On Tuesday, January 15th, Vibe Magazine and Ultra Records presented a DJ Muggs DJ set at Manhattan Center's Log Cabin Studio. Along for the ride was Meyhem Lauren who rapped for the small audience, seeming to be in good spirits despite the Pitchfork drama. The evening was capped off by a special appearance by DJ Premier.
DJ Muggs is best known as the DJ and producer for CA's Cypress Hill, though he's originally from Queens, NY (which explains his upcoming album featuring the aforementioned Meyhem Lauren and Action Bronson) so this round of promotion for his latest album was a bit of a homecoming.
That new album, Bass in Your Face, is an excellent album which seeks to mold traditional and underground hip hop artists with various examples of bass music. On the album, Muggs opens with “Trap*Assassin,” featuring Freddie Gibbs. It's over a dark beat which collapses into a disgusting bro-step big beat dance floor destroyer. And that combination continues with the spaced out “Absolem” which attempts to get into Roc Marciano's headspace, culling inspiration from the soul tracks Roc samples on his second album, Reloaded: Jamaican dub and house music. Yet, thanks to Bun B and the Gumball Rally, DJ Muggs was also able to get UK grime/pop superstar Dizzee Rascal for “Snap Ya Neck.” Personally, I don't know if it always works. When Muggs adheres a bit too much to the expected formulas (most obvious on “Safe” with Belle Humble), the songs sound a bit too slick and commercial preventing the project from really coalescing.
DJ Muggs demonstrated his DJ skills using Serato Scratch couples with an Akai PAD controller which he had set to act as cueing sequencer, sampler for finger drumming and effects decks. In addition to tracks from Bass in Your Face, we heard two new remixes for the 20th anniversary of House of Pain's “Jump Around,” an unfinished instrumental track for a new Cypress Hill song, one track from the forthcoming Vs Meyhem Lauren project and one track that was so new Muggs hadn't even heard it on a loud system yet.
