Proppa, Rich DietZ and Smith & Sorren Flip A$AP Ferg’s “Work” Into Tech House Banger

by Michael Ryan · Published September 11, 2024

A$AP Ferg's "Work" has found a new lease on life, thanks to the surgical precision of Proppa, Rich DietZ and Smith & Sorren.

The producers have spliced, diced and reassembled the 3x Platinum hip-hop hit into a Frankensteinian four-on-the-floor banger. Harnessing the original's inescapable melody, they strip "Work" down to its raw bones, only to rebuild it from the ground up as a tech house behemoth.

The original's gritty swagger now stomps through a thick and thunderous bassline, the kind that makes subwoofers question their life choices. The result is a rework that feels equally at home in a sweaty warehouse rave or a late-night Uber ride, bridging gaps and proving that sometimes, the best way to honor a track is to flip it on its head.

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Proppa, Rich DietZ and Smith & Sorren apparently took Ferg's lyrics, "Straight off the plane, droppin' the flame," literally. They met up and quickly hit the studio to produce the track together in Chicago, where each performed during Hood Politics Records' epic stage takeover at North Coast Music Festival.

"It's truly unfair that this crew got together in a studio but it's no surprise that pure magic came from the session," the label said.

Hood Politics was everywhere at North Coast. The label's founder DJ Susan, a member of the EDM.com Class of 2024, filled in for Moksi on the festival's "Shipyard" stage and threw down a song-cycle of the label's hip-house bangers. That includes "Everything Off (Ante Up)," an upcoming collaboration with Rich DietZ, who joined him onstage for one of the set's most electric moments.

Elsewhere, Chicago's own Sherm threw down on "The Stadium" mainstage, delivering one of the festival's best DJ sets in his hometown. It was his fifth consecutive year performing at North Coast.