LargeUp Audio: Busy Signal x Major Lazer - "Bumaye (Watch Out For This)"
Major Lazer drops the "Watch Out For This (Bumaye)" collab with dancehall heavy hitter Busy Signal. This track is from their latest LP Free The Universe--originally due about now but now pushed back to April. The project promises to take Diplo disciples to electro-thump heaven with a few collabs the group had never indulged before. Along with Major Lazer and Busy Signal the track features FS Green on the production assist. LargeUp has the story, read below and hit the link at bottom to run the track:
Of the collaborations promised on Major Lazer‘s upcoming Free the Universe LP, “Watch Out For This (Bumaye)” featuring Busy Signal is one of those that most piqued our interest. Not only has Busy been on a quality-filled tear since returning home to Jamaica from a US prison stay last year (though surely the song’s vocals were recorded before that), but the song promised to match Busy’s dancehall style with some Latin flavor, an arena where he has excelled in the past. Add in the early ’90s JA period-piece video (directed by dancehall director Jay Will) that Major Lazer shot on a recent visit to Kingston (see above photo), and color us intrigued.
In lieu of not releasing Free the Universe today as planned (the release has been pushed back to March 12), Major Lazer is today giving away a download of “Watch Out For This (Bumaye) to those who pre-order the album. For those of you who don’t plan on buying it, the track is streaming on Soundcloud via song collaborator FS Green. In any case, it’s worth checking out cause it’s quite good, a savyy synthesis of dancehall, salsa and EDM sure to work in any variety of settings. Busy, for his part, sold us out the gate with his reference to Tenor Saw’s “Fever” and kills it, throughout.
Like a few other Major Lazer tunes, this one has a pre-history. Specifically, it’s an update of a 2011 track Green and fellow Dutch house producer The Flexican made from a sample of Willie Colon and Ruben Blades’ “Maria Colonza,” placing an almost identical beat beneath Busy’s original vocals. I don’t know if it’s just cause I live here but, for a track with roots in the New York, Holland and Kingston, this one sure feels very Miami, a place just about to heat up with a series of festivals (Calle Ocho, Ultra) where “Bumaye” is sure to be a welcome addition.