- If you call your debut record Greatest Hits, you're probably not asking people to take you seriously. If you call the first track on that record "Return Of The Swagger," well, now we're entering jokesville. It's an aesthetic that, along with the gangster rap and ghetto house nods, makes this EP from DJ Swagger contradictory. "A collection of gun shots & police sirens," it says on the 12-inch label, which is a good idea of what to expect from these bassy, faux-posturing house rollers. Amidst the chopped-and-screwed Birdman samples and dancy rap edits, however, it's easy to hear a producer with a real knack for groove and melody.
Across Greatest Hits, DJ Swagger brings together acid, breakbeats, organ bass, 909s, lush pads and just about every other old-school house trope in the book. Even when it works well, like on the deep and limber "Lituation," it comes dangerously close to being a caricature. The grimacing "Glock & Gualla" splits the difference between Glacher Lustwerk and old AFX, which would've worked much better without the "mo' money bitches" vocal piled on top. With its thumping bounce and filtered piano hook, "Peturn Of The Rimp" gets off to a smooth start, until the original track's rap comes in to add its needless double-time rhythm. The gun-fingers breakdown near the end is pretty cringeworthy. But the effortless shuffle and glide of "Return Of The Swagger," on the other hand, is proof of the sincerity that's slyly snuck into Greatest Hits. Gunshots, modem FX and all, it's enough to want to take DJ Swagger seriously.
TracklistA1 Return Of The Swagger
A2 Glock & Gualla
B1 Lituation
B2 Peturn Of The Rimp