Move over Brainfeeder! Rising up from the streets of Los Angeles, California comes a new school of forward-thinking beatsmiths. . . TeamSupreme. This past Tuesday, Alpha Pup Records officially released a 19-track compilation showcasing TeamSupreme’s fresh-faced roster entitled ‘Collection 1’. Held together by an affinity for left-field hip-hop and classic funk, the self-proclaimed ‘weekly beat cyphers’ have built a formidable following around their mixtape series. Every week, TS employs a new DJ as curator and uploads a fresh mix to their Soundcloud and Youtube. Currently, the number of volumes in the series sits at 41. For those of you unfamiliar with TeamSupreme and/or lack the free time to catch up on 41 volumes of mixtapes, meet ‘Collection 1’.
This compilation perfectly encapsulates TeamSupreme’s attitude towards hip-hop, trap, club and music in general. All the artists that appear on the album take an open-minded approach towards electronic production. There is not one genre or label that can be used to describe the musical style of ‘Collection 1’. TeamSupreme’s impressive roster of producers cover all the bases, moving from weirdo trap (“Yah Pop”) to space-age hip-hop (“Busy Busy Busy”), to future funk (“Teddy Rooster”), to Lex Luger-inspired trap (“Fully Torqued”), to space invader-disco (“All Nite”) and on and on.
For the sake of practicality, I will focus specifically on four tracks from the compilation. These tracks are: Djemba Djemba’s “Yah Pop”, Mr. Carmack’s “Guantanamo Bay”, King Henry’s “Teddy Rooster” and Penthouse Penthouse’s “In the Penthouse”. I chose these tracks because of their inventiveness, creativity and instant appeal. Two of the artists (Djemba Djemba, Mr. Carmack) have been featured on Salacious before but the other two are newcomers to the blog. I thought it only right to balance out the familiar with the unfamiliar. I’ll begin with a familiar, SalaciousSound favourite, Djemba Djemba.
“Yah Pop” is the most satisfying and sophisticated slice of ‘trap’ I’ve heard in a while. I call it ‘trap’ for lack of a better word but this beat is really something else. After repeated listens, the drop at 0:40 still hits harder than ever. The beat twerks and jerks with mechanical precision while the warped vocal samples express your thoughts while listening to this monstrous tune (“yah, yah, yahyahyah,yah”). What makes “Yah Pop” even more impressive is that it was made under pressure. In a recent IM chat, Djemba Djemba confessed to me that he put together “Yah Pop” about an hour before it was due. He went on to say that he usually turns his beats in last minute, like he used to do with his homework. Now, that’s what I call efficient procrastination.
Mr. Carmack comes out throwin’ on “Guantanamo Bay”. Over a heavy trap beat, he lays down some descending synth hums and a repeated vocal refrain pertaining to the acquisition of legal tender. Although fairly straightforward, “Guantanamo Bay” manages to get its point across while maintaining a ‘swag’ level of 10 million. Money in the bag.
If you keep up-to-date on Alpha Pup releases, you may want to note that King Henry is one half of the electronica duo Virtual Boy. Almost exactly a year ago, I posted Virtual Boy‘s track “Let Go” along with a brief bio on the TeamSupreme affiliates (see here). After the release of their fantastic debut album last year, Virtual Boy have branched off to work on solo projects King Henry and Preston James (whose track “Wasted” is also featured on ‘Collection 1’). While James experiments with trap, King Henry has been busy blending laidback hip-hop, funk and nu-disco with technically trained deft. This is particularly evident on “Teddy Rooster”, a pleasant, upbeat, and intricate sample of King Henry’s exquisite production.
Excepting “Yah Pop”, this is probably my favourite beat on ‘Collection 1’. I must admit, I don’t really know who Penthouse Penthouse is but whoever he (or she) is, they are one hell of a beat-maker. My only tiff with “In the Penthouse” is that it is much too short. I would gladly listen to that groovy bass rhythm over that lilting guitar sample for a good four minutes. Someone has to get Lil B on this!
TeamSupreme on:
Facebook | Soundcloud | Youtube
Purchase ‘Collection 1’ from the following outlets:
Well, that wraps up my overview of TeamSupreme’s ‘Collection 1’. Thanks for reading everyone! I recommend actually paying for this album as it is necessary that we support such young and talented producers as the ones exhibited above. Aight, peace out fam!
// totem.
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