Professor Green Feat. Lily Allen, "Just Be Good To Green"

The new single from the British MC Professor Green, who just happens to be a veteran of Knifecrime Island’s brutality, is the self-referentially titled “Just Be Good To Green.” It is a hypercompressed track that is mostly notable to these ears because it features the ever-chiding voice of Lily Allen on the hook, although she’s not singing her own keenly observed material; instead, she’s taking on the hook from Beats International’s “Dub Be Good To Me,” which is itself an early-’90s remix of the S.O.S. Band’s stone classic “Just Be Good To Me.” And yet… Lily’s voice here sounds a little too pitched-up and wheedly — like if the whole thing was tuned down by maybe a half-step, it would sound a little better? Although Green’s voice is a little high, too, so sigh. Maybe it’ll be fine to ears less sullied by nostalgia. After the jump, the source material, for purposes of comparison.

Beats International, “Dub Be Good To Me” (1990):

The S.O.S. Band, “Just Be Good To Me” (1983; seen here on Soul Train):

Either way, it’s clear that the nostalgia mines are running even lower than normal these days. I haven’t even mentioned the Professor’s first single, “I Need You Tonight,” which sampled GUESS WHICH SONG?

[Via]