Take it Back to 1997 with The Crystal Method's "Busy Child"

Today, we’re taking it back over twenty years to 1997, when The Crystal Method’s “Busy Child” reigned supreme as one of the driving forces behind breakbeat’s rise to the top.

While there are incredible electronic tracks released every single day, few manage the feat of becoming truly iconic works of musical art in the way that “Busy Child” has. Featured on The Crystal Method‘s debut album, Vegas, “Busy Child” became so well-known during its heyday that it appeared in movies and TV shows across the spectrum, including Nicolas Cage’s The Fast and the Furious precursor, Gone in Sixty Seconds, MTV’s cult classic animated series Daria, and even the wildly popular 1998 edition of FIFA Soccer.

In short, if you haven’t heard “Busy Child”… what were you listening to in the ’90s?

The Crystal Method is a group that needs no introduction. Formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, they were some of the original gangsters of the breakbeat genre and helped to usher in a sound that would come to serve as the verifiable soundtrack of an entire decade of electronic music. Alongside such venerable acts as The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, and Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method are without a doubt one of the most lauded acts of the 20th century.

“Busy Child” features The Crystal Method’s signature breakbeat style with insanely catchy vocal samples from both Eric B. & Rakim’s “Know the Ledge” and DJ Pierre’s “Summertime (Is Get Busy Time),” modulated to sound like “Get busy, child” (the obvious inspiration for the track’s title). The track was remixed by none other than Paul Oakenfold in 2007, and was even sampled by deadmau5 in his Get Scraped track, “The Oshawa Connection”.

These days, The Crystal Method is down to just one member, Scott Kirkland, but he is still putting out music. For more on that, check out our review of his latest album and press play below to immerse yourself in one of dance music’s most exceptional tracks, well, ever.