Why is it that most noise hip hop (or avant hip hop, or “experimental” hop hop, or chopped and screwed hip hop…) tends to border on the negative? Do groups like Deathgrips or clipping. have happy thoughts? Don't they know dystopian themes are no longer in vogue?
Don't look to Brussels-via-Philly producer NAH to break the trend. Already carrying a litany of releases under his belts with titles like Die Bad, Difficult, End, Demolition, Just Being Alive And Shit (a personal favorite), and the recently-released Forever Face, his morbid aesthetic is only surpassed by his proliferation. Yet, as prolific as he's been, the seemingly-natural fit of NAH's beats backing an emcee had yet to surface until this weekend, with the first tease of a forthcoming cassette with rapper GIVV, “slowly alone”. Self-described as “combining cut up, dystopian fiction influenced lyrics with warm, aggressive yet minimal beats,” both halves of the duo are strong, especially the rhymes. I won't pretend that I have more information to GIVV (see what I did there?) because like many who fall into this genre, mystery seems to part of the game, but his dark verse of “cut the fuck up / dirty fuck up / roll down with the buck up / every time last in line for the cup,” deep (in tenor) and smoothly juxtaposed over a rolling melody of (guessing here) middle-eastern chords is enough of a tease to elicit excitement for the full CS. In fact, if “slowly alone” is an early indication of the sounds these two will produce, then I would think that, dare I say it, some fun times are ahead.
The GIVV cassette is “coming soon,” though we'd suggest checking out NAH's bandcamp for updates as he posts all of his releases. In the meantime, check out the “slowly alone” tease below.
