In January of last year, Deadmau5 released a haunted womped-out hip hop track featuring UK rapper Shotty Horroh. The dubstep-infused production named ‘Are You Not Afraid’ capitalized on British hip hop’s fascination with aggressive electronic sounds and stood out as unique among Zimmerman’s releases. Unfortunately, while it was rumored to be featured on his 2014 full-length, ‘while(1<2),’ the track never saw the light of day outside a free download at link live.deadmau5.com.
Now Zimmerman has reworked the track and put it up at his “fuckmylife” SoundCloud page with a slightly modified name: ‘Are You Not Afraid blah.’ Dumping the dubstep vibe entirely while holding on to the ghostly atmosphere, the new version features an organic bass guitar sample looped over and over in what could be a tribute to the classic production work of hip hoppers DJ Muggs and RZA. While the vocals are lower in the mix than the first go around, Shotty Horroh’s clever rapid-fire vocals are still strong with lines like, “Lord, I think I can hear the demons coming/Christ, don’t try to cross me like the Jesus,” before boasting that he tells girls he’s Justin Bieber’s cousin in order to get in their pants. You can check out the original version here, and scroll down for the latest and greatest:
