- Since Roger McKenzie, the UK artist known as Wildchild, released "Renegade Master" in 1995, the house classic has been remixed countless times across multiple genres, most famously, in 1997, by Fatboy Slim. Its rapped vocal, which samples the US hip-hop track "One For The Trouble" by A.D.O.R., is one of the most recognisable in club music, to the point where it's hard to hear it on a dance floor without rolling your eyes. So when the latest new version, "Power To The People" by the Italian producers Leon and Shaf Huse, landed in my inbox, my immediate response was: why?
This might feel unfair to some dance music fans. As videos like this show, "Power To The People" was a big hit last summer, hammered by heavyweight DJs like Carl Cox, Seth Troxler and Luciano. But that says more about the current state of the top-tier circuit than anything else, a scene where brawn and functionality champion innovation. As such, very little about "Power To The People" is new or interesting. There's some nice movement in the bassline, but the slamming groove still feels generic. Snippets of the vocal precede more complete passages, their impact beefed up with noisy build-ups and spinbacks that land right on the drop. Like with most remixes of "Renegade Master," you're better off just reaching for the original—or something else entirely.
Tracklist01. Power To The People