario game. I guarantee you'll feel a lot tougher than usual.
"Mario Deep" is available as a free download. If you're only going to listen to one of the five songs, I suggest starting with "Drop a Shell on Em" for maximum Mario madness.