The 15 Best Remixes of Kanye West Tracks

One of the easiest ways to judge an artist's popularity is how quickly a remix of their new single drops. Over the last few years, anytime Kanye West

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Complex Original

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One of the easiest ways to judge an artist's popularity is how quickly a remix of their new single drops. Over the last few years, anytime Kanye West has dropped a single, the Internets light up with crazy reinterpretations of his latest music. It's been easy to see why EDM producers have swarmed over Kanye's music, adding their own spin on his awesome material: 'Ye has a great flow, so even if you're just snagging a line or two from his tracks, you have a great phrase to build off of. He's also a talented producer, so you're bound to pick up a perfect melody to throw some dubstep or house underneath. Also, especially with 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye left a lot out of those tracks; you'd get a subtle beat, his auto-tuned vocals, and not much else, so you had a great tracks to build around.

It might be hard to envision why someone would NEED to throw a new spin on a Kanye West track, but hell, when you're in the club, you need to throw in something that people are familiar with, but is aligned with the journey you're trying to take the room on. These 15 remixes, which include versions from the cream of the EDM crop, highlight just how gifted an artist Kanye truly is, and also let you know how much these artists truly enjoy his work.

Kanye West - "Lost in the World (Tiesto Remix)"

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Tiesto initially premiered this remix at the 2011 Ultra Music Festival, then took another year to drop it on his Club Life Show; regardless, it's exactly what you'd think a Tiesto remix of a Kanye track would be. We're surprised he kept so much Kanye in the track, but this is total destruction on a trance crowd.

Kanye West - "Way Too Cold (Krusha Remix)"

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A drumstep remix of Kanye's "Cold?" Great way of flipping the sirens and other noises in the tune into a sly melody for the rough and rugged ones out there. The bars end up being turned into barbs, and what Krusha used was perfect enough for this one.

Kanye West - "All Of The Lights (Pretty Lights Remix)"

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Pretty Lights is a champ at refixing hip-hop culture, and for Kanye's massive single "All of the Lights," he twists out a vibrant dubstep remix that stays true to the horn-driven original.

The Throne ft. Mr. Hudson - "Why I Love You (Schoolboy Remix)"

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This one is almost too easy. That Cassius sample over a heavy dubstep rhythm? It damn near wrote itself. Schoolboy dropped an anthem underneath an anthem. Double dubstep anthem days.

Kanye West - "Cold (Histibe Remix)"

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Ukranian producer Histibe has spent the last few years building up a heavy stack of remixes, and his thumping remix of Kanye's "Cold" is a truly impressive one. While most EDM remixes will try and leave the lyrics off of the track, he made sure they stayed front and center in the track. Kanye's vocal gets screwed a bit, and bevy of kicks are added to the overtly ominous tune.

Kanye West - "Love Lockdown (High School Crush Remix)"

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This duo now goes by a different name, and they don't occupy this house space as much, but this still knocks. There were a littany of "Love Lockdown" remixes, to varying degrees of awesomeness, but this rework not only stays true to Kanye's auto-tuned original, it also delves into the electro house zone with the greatest of ease.

Kanye West - "Gold Digger (High Contrast Remix)"

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High Contrast didn't jack much but the Ray Charles-sample in the intro (as well as Kanye and Jamie Foxx's flip in the chorus), but this remix is mint. High Contrast siphoned that blues into a simple-yet-effective drum & bass banger.

The Throne - "Niggas In Paris (DZ Remix)"

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This might be the song that everyone remembers Watch The Throne for, but dance music lovers definitely remember everyone coming out of the woodworks with remixes. The track borrowed heavily from the dubstep/bass music world, and it took Canada's own DZ to properly fuse the hip-hop in the track with an unrelenting dubstep bounce. Just wait until he weaves his own flavor into the track. What's cray is that no one else was able to top this.

Kanye West ft. Big Sean & Jay-Z - "Clique (TNGHT Remix)"

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Lunice dropped this monster during his Daily Dose mix for MistaJam, and it's a nasty one. There's no Big Sean to be found (roffles), but as we say, he's not necessary here. HudMo and Lunice pretty much to amplified this one, throwing their flavors on the beat (which is so crispy), and adding some over-the-top epicness on the top end. It's a thing of genius, really.

Kanye West - "Jesus Walks Into The Jungle (Bingo Remix)"

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While we appreciate DJ Zinc's crack house forrays, we do miss his on-point drum & bass bootlegs of popular rap tracks. In the earlier Bingo days, Zinc took his memorable basslines and applied them to one of Kanye's most memorable singles, utilizing Kanye's vocals, the chanting in the beat and so much more into a pretty hypnotic dnb booty.

Kanye West - "Say You Will (Ryan Hemsworth Bootleg)"

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Hemsworth remixing this one? Yes, of course we expected that. What we didn't expect was him to drop a house rendition. It fits, especially with those percussive elements thrown in there for good measure. Subtly surprising.

Kanye West - "Stronger (A-Trak Remix)"

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Kanye West - "Cold (TNGHT Remix)"

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Swag King Cole and TNGHT need to do an original tune together (and with Hudson Mohawke now being a part of G.O.O.D. Music, it might happen), and these remixes are proof positive of that. Again, they aren't going in and totally rearranging the tune, but they are adding their own accents to the tracks, tweaking out the melody while beefing up those drums. It's a pretty massive undertaking, but they make it feel like its an everyday thing.

Kanye West - "Flashing Lights (High Contrast Remix)"

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While High Contrast killed it with his "Gold Digger" remix, the "Flashing Lights" remix he unearthed with is the true gem. Kanye's original was huge, but there was something about the way High Contrast dropped those extra kicks in there that set this one on a proper pedastal. There are no rhymes outside of the second buildup, but then again there was no need for them.

Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz - "Mercy (RL Grime & Salva Remix)"

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Not only did RL Grime and Salva churn out one of the early trap scene's biggest beasts, but they also merked "Mercy." The original was already swimming in 808 ecstacy, but RL Grime and Salva found a way to isolate that infectious hook and a few of the elements of the tune, only to blow the entire back out of the track. If only these two could remix bangers like this more often.

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