Exclusive Track Premiere: ‘No Type’ (Rae Sremmurd Cover), ASTR

ABOVE: ASTR. PHOTO COURTESY OF KAITLIN CHRISTY.

Taking Rae Sremmurd’s “No Type” into their own hands, New York-based duo ASTR put an original spin onto the hit song. As of this Thursday, the cover will appear on Harlem-based producer Austin Millz’s latest mixtape, Searching for Gotham, but until then we’re pleased to premiere the track below.

“In terms of choosing artists to work and collaborate with, I like to pick artists that I respect—artists whose sounds complement my own, [but] also artists whose sound I can challenge,” Millz says of the musicians included on the forthcoming mixtape. “ASTR is a great representation of the sound I’m trying to convey as a whole with this project,” he continues. Millz remixed “No Type” three months ago and released his take via Soundcloud, although now he says, “The ‘No Type’ cover has so much soul. It’s a cover, but it has its own flavor.”

Keeping the lyrics the same, but remixing the underlying beat, adding in female vocals, and removing the majority of rap elements, ASTR recreates Sremmurd’s hip-hop track in their own vein of alt-R&B, relying heavily on bass and vocal loops.

“Guys get all the credit with choosing up and being promiscuous, but girls are bad too,” ASTR’s Adam Pallin says of the song choice. Zoe Silverman, the other half of ASTR, continues, “I don’t have a type—rappers, skaters, nerds, fat, skinny—as long as you are a boss.”

Aside from ASTR’s cover, expect a cohesive, yet broad range of music on Searching for Gotham. “The sounds take you on a journey,” Millz says. “From future R&B to gritty trap, it has it all.”

SEARCHING FOR GOTHAM WILL BE RELEASED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 29. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ASTR, VISIT THE BAND’S WEBSITE. FOR MORE ON MILLZ, VISIT HIS SOUNDCLOUD.