Some cover to pay homage, others to challenge, and still others to mock. Re-interpretations of contemporary Top 40 hits often seem to wind up in the latter category. Hip-hop club jams in particular have been butts of some of the greatest jokes of satirical imitation (e.g. Alanis Morissette finally got the concept of irony with her torch song treatment of the Black Eyed Peas‘ “My Humps”). Perhaps sensing that simply ballad-izing hyperbolic urban odes of braggadocio has become a bit cliche, the new tongue-in-cheek cover band Emmett and the Black Mountain Scorpion Bluegrass Experience Gang debut this week with a decidedly uptempo cover of Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz’ inescapable 2003 crunk rap single “Get Low.” Continue reading »