Grandtheft lives up to his newest remix’s name.
After all, mediocre talents rarely catch the ear of Diplo, who signed the Toronto DJ/producer to his eclectic Mad Decent imprint last year and joined forces with him on a bumping remix of Calvin Harris’ “Summer.”
Grandtheft’s studio skills can be heard on his official rework of T.I. and Iggy Azalea’s “No Mediocre,” where broken beats support stuttered claps and squealing electro synths to form a club-ready complement to the original’s verses and chorus.
“When I was asked by Sony to remix “No Mediocre,” my instinct was to take this great club rap song and flip it, similar to my Drake “0-100” bootleg,” says Grandtheft. “My remix of T.I. and Iggy Azalea maintains their verses and chorus but adds my 808 drums and some heavy, heavy synth lines.”
Check out the premiere of Grandtheft’s “No Mediocre” remix exclusively on Billboard:
“No Mediocre” marks the latest in a string of strong remixes from Grandtheft, who also lent his talents to Katy Perry’s “This is How We Do” and earned an approving tweet from the pop star in the process.
“I often hear songs and think of a way to turn them into something that suits the energy of my live sets,” says Grandtheft. “I like to crank the bass up and add some elements of surprise into the mix.”
Grandtheft also just finalized the dates for his winter Australian tour, provided exclusively to Billboard:
Sep 26 / Aria / Peterborough, ON
Sep 27 /Club 77/ Hamilton, ON
Oct 2 / Club The A /Seoul, Korea
Oct 3 / Domain/ Jakarta, Indonesia
Oct 4 / Warehouse 82/ Bali, Indonesia
Oct 5 / Canvas/ Singapore
Oct 6 / Storm Festival/ Shanghai, China
Oct 10 / Fly/ Hong Kong, China
Oct 11 / Ku De Ta / Bangkok, Thailand
Oct 12 / Vision/ Tokyo, Japan
Oct 16 / Bassmnt/ San Diego, CA
Oct 17 / Create/ LA, CA
Oct 18 / Gringo Star Street Bar/ Tempe, AZ
Nov 01 / Trick or Beats / Boca Raton, FL
Nov 12 / Mad Decent Boat Party / Miami, FL
Nov 22 / Surrender Nightclub / Las Vegas, NV
Dec 31/ Origin NYE Festival @ Ozone Reserve/ Perth, AUS
Jan 3/ Garden Party, Slip Inn, Chinese Laundry/ Sydney Australia
Jan 5/ 170 Russell / Melbourne, AUS