hip hop

k.flay feat. felix cartal – rest your mind

This year’s summer weather has made me so angry, not only because of the incessant heat, but also due to it depriving me of my favorite pastimes – night drives in the rain. It’s one of the only times I’ll willingly go outside, take a walk, then drive around for a couple of hours listening to music. For some reason, music in a rainy car has a bittersweet, romantic quality to it. Maybe I stand alone, but next time it’s raining, do yourself a favor and grab your keys, a coffee, and a few  playlists and take a solo drive.

Something about K.Flay reminds me of summer nights and long drives. It’s not because she delivers that type of music all the time, but from the vibes I get from the girl, she just seems like a chill person who digs driving around listening to music.

The first time I saw her perform was a couple of years ago when she did a college tour with Passion Pit. I always get to venues early to catch the openers because if I like the headliner a lot, I’m bound to dig whoever they chose to tour with them.

I remember watching her get on stage, put down a few beats, and rap the crap out of the microphone. One of the best friends had an instant crush on her, only to turn into all out fervor when he discovered she studied psychology and sociology at Stanford. This girl is a complete bad ass.

She recently collaborated with Felix Cartal for their song “Rest Your Mind” which was released yesterday.

FIRST LISTEN

It opens with some heavy bass and “whoops” seamlessly seguewaying into K.Flay’s husky rap. There are still some distinct Cartal synths he throws in, making for a sexy hip hop beat. It showcases K.Flay’s flawless rapping style with cutting lyricism and clear delivery. She’s got mad wit. Cartal uses elements from popular hip hop composition to create a catchy  as all hell instrumental for K.Flay to rap over. Good god I’m geeking out.

SAS

I’ve already started dropboxing this to friends of mine who aren’t as familiar with either artist as it’s such a killer track AND promotes dental hygiene. It’s going on my next fall mix for 8tracks, that much is a certain. I kind of gauged how much I liked the song based on the amount of time I spent smirking throughout it. The longer I have a slightly sadistic look on my face the more I like the song. What? I never said it would make sense.

Link to download is in the picture above. Grab her free EP as well, titled Eyes Shut.

-jo.

yakkle

Three years ago, after a long night of music sleuthing, I stumbled across who is now my all-time favorite producer, Nujabes. Jun Seba, creator of the underground label, Hydeout Productions, has a hand of God when he touches music. Everything he’s worked on is pure gold, and the acts he supported grace most of the playlists I make. Unfortunately, in February of 2010, he was killed by a drunk driver in Tokyo but his legacy still lives on.

He was a master of blending hip hop, jazz, and electronic music into some of the most lush compositions I’ve ever listened to. Every day I play his music and every single time I find a new part to fall in love with. He even did the soundtrack for Samurai Champloo, an anime I hold dear to my heart with all of the bad ass fighting that goes down. It’s created by the same people who did Cowboy Bebop, so you need to check it out. Killer writing, music, and epic samurai fights – what more could you possibly ask for?

This brings me to my new found love of underground Japanese hip hop. After sifting through SoundCloud pages, a complete beauty of a Kobe based producer came my way: Yakkle. His production style is similar to Nomak (also on Hydeout) and is right up the Nujabes alley in his use of piano and hip hop.

While he doesn’t have an EP release, or at least one I’m aware of, his stand alone tracks and remixes are impeccably produced. He seems partial to Shing02 in his remixes, and although I’m not sure if they’ve collaborated before, the work he puts into these songs are pretty bomb.

還元 (Yakkle remix)

This was the first track I listened to by Yakkle and was a near instant hit. It’s got a laid back, jazzy feel to it, with the remixed vocals creating a perfect setting to stare out at a skyline from a high rise. It’s a pretty great winter beat – sorry for being out of season with this one.

88bpm

This is a perfect homage to a Nujabes track. Like one comment mentions, it is in fact “wicked smooth” and a track I’d play in the bedroom. How could you not? Such a sexy beat with the chilled out piano and an underwhelming drum beat going. I find that with some of these hip hop/jazz tracks that the drums can overtake the entire track. Yakkle bypasses this with a lo-fi scratchy sound from a would-be record player and keeps it relaxed.

 

Keep him on your list of Japanese hip hop producers to watch out for – he’s still got a lot of room to grow but I think the underground community will keep a keen eye on him.

 

-jo.

 

 

donnis – nippon sounds

Summers always make me nostalgic for Japanther. The last two times I’ve been there during summer months to rival Chicago’s heat index, have been life changing. Seeing the boy band who changed my life for the better, finding myself (or some BS like that), and meeting new friends has resulted in a large scrapbook (if I did scrapbook, that is) of fond memories.

Did I really just say fond?

In summer 2011, Donnis released a mixtape with a bunch of Japanese producers, Nippon Sounds. Onitsuka Tiger took the initiative by creating a cross-cultural sound for his mixtape featuring three different DJs/producers from Japan: De De Mouse, Joe Iron, and Taku Takahashi. De De Mouse, one of my favorite Japanese producers who also makes some of the happiest electronic music around, put Donnis on my radar. His rapping style is clean (not in a Will Smith, Miami, sorta way) and very biting. Not too hard but still witty enough to make me smile throughout any of his songs.

This was on repeat constantly last summer. It’s catchy as all hell, with dancey jams, summer afternoon drives, and even playable for poolside sexy time.

1. All I Need Freestyle (Baby Star’s Jam remix) – Produced by DE DE MOUSE & Luke Walker

This song makes me feel like a badass. It’s riddled with references to living that “high-class” life but there’s almost a mocking tone to it. Donnis doesn’t rap as harshly as Danny Brown, like in “Radio Song” where he’s openly looking down on rappers who make songs solely for the money and fame. Following Donnis on his Academy Black Hearts blog, you know he appreciates fashion, every type of music, and legitimate artists. The production of “All I Need” is stunning. De De Mouse’s original song, “Baby Star’s Jam” is upbeat and meant for smiles. I like how Luke Walker slowed down the vocals, and took a darker tone with the remix. Solid song.

 

2. Roll Up Poe Up (Freestyle) – Produced by Joe Iron & Luke Walker

Honestly, I didn’t really focus on Donnis’ rap on this track because I was so focused on the overall musicality of the song. That’s not to say I think any rapper could be put on top of the instrumental and make it well, because Donnis compliments the song well.

3. Gone (Before Gone Japan Mix) – Produced by DE DE MOUSE

Here we have a perfect example of classic De De Mouse production. Only he can take a song about drugs, partying, and egoism and turn it into something you bounce along to and giggle constantly. He uses as a DAW a combination of Cubase and HALion, which, as a software, makes very little sense to me. It suits his tweaking personality and production style – he’s always screwing around with his sounds and layers to create a really diverse sound. The distortions on Donnis’ vocals can get overwhelming at times if you are a fan of listening to his rap in a purist sense. However, what De De Mouse does is tough – gorgeous composition.

 

4. Ring My Bell (Invader Moon Assault Japan Remix) – Produced by TakuTakahashi

 This is the third song off the tape featuring a Japanese producer as a remixer. The song itself wasn’t a favorite of mine, but after a few listens, all I wanted to do was blast this and roll around on the floor doing primal dances. So great to drop on a hard dancefloor night, where people are willing to get sweaty and turn into disgusting individuals in the name of a good time. I’m distracted writing about this track due to the dance breaks. Sorry, be back in a bit.

Biggest bonus to this mixtape – Nippon Sounds released it for free. That’s right. Link to download is in the cover image above. Enjoy.

-jo.