Throw Some Mash On That Tok

These Pandas Look at Home at the Show

From what I have discerned about the Show in my brief tenure here, we collectively and not-so-secretly love a catchy pop song. Clearly we are not too ostentatious to concede the undeniable charm of modern day classics like “Party in the U.S.A.” As our estimable leader, Edward of Roma, said in the best Songs of 2009 article (I had to link it because otherwise it may have been hard to find amidst all the new material since), “Party in the U.S.A. was that… guilty pleasure you didn’t have to hide. Everyone loved this song. Everyone loves this song.”

Thankfully, the hullabaloo caused by our most recent guilty pleasure song has finally begun to subside. As it turns out, my lengthy and assuredly much-appreciated absence in mid to late January was actually due to the severe injuries I sustained when I was senselessly beaten by “Tik Tok.” I would describe Ke$ha’s first single now, but if you haven’t heard it, then you must have stumbled onto this blog by mistake. So for those of you who need to scratch at that uncontrollable “Tik Tok” itch but are too embarrassed by the actual song, you’ve lucked out. The Ke$ha bug has also bitten some of our favorite DJs and mashup gurus.

We’ll start with “Doo Tok” the Chambaland mashup of Ke$ha and demigod Lauryn Hill. While my brother referred to this mashup as “sacrilegious,” I simply cannot rebuff anything that could be mistaken for new Lauryn Hill. Chambaland removes Ke$ha’s suspect verses and chorus, leaving Ms. Hill to do her thang all over the club shattering beat of “Tik Tok.”

The White Panda, a mashup group surely deserving of an article of their own, contributed an even better mash. Like Chambaland, The White Panda realized that the major flaw of “Tik Tok” is probably Ke$ha herself. So they too remove all evidence of her voice, and instead leave us Rich Boy. “Throw Some Tik on that Tok” is everything “Tik Tok” isn’t on its own. Rich Boy adds some much needed masculinity to the Saturday night crowd pleaser. And for those of you without Versus (The inaugural White Panda release) head to http://www.thewhitepanda.com/ stat and get your hands on it for free.

Finally, I’ll finish with my least favorite of the numerous variations. The Hood Internet (the brains behind 3 of my 5 favorite mashups of last year) sadly mailed one in with “Summer of Tik Tok.” They were the only one of the three to leave Ke$ha and her bottle of Jack in tact, and remove the best part of the song. While “Summer Song” has a funky electronic beat of its own, it’s certainly no match for “Tik Tok,” and without her fantastic accompaniment, Ke$ha’s sound is even more lacking.

All in all, I apologize for the tardiness of this article, but hopefully its delay will allow you to listen to these tracks having already recovered from all injuries sustained from the original track.