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Last night, when I went skateboarding in the hopes of avoiding the sun’s deadliest noontime rays, it was still so goddamned hot I think my genome mutated. This winter, I spent months trapped inside my cinder-block castle in Chicago, performing dark rituals in the hope of encouraging summer’s early arrival. Well, it’s pretty much just on schedule, nonetheless, summer’s here in a big way — after a week of 90+ degree temperatures, I envision the entire Northeast looking like a frying egg in one of those old-school anti-drug ads. Indeed, I can hear the sizzling from here… oh shit, actually, that’s just my flesh. Moving on.

Temperatures this steamy call for a few things, preferably in order — good tunes, an abundance of beers to get you nice, and by “nice” I mean really, really dehydrated, and finally, your very own Crocodile Mile. Now, I won’t pretend to know your preference in alcoholic beverages so you’re going to have to handle that on your own, and I better not see you eyeing my Crocodile Mile again. But I can provide you with some awesome jams, and can pretty much assure you that your summer will suck if you don’t download the Mos Dub remix album produced by Max Tannone.

Mos Def - photo via capcomsarcade.com

The producer behind the well-received Jaydiohead mashup album put out some fucking HEAT a couple months ago, just in time for the sweltering fourth of the year. The album features a number of Mos Def and Black Star tracks remixed with classic dub reggae plates and they work so well together it’s kind of hard to believe it wasn’t done before. The highest point of achievement for any remix or mashup is to actually improve on the original source material, and at least in my opinion, a lot of these tracks are far better than Mos Def’s originals. This is a creative, original project that’s expertly produced and simply different.

Can I issue an open call for more dub-inspired beats in hip hop going forward? Maybe it’s all the herb, or maybe I’m not thinking straight due to the sun-poisoning, but this shit is doing it for me in a major way right now. This is the sound of good times, of kicking back and cooling out, which is a very, aheh, refreshing thing lately. The case of Capri Sun I picked up earlier is probably a little more refreshing, but let’s not get into technicalities here. I was just trying to make you jealous, anyway.

Mos Def is consistently a creative voice in the increasingly homogeneous hip hop genre, so his solid lyrics with his laid-back delivery mixed with grooving, easy-going dub is not only a no-brainer, but a veritable instant classic. Download the album right here, right now, or put the rest of your pool parties this summer in serious jeopardy. Is that the kind of blood you want on your hands?