T.I. sought out
Paul Wall to give Urban Legend the chopped and screwed treatment. Since the 2000 death of chopped and screwed pioneer
DJ Screw -- who died in 2000 due to a lethal intake of codeine --
Wall has been one of the more visible producers to keep the form alive. Each track from the original album is significantly slowed down, dragged down to a woozy lurch, with bleary stutters only adding to the bizarrely psychedelic experience. Unless you're under the influence of the cough syrup 'n' carbonated beverage 'n' codeine concoction that inspired this style of remixing, the 80 minutes can be a tough slog. Otherwise, the disc is easier to digest in smaller doses. Whether or not you're on anything, the effect can be pretty mind-altering. "Bring Em Out" is the greatest example, where the original's victorious blurts of marching band horns are turned into something you'd be more likely to hear in a New Orleans jazz funeral. As fascinating as these remixes can be, you might wonder if the faulty tape deck in your first hooptie did the honors with an equal degree of success. Chopped and screwed fanatics will eat this up;
T.I. fans should stick to downloading only the remixes of the singles. ~ Andy Kellman