Chicago and the HDYNation shed a tear earlier this week at the news that Josh Young, aka J2K, was taking leave of his longtime partner Curt Cameruci in Flosstradamus.
Together, the pair changed the face of dance and hip-hop. Floss’ mix of southern trap, electro house and other seemingly disparate electronic elements made music fit for every place from the festival turn up to the warehouse rave and the hot-boxed Caddy.
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While Flosstradamus will continue with Curt as a soloist, this is the end of an era. Thought we can’t wait to see what the future holds, let’s hit rewind one time and look back fondly on all of the best moments the duo gave us.
Here is our list of the 10 best Flosstradamus songs:
10. Flosstradamus – “Don’t Trip” feat. Sizzy Rocket and Run The Jewels
First of all, Run The Jewels are two of the sickest rappers on deck and certainly one of if not the dopest duo touching mics today. To get a verse from RTJ is a seriously cool co-sign, and Sizzy Rocket is that girl from Las Vegas getting the beat wet. That whisper rap is a dope touch, the perfect accompaniment to Floss’ toned down bass beat. A must-listen cut from the Soundclash EP.
9. Flosstradamus – “Mosh Pit” feat. Casino
Part of what makes fans follow Floss so closely is the incredible energy of the duo’s live shows. Even back when they were playing to small rooms, they had the sauce. They couldn’t even play Chicago for a while because they started a literal riot in the streets 2012. “Mosh Pit” is a Flosstradamus song that captures the essence of their show, but you still won’t understand unless you live it.
8. Flosstradamus – “Total Recall”
This song is mysteriously hard to find online, which might have something to do with the sample of Dutch Master’s “Recall to Life,” but we think it goes rather hard anyway, so we’re putting it on this list. It’s just another example of how dope Flosstradamus’ trap-infused tweaks can really change a song into something infinitely doper.
7. Flosstradamus – “TTU” feat. Waka Flocka Flame
Now this is what festival trap is all about. In a lot of ways, this song epitomizes the genre. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s bossy, and it’s a little bit dangerous. This is the kind of drop that melts faces, ruins lives, and makes nights. Of course Floss had to tap Waka Flocka Flame, literal king of the turn up, to bless the beat with some boisterous lyrics. When they hit you with the hardstyle, that’s when it was game over.
6. Flosstradamus – “From The Back” feat. Danny Brown
Danny Brown is super NSFW on this one. His cartoonish tenor and wild sexual storytelling is raw enough, but its the hyper beat that makes this tune a catalog favorite. Even if we just had the epic pitched sample, it would be a certified slammer.
5. Flosstradamus – “Came Up” with FKi1st and graves feat. Post Malone and Key!
Floss have always been good about reppin’ their city, the Windy City, the one they call Chi-town. They got with Post Malone and Key! to write this come up anthem, a love letter if you will to the blocks that raised them. It’s a sensitive side of the group, and it’s one of the last Flosstradamus songs we have of the pair together.
4. Flosstradamus – “Rollup”
The Baauer remix is iconic, but let us not forget the original drifting marijuana anthem. Those tinny 808 drums are perfectly juxtaposed over the dreamy synths, and when things go all footwork on ’em, your body is ready. It’s half sativa, half indica, all dankness. Shout out to Danny Brown for the vocal sample, too. Straight from his Floss collab “From The Back.”
3. Flosstradamus – “Soundclash” with Troyboi
Troyboi is another monster in the studio, so you know a joint with both Troyboi and Floss was destined to be kill. The title track from the Soundclash EP is real funky with a mean streak, like that dude on the corner with the big smile and the gold teeth who will hit you with the glock if you say the wrong thing.
2. Flosstradamus – “Test Me” with DJ Sliink
This is the kind of dark beat that stops a first-time listener in their tracks, especially in 2012 when no one had ever heard anything like it. It’s more subtle than festival anthem, the kind of song you smoke a blunt to in the back of the club or put on blast to test out your new car sound system. This is a Flosstradamus song for the real ones, word up.
1. Flosstradamus – “Original Don” Remix
It’s hard to put “Original Don” into words. The Mad Men-inspired tune (Don Draper, bro) from Major Lazer was strange on its own. It was Diplo‘s first experiments with the hardstyle world, the music video was funky but addictive. It was a bit of a moment, but nothing could have prepared the world or Flosstradamus for that matter for the moment this remix would birth. It was the first time dance fans heard Southern trap beats over a house derivative. In an era when songs like Watch The Throne’s “Niggas in Paris” and Big Sean’s “Dance (A$$)” were absolutely dominating, it was an immediately gratifying sound. Flosstradamus before this had been kind of an electro duo experimenting with different sounds and genre-blends. This remix gave Flosstradamus its signature sound. Those gun cock samples, tho. It formed the basis for the HDYNation, for the countless “Damn son, where’d you find this” jokes, for basically everything people identify Floss with today. It was the breakout catalyst to a wonderful movement, and though the movement isn’t really over, we will always look back at these past five years with great fondness. HDYNATion forever, y’all. Triangles up.