Last year on September 11, 2020, Eskimo Callboy released their EP with new singer Nico Sallach called ‘MMXX‘. It contained three new and three reworked songs. One of the new songs was ‘Hypa Hypa’. (Hypa Hypa’ blew up. At the point where I’m writing this, this song has had 12 million views and it’s not even on there for a year. 

So, when Eskimo Callboy was stuck at home due to COVID, they got bored. They posted ‘Hypa Hypa‘ on tik tok, and what happend was that a lot of people had fun with the song and gave it their own twist. The comments on those videos were from fans who said they would love to hear a full version of these alternate ‘Hypa Hypa’ songs. So, Eskimo Callboy read the comments and since they were bored anyway, they decided to answer those comments and make a ‘MMXX Hypa Hypa Edition’. This album contains the 6 songs that were on last year’ ‘MMXX‘ along with 7 alternate versions of ‘Hypa Hypa‘ all covered or sampled by different bands.

You might be thinking: ‘Isn’t this a little weird’? Yes, yes it is. But it’s so weird that it’s good. I even dare to say genius. Under the quote ‘Why not’? Here is the “MMXX Hypa Hypa Edition‘.

Before the album was released, we got to hear two songs already. We got the Saltatio Mortis cover and the Sasha cover. Even if you’re not a fan of the song, the videos are extremely hilarious. All the videos feature both singers of Eskimo Callboy: Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak dressed in their original ‘Hypa Hypa’ video outfits and stealing the show.

Saltatio Mortis really turned it into their own style. A folkier metal version of the song combined with old instruments like the hurdy gurdy and bagpipes. Combine this with good acting and yeah, you’ll get this ‘what the f*ck’ feeling while laughing and falling off your chair. But I have the feeling that we are going to have this feeling more while listening to this album. If you listen to the song without watching the video, it’s a really solid song and Saltatio Mortis owned it. But if you hear this while watching the video, you can’t help but to laugh. 

The most hilarious part of this video, is that the lead singer of Saltatio Mortis, Alea der Bescheidene, got an extreme makeover. One of the band members even falls over after seeing it. After they created a mosh pit in the studio, you just see how much fun the band has creating this content. And that, that is what this album is all about.

For the next one, put on your cowboy boots and take your horse from the stable, because this is a country version of Hypa Hypa by The BossHoss. Totally different, but they definitely made it fit the song too. Catchy, hillbilly, and yeah, still weird but totally cool. No video for this one though, so we have to create the visuals in our own minds. But I’m pretty sure that’s not a problem since the previous video had more than enough visuals imprinted on your brain, even if you have just seen it once.

‘Hypa Hypa‘ performed by 257ers is the next one. After the country version, we now have a German rap version with the chorus form the original being sampled into the chorus. A deep bass in the background, a fast snare sound and even a tiny bit of electric guitar. Take the outfits in mind that Eskimo Callboy is wearing in the original video and you can imagine what this one sounds like. Over the top and totally awesome.

‘Hypa Hypa feat. Sasha’ is the ultimate pop song. Sasha is a local German singer. Every artist that collaborated with them is German, but you know, every country has a local artist who is very popular because they make a certain type of pop music, a type that most of the people feel attracted too. Well, imagine this genre in your head, and combine it with the image of ‘Hypa Hypa’. This leads to us seeing Sasha disco rollerskating together with Nico and Kevin. Very cliche, but also very stylish. 

‘Hypa Hypa remix‘ by Gestört aber Geil, in English: crazy but cool. Gestört aber Geil used the original version by Eskimo Callboy and created this cool, very danceable remix. The electric guitars are completely removed and replaced by a low bass sound and synthesizers. 

We Butter the Bread with Butter absolutely slayed this song. It starts off with extreme growls. So you are like, yeah, this is a style typical for them called electronicore. Yeah, well, this song also has a tiny part where it goes full German schlager style. Absolutely hilarious when you hear this song for the first time and you have no idea whats coming. Extreme screams with heavy distorted guitars with disco beats on top and a little touch of slager in one song.

The video is again hilarious. We Butter the Bread With Butter used elements of the original video, but created their own fun out of Eskimo Callboy’s fun. You’ll know what I mean after you’ve seen it.

The closer of this album is performed by Axel One, the bass player of We Butter the Bread with Butter. A melodramatic closer. Totally different than the one we just encountered. All of the songs are very different, but they all fit their genre perfectly. A calm song that could have been at the end of a romantic movie that ends on a cliffhanger. 

It’s a true journey listening to this album. If you don’t know the bands who cover the songs, then the style you are going to hear is a complete surprise. I don’t think there was ever an album that had 7 of the same songs on it or actually 8 if you count the original one too. Although, I can’t really say the same song. It’s the original one that forms the base of them of course, but not all of them have the same lyrics and they definitely sound completely different too. 

I think we have to view this album more as a fun experiment than as a full release. It would have been cool if the ‘Hypa Hypa edition‘ was a separate thing from the ‘MMXX EP’. This because in my review of the ‘MMXX‘ EP, I said that I loved the high quality of the songs. This high quality kinda goes down by all these funny songs. It is funny, it is cool, but I think they could have kept ‘MMXX’ as the killer album that it is and then release this as a side project. Not to say that these covers aren’t good quality, they are, but I’m not blown away by the intensity of them like I was with the ‘MMXX’ EP. 

That being said, this is still a very cool project, but for me not something I’m going to put on repeat. I will definitely revisit these songs some times if I’m in for a good laugh, but not if I want to hear the power of Eskimo Callboy. 

Release date: May 21, 2021
Label: Century Media Records
Tracklist:

1. Hypa Hypa
2. Hate/Love
3. MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)
4. Monsieur Moustache
5. Dramaqueen
6. Prism (feat. Tobias Rauscher)
7. Hypa Hypa – Performed by Saltatio Mortis
8. Hypa Hypa feat. The BossHoss
9. Hypa Hypa – Performed by 257ers
10. Hypa Hypa feat. Sasha
11. Hypa Hypa – Remix by Gestört aber GeiL
12. Hypa Hypa – Performed by We Butter the Bread with Butter
13. Hypa Hypa – Performed by Axel One