Remixes have been popular my whole life.  With SoundCloud being a popular destination for many DJ’s and remix artists in the early 2010s, as well as accounts across a variety of social media platforms like Patreon, Tumblr and Myspace using that space to release exclusive content, there can easily be an excess of remixes for songs or artists.  With current technology and platforms, TikTok sounds have skyrocketed remixes and slight differences can mean everything.  In music production there are layers of sorts.  Each layer of sound is mixed individually, and then merged together to make one full song.  Remixes break down merges back to layers, and alter the individual layers to produce new, remixed material. I chose the following remixes because they have the most views on YouTube and are remixes that I have heard before on social media.  It is a difficult feat to have the most views of a remix, especially by 6 million.  The views on these videos are important because these sounds are reproduced and downloaded and remixed again, so the impact of these songs can be much larger than the viewing number.

Shibuya (Ft. Frank Ocean) [Chanel Funk Remix] was released on YouTube May 29, 2019 by L.Dre.  This song is the same length as the original and I chose this version because it has 12.76 million views on YouTube, the most for any Chanel remix on YouTube.  L.Dre is a producer based in L.A. that specializes in Lofi HipHop.  He recently made a video titled How I Got 1 Million Monthly Listeners on Spotify, in it he states his popularity began to rise because he was posting his remixes on TikTok.  The first song he posted, that also became the most popular, was this remix of Chanel.  The variations of sound effects on each layer of music is engaging and feels fresh after every pattern.  The Shibuya remix is definitely funky straight from the start.  When the music lifts a layer and Frank comes in 15 seconds later it makes you sigh with relief but never stop dancing.  The decisions L.Dre made in making aspects of the music more simple, emphasized the lyrics and worked beautifully with Frank’s acapella delivery. Because the music is always changing, listeners stay more engaged and song continuously feels new and fresh without ending.  This remix is super fun and hard not to dance.

The second remix is Frank Ocean – Chanel (Nick Leon Atmosphere Remix).  This remix was released on YouTube November 24, 2017 and currently has 7.3 million views.  The DJ is Nick Leon and his remix is 15 seconds longer than the original.  Nick Leon is a producer/sound artist based in Miami who began producing music about 6 years ago.  The remix is slower and deeper; with specific parts being echoed or sounding submerged in water.  There are contrasting musical decisions, like pairing low octave chords with high octave single notes, adding emphasis to the higher notes being played.  The effects Leon used offer quiet emphasis on lyrics and strong emphasis on parts of the sounds using in Chanel, like beats and piano notes.  Half of the verse is super deep and distant and then the rest of the verse is weird and builds up underlying tension, before opening and getting higher for the rest.  I love this remix, it is much more relaxing and would easily blend on a lofi-esque playlist.