Here’s a remix to my favorite track “Strapped” by Los Angeles based producer and rapper duo Fatgums & Bambu. I thought it didn’t get better than the original, but Fatgums proved me wrong. Listen and download “Strapped (Remix)” below.

MP3: Fatgums & Bambu – Strapped (Remix)

Like I said in my post for Best Albums of 2009, the quality of music in 2009 was amazing. Narrowing down a list of hundreds of songs to just 34 was tough. But here they are, our favorite songs of 2009.

34. Theophilus London- Humdrum Town
The hook for Chris Cornells’ “Part Of Me” starts with “That Bitch Ain’t a Part of me.” From that moment on you know this is a song worth hearing.

33. Chris Cornell – Part of Me
The hook for Chris Cornells’ “Part Of Me” starts with “That Bitch Ain’t a Part of me.” From that moment on you know this is a song worth hearing.

32. Anjulie – Boom
While Nelly Furtado is doing whatever she’s doing now Anjulie has quitely stepped into her shoes. “Boom” is a smokey track that’s bound to be stuck in your head after hearing it once.

31. FatGums x Bambu – Strapped
FatGums and Bambu make a great duo. Their song “Strapped,” which features a creative vocal sample from Biggie is a standout track for 2009.

30. Melanie Fiona – Give It To Me Right
Melanie Fiona’s “Give It To Me Right” took me by surprise. The sample is so recognizable I didn’t think anyone could make a dope track out of it. Leave it to this vocalist to do just that. It has all the sass and punch to make Beyonce blush.

30. Pet Shop Boys – More Than A Dream
Pet Shop Boys still can make a credible dance-pop song after all these years. “More Than A Dream” should have been a single from their album Yes.

29. Muse – Uprising
Muse frontman Matt Bellamy knows exactly how to take angst and make an anthem out of it. It helps that his voice is as pure as water. “Uprising” is one of the best rock joints of 2009.

28. Tom Foolery – Close Up
I first heard this joint on Bangladesh’s mixtape Passport Music and it’s quickly become a favorite. The track is dope and finds Foolery, who I think is a rapper, outcrooning R&B dudes like Trey Songz, Usher & Drake. Oops. Anyways, this is a pretty dope jam.

27.Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
will.i.am is a pop genius and this song proves it. “Meet Me Halfway” is a pop jam that finds Fergie channeling the best of Cyndi Lauper and Madonna.

26. N*E*R*D feat Santigold -Soldier
A N*E*R*D and Santigold collaboration is inevitable and after hearing “Soldier” undeniable.

25. Shannel feat Lil’ Wayne – Play in my Band
Shannel is Lil’ Wayne’s other female artist, and in my opinion, she’s alot doper than Nicki Minaj. Her track “Play in my Band” has the edginess Rihanna tries to have in her new music.

24. Amon Tobin/Ms. Jade – Better Get That

Most people have never heard of Ms. Jade or this song. But it’s doper than dope! Ms. Jade is a beast on the mic and Amon Tobin is a beast on the beats.

23. Q-Tip feat Lil’ Wayne, Raekwon & Busta Rhymes – Renaissance Rap (Remix)
I love hearing emcees eat a beat with the hunger of a homeless man. Q-Tip’s remix of “Renaissance Rap” finds Lil’ Wayne, Busta & Raekwon lyrically demolishing a track.

22. GotDion – Yer Dumb (I’m Fly)
GotDion is a producer/rapper from VA and has promise. If this track “Yer Dumb (I’m Fly)” is any indication, we hope to hear more from him.

21. Gucci Mane feat Plies – Wasted
Gucci Mane is catchy and this song is undeniable.

20. J*DaVeY- Duh, Duh, Duh
Though some people don’t like J*DaVeY doing something this pop, I love it. It’s catchy and fun.

19. Ben Carson – Temptation
Ben Carson is bringing back black rock! “Temptation” finds itself in rotation at least once a day in my home.

18. Jay-Z- Venus Vs. Mars
While Blueprint 3 was an utter disappointment it had it’s two moments. This song was one of them. Makes me reminiscence on days when Jay was the master of wordplay.

17. Imogen Heap – 2 – 1
It’s Imogen Heap, what else is there to say?

16. Major Lazer – Pod de floor’ feat. VYBZ Kartel
I could make a separate list for best beats of 2009 and this would be number one. Major Lazer and VYBZ Kartel bought it with this track.

15. Kid Cudi – Heart of a Lion
This is my theme song of 2009! Kid Cudi knows how to make anthems.

14. La Roux- Colorless Color
This song is a mix of Depeche Mode and Duran Duran, two of my favorite 80′s bands. La Roux’s voice and lyrics make the track that much more enjoyable.

13. Drake feat Trey Songz & Lil’ Wayne – Successful
It took me a while to get into Drake. I’m still not there, but this song is undeniable, whether it’s Trey Songz’ catchy hook or Wayne’s sick but short verse at the end “Successful” is a dope song.

12. Shakira feat Wyclef Jean – Spy
Wyclef needs to make an entire album with Shakira. I swear when these two get into the studio they make magic, and “Spy” is no different.

11. Peaches – Lose You
Who knew Peaches could get soft? “Lose You” is pseudo-ballad that Madonna would have killed to sing.

10. Dirty Money feat The Notorious B.I.G. – Angels
Leave it to Diddy to still be reaping off the success of Biggie. But I can’t deny, “Angels” is a dope track. It’s always refreshing to hear Biggie’s voice, and over this old Jigga beat, this is a winner.

09. Lil’ Wayne – Run This Town (Freestyle)
Wayne is the best rapper alive and this song is proof.

08. Blac Waldo – Kanye West is Dead
Kanye has become a punchline–again. And Blac Waldo has capitalized off it. This song is crazy.

07. Rihanna feat Young Jeezy – Hard
If Rihanna were really hard Chris Brown would be on Diane Sawyer saying “Eff Love.” But, this track is crazy regardless. And Jeezy kills his verse, subliminal shots at Gucci Mane and all.

06. Noisettes- Never Forget You
Until Amy Winehouse comes out with a new album Noisettes will have to do. “Never Forget You” is one of my favorite tracks of their albumWild Young Hearts.

05. Lady GaGa- Bad Romance
Lady GaGa is a free bitch baby! “Bad Romance” gets props for adding everything into one song and still being dope! This is art pop!

04. Amanda Blank feat Santigold – A Love Song
Amanda Blank has been an Art Nouveau favorite for a while now. I’ve been bumping this song since a snippet appeared on the Santigold and Diplo mixtape a while back. The full and finished version is just as good.

03. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Runaway
The voice, the lyrics, the beat, it’s all haunting yet alluring. Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a winner with this song.

02. Janalle Monae- Come Alive
Janelle Monae tries her best James Brown impression on this song and it works. Who else is making music like this? Nobody. I doubt Miss Monae could ever be duplicated.

01. Basement Jaxx feat Maleka, Kelis & Chipmunk- Scars
From the time this song starts its epic. Everything about this song is perfect, the beat, the lyrics, the features! Basement Jaxx prove they are geniuses at dark pop!

Throughout the album there are of course Bambu’s usual subjects of racial profiling and domestic relationships but FatGums adds a hard backdrop that compliments and becomes the co-star on “…A Peaceful Riot…”

The duo worked together on Bambu’s latest album “exact change” and the chemistry stuck. Standout tracks include the Notorious B.I.G sampling “Strapped,” the domestic plea “Listen” and the downright outrageous “Good Clothes” which finds Bambu justifying a habit of shopping for well—good clothes.

“…A Peaceful Riot…” provides an arsenal of sounds and song topics and easily becomes something people can relate to. You can purchase a copy of “…A Peaceful Riot…” by clicking here

Key Tracks: “Strapped” “Good Clothes” “Listen”

Art Nouveau Magazine: …Exact Change… is your third and latest album; tell me about the process of making this album that was so different from the process of making the first two?

Bambu: The first album (Self-Untitled… , 2002) was an accident; it was a bunch of songs I had been recorded and we put it out kinda as a compilation. I just wanted to see what would happen with it. And the second album, (I Scream Bars for the Children, 2005) was made with the same dude still kinda a combination of a bunch of separate work. But with …Exact change… I actually sat down and gave myself a goal to talk to about what was happening at the end of 2007 early 2008. Even mechanically I worked with all new producers and engineers (Illmind (G-Unit, Little Brother), Amp LIve (Zion-I, Linkin Park, Goapele), Sabzi (Blue Scholars, Common Market) and Johnny 5. and emerging producers Fatgums, Nick James, 6Fingers, CZA, and I.D) making the work a little more introspective and cohesive.

ANM: On the idea of being introspective, what song on the album best sums up your overall intent for the project?

Bam: “Misused”. “Misused” sums up my political and my social views of the world. For me a big question is how do I leave the world, when I leave the world? And “Misused” answers the question of how the world will remember me in an open letter to my son about who I am with out being too emo but being a father and a man.

ANM: Your now on tour with and have worked with a lot of people over the years: Common, X-Clan, Medusa, Dilated Peoples, Psycho Realm, Planet Asia, Zion-I, the Blue Scholars, Immortal Technique, and the Visionaries just to reminiscence over a few but what’s your dream collaboration?

Bam: Andre 3000! You should always rap with someone who’s going to push you in the studio. Its pointless to get in there with someone who you can beast on a track, and with 3000 he would push me lyrically and stylistically he would take whatever we worked on to the next level.

ANM: What inspires the content of your rap?

Bam: I’ve got to a point now that I’m always rapping, and formulating rhymes, because it natural to me. I don’t need to sit down ad say now it’s the time to write.  I write political and social raps because of my partner and the conversations we have, because of my son, and because of the community work I surround myself with. I’m always ready to rap because I’m constantly inspired with the work that I do.

ANM: What is the community work that you do that has contributed so much to your rapping and this album?

Bam: I work with this Kabataang maka-Bayan, or Pro-People Youth, which is a progressive youth and student organization. We’re educating the masses and raising the social consciousness of the youth to organize and mobilize in response to issues affecting our local communities, and the oppressed people of the Philippines. We try and bridge the gap between the struggles on international issues and the issues we have here. My raps have come from giving a voice my neighborhood and the Filipino community and other hoods just like it.

ANM: As a Filipino American rapper, how have your narratives from the Asian community changed hip-hop?

Bam: I just make hip-hop.  I’m not just an Asian rapper or a Filipino rapper. Hip-hop historically is a black and brown art.  I am just fortunate enough to be apart of this and with that I bring in some the issues that are specifically important to the Filipino community but also inclusive of any marginalized people.

ANM: From a freestyle promoting the album you said: “You give a fuck who I piss off? / When decade after decade my whole people been pissed on?” What goes through your head when u say a lyric like that?

Bam: (laughs a little at my reciting his freestyle) We’re upset. Whether we want to believe it or not black and brown people are upset and as a cultural artist you not supposed to say those things. That’s something a gangsta rappers say. But if you’re pissed off, that’s all you need to say. NWA has taught us, we don’t need a poem to say, “Fuck the police.” Just say, “Fuck the police.” I can sit a kid down and tell him that line and he gets it. He understands the decades of oppression. I don’t need to throw a date at him, or a name of a revolutionary or a martyr for him to understand. That’s why these kids listen to some of these silly raps because it’s in the “language of the youth” and they understand it. As a cultural artist, especially political it’s easy to go over kid’s heads  and throw out huge words and dates and become another form of a textbook. I want my lyrics to be thought provoking not just some candy-ass revolutionary flower power rap that isn’t really saying anything.

ANM: If they get at least one message from your music what would it be?

Bam: Ask questions. That’s the one. Because I don’t even want them to take what I’m saying as gospel as doctrine, this is the truth that I have sought out, so go and find your own truth.

ANM: Revolutionary, gangsta, political, controversial, all words used to modify/describe the music from this album, which do think best describes your intent?

Bam: Revolutionary.  Listen to “Like Us” . It’s just about going against the status quo. Revolutionary is not a word I run away from. Controversial is not a word I run away from either. I embrace all of them.  Gangsta… I’m pro-gangbanging.

ANM: You’re pro-gangbanging? (I repeated him to make sure I had it right)

Bam: Yeah. (He said in a tone that foreshadowed he was about to school me.) I’m a former gang member and a gang is just an organization. It’s a bunch of kids that are not supposed to be organized from horrible conditions, disenfranchised, marginalized kids saying “fuck it” were going to come together. Unfortunately because we’ve been taught self- hatred for years and years, we end up hurting ourselves and the communities we’re trying to protect.  But when I do my outreach I don’t condemn kids for being parts of these organizations because at the root of what they are going they are coming together. The Black Panthers was a gang. The Brown Berets was a gang just because we label them different doesn’t mean the oppression isn’t the same.

ANM: (Now officially schooled) What’s next for a rapper that obviously has a mission for educating the youth and uninformed over the pursuit of the flashing lights typically associated with rappers?

Bam: (he chuckles at my loaded question) One more full hip-hop album, but after that I’m settled to be a has-been rapper and really want to work on my rap writing workshops for kids teaching them how to think critically when they write raps. I want to really structure that program and use my work as testimony towards expanding that.

We’re going to do one last video off  …Exact Change… for “Quit” which a fun song off the album. I have a few other mixtapes (Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin’ 2009 produced by Dj Phatrick) and a few small projects, about eight of those I’m working on with a few specific producers. (Keelay& Zaire presents Bambu Banana Split Sunday).

For everything Bambu click here.