’80s Rap Duo Maroon Reunites For Detroit Music Awards — Hear Their New “Fresher Than This” Remix
In the mid-1980s, two teenaged kids living in Ann Arbor and studying at the University Of Michigan became unlikely rap stars. Maroon, the duo formed in 1985 by MK Chilly Dog (aka Martin Kierszenbaum, who went on to found Cherrytree Music Company and write and produce for Sting, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and more) and MC Will E.P. (aka William Pflaum), released their first and only album back in 1988. While The Funky Record wasn’t a massive hit by any means, it made critic Robert Christgau’s prestigious year-end best-of list, and in the years since, it’s become a semi-obscure cult classic amongst fans of early hip-hop. And now, thirty years later, the guys from Maroon are revisiting it.
To celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary, Maroon are reissuing a remastered, expanded edition of The Funky Record with new liner notes written by Def Jam CEO Paul Rosenberg. They also shared a brand new track, “Time Bomb,” and today, before they reunite to open up the Detroit Music Awards tonight, they’ve shared a new remix of their biggest song, the Detroit anthem “Fresher Than This (Doesn’t Exist).”
For the remix, Maroon have enlisted the talents of DJ King Tech of Sway and Tech’s Wake Up Show fame. He gives the production a slightly more modern update, and you can check out his version of the song below.
The Funky Record reissue is out 4/27 via Cherrytree.