Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris have collaborated on two tracks in the past 8 years – 2008’s “Dance Wiv Me” and the less-remembered “Here 2 China” in 2012, on Harris’ album 18 Months. Harris recently shared with Ryan Seacrest that he’s going to be working with some of his favorite collaborators once again on his new album, including Dizzee Rascal.
Their new collaboration “Hype” came out today, and it’s like nothing we’ve heard from Calvin Harris before. The track plays on the edge of Harris’ pop sensibilities and engages delicately with Dizzee’s vocals, but the huge draw of the tune are the scratched synths in the drop. There’s a distinct deep house groove going on underneath, but the scratches are so infectious and pervasive that they draw all superconscious attention while the bassline, vocals, drums and everything else are left to fill in the blanks in your mind.
After a couple listens, it’s hard to not be impressed by the mixing and writing on this track. Though it’s not going to be that popular in the mainstream, I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is one of Calvin’s best tracks in a long time.
