Until a few years ago, the Chicago region's Power 92—a contemporary rap and R&B radio station—was known for DJ Boolumaster’s forays into house music and disco. During his tenure, it wasn't surprising to hear James Brown's "Doing It to Death" or a house edit of Bill Withers' "Harlem" on the "#1 in the Streets" radio station; a half an hour later, it was back to Drumma Boy beats and Gucci Mane cameos. The suits put a stop to the old school four-on-the-floor in early 2009, although the station still has DJs who play more contemporary juke styles.
Rapper YP’s "The Come Up," originally released on last year's Still Awake mixtape, is a genuine meshing of the two worlds Boolumaster fused on Power 92. Producer Jeff Wallace's chop of James Brown's "Payback" is a complete re-invigoration of what had once been a played-out sample source. And YP's bar-filling flow has the right swag to match the track's shag-carpet blacksploitation groove. The end result: a song that could only be more Chicago if it were about the time Iceberg Slim ate Harold's with mild sauce while taking his own picture in the bean.
