Tranquillity in motions, 9ICKS’s Reworkedmilk’

Classically trained and inclined towards lofi textures, 9ICK drops a breezy two track EP ‘Floques’

9ICK is the moniker of up and coming artist Nicolas Hamilton Stephensen, a growing presence in the downtempo hip-hop scene in Denmark. Alongside collaborator Justin Christopher, 9ICK has been applying his talents as a producer to gently rhythmic beat tracks with potential to soothe the soul and ease the mind. His sound emerges from a variety of influences; 9ICK displays a clear appreciation for carefully detailed atmospheric instrumentals, built up from pop inspired patterns of trip hop and lofi. Twists of the artist’s own originality consistently find their way into the mix, creating chilled out vibes imbibed with personality.

Although it often melts into his discography rather than rising to the surface, 9ICK also has a wealth of experience to draw on as a classically trained pianist, bringing just a splash of jazz piano to the final product and making use of his informed understanding of composition to finalise the arrangement.

The latest track from 9ICK is ‘Reworkedmilk’, one of the two songs featured on his new Floques EP released in early March. There’s an easy comfort to be found here, light percussion and compact beat loops helping to explore mellow emotions.

Stream the release on Spotify.

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Pk Delay drips honest words onto lo-fi

Butterfly - Pk Delay (feat. Benji. & My Favorite Color)

With lo-fi beats, Pk Delay asserts a new message in fresh LP Punter

In the midst of a turbulent era the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene remains alight, with talent out there ready and willing to tackle major themes and bring expression to feeling unvoiced. Keeping the sound alive from his home state, Pk Delay has long passed the title of upcoming, creating his own tracks for more than half a decade and gradually building up the layered style he’s recognised for. In his discography carefully chosen words match together with lo-fi beats, smooth bass building up a foundation for contemporary narratives.

Still pushing forward today, Pk Delay has connected up with Valholla Entertainment, a Florida based label which deals in high quality rnb and hip-hop production. With the support of Valholla, February saw the release of Pk Delay’s newest collection, titled ‘Punter’.

The nine track release draws on low tempo beats, and enough subtle electronic melody to garner a sense of nostalgic. The LP also brings in two more Pittsburgh based rappers, namely Benji. and My Favorite Color, who lend their own vocals skills to mix.

There’s a mood of melancholy running alongside the emotion heavy lyrics laid onto each track. Faded piano loops, feather light synth and measured beats wrap around a truthful voice.

Stream the release on Spotify

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Funk Icons Menahan Street Band return with Fresh Album

From the upcoming album, The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band, out February 26th. https://daptone.ffm.to/msb3.pbt

A melting pot of funk and soul from the Brooklyn collective’s all star lineup

Exponents of funk, jazz, and sounds that move the soul, the Menahan Street Band are a group based over in New York whose multitalented line-up works together to deliver music with style. Each band member has worked with an impressive range of artists, forming part of the team behind hugely recognisable projects and collections.

The band possesses a wealth of experience, and are innovative in how they combine it to develop new work. Trace back the discographies of the five musicians and you’ll come across names like The Black Keys, The Avalanches, The Expressions, The Dap-Kings and Holy-Hive.  A project which stands out for me was their work on Charles Bradley’s heart rending cover of ‘Changes’.

Funk and blues stirs at the heart of the band’s style, packaged with honey sweet brass and strings delicate enough to warm up sensitivity and emotion. At times their work spills into more cinematic environments, then into the worlds of rock and modern hip-hop, being sampled by the likes of Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.

This week they deliver another sneak peek from ‘The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band’, a 14 track collection which reignites the 60’s fire of rhythm and blues. Our featured track ‘The Duke’ comes from that album, and simmers with heat.

Pre-order the release on Bandcamp or stream the singles on Spotify

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Dive into the label - Daptone Records
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Underground trip-hop hailing from Northern Greece

‘Rhuba’ presents trip hop and abstract hip hop with a fresh identity across 17 tracks.

Inspired by hip hop and childhood cassette tapes, beatmaker Mononome began his music making journey in 2011. His music is based around sampling, which he developed his own style of ethereal downtempo, nu jazz and instrumental hip hop. Currently one of the key figures in the vibrant Greek electronic scene, Mononome often performs freestyle and improvisational live sessions around Europe with his MPC set up. 

Mononome incorporates an alternative and diverse approach to his music. For his album ‘Two Thirds’, he made a soundtrack for investigative reporter Ian Urbina’s new book “The Outlaw Ocean” utilizing field recordings from the reporter’s global travels. Whereas his release ‘We Grew So Far Apart’ accentuates Bulgarian folk elegy songs with glitchy abstract patterns. 

Featuring an abstract and holographic album cover, ‘Rhuba’ brings together a compilation of 17 songs by various artists. Diffract Records released both digital and vinyl versions on September 30th, with the latter limited to 500 copies and sporting double 12” vinyl in a full printed gatefold cover. Mononome’s ‘Of Past And Present’ sits in a laid back atmosphere with downtempo bass and drums, easing the listener into the album before the tracks drift more into electronica later on.

Support the album on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify

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DC Duo The Other Guys recreate LA Soul with ‘Los Angeles Shorty’

"Summer In Analog: Season 2" | Available Now: http://hyperurl.co/Summerinanalog2 Official Video for "Los Angeles Shorty" by The Other Guys Produced by: The O...

The beat focused producers release another effortless collection in their instrumental series

Mighty Joe and Isaiah are producers based in DC, but the sound and style they’ve been working on as the hip-hop beat duo ‘The Other Guys’ has forged connections across the country. The two have been deep in the beat community for a long time, bringing out vibes that glow with soul. The Other Guys specialise in music that gets heads nodding and energy flowing. Over the years they’ve lent their talents to areas like chill-hop, jazz-hop, boom-bap and study beats, keeping the vibe alive throughout.

A sound like that of The Other Guys draws a crowd, as well as other artists looking to collaborate. The two have found themselves working with the likes of Skyzoo, Tanya Morgan, Homeboy Sandman, J-Live, Substantial, Wordsworth, Young Roddy and Kooley High. New links mean new flavours, and the variety of artists featured on The Other Guys tracks has been nothing but beneficial to the duo’s growth and evolution.

Despite the frequency of joint projects, instrumental releases are dropped regularly by Joe and Isaiah, and it’s on such a collection that our featured track ‘Los Angeles Shorty’ has arrived. Slow and sweet, the song is one of seven low tempo tracks on the recent album ‘Summer In Analog: Season 2’.

Support the single on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify

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Gathering spirits for samples, Hanses releases ‘Tapete’

Hanses is one of the hip-hop artists out there characterised by their constant scavenging for unique and inspiring samples, uncovering soundbites and cultivating the energy within them to create a soul which the rest of the track can grow around.

From a top-down view Hanses is notable for establishing the label Fennek Records with fellow beat producer ‘Shaga’. Founded in early 2019 and based in Mannheim, Germany, this slowly expanding label represents the drive for online community and cooperation within the electronic scene.

The discography presented by Hanses is largely represented by one off singles which orbit around ‘Poltergeist’; a solid 24 track compilation with a central Japanese theme. The 2019 LP uses found sound from old interviews and TV shows, meaning that the atmosphere that Hanses raises up is decidedly lo-fi, bringing back to life that static second hand nostalgia of times and places already in the past. There’s a little Japanese city pop here, a smooth sound softened by the drop in fidelity to blend into a nu-jazz flavour.

‘Tapete’ (wallpaper) is the latest track from Hanses, instrumental hip-hop that incorporates light percussion and muted electro-acoustic. It’s non-conformative, expressive, and music that rolls in like a breeze.

Stream it on Spotify

Check out the label- Fennek Records
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Thick vintage flavour with Madwreck's The Raw Exotic

There’s just something about the sound of 90s ‘golden era’ Hip Hop that has stuck with many of us to this day. Perhaps it was the old-skool studio gear or the fresh creative foundation of vinyl digging and sampling, or it might have been the convergence of various musical styles and genres all wrapped in a uniquely urban flavour. Whatever it was there’s no doubt that era left an indelible mark on the world of modern music and continues to inform alot of great releases to this day.

Case in point, North Carolina veteran producer Madwreck gets back to his roots with his new release ‘The Raw Exotic’ harnessing that old skool flavour alongside his own unique dark and dusty signature sound. But to say the 17 track album was simply a love letter to that particular time in Hip-Hop might be a bit of an oversimplification; the multifaceted release draws on a variety of influences from funk and soul to rock and world music. Despite the vast range of sounds and influences found throughout the release it never feels too wide or fragmented, instead coming forth as a wholly cohesive collection of tracks painted with a thick glaze of vintage flavour.

Grab a taste over on Madwreck’s Bandcamp

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Red The Chef does lofi a little different on 'Is This It?'

It would be easy to throw Connecticut producer Red The Chef’s latest EP into the catch-all “lo-fi hip hop beats to chill/study to” bin, because it certainly fits the aesthetic. But that listening environment, of filling the background with something to keep your mind on anything but the music itself, tends to mute subtleties and flatten differentiation. Yes, the beats on this EP, titled ‘Is This It?’, have the same warm, vintage processing that has come to define the genre, and yes the melodic samples are fuzzy and pitched around in the same way, but there are also elements that are squarely Red’s. Most notably, his tendency to drench every element in dreamy reverb creates a unique space for the tracks to sit in, as well as the presence of detuned acoustic instruments that float in and out of each track. The effect is something like listening to music blasted distantly in the park on a warm summer day, instilling a feeling of limitless boundaries, inspiring those nights of aimless exploration. It’s liberating to move about without knowing where you’re going, and this EP might just be the perfect soundtrack to make it happen.

Stream the title track ‘Is This It?’ above, and hop over to Spotify to hear the full EP.

— review by autonomy

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Sample, soul, sincerity in Anthony Bailey's 'Don't want you to go'.

Don't Want You to Go, a song by Anthony Bailey on Spotify

We covered a release from Anthony for his ‘Maelstrom of Thoughts’ Ep back in February when we talked about higher values within a hip-hop collective and how Bailey distanced himself from the lime-light instead always putting his peers front and centre stage. Not much has changed in that regard where you will still find blank bio’s on all of his socials and music platforms which is extremely refreshing. Remember the days when there was such a thing as mystery/privacy! When all you got was a few random interviews and some accompanying stills. In an age where all abstruseness can be banished with one click it’s gratifying to see an artist still holding it down and applying a rare, ethical code to his craft. 

Speaking of craft ‘Don’t want you to go’ is a track built entirely around a vocal hook that is unapologetically omnipresent throughout, showing a reverence for sample flare and technique. What this creates is something nostalgic, warm and sincere while being celebratory about the trade of hip-hop. Perfect summer, lo-fi listening. 

Catch more from Anthony here: Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram

London's Sleepless finds his Flow state

https://open.spotify.com/track/4vPTku8hZ61Ry7HGo4OkDw?si=Bn6MwU0vS3CxC8YukmVCgg

Enigmatic Jazzy beat producer ‘Sleepless’ swings through the blog once again following up last years release of his album Serene.

And it’s no wonder he keeps popping up on countless blogs, channels and playlists; his sound, aesthetic and consistency in crafting infectious jazzy hip-hop is second to none.

His recent single ‘Flow State’ showcases his own unique take on the genre- forgoing sampling and chopping techniques for a dynamic take of entirely live instrumentation. ‘Flow State’ succinctly expresses that creative headspace that all artists aim to achieve, where logic and rationality give way to instinct and spontaneity. It’s one of those tracks that sounds almost as if it could have written itself, bringing with it an organic groove and natural connectedness of each musical element. But somewhere in between those smooth horns and cascading keys we know there’s a music producer steadily carving out his own air of effortlessness.

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