Heads put L.A.’s ultimate glitch auteur Nosaj Thing into the IDM camp, but his latest remix of rap superstar Drake’s “Forever” demonstrates how much his mature style owes to West Coast boom bap. This is actually a remix of a remix, with Lil Wayne, Kanye, and Eminem all adding verses to Drake’s original hit. While the initial version was powerful enough, Nosaj’s gives it a dark, edgy intensity that truly complements the supreme lyricism on offer.

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Nosaj is no stranger to rap — he’s made beats for the likes of Kid Cudi, among others — but this new track shows how deeply he’s progressing in the game. He starts with haunting synth strings, which merges into an atypical, 4/4 microhouse thump underneath Drake’s ethereal chorus: arrhythmic flickers of what sounds like flashbulbs popping in slo-mo erupt around Drake’s voice, making him sound like he’s being photographed by paparazzi on a space station. A snare crack takes everything down to half time, however, truly demonstrating Nosaj’s debt to L.A. hip-hop funk: the eerie keyboards and bass rumble evoke one of Nosaj’s key influences, Dr. Dre, in particular his darker efforts like “Murder Was The Case.” All in all, Nosaj’s latest, greatest remix shows not only how contemporary electronic beatmakers have been influenced by hip hop, but how they might give back and enliven it.