Top Ranking

Infobox Album |
Name = Top Ranking
Type = Compilation
Artist = Santogold & Diplo


Released = July 7, 2008
Recorded =
Genre = Dub, electronic, punk rock, reggae, trip hop, psychedelic
Length =
Label = Mad Decent
Producer = Diplo, Santi White
Reviews = *"Exclaim! (positive) [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=115&csid2=804&fid1=32514 link]
*"NME" rating-10|8 [http://www.nme.com/reviews/santogold/9887 link]
*Pitchfork Media rating-10|8 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/142594-santogold-diplo-top-ranking link]
*"Slant Magazine" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1447 link]
Last album =
This album = "Top Ranking"
(2008)
Next album =
Misc = Extra chronology 2
Artist = Santogold
Type = mixtape
Last album = "Santogold"
(2008)
This album = "Top Ranking"
(2008)
Next album =Extra chronology 2
Artist = Diplo
Type = mixtape
Last album = "I Like Turtles"
(2007)
This album = "Top Ranking"
(2008)
Next album =

"Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub" is a mixtape by American artist Santogold and Philadelphia-based DJ Diplo, released on July 7, 2008. [ cite web | url=http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/5983775/Top-Ranking-A-Diplo-Dub/Product.html | title=Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub | work=Play.com | accessdate=2008-07-05 ] The mixtape was also available to download for free. [ cite web | url=http://www.nme.com/news/santogold/38444 | title=Santogold and Diplo mixtape available to download for free | work=NME | publisher=IPC Media | date=2008-07-25 | accessdate=2008-09-05 ]

General information

"Top Ranking" features remixes of songs from Santogold's eponymous debut album, as well as remixes of other artists. Santogold also has unreleased songs on the mixtape, including a cover of The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton", which has been altered to reference Brooklyn. cite web | url=http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/07/santogold_covers_the_clash_sor.html | title=Santogold covers the Clash, sort of | author=Ehren Gresehover | work=New York | publisher=Bruce Wasserstein | date=2008-07-18 | accessdate=2008-07-22 ] "Guns of Brooklyn" and "Get It Up", a collaboration with M.I.A. that heavily samples Gorilla Zoe's "Hood Nigga", were leaked to the blogosphere prior to the mixtape's release. cite web | url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/142361-santogold-and-diplo-team-for-top-ranking-mixtape | title=Santogold and Diplo team for Top Ranking mixtape | author=Paul Thompson | work=Pitchfork Media | date=2008-07-18 | accessdate=2008-07-22 ] [ cite web | url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/142314-new-music-santogold-and-diplo-guns-of-brooklyn-the-clash-cover-stream | title="Guns of Brooklyn" (The Clash cover) | author=Mark Richardson | work=Pitchfork Media | date=2008-07-17 | accessdate=2008-07-22 ] An alternate version of "Get It Up" featuring Esau Mwamwaya rather than Gorilla Zoe also appeared on the internet. cite web | url=http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/8/8/freeload-esau-mwamwaya-f-mia-santogold-get-it-up | title=Esau Mwamwaya f. MIA & Santogold, "Get It Up" | work=The Fader | date=2008-08-08 | accessdate=2008-08-14 ] The album was released free of charge for a short period of time on the internet via download. [ cite web | url=http://www.nme.com/news/santogold/38444 | title=Santogold and Diplo mixtape available to download for free | work=NME | date=2008-07-25 | accessdate=2008-09-24 ]

Critical reception

The mixtape has received comparisons to M.I.A. and Diplo's 2004 mixtape, "Piracy Funds Terrorism". [ cite web | url=http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=764&Itemid=26 | title=Santogold vs Diplo | work=Fact Magazine | publisher=Vinyl Factory Publishing | date=2008-07-21 | accessdate=2008-07-22 ] However, Pitchfork Media stated that "the similarities between this collaboration and Diplo's first-- 2004's M.I.A.-trumpeting "Piracy Funds Terrorism" mix-- are as superficial as those between M.I.A. and Santogold themselves." cite web | url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/142594-santogold-diplo-top-ranking | title=Santogold/Diplo: Top Ranking [Mad Decent; 2008] | author=Mark Pytlik | work=Pitchfork Media | date=2008-07-29 | accessdate=2008-07-30 ] According to "NME", "Top Ranking" "expands on her [Santogold's] debut's cultural crossover", incorporating "hyphy, crunk, classic dub and new wave". cite web | url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/santogold/9887 | title=Santogold Vs Diplo | author=Priya Elan | work=NME | publisher=IPC Media | date=2008-09-05 | accessdate=2008-09-05 ] The review continued that the mixtape "is a must-have" either "as a standalone mixtape or a perfect companion to "Santogold". Exclaim! said that "Top Ranking" "showcases Santogold's steeze and flexibility as an MC/singer." cite web | url=http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=115&csid2=804&fid1=32514 | title=Santogold & Diplo - Top Ranking | work=Exclaim! | date=2008-07-24 | accessdate=2008-07-24 ] They praised Diplo's "global and eclectic", calling "Top Ranking" "a top-notch mixtape that will hopefully find its way up from the underground." Idolator labelled the disc "an entertaining listen, with most of the disparate influences that influence Santogold's debut appearing in one form or another." [ cite web | url=http://idolator.com/399023/diplo-santogold-trip-down-hip+hop-memory-lane | title=Diplo, Santogold trip down hip-hop memory lane | work=Idolator | date=2008-07-22 | accessdate=2008-07-24 ] "Slant Magazine" said that "Top Ranking"'s hotness can't—and shouldn't—be downplayed", but also that it doesn't distinguish itself from "Piracy Funds Terrorism" and that "Santogold's unique essence feels lost amid the clutter." [ cite web | url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1447 | title=Diplo and Santogold: Top Ranking | author=Ed Gonzalez | work=Slant Magazine | date=2008-07-30 | accessdate=2008-08-14 ]

Track listing

# "Dub Selection Intro"
# Three 6 Mafia – "Late Night" (Unstoppable Mix)
# Santogold – "Shuv It" (Disco D Blend)
# Santogold – "I'm A Lady" (Diplo Mix feat. Amanda Blank)
# Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Posse on Broadway"
# Santogold – "Lights Out" (Diplo's Panda Bear Mix)
# Aretha Franklin – "Save Me"
# Devo – "Be Stiff"
# The B-52's – "Mesopotamia"
# Gerri and the Holograms – "Gerri and the Holograms"
# Santogold – "Anne" (Switch Mix)
# Santogold – "L.E.S. Artistes" (XXXchange Mix feat. Mavado)
# Cutty Ranks – "Dutty Six Pack"
# Santogold – "You'll Find a Way" (Grame & Switch Mix feat. Kid Cudi) / "Lunar Camel"
# Richie Spice & Ratatat – "Marijuana"
# Desmond Dekker – "Shanty Town"
# Santogold – "Guns of Brooklyn"
# The Dixie Cups – "Iko Iko"
# Tony Matterhorn – "Big Belly Guns"
# Santogold – "Get It Up" (Radioclit Mix feat. M.I.A. and Gorilla Zoe)
# Mark Ronson In Studio
# Trouble Andrew – "Run - Hide"
# Sister Nancy – "Pigeon Rock"
# Nora Dean – "Barbwire"
# Shinehead – "Know How Fe Chat"
# The Clash – "Ghetto Defendant"
# Warrior Queen – "Check It"
# Santogold & Benga – "Unstoppable" / "Night Dub"
# Shawty Lo & Skream – "Dey Know" / "Stagger"
# Santogold – "Creator" (Mumdance Mix feat. Jammer, Badness, Chronik Rage, Slikman and Tempz)
# Xray - "Turbulence Dubplate" (Starstruck Diplo Mix)
# Barrington Levy – "Send a Moses"
# Prince Jazzbo – "Ital Corner"
# Santogold – "Icarus"
# Santogold & Diplo – "Right Brigade"

Covers and samples

*"Late Night" (Unstoppable Mix) by Three 6 Mafia samples Santogold's "Unstoppable"
*Amanda Blank's verse in "I'm A Lady" (Diplo Mix) samples LL Cool J's "I Need Love" [ cite web | url=http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/25/single-minded-the-killers-wu-tang-clan-santogold-and-the-cure/ | title=Single Minded: The Killers, Wu-Tang Clan, Santogold and The Cure | author=J. Edward Keyes | work=Rolling Stone | publisher=Wenner Media | date=2008-07-25 | accessdate=2008-07-26 ]
*The end of "Shuv It" (Disco D Blend) samples Shinehead's "Billie Jean"
*Diplo's Panda Bear Mix of "Lights Out" samples "Comfy in Nautica" by Panda Bear [ cite web | url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/144541-pitchforktv-santogold-lights-out-video | title=Pitchfork.tv: Santogold: "Lights Out" [Video] | author=Marc Hogan | date=2008-08-11 | accessdate=2008-08-13 ]
*"Anne" (Switch Mix) samples "Das Model" and "Nummern" by Kraftwerk
*"Dutty Six Pack" opens with a sample from The Clash's "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" from "Sandinista!" and further samples "Six Pack" by Black Flag
*"You'll Find a Way" (Grame & Switch Mix) / "Lunar Camel" samples "Lunar Camel" by Siouxsie and the Banshees
*"Guns of Brooklyn" is a cover of The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton"
*"Iko Iko" by The Dixie Cups is blended with "Ching-a-Ling" by Missy Elliott and samples Clinic's "The Equaliser" from "Walking with Thee"
*"Big Belly Guns" opens with the intro to "Sonic Reducer" by The Dead Boys and closes with the bassline and guitar riff from the Dead Kennedys's "California Uber Alles"
*"Get It Up" (Radioclit Mix feat. M.I.A. and Gorilla Zoe) samples Tony Matterhorn's "Big Belly Guns" and Gorilla Zoe's "Hood Nigga"
*"Creator" contains a part of "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by Soulja Boy
*"Turbulence Duplate" (Starstruck Diplo Mix) by Xray samples Santogold's "Starstruck"
*The instrumental of "Icarus" is based around "This Is How We Walk on the Moon" by Arthur Russell
*"Right Brigade" is a cover of Bad Brains

References

External links

*MySpace|santogold|Santogold