Originally a hit in 1968 for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Beggin’ has been given a touch of Madcon magic and updated for the 21st Century to produce what is an absolutely storming reworking of the four-to-the-floor soul stomper.

Norwegian hip hop/rap duo Madcon - short for Mad Conspiracy - consists of Tshawe Baqwa (otherwise known as Kapricon) and Yosef Wolde-Mariam (otherwise known as Critical). They first received recognition with their production partners, Paperboys, for the track ‘Barcelona’, which was a massive hit in Norway. ‘So Dark The Con of Man’ is their debut UK release and was released in Norway last year following their 2004 album ‘It’s All A Madcon’.

Madcon’s sound is a mixture of smooth, dark hip hop and excitable, upbeat rap and could be easily compared to Black Eyed Peas with elements of Gnarls Barkley and Outkast. The first single from their album, ‘Beggin’, is produced by 3Elementz and is a catchy summer anthem which has already gone platinum and been a #1 hit in homeland Norway and is set to be a summer smash in the UK with it’s addictive beat and lyrics.

‘Beggin’ remixes come courtesy of My Digital Enemy, who also remixed Groove Armada’s ‘Song For Mutya’, plus Steve Pitron and Max Sanna who recently had a big essential new tune on Pete Tong’s show with Sam Sparro’s ‘Black and Gold’. There’s also an urban remix, which comes from Afroganic and a bassline mix from 23 Deluxe.

‘So Dark The Con of Man’ flits between salsa style beats on ‘Life’s Too Short’, to a more dark RnB sound on ‘The Way We Do Thangs’, to plain old funky rap on ‘Dandelion’. On the Gnarls Barkley sounding ‘Back On The Road’, Madcon work again with Paperboys, whose vocals feature on the track. On ‘Hard To Read’ and ‘Let’s Dance Instead’, Madcon sound close to Black Eyed Peas while on tracks such as ‘Let It Be Known’ and ‘Back on the Road’, you can hear a real Outkast edge to their sound.

Madcon will release the single ‘Beggin’ on August 1st digitally and August 11th physically. Their debut UK album will be released on August 18th.