We’re well into the swing of the new year and that means our Fridays are soundtracked by bands taking a big run at a cover song for Triple J’s Like A Version. 2022 is already off to a very good start thanks to today’s entry: Sydney rap group 1300 covering PSY’s “Gangnam Style”.
Before you ask, yes it’s as deliriously fun and ridiculous as the original track that blew us backwards off our chairs, destroyed the charts and brought Korean music to the world some 10 years ago.
The Sydney-based five-piece — made up of three rappers Rako, Goyo and DALI HART and two producers Nerdie and pokari.sweat — roared out of the gates from the first hit of the beat and it just skyrocketed from there.
Over the three-ish minutes of the huge South Korean pop track the group weaved through elements of drum & bass and hardstyle. The cover goes through heights and troughs by taking it from everything-all-at-once sensory overload to breaks of a stripped back trap beat with a solo vocal. It’s a lot, and it really underlines the group’s self-described vibe: “like coming up on an MDMA peak”.
I really don’t know how they took an already-hyperactive hit and injected even more energy into it, but I’m definitely not about to question it.
The chaos of 1300’s cover of PSY’s colossal hit extends beyond what was broadcast on Friday morning. Instead of just using a sample of Rako’s vocals for the vibrated bit in the pre-chorus, Goyo and DALI HART literally chop on his back with their hands to get the same effect.
Now that’s a commitment to the bit, and I deeply appreciate it.
“Performing Korean on a big platform like Like A Version means a lot to us,” the group said in an interview after their cover set.
“It’s almost like a bless that we can just speak the language that we’re more comfortable with. But the people who doesn’t speak our language still interacts with whatever we make.”
If you need a real musical kick up the ass today or something to get your brain firmly locked into Friday Mode, this run at “Gangnam Style” from 1300 is absolutely perfect for that.
