Globalization at its finest: a multi-genre international remix
Every so often you come across things that make you realize just how small the modern world is. For instance, the French Kiwi Juice remix of “Fly” by June Marieezy: a song by a Texan rapper now residing in the Philippines remixed by a DJ from Paris. This unlikely pair’s separate but collaborative creative efforts have resulted in a genre-defying track that is a soulfully tasty blend of jazz, R&B, rap, and electronic music. French Kiwi Juice (colloquially referred to as FKJ) takes Marieezy’s calmly confident and spiritual flow and adds layers of popping bass plucks, complicated jazz piano riffs that make you wonder just how many fingers this guy has, and simple backbeat percussion, slightly bumping up the energy of the original song and transforming it into a more lighthearted affair.
The expatriate artist breathes life into the rap genre by challenging the male domination of the art form and demonstrating that lyrics do not have to be coarse, materialistic, or even focused on social or political issues, and that rap can be peaceful, ethereal, and self-focused without being arrogant or self-deprecating. FKJ’s staggering abilities bring “Fly” to its full potential by beefing up the song’s musicality and making it a bona fide, fleshed-out, true work of art. The best remixes are those that sound like an original track, and, let me put it this way, this remix makes you forget that these two artists live across the planet from each other and have never entered a studio together.
