We were bound and determined to not like this track going in. Even if we completely ignore the fact that Axwell /\ Ingrosso recently called the underground amateur and then accused the reporter of taking their words out of context before the original transcript surfaced, we simply couldn’t imagine a collaboration between two progressive house DJ/producers and American rapper Pusha T turning out in any way listenable. Well, color us convinced, we guess, because what they’ve turned out is actually not half bad.
Similar to what Sebastian Ingrosso’s own prodigy Alesso has been putting out lately, Axwell /\ Ingrosso’s original version of “Can’t Hold Us Down” features elements almost reminiscent of hard rock, a characteristic which has helped illustrate the caricature of mainstream EDM artists being the rock stars of our era. In the rework, the fist-pumping melody has been replaced with a gritty hip-hop beat that sounds nothing like the original but still works alongside its robotic vocal sample. Furthermore, aggressive verses contributed by Pusha T, Saltvatore Ganacci and Silvana Imam make you forget that it’s an Axwell /\ Ingrosso song altogether.
Of course, at this level of the game it’s seldom clear just how much of a track was put together by the artists whose names are on it. Perhaps the rework of “Can’t Hold Us Down” ought to be attributed to a ghost producer who better understands how to produce a rap song than the two Swedes likely do.
Regardless, take a listen to the track below and tell us, what do you think of Axwell /\ Ingrosso‘s rework of “Can’t Hold Us Down?”