I have made it pretty clear time and time again that Danny Brown’s “Smokin’ & Drinkin’” off of 2013’s Old LP is my gold standard
for hip hop, it’s all about that crazy flow that switches from whimsical to
menacing from verse to verse over an A-Trak beat that sounds like it was
birthed from a murky, gator filled, swamp.
Today I got to fall in love with the tune all over again
since a video made its way onto the internet that showcases, you guessed it, smoking and drinking.
Duck Sauce kill it with yet another super fun video, this time for the appropriately titled, high energy tune, “NRG.” The clip was directed by Dugan O'Neal and reminds me of a scene from the film Requiem For A Dream if it took place in a much happier world; A-Trak and Van Helden go from watching some late night TV infomercials to staring in them alongside actor Jon C. Daly.
A-Trak and Armand Van Helden have been busy the last couple
of years building up a sound and fan base for their playful dance floor project,
Duck Sauce. The appropriately titled Quack,
which is out April 15th via A-Trak’s Fool’s Goldlabel, can now be streamed below
in its entirety. Get them dancing shoes out as this one is sure to please all
the filter-disco fans out there during those hot summer nights, highlights for myself include "Chariots Of The Gods," ""Radio Stereo" and "NRG".
Danny Brown's Old is set to drop next week on October 8th via Fool’s Gold
but you can now stream it in its entirety via Spotify below. The follow up to
the instant classic that was XXX features guest spots from emcee’s such as SchoolboyQ, Charli XCX, Purity Ring, Freddie Gibbs, A$AP Rocky and Ab-soul. Production
duties are handled by Paul White, A-Trak, Rustie, Skywlkr and more.
Old is most certainly not XXX part two, the Detroit native
shows a lot of growth as a writer and overall I would say that the record is a little less “weird” than its
predecessor but no less unique possibly making it a little easier to digest for
more casual listeners. Production is to say the least colorful jumping all over
the place stylistically often revealing a new favorite as the album progress’s
from start to finish.
A-Trak and Tommy Trash released a super fun video(you
got to love the ending) for their tune "Tuna
Melt." The clip was directed by Ryan Staake with the help of kinetic artist Kinetic King.
Watch the video, followed by a behind-the-scenes clip revealing some of the
magic behind it all.
"Big Bad Wolf" is the latest video from Duck Sauce, the duo of A-Trak and Armand Van Helden. While the song dropped some months back and didn’t really catch my attention the video directed by Keith Schofieldmost certainly has. Featuring A-Trak and Van Helden as dickheads-- literally-- the clip's NSFW.
DFA Records dropped a seven-minute remix of The Rapture's "How Deep Is Your Love?" from A-Trak. A-Trak shared the story of how the remix was somewhat of collaboration with the dearly departed DJ Mehdi. Here's what A-Trak had to say:
“I did this remix over the summer, and when I was close to finishing it I played it to my friend, the irreplaceable DJ Mehdi. We often played each other our productions for feedback. As it turns out he and Riton were visiting New York so they stopped by my apartment. I was working on the main version of the remix, the vocal version. I knew I would make a few alternate edits during the mixdown. The funny thing was, Mehdi’s favorite part was the ending! He and Riton suggested that I have that part come in earlier. My reaction was: that would work well for the dub version. And sure enough, when I finished mixing it down I made a dub with their suggestion. When I sent it to Mehdi shortly after, he responded (as a joke) that I should call it “Dub For Mehdi”. He included it in his “Tunisian Summer” mix. And then, as we all know, the unimaginable happened and we lost our dear friend. The least I can do now is name the edit after him. This one’s for you, Memed."
