Paul’s Boutique is a big part of why I came to New York. When I was deciding where to go to college, the record had been one of my favorites for a couple years. The world the Beastie Boys described–its geography, customs, slang–was dealt in a wonderful puzzle of samples, big pop references, and NYC inside jokes. Between Paul’s Boutique (a love letter to New York) and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde (a love letter set in New York), I became convinced that New York City was right for me and that’s where I ended up. Other places I was considering (Austin, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, New Jersey) just didn’t have the same soundtrack.
“Caught In The Middle of A 3-Way Mix” is a remixed version of Paul’s Boutique that was released in 2012. Listen and let it blow your mind like it did mine:
DJ Cheeba, DJ Moneyshot, and DJ Food remixed the entire album using its original sources, exploring the samples that the Dust Brothers used to create Paul’s Boutique. Paul’s Boutique is well known for its innovative and expansive use of samples. It is often mentioned along with DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing as a pioneering work that changed both remixing and hip hop.
Of all the tracks on the original Paul’s Boutique, “Car Thief” has always been near the top of my list. DJ Food’s remix (starting at about 39:49 into the remix) uses the samples to deepen the connection of the music to its roots in 60s and 70s classic rock, 70s funk and soul, and early 80s hip hop.