Chiptunes Spotlight: Team Teamwork

Nerd culture and everything under it may be gaining more respect in the mainstream spotlight, but much of it still flies under the radar. Chiptunes is no exception. Chiptunes typically refers to electronic music with a focus on 8-bit music that derives from the nostalgia most of us older gamers can relate to. There’s a ton of it out there and as a musical movement itself it can be easy for even the hardest of core gamers to miss. It’s too damn good to let pass by ears that would otherwise adore it. So, I’m going to dedicate a series of posts to different chiptunes artists, some that I might have known about for a while and most that I’ll be discovering with you, dear reader. My hope is we all walk away from these bouncing our heads down the street with something new to share with our fellow nerds. And we’ll all be better nerds for it. So, without further adieu, I introduce Team Teamwork (real name Timothy Jacques).

Team Teamwork’s work is nothing new to the internet; his most famous musical contributions were released about three years ago entitled Ocarina of Rhyme and Vinyl Fantasy 7. These albums consist of remixes of the music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII, respectively, typically mashed up with a range of hip hop artists from Jay-Z to Ghostface Killah to Aesop Rock. Even if you’re not a massive fan of hip hop these tunes require your listening. For those of you who might remember hearing about these albums when they emerged on the internet, I hope this comes as a welcome reminder that they exist and that you should begin listening to nothing else for a while. And who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself discovering some hip hop you end up loving. I know I am.

Someone who truly cares about me definitely told me about this album when it came out, but some stupid jackass in my head promptly decided I was too busy to give it a full listening-to (or even remember who told me about it). Rediscovering this album sent tingles through my body from the first track and sent me through a nostalgic journey back to FFVII‘s Gaia. The first track is the famous prelude present in all Final Fantasy games and features Kool Keith and Tom Waits, the latter being a refreshing genre switch from the usual hip hop Team Teamwork uses in his tracks. Tom Waits’ grumbly voice and the serene, bubbly melody of the prelude contrast each other in such a way that they grab both ends of the universe and pull everything together. I listened to it walking through a snow covered sidewalk as more snow slowly fell around me and it couldn’t have been a more perfect setting.

The third track, Ante Up (Battle!), features the hip hop duo M.O.P. and it serves to take already awesome RPG battle music and make it even more intense and adrenaline-pumping. And track 6 will immediately make you think “holy crap, of course Jenova makes a killer hip hop beat!” I also highly recommend Air (Barrett’s Theme) feat. MF DOOM and Ice Cream Paintjob (Gold Saucer) feat. Dorrough.

If I recall correctly, Ocarina of Rhyme came out just before Vinyl Fantasy 7. What can be said about it other than it’s the music of Ocarina of Time turned into the most insane beats ever conceived for hip hop? Track 1, Virginia (Lost Woods) features Clipse and I absolutely prefer it to the original track from the game itself. Almost everybody’s favorite Zelda song, Great Fairy’s Fountain, is mashed up beautifully with Slim Thug & Mike Jones. But my personal favorite track would have to be No Hook (Meeting the Owl). It’s quirky minor melody dances perfectly with Jay-Z‘s lyrics.

Team Teamwork just released a new album last year entitled Katamari Da-Emcee. As you might have guessed, it’s music from the beloved video game Katamari Dynasty remixed and mashed up with hip hop. More of his work can be found here and can be yours for the generous price of whatever you want. If you donate $5 or more, though, not only will he send you the instrumental version of the album of your choosing, you can also say Team Teamwork himself sent you something personally. Tell me what you think of these tracks in the comments below!

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