I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea for the song’s theme was derived from the collaborative artists’ time spent together. Two Friends, Juscova, and James Delaney make up a total of 5 individuals who came together for this track. Tack on Justin Caruso after the fact and you have 6 total people who influenced the final product.

The irony is, this remix has a very upbeat, big room mood which would make me want to play it for a dance party as opposed to a chill night in. The original song’s verse is more casual, but the chorus is still pretty electric.

Justin Caruso’s remixes are very wholesome and professional. His treatment of the introductory vocals add some reverb and layered pitch to give a slight robotic tinge which helps coordinate the singing with the electro flavor. He’s also done a great job rewriting the electric kazzo solo that’s used in the chorus of the original which was a bit too much for me. But if that’s your thing, check out the second SoundCloud player to compare it to the remix!

Who is YehMe2, you ask? Ever hear of Flosstradamus? Of course you have. Josh Young, 50% of Flosstradamus, announced in early 2017 that he wanted to pursue a solo career under the name YehMe2. He says that the reason for the split was to allow him to expand creatively and that there was no bad blood between him and Curt Cameruci, the other 50% of Flosstradamus. Curt is continuing to produce under the Flosstradamus name but is now doing it solo.

Over the course of two years, YehMe2 has had more than enough time to carve out a niche for himself with songs like this. I love how the bassline is held in the second verse (2:06) which also features new samples and a modified “Ziggazigga” to avoid monotony.

But what is “Ziggazigga” really? It’s an odd phrase, and I like to be educated about what I might be singing or supporting, so I looked it up.

In the original song, the pre-chorus ends with “I really […] wanna zig-a-zig ah.” From the context, listeners assumed that “zig-a-zig ah” meant to cut loose and have a good time. It wasn’t until decades after the song was released that the Spice Girls revealed the origin of the word. They stated that it was the nickname they had given to a music artist who was upset because he believed the Spice Girls were encroaching on his territory (“boy band” music). He would frequently use their shared bathroom to literally have a “shit and cigar” which one of the Spice Girls stylized to “zig-a-zig ah.” With that in mind, the original song now reads, “I really […] want a shit and cigar.”

That could potentially still mean to cut loose and relax in a roundabout way. But I enjoy the fact that thousands of people sang those lyrics while unsuspectingly saying that they wanted a “shit and cigar.”

As a result, I was blissfully unaware of the name “Travis Scott” and his most recent “hit.” Only recently have I listened to the original and researched him in an effort to be more informed about this remix. Part of that research had me discovering that in the Superbowl halftime show, instead of Spongebob performing “Sweet Victory” we were given Travis Scott which has to be one of the greatest injustices ever committed (so much so that I had to look up if it was actually a prank against the 1.2 million people who signed the “Play Sweet Victory at Halftime” petition).

If you haven’t figured it out already, I am not a fan of the original “Sicko Mode.” Luckily I hadn’t heard it prior to MartyParty’s remix which allowed me to come into the remix a neophyte. But I have listened to the original a few times to find out if it has any redeeming qualities–I struggle to find any. If you haven’t heard it already, I wouldn’t bother.

But MartyParty has done a great job of turning what I consider to be a musical farce into a musical force (clearly I’m hilarious…). Instead of clumsily constructed bars over a lazy beat, the vocals now serve backup duty to a heavy and deliberate electronic journey. That shouldn’t be surprising since MartyParty has shown us on his on and as part of the duo PANTyRAiD that he has what it takes to make dope tunes. That being said, it’s much more aggressive than his more ambient portfolio. But the song is better for it. You can really hear some of the PANTyRAiD cutting through; you could draw some parallels between MartyParty’s “Sicko Mode Remix” and PANTyRAiD’s “Wanting Moves” off the duo’s most recent album.

I’m now realizing that I spent 3 paragraphs bashing “Sicko Mode” and modern music and only 1 paragraph praising the music which I’m featuring. Hopefully it can speak for itself better than I can, so give it a listen.

Note: The song has been pulled from SoundCloud, but can still be accessed from the YouTube player below.

What a banger. Well, I would call this “Electropop,” so consider it electropop’s version of a banger. Regardless, I’d be shocked, shocked I tell you, if you don’t hit repeat on this song at least once. To be honest, the original by Anna Clendening did not need much refining–the overall formula remains. Justin Caruso does a solid job of upping the production value of the chorus by adding limited chops and cuts while slight tweaks to the tempo to modernize the beat. Addition of percussion elements and mid tones via wind instruments are sublime. One thing that I respect about Justin Caruso’s remixing is that he preserves a lot of the original vocals. Occasionally you will hear a producer alter or cut the original vocals to the point where all that remains are a few bars of the chorus. And by keeping the tempo near Anna’s version, we end up with a final product that’s actually 30 seconds longer thanks to the instrumental intro. So check it out for yourself below. The original is also linked so that you can see the additions that Justin Caruso has made.