July 11, 2014

tokyo-shawn

Tosten Burks doesn’t really like potato salad.

And now, this week’s friendly reminder that whether or not you dig what fame and Los Angeles hath wrought Chance the Rapper, the rest of SAVEMONEY continues to kill it. Eschewing the Social Experiment’s analog pop blues that recall the early teen melodicism of Kids These Days (surprise, it’s the same drummer and trumpeter), Towkio aligns closer with Vic’s late embrace of house. But where Mensa mines Chicago’s dance-music legacy, Towkio cannonballs into its contemporary juke renaissance, teaming with production duo A Billion Young to do something that’s been begging to be done – drop raps over the tight-nit, syncopatic fireworks that Teklife brought to the world.

Their May EP, HOTCHIPS N CHOPSTIX, kicks off with “Ready,” a ferociously entertaining collection of clattering beat-breaks and wavy party rhymes. It’s the tape’s best song – flashy, explosive, bass and tempo swerving in unexpected directions. Think of DJ Rashad’s Double Cup‘s more soulful romps, lit on fire in the middle of a beach party. Give the kid credit for keeping up his energy and bars up with the beat’s frenetic ADD. “Abstract” is similarly colorful, thumping with bells and cartoonish vocal samples before abruptly deconstructing into a filthy breakdown of Kanye’s rant on “Sway in the Morning.”

The project teases at an upcoming full-length called Wav Theory that hopefully leans heavier on this type of big-personality, juking absurdity than it does on brash, single-note bangers like “Sh!t 2.0” or shameless, satirical suburban mall anthems like “American Apparel Girls.” If the dude’s birthday freestyle from a week-and-a-half ago – over the type of Wave Racer beat that could anchor a MarioTM rave – is any indication, the debut will soundtrack its fair share of summer parties.


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