There are a lot of terrible mash-ups out there. No one really needed to hear Nine Inch Nails’ apoplectic “Head Like A Hole” on top of the bubblegum melody of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” even if “Call Me A Hole” turned out to be a pretty awesome song title. But the SoundCloud page for Carlos Serrano is full of interesting and not totally incongruous mash-ups, including Red Hot Chili Peppers smashed into Phantogram, Haim bumped up against TLC, 2Pac conjoined with Banks, and Jay Z getting friendly with Lana Del Rey. Serrano’s latest, however, works by combining the best elements of two disparate songs in a way that make them seem like they’re an old married couple:
“Tell Me I’m The Only One (Carlos Serrano Mix)” features the verses of Kanye West’s 2007 Graduation single “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” over the jazz-soul of Sam Smith’s “I’m Not The Only One,” with the soaring vocal of Smith’s chorus replacing West’s “wait till I get my money right” refrain. It sounds odd on paper, but it really works.