Franklyn Watts Places a Driving Bounce in His “Hips” Remix

Inexhaustible house crew SOUP NYC is about to drop some serious action on their label. This round sees a collaborative effort from two veterans in their own right: Curntables and Devon James. Dropping a big dance tune called “Hips,” this single is also rounded out with remix duties by Will Monotone and Franklyn Watts.

The original version rolls in with tribal hand percussion, a deep and dirty bassline, and excellently appropriate vocals by Jenna Lenore Wells. The track didn’t happen overnight; in fact, it took a long journey to arrive.

“‘Hips’ has been a long time coming,” Devon James explains. “Gary first showed me this project when he was visiting New York way back in 2015. He recorded the vocals with our friend Jenna Lenore Wells (on an iPhone)—let’s just say back when twerking was a craze. Felix da Housecat dropped an early instrumental on a Hard LA mix, but we kept it fairly under wraps until the end of last year when, thankfully, we both had time to revisit and finish ‘Hips’ and start sending to labels.

“SOUP were extremely hyped on it and got the sublime Franklyn Watts to sign on for a remix. We were really excited about that because I’ve been big into his tunes since he was going by Noise Frenzy. Both Gary and I loved his take, which made us readdress our own version, especially in the low frequencies.”

For his vision, Watts strips down the percussive elements, filling the space with raw beats. These parts play against a beefed-up low end to give the track an endlessly rolling bounce. This also gives the whole thing a subtle but firm drive that carries the energy. The vocals are still used to prime effect here, but they are held back and manipulated in a playful way that fits the atmosphere.

“Working with this cool vocal, I knew right away that I wanted to take my remix into a bouncy, twerkable, and fun type of beat,” Watts tells Insomniac. “It’s been working great live for me, and I’d say it definitely makes them hips work!”

Dubby in moments, cool in others, and all-around down and dirty, this remix drives in its own lane. It will definitely push a dancefloor all the way to the ground. House heads should expect to hear all three versions of “Hips” around the scene, if they haven’t already—and for good reason.

Available May 10 via SOUP Music NYC.

Buy Curntables and Devon James’ “HIPS” here.