MellowHype - Loco

A good picture that isn't by Terry Richardson. I'm feeling good today.

The art of sample flipping has always been an important part of hip-hop culture and music (Reminder that KRS-One never shuts up). From the early days of Marley Marl working for every big MC, to the genre defining eclectic sampling and musical styles of J Dilla & DJ Shadow, to the modern soul, funk, rock, and everything in-between sampling styles of Kanye West & Just Blaze, hip-hop production has evolved and has had more important names than most anything in music. Nowadays , thanks to Nas' Illmatic, we're accustomed to a full roster of hitmakers, from The Neptunes funkadelic inspired pop-opuses to the ethereal dream-trap soundscapes of Clams Casino, a varied group of producers on one artists album has become a staple in rap music. Besides, nobody wants their album to sound samey, so it's important to utilize a full roster of sonic styles so an MC can functionally emote his #COKEDREAMS on a grandiose Lex Luger beat, and then smoothly transition to musing over the one that got away over a sex soaked sob-fest Noah "40" Shebib instrumental. However, there was a time that a producer and MC duo were common, nay, expected, as the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (now known by his government name "Will Smith") and No I.D & Common Sense were making songs exclusively together. The intrinsic bond between DJ/producer and MC changed when Illmatic came out, and a full roster of producers became a mainstay in hip-hop. If that's good or bad is your decision, and it's not like there aren't a veritable number of producer and rapper duos these days, because there are, but it's definitely not like it used to be. Before this post becomes a vague cover for me trying to let people know how much I know about hip-hop and a list of my favorite producers thinly veiled in a badly written post on hip-hop production, lets make a mediocre segue to the real reason for this post.

MellowHype has a cool group name and come from a cool clique (Odd Future). They also have a high definition picture that is again, not by Terry Richardson. Life is good.

MellowHype is a Los Angeles, California hip-hop duo made up of rapper Hodgy Beats & producer Left Brain. They are, of course, individual artists as well, hailing from the infamous Odd Future collective, comprising of the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt, and the aforementioned 2 artists. Left Brain was one of the principle producers for Odd Future and Hodgy was one of the principle MC's, so it only made sense for them to team up. They came to prominence when Odd Future blew up, and got some buzz with Odd Future's staple "dark-toned so we labeled it horrorcore" tracks like "64" and "CopKiller (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)". The duo continues to release music, already 2 mixtapes & an album deep, with a new album coming soon (check out their latest track). They also have a tendency to take 2 words that should be separate and keep them capitalized, whilst still making them one word. Edgy stuff. One of my personal favorite songs comes from their 2nd mixtape, BlackenedWhite, and it's a track called Loco.

While this music video isn't official, it is awesome, and therefore I will comment on it.  It seems like, to me at least, there's been some sort of trend with pairing classic American images with dark music, and vice versa, ever since that game Fallout 3 came out. I'm sure people had done it before, but I feel like it really took off when the game let you blow up radioactive super mutants with laser guns made of scrap metal whilst listening to "Way Back Home" by Bob Crosby.  That's just my theory though. Regardless of where it started, this video plays with the idea well, as a classic 50's clip of a group of misfits riding their bikes through the suburbs while wearing monkey masks accompanies the song. The juxtaposition of the dark tones of the song, and the complementary French soul sampling, make the video and song have some sort of perfect ironic synergy, a word only used by businessmen who have no idea what it means (this video is it). With the aforementioned sampling, LeftBrain chose to go with Chanson D'un Jour D'hiver by 70's French jazz fusion band Cortex off their 1975 album Troupeau Bleu. Strangely enough, this was first sampled in 2009 by none other than... Rick Ross??? Yes, Rick Ross' own hip-hop group, Triple C's, which included Ross, Gunplay, Torch & Young Breed, sampled the record on a song called "Diamonds & Maybachs Pt. 2 (feat. Suede Royale)" produced by Delando "Mitrxxx the Mad Scientist" Morrow. In classic Rick Ross fashion, it was totally overblown and the sample was drowned out in an incredible amount of overproduction (a term that people at Pitchfork use like businessmen use "synergy"). Nobody except Ross & Gunplay would go on to do anything in hip-hop music, but the sample lived on in many iterations, from MellowHype using it in Loco, to Smoke DZA, Logic & Curren$y all sampling it on tracks of their own. Each had their own twist on it, but it was done best, and grimiest, by MellowHype. The soulful sample is accompanied by a drawn out and ominous bass and the looped piano chord. The child-like singing and piano arpeggio climax as a bass groove plays off into the repeat of the beat, and the snares & claps continue in beautiful monotony. Hodgy Beats spits a modern fairy-tale fantasy about wilding out with Black Panther Party members, and a second verse of braggadocio that employs a drawn out metaphor that incorporates narcissistic wordplay with various condiments. As the track fades and the sample is left to stand on it's own, an air of creepiness comes over the listener. It's an awesome track from MellowHype, and one that didn't get enough attention. I'd argue its even one of the best songs in all of Odd Future's stable of great tracks. Those are for another Track Genius though.

Totally forgot that Odd Future did a shoot with Terry Richardson. Goddamnit Terry. Foiled again.

MellowHype continues to make good songs and collaborate with Odd Future on each artists solo projects, and they plan to release a new project by the end of 2013. Here's to hoping we here more from the smoked out MC/producer duo that hail from sunny California, but make some of the darkest music around.

As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.