TECHROW Reimagine 2Pac Hip-Hop Classic as Jazzy House Track

It’s 25 years since the tragic passing of 25-year-old hip-hop star Tupac Shakur. Multi-platinum award-winning producer Jonathan Hay is marking the anniversary in an imaginative way. Hay is reimagining a number of 2Pac’s tracks under his new TECHROW project. The first release from TECHROW sees 2Pac’s classic Hit ’Em Up reworked into a jazzy house track.    

Hailed as one of the most important voices in hip-hop, 2Pac was the victim of a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, in September 1996. Over 75 million 2Pac records have been sold worldwide. The tragic rapper was inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Transformations

New York-based Jonathan Hay has a reputation for turning music on its head. In 2019 he transformed hip-hop duo’s Eric B. & Rakim’s Follow the Leader album into an instrumental jazz longplayer. Follow the Leader (Reimagined as Jazz) claimed the No.1 spot on Billboard’s Jazz Album Chart for four weeks. It stayed in the chart for 11 weeks. Coincidently, Hay worked on that critically acclaimed album at Quad Recording Studios. That’s where 2Pac was shot and robbed in 1994 – the incident igniting the violent East and West Coast hip-hop rivalry.

Last year, Hay also partnered with The Notorious B.I.G estate. Biggie Small’s son CJ Wallace and Hay interpreted a number of Biggie’s hits into electronic reworks. Earlier this year, he unleashed Come As You Are: Nirvana Reimagined as House Techno. As the album title suggests, Hay remolded the grunge band’s tracks into electronic affairs, introducing vocalist Daniella Carter into the mix.

Love and Positivity

Now Hay turns his attention to 2Pac’s legacy, drafting in Carter on vocal duties once again and the talented 41x and Matt Berman to revolutionise classic 2Pac tracks. “Some of my associates have asked why we chose the violent Biggie diss Hit ’Em Up as the first single,” said Hay. “We simply took a historical hardcore diss song and turned it upside down with diverse creatives voices from all backgrounds over a jazzy dance backdrop. House music is all about love and positivity and I look forward to seeing everyone dancing freely to this new spin of a classic while honouring 2Pac’s legacy.”

What do you think of the TECHROW take? Listen to the rework of Hit ’Em Up below and make up your mind.

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