Top 10 Hip Hop Tracks of 2007: #8 "I'm So Hood (Remix)" by DJ Khaled and friends

“I’m So Hood” was just another chapter in the reign of DJ Khaled-approved singles that have been a cut above the rest of commercial hip hop over the past 18 months. Juggernaut producer team, The Runners (“Hustlin”; “Money on My Mind”), helm an exceptional beat, a fuzzy array of sirens and sporadic drum rolls, while T-Pain vibraphones his way through an expectedly plain yet catchy chorus. But, it wasn’t until the Miami-based DJ decided to add to the already diverse cast of rappers that the song became a banger. Khaled makes the obvious right moves on the remix by adding Lil Wayne and cutting Plies. The new lineup collectively kills it, with even Fat Joe murdering his bars (“I should own a McDonald’s the way I bring the Mac(k)s out”). Young Jeezy, Busta, and Rick Ross spend their time convincing everyone, albeit colorfully and effectively, of how much weight they move. Baby drops a bunch of numbers relating to rim size and vagueties, per usual. Wayne uses his verse to further his campaign for world domination. In his surprising cameo, Big Boi channels his Stankonia-era self to remind us he’s still “nicer than MCs in your Top 3” and one of the original stalwarts in the Southern Rap movement. Ludacris is the champion of the song though, laying down his verse line by line as if every rhyme was another punch line. After his abysmal Release Therapy LP, Luda’s been stealing the show as a premier feature artist (see: Gucci Mane’s “Freaky Girl”) and a once-again effective taunting rapper, even taking jabs at Khaled (“I’m so hood that Ludacris shoulda been on the original version!”). In a time which radio hip-hop is watered down with Rap&B flops, the ensemble song has become a somewhat respectable pastime. And as vanilla as the T-Pain chorus and Fat Joe appearance may seem, the combination of The Runners’ production, MCs’ individual talents and DJ Khaled’s ability to gather the right rappers at the right time make this song more of a “M*A*S*H” ensemble than a “Rat Race” one.

I'm So Hood (Remix) (zShare)