The Blak Beat Niks: “Free to be Free”

This new single represents a bit of a comeback for Tony Records, being their first release of 2009. This marks a bit of a comeback for Chicago producer Big Ed (aka H.E. Matthews) too – one of the cats whose name comes up constantly in conversations with the hot Chicago producers of the 1990s, from Mike Dunn, Ron Carroll and other friends and family. His best known track from that era is probably 1996’s “Do Me a Favor” featuring Dana on Cajual – DJ Pope and Lil’ John Coleman had a hand in the production of what became a Red Dog classic. The main mix features spoken word in the forefront over a simply gorgeous layered background chorus. There’s a hot disco groove to all of the mixes. Favorites here are the minimal dub and the two remixes by Tony Records’ “Italian Connection”, Tony Loreto and Jacko.