The Hood Internet – GANGS&M (tUnE-yArDs x Rihanna) by hoodinternet

Rihanna’s last album Loud was a desultory, pandering jumble of songs, flinching away from the gothy conceptualism of her previous Rated R so reflexively that it suggested label unease. At least the LP inspired some outlandish covers and reworkings: Xiu Xiu has already recorded “Only Girl (In the World)” as a tortured dirge, and now Hood Internet has mashed up “S&M” with Tune-Yards’ “Gangsta.” The synthesis proves more intuitive than it may first appear: Merrill Garbus’ lyrics here are about social confusion, but her forceful voice still hints at the gasping lust of songs like “Powa.” This throbbing beat always sounded franker than RiRi’s “kinky” humblebragging. Now someone just needs to reimagine “What’s My Name” without a Drake.

(via Maura Johnston)