Kokayi is back to work, dropping the latest from Robots & Dinosaurs, his highly regarded sophomore album, and with the remix of “RoxTar,” Kokayi enlists QN5 labelmate and Baltimore emcee Substantial and Maspyke/Low Budget Crew producer DJ Roddy Rod. While the original track offered smatterings of hip-hop, rock, and electro sounds, this remix is decidedly more hip-hop. Roddy Rod’s track maintains a rock feel, largely due to the distorted electric guitar chops that provide the remixed beat’s primary melody, but he also brings heavy drums, syncopated and crashing percussion, and energy-filled vocal samples to flesh things out. Substantial kicks things off, incorporating Kokayi’s lyrical style from the original, name-dropping bands including Good Charlotte, Chuck Berry, Twisted Sister, and more as he weaves his story. Kokayi’s own verse keeps up the tongue-in-cheek wordplay, rapping, “Spinal taps that you fear to face, and/ Leave a type O-negative leaking in the pavement.”

Kokayi Feat. Substantial – RoxTar [Remix]