From DJ Shadow and DJ Krush to Prefuse 73 and a young Four Tet to Dilla, Madlib and their countless adepts, theres always been a healthy scene centered squarely around the creation of beats. But until recently its all felt a bit nebulous. Enter Los Angeles and the Low End Theory crew, whose pioneering night has given a voice (and some recognizable faces, Flying Lotus and The Gaslamp Killer among them) to a movement that has spread around the world. Beats may be the most nebulous term for a H∆SHTAG$ episode so far. Yet were still willing to bet you know exactly what we mean. FlyLo’s jazz and psych excursions. TNGHT’s hard-hitting proto-trap anthems. Shlohmo’s woozy R&B experiments. Benji B’s weekly show on BBC Radio 1 and London club night, Deviation. Its all got a certain something that ties it together. But what is this certain something?
In this fourth episode of our H∆SHTAG$ series, we aim to find out with some of the biggest names in beats at the moment. Whats the difference between a beat and a song? What connects artists working in such wildly different BPMs? Why did we care so much about our Top Friends List on MySpace once upon a time? Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, The Gaslamp Killer, Shlohmo, Dorian Concept and XXYYXX hold court, with additional thoughts from XLR8R editor Shawn Reynaldo and the aforementioned Benji B, amongst others.
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