SILKY JOHNSON’S “HATER OF THE YEAR”
Boston producer Silky Johnson has been making a lot of noise in the underground, internet-dependent hip-hop scene in the past year. Since breaking through with production credits on Lil B’s acclaimed Red Flame mixtape on the song “Hugh Hefner”, Silky has carved his niche as a cloud rap virtuoso. Primarily aligning himself with the almost-famous and still up-and-coming Green Ova family, Silky has produced choice cuts for the likes of Shady Blaze, Western Tink, and Main Attrakionz. His show-stealing work on the Best Duo Ever’s first hi-fi outing 808’s & Darkgrapes II definitely generated interest in this beat tape.
Silky Johnson’s style is firmly rooted in the loosely-defined “cloud rap” aesthetic that has been pinned to everyone from Clams Casino to Beautiful Lou to L.W.H. In all honesty, all of these producers bring their own personality into their work so it’s hard to say they are all that similar. Silky seems drawn to old soul samples, but doesn’t use them in the style Kanye West or Just Blaze made famous (and then soul-less). The tracks on “Hater Of The Year” don’t recall so much the triumphant bangers of the glory days of Dipset, but flip the soul of old records to reveal a smoothness that both invites rappers to spit but stand perfectly completed on their own. That’s not to say these songs don’t go hard; there is plenty of kick and bass to blast out your system if that’s what you’re looking for. But there is also a kind of introspection that seems to occur as obscured vocal samples reach up and cry out from the digitally-rendered orchestration. This is charismatic instrumental music.
Although the beats on this tape do at times rely on soul and funk samples, it would be misleading to say that overall the beats sound “old”. In fact this is some of the “newest” sounding music out right now and the songs carry with them a sheen, density and flair for abstraction that could only be described as future-minded. Those who follow the internet rap scene will recognize about four of these songs from past collaborations, but some of the true standouts are those that (so-far) exist purely as instrumentals. “Fuck The Money”, “Chasin Paper” and “Felicity” are three of the best representatives of the tape’s atmosphere but there really isn’t a weak track to be found here. I suggest you roll up and zone out to this even if you haven’t heard of dude before, because you wouldn’t want to be left behind.
HATER OF THE YEAR CAN BE STREAMED/DOWNLOADED FOR FREE AT: silkyjohnson.bandcamp.com, ALSO CONSIDER PAYING $5 IF YOU SO DESIRE.
(via mywhiteboypain-deactivated20111)
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