Song You Need: DJ Haram’s “Mescalito” remix has ShrapKnel and billy woods rapping over drum & bass

The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.

When Curly Castro and PremRock reunited as ShrapKnel after two years for their 2022 album Metal Lung, “Mescalito” was a standout track. The eerie exploration of magic mushrooms puts the two emcee’s vocals at the forefront, laden with saxophones and a secret guest verse from Backwoodz Studioz labelhead billy woods.

DJ Haram's “Mescalito” remix, out this week, merges jungle, drum & bass, rap, and jazz into one frenzied fever trip. The music video spells out the mood in its description: "Once upon a time ShrapKnel took the 3 train uptown, to pick up some merch items, then the conductor came on the intercom and stated: 'next stop…Jacob’s Ladder.'"

Both in song and in video, the duo captures exactly what it would be like to be on a psilocybin-induced psychosis in the middle of New York City. DJ Haram's restless reimagination of the beat elevates the track to new highs as she blends the original's gloomy jazz horns into abrasive breakbeats, creating dark, merciless melodies for ShrapKnel and billy woods' rich storytelling. The song encompasses the experience of being in trapped in an unhinged trip; its cataclysmic earwormability mimicking inescapably brainsick thought cycles.