Although Hollywood superstar Mark Wahlberg has long since traded his rap music career for the Hollywood megastar life, his million-selling number one hit song “Good Vibrations” celebrated its 30th anniversary Friday, July 16th, 2021.
In honor of its 30th anniversary — and because we all love a little nostalgia — the song’s original writer, MC Spice The Legend, has released a new version of the song. The latest release boasts an all-star line up, with production from Big Rush of Ice Cube’s camp and Dale Ramsey (credits: Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, James Brown, and the Temptations), as well as a feel-good chorus from powerhouse R&B group Phajja, formerly of Warner Brothers.
The “Good Vibrations” re-release features freshly updated lyrics performed by MC Spice himself. MC Spice the Legend is Boston’s first rapper signed to a major label (Atlantic/1986). Not only did Spice write the original “Good Vibrations” record, but he also recorded it as an audio guide track for Mark Wahlberg to learn the words and the song’s delivery.
Spice notes that he penned the original in just fifteen minutes. “This song has always been dear to me,” he says. “I remember writing it in fifteen minutes while driving in the car with Donnie [Wahlberg] to the recording studio.”
Spice, a friend of the Wahlbergs, helped Mark’s brother Donnie create the hit songs that led to Mark Wahlberg’s breakout platinum album, Music for the People. MC Spice wrote five songs on the actor’s debut album, including the initial two singles, “Good Vibrations” and “Wildside.” Both singles were wildly successful; “Good Vibrations” went Platinum, and “Wildside” went Gold.
“I felt that a lot of people who grew up on ‘Good Vibrations’ are attracted to the infectious, feel-good hook. In the 30th anniversary version, we gave it a totally new sound, and the rapping is on a different level with a new cadence and flow.”
The vibrant vocals on the 30th anniversary re-release of “Good Vibrations” come from R&B singers Phajja, also from Boston by way of Chicago.
“Spice texted me one day asking what we thought of redoing ‘Good Vibrations’ with him as the rapper. We went in the studio that same night, and came up with the beat and the hook. We felt that song, and believe it’s a great song for the times, when America is opening up again after the pandemic and families are coming together and having fun again,” said Nakia Williams of Phajja.
The 30th anniversary edition of “Good Vibrations” will be available on all digital music stores. A signed CD copy of the song will be available for the first 10,000 purchases of the CD via the label’s website. A special 12-inch vinyl disc for deejays will also be released, as well. The ultimate throwback: compact discs.
Prior to his “Good Vibrations” fame, MC Spice the Legend made history as Boston’s first rap act to have his song played on rhythmic radio’s Kiss 108FM when he released the track “Don’t Treat Your Girly Like A Dog ” via Atlantic Records.
Since then, he’s continued to write and produce music for a multitude of artists, including Rikardo Blu, Free (of B.E.T.), and worked on a collaboration with reggae artist Natural Vybz.
MC Spice is currently working on his 40-song rap album, Roxbury, for release this September, via 2626 Entertainment, a recording label owned by MC Spice and his business partner and real estate mogul Cornell Brown.The longform album has 40 songs to commemorate his 40 years in rap.
The album’s title, Roxbury, pays homage to his humble beginnings. The South Carolina-born rapper lived in Roxbury’s Orchard Park housing projects in his early years and grew up in and around Roxbury well into his adult life. At age 15, he started rapping and has been writing and recording three to five songs a day ever since.
Now at age 54, when other rappers have probably already hung up their mics, MC Spice is calling out the ageism in rap. He believes if his favorite rockers, Mick Jagger and Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler, can still do their thing on stage, he can too.
“Why do we say that rappers have to go into early retirement? What’s compelling us to do that?” Spice says he’ll begin touring again after the September 5th release date of Roxbury.
Since the mid-eighties, MC Spice had spent time giving back to the youth and underprivileged communities.
“I’m Hiphop before I’m a rapper,” MC Spice says. “Most people don’t know the difference between rap and hip hop, but rap is something you do, and hip hop is how you live. In fact, rapping (emceeing) is more so a physical attribute used to promote the awareness of hip hop’s four spiritual principles: peace, unity, love, and having fun. Therefore, I’ve always given of my time and talents to uplift our culture and to put our culture in a positive light.”
Now that’s what we call “Good Vibrations”!
Click here to listen:
https://mcspicethelegend.bandcamp.com/track/good-vibrations