These haters can’t hold Son Raw back.
You’ve gotta love Hyperdub. It would be all too easy to sit back and count stacks every time Burial drops a new single, but so far, the label has all but avoided the easy path, searching far and wide for artists as likely to confound as to engage. On paper, a label that put out a Laurel Halo album last year has no business releasing material by Chicago Footwork originator DJ Rashad but in Kode9’s book, they’re two singular American artists so…why not? It’s a brilliant move: while the competition studiously dissects and reassembles the Techno and House riddims underground Black America was pumping out in the 90s, Hyperdub’s putting out a contemporary master out of Chicago who’s velocity and soul is too wild, too untamed and too damn weird for most DJs to fit in a set. Not to worry though, the world will catch up…eventually.
I’ve heard Rashad’s forthcoming Rolling EP and it’s everything you want it to be: Juke/Jungle fusions, intense drum funk, molly references and soul sampling that belies a heavy No I.D influence. Not only does it ignore the standard boxes, it scribbles all over the page and draws a dick on it. This is important in an era where the media is all too happy to stereotype black artists from a lower class background – Chief Keef’s black rage makes for powerful, visceral music but let’s not forget that the same south side streets also produced artists with visions to take music beyond every day living and into space. The Drill movement is cool and so are some of the reactionary conscious artists that have sprung up in its wake, but I’d rather hear artists who move past that binary opposition entirely. Particularly if moving past said binary opposition involves speeding up a Rick Ross single ad infinitum.
Download:
MP3: DJ Rashad – Can’t Hold Me back (left click)
DJ Rashad – Rolling EP out March 19th
