When did people start saying "REEEEEmix!" in a remix?

November 5, 2007 10:22 AM

You know how in (some) remixes, someone will yell during the intro "REEEEEEEmix!" with the "re" as a higher note, and the "mix" as a lower note (the interval always seems to be the same). Who started that, and when was that particular interval settled upon as the way to say "remix"?

I know that not every remix has someone yelling "REEEEEmix!" I'm talking about how when someone *does* yell "remix", it always seems to be exactly the same way.

posted by 23skidoo to media & arts (12 comments total)

Confirmation bias, sez R. Kelly.
posted by klangklangston at 11:02 AM on November 5, 2007

I'm pretty sure it had to have originated on hip hop mixtapes in the 80's or 90's.
posted by reenum at 11:07 AM on November 5, 2007

Until I hear an earlier citation, I'm going to go with Missy Elliott.

That and confirmation bias. I mean, how many ways are there to yell 'Remix!' during an intro?
posted by box at 11:33 AM on November 5, 2007

What box said.
posted by SassHat at 11:43 AM on November 5, 2007

Given the tendency for artists (especially in the hip-hop/electronic/remix/mashup scene) to sample each other's work, I'm willing to bet that sometimes it sounds exactly the same because it *is* the same sound clip re-used over and over again.
posted by lou at 11:49 AM on November 5, 2007

I can't provide any solid references, but I would guess it goes WAY back before Missy Elliot. Not only in hip-hop, but probably in dancehall reggae, as well as mashup electronica from the early 90s.
posted by gnutron at 11:51 AM on November 5, 2007

Is the interval a descending minor third? If so, that simply seems to be the human "default" for a two-syllable chant. Two relevant searches to back this up. If that's actually the interval then it's quite likely that there is no true originator of the phenomenon; multiple artists could quite naturally arrive at the same result independently of one another.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:33 PM on November 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

It was KRS-1 from "Duck Down", I believe. Sex & Violence album - 1992.

"DUCK! ...DUCK! Sucka MC's duck down! DUCK! BO! Ree-WINNNNND!!" (audible sound of tape rewinding)

And then someone (likely Missy) came along and signified it back to BDP and adapted it into "Reeee-miiiiix".
posted by cashman at 12:52 PM on November 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. If we're going to start talking about reee-wiiind, being connected to reeee-miiiix, that's cool.

But please note that the roots of nearly every hiphop tradition are directly extended from Jamaican music and culture - especially everything in krs-one's early repertoire.
posted by gnutron at 1:44 PM on November 5, 2007 [2 favorites]

That and confirmation bias. I mean, how many ways are there to yell 'Remix!' during an intro?

The two notes could be the same. The two notes could be an octave apart. The second note could be higher. I can think of at least 12^2 ways to do it off the top of my head. If you can find lots of examples of any of these, I'd love to hear them.
posted by 23skidoo at 2:46 PM on November 5, 2007

I agree with you gnutron, I just think KRS brought it into the consciousness of American Rap/Hip Hop, and Missy was probably the one that shifted it to "remix".
posted by cashman at 2:46 PM on November 5, 2007

Not sure about the two-note thing, but KRS-One's exclamation, "This is a remix!" on Steady B's "Serious (Ceereeus BDP Remix)" in '88 also comes to mind.
posted by hyperizer at 2:59 PM on November 5, 2007