"What I love about [STEAL] THIS MIXTAPE is that it's a bridge from the mash-ups that we all loved 10 years ago to the modern style of production. Josh [Young] basically grabbed ANY genre of music an threw it all into his blender and what came out is all consistent," Fool's Gold Records founder @atrak ecstatically wrote about self-described "beast known as @yehme2" during a lengthy Monday afternoon Instagram post. One half of Chicago-based Hip-Hop and EDM-influenced DJ duo FLOSSTRADAMUS supposedly challenged himself to staggering "beat-a-day challenge that would quickly morph into Me2," which eventually morphed into the 33-track of a genre-less mega-album that is his System of a Down-referencing STEAL THIS MIXTAPE; Young's 50-minute debut mixtape somehow manages to effortlessly harvest and re-purpose samples "stolen" from the likes of FLOSSTRADAMUS, newly-freed Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj & Beyoncé, Paul Wall, Missy Elliott, Fleetwood Mac, Nine Inch Nails, Calvin Harris & Rihanna, M83, System of a Down, J ustice, Gwen Stefani, Chicago, Guy Ritchie-championed The Stranglers, Brandy, Jenifer Lewis & Roz Ryan (showcased below), Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, and I'm sure plenty of additional artists I have yet to discover.


Now, I've actively been listening to STEAL THIS MIXTAPE during my commute to and from work throughout the course of the week since it s Fourth of July Weekend surprise-release and I can quite honestly say, it's comparable to early 2000's genre-defying albums such as Night Ripper and The Beatles & Jay-Z-melding The Grey Album; however, whereas Girl Talk and Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley)'s critically-acclaimed "Revolution"ary concoctions were more so seamless, yet beautifully disjointed, mash-up style albums, Me2's genre label-rattling Fool's Gold "debut" teeters a bit more along the lines of a NIN Further Down The Spiral-reminiscent, DJ-helmed and for the most part, Hip-Hop-less remix album—seemingly re-appropriating the original vocal and instrumental pairings without ruthlessly gutting their most arguably recognizable parts. Fool's Gold Records is currently offering Me2's STEAL THIS MIXTAPE for FREE download and streaming at BitTorrent, livemixtapes, Soundcloud, and similar-minded sites, as well as an exclusive black-and-white Me2 "Logo" Golf Cap PRE-ORDER (while I'm hoping to see a 2-LP vinyl package before too long)!