Max Tannone recently joined the Dub and Reggae community and messaged me about his latest release: Mos Dub, a dub remix of Mos Def.

I’ve heard other great dub covers of popular music, most famously Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band by Easy Star All Stars and the VP Records tribute to Michael Jackson as well as Reggae Spirits, who cover Police tracks.

I was intrigued by the Mos Def angle, so I took a listen and loved it. I asked Max to tell me a bit more about his creative process, and he sent me this information:

Max’s explanation of the Mos Def dub album

I’ve been listening to reggae for a long time, but only recently began listening to dub music. I had heard the term “dub” before, and knew that it was a offshoot of reggae in a way, but never really understood it. Curiously, I began with some of the dub heavyweights like King Tubby and Lee Perry, and before long got into a number of other artists like Scientist (my favorite), Dennis Bovell, Black Uhuru, Horace Andy, Easy Star All-Stars, Prince Jammy, and many more. I loved the mystical and sometimes spooky sound, and was fascinated by the technical aspect of dub creation. The use of delay, reverb, sound effects, and editing always catches my ear.

Being a remixer myself, I wanted to do something with my favorite dub tracks, and I always thought many would sound great as hip-hop tracks. Dub of course heavily features drums and that infectious bass – similar to hip-hop. As a big Mos Def fan and supporter, I’ve wanted to create something with him for a while. When his last album The Ecstatic came out, I realized I could create new “dubs” and lay him over them. It was important to respect the original tracks of both artists. Remixing classics like “Johnny Too Bad” and “007 (Shanty Town)” is not something to be done lightly. This project is an homage to this incredible music, I want to turn more people on to dub and classic reggae tunes.

That being said, I think this project works well because dub music is so heartfelt, its another form of soul music, and Mos Def’s raps are often socially conscious and interesting…he is really saying something. It felt natural to put them together, and I hope you enjoy it.

-Max Tannone

More Dub work from Max

You can hear and download the Mos Dub remix at www.mosdub.com.

Max’s other works include:

• Jaydiohead, a Radiohead dub remix
• Double Check Your Head, a Beastie Boys dub remix

You can follow Max on Twitter at http://twitter.com/maxtannone.