I’ve only just started listening to Dabyre’s Three trilogy, where he mixes hiphop and electronica together. Although better known for the second and now third parts of this series, due to collaboration with well known rappers such as MF Doom and Danny Brown, its the first from the trilogy that peaked my interest originally, with its focus on instrumentals.

Hyped-Up Plus Tax keeps things relatively simple computationally. There is a vocoded synth part providing the melody, and that’s accompanied by sub bass and drum sampling to give the track the swing found in Hip hop. It’s this swing that makes the track. Playing with a few elements in different ways throughout the track allows the natural swagger of the musicianship to come through. The track feels physically played rather than sequenced and that blend of the digital with the organic elements to the performance makes it a compelling listen:

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