I’ve always been a hip hop head, and been embracing it more lately. But the path to finding this pocket of alternative hip hop that quickly became dear to me was quite a twisty road.
Intro
Johannes shared one1one by Jack Jelfs feat. Jessica Barter. Be warned, the video, vocals, and overall vibes are a trip. But dammit those drums are tight!
While reading the video’s description, these words caught my eyes:
During their 2018 residency at CERN
This is a summary of how the project was put together
a garbled invocation of language data-sets, algorithmically generated text and frenzied machine poetry. Collaborator Jessica Barter reads words generated by an A.I. trained by Jelfs in a techno-shamanic ritual, leading an incantation that opens with the declaration: “we’re ordered to erase sounds”
I thought science and music, that ought to be interesting. And the word residency implied there was more where that came from, so naturally I went digging.
Loving these artists that really blend music and software creativity
- me, 01 Aug 2022
These vibes made me think of Max Cooper, who’s collaborated with a wide array of talented creatives
- Max Cooper made me aware of Xander Steenbrugge, who created a video for Exotic Contents
- Max Cooper - Swapped (Official video by Dimitri Thouzery) - I can barely watch this one because of flashing lights and all, but I love the art direction
- Barker has done something similar for JakoJako.
- My instagram also has a few musicians that take their visuals seriously
I digress. Back to the main storyline
Moor Mother
UMZANSI immediately stood out to me. Black Quantam Futurism won the 2021 CERN Collide artist's residency, and that’s how I found Moor Mother. I spent MONTHS bingeing her music daily. Timeless music
…feat Billy Woods …feat ELUCID
After a few weeks of listening to her, I noticed a little trend. Anytime she had a track with either Billy Woods, or ELUCID, it was pretty much guaranteed I’d like the song.
Imagine my excitement when I found out Billy Woods has some Zimbabwean roots (his dad). I finally put two and two together, and the album cover with Robert Mugabe immediately made sense. It's at that point when I really started paying attention to Woods.
Earl Sweatshirt
References & Related Reading
- Black Quantum Futurism Wikipedia
- CERN Collide Artists
- How billy woods’ Backwoodz Studioz Became New York’s Best Underground Rap Label - this was a lovely read. Respect to the man💪🏾
- This post's image came from backwoodz's website