i kid; that depression been here and stays here. but it does help me remember that, sometimes, good stuff happens.
anyways, i got word the other day that Danny Brown was due to drop his next album, Quaranta, on Nov. 17 (digital) / Jan. 19 (physical), and i was ready. a few months ago i started making a Danny Brown playlist with my favorite songs from his career—didn't realize i was making it in anticipation for the album that The Alchemist produced. or that it would be a "spiritual book-end" to his 2011 opus XXX. yeah. it's that kind of party.
i wasn't sure who Julia Lang was before she showed up in the music video for Westside Gunn's song "Julia Lang". That's a flex for him. Gunn recently dropped that track and "TV BOY" the other day, both of which are said to be from his next mixtape, Sincerely Adolf (#HWH8). no word on that project's release date aside from "Coming Soon".
check out the full video for "Julia Lang," featuring Julia Lang (who i'm not sure is even a fan of the song), below.
i figured i was beating this one around in my head enough, i needed to commit some words to a space about it. i didn't even realize fabric had a YouTube page until I got the link for Skream's set in the150-year-old Royal Albert Hall for their London Unlocked series. The beauty is immediately in the description:
"Skream takes dubstep to the Royal Albert Hall for the first time, playing an exclusive set of brand new 140 productions with a firm nod to the genre’s formative years. Joining him is Crazy D one of the most important MCs in dupstep’s history."
as i was really getting deep into the dubstep scene, Skream was making moves to dip for a bit. around the time DoAndroidsDance? was a site, Skream was rolling into his disco/house phase, something i imagine he is still occupying while exploring how to incorporate the bass-heavy side of the 140 sound into it. some of that is in this set, IMO. early on there's some Autechre-leaning IDM-ish tribal dub rumble going on. this set gave me big Freeizm vibes, which makes me shout out Mediafire to keeping this Freeizm Album link alive like a decade later.
who knows what this means. i'd love to own some of these bits in some format, and Skream feels right at home alongside the mighty Crazy D. what i'm not certain about is what the market for this is. when outside opens up, i imagine Skream will be getting pulled for bigger chicken at non-140 shows. which is good! put food on your family. i'd just love another dirty Mediafire link. or better yet, a Bandcamp link with some of these bits. i'm no dj. i just want them. they are exquisite! so full of life and tech and bounce and BASS and vibes. it's a history lesson through Skream's influences, filtered into a sound all his own. something he couldn't have made back when he was in the thick of the dubstep scene. and we're all better for it.
just sort me the tunes some day.
UPDATE9:05AM EST, Thur, March 18, 2021: i had to run this log back and add more emphasis on what is going on here, and what feels like is being overlooked or understreamed. this bit coming in at the 34 minute mark?! burn the dancehall down, it's such a scorcher. this tune—which i'm calling "BREAKA BREAKA" for that "BREAKA BREAKA/CALL THE UNDATAKA" line—was so ill...TO SKREAM, WHO PRODUCED IT AND WAS DEBUTING IT IN ROYAL ALBERT HALL DURING THE COVID-19 QUARANTINE, SO REALLY ONLY HIMSELF, CRAZY D, AND THE PEOPLE WORKING TO PUT THE EVENT ON COULD HEAR IT...had to pull it back. shit, i've been pulling the whole mix back ever since i discovered it the other day. it's fueled my evenings, and made me run back the Skreamizm/Freeizm era—hence why i found that Freeizm Album link from earlier.
and we haven't even begun to speak on the fact that Dubstep Warzturned 15 back in January.
i'm not sure what the audience for dubstep is doing at this point. there's so much going on right now, and while 140 has continued to have supporters, this vibe right here hasn't been at the forefront. and this is a junglist telling you this, rofl. Skream and Crazy D—who i used to listen to weekly on Hatcha's Kiss show—killed this set. BOTY 2021, so far. there are a number of London Unlocked streams on the way, and names like Kode9, Dillinja & GQ(!!!!), and Fabio & Grooverider(!!!) were mentioned.
