In July 2013, Castle debuted on Mello Music Group with Gasface, a solid self-contained (i.e., self-produced) outing and introduction to the North Carolina rapper. His delivery was gruff, which was offset by a diverse ear for production that explored soul-tinged traditionalist sounds and boss level, glitch rap. Fellow labelmate Has Lo was such a fan of Gasface, he envisioned an entirely new identity for it, putting Castle back in the lab to re-record verses, adding his own verses and production style, to create Return of the Gasface (The Has Lo Passages). It's like if Darren Aronofsky loved The Dark Knight and so he gathered up the actors, dusted off the sets, and refilmed it, just because it felt like a good idea.
Originally called “No Prep Time”, Has Lo's treatment, entitled”Live Action”, indicates the reworking of Gasface was a worthy idea. The execution, particularly the two artists willingness to collaborate on the remix project, injects “No Prep Time” with a new spirit. It's in Castle's delivery; he's still got a sour disposition for the critics, mincing no words with Uncle Sam, and livelier in expressing an admiration for Twitter hoes.
As part of the reworked release, artist Josh Bayer designed an entire booklet of original pieces to go along with each single for Castle's album (See above).
Castle's Return of the Gasface (The Has Lo Passages) is out March 18 on Mello Music Group.
