Meet the Guy Who Made That Marvin Gaye and Yasiin Bey Mixtape

Amerigo Gazaway made all the hip-hop heads salivate this week.

By Jamilah King Feb 27, 2014

Update February 27, 2014 at 3:50pm EST: Looks like this project was taken down, which sucks. But you can still check out one of the tracks in the video that’s above.

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This week a new mixtape called "Yasiin Gaye" has set the Internet sorta on fire. It’s a 13-track mashup of Marvin Gaye and Yassin Bey (formerly Mos Def) songs that’s a triumph of mood and production. But it’s also worth taking a look at Amerigo Gazaway, the guy who’s behind the project and has sorta made a habit out of these things.

A Nashville-based producer, Gazaway, 26, first caught the attention of Questlove back in 2011 when he handed the Roots drummer a copy of his De La Soul/Fela Kuti mashup called "Fela Soul." Questlove called the project "brilliant" on Okayplayer and then it picked up play on sites like BoingBoing, the Source and NPR. A previously remixed project, "Bizarre Tribe; A Quest To The Pharcyde" also got lots of play before it was taken down due to copyright concerns.

On this latest project, the producer had this to say on his website:

"As a producer and fan, there is something truly powerful and humbling about listening to the original [Marvin Gaye] multitracks. It’s almost as if you can feel the rawness and vulnerability in his voice. If you listen carefully on certain takes, you can sometimes even hear him harmonizing faintly in the background with the female backup singers. It honestly gives me chills every time I hear it."