Since we discovered Isaiah Toothtaker's music he's given us projects with Harry Fraud, Sixtoo, The Hood Internet, Gunplay, and Max B verses sent from prison. Toothtaker never let residing in Arizona be a disadvantage to his collaborative efforts, his records sound as though the artists came by his tattoo shop, got inked by Toothtaker himself, and then the crew retreated to a studio in the back to lay down a record.
Toothtaker's latest collaboration is a record produced entirely by Jacob Safari (brother of Wavves) which is built entirely from Nine Inch Nails samples. El-P was the first to invite Reznor into the hip hop world with his appearance on “Flyentology”. Toothtaker and Safari incorporate Reznor's band in a manner that celebrates his body of work by manipulating it into a new lease on life. The biggest artistic leap in the record is Safari's ability to draw from the quiet side of NIN. On “La Mer” Safari crafts an understated piano instrumental, clearing a path for Isaiah's stories of wrongdoings. One might expect a rap record built from an industrial powerhouse with an oeuvre spanning over 20 years to be a loud as hell, rock box of a record. It's apparent, simply based on how Safari samples NIN, that he's a fan of Reznor's music and not trolling for trending, yet untapped source material.
Isaiah Toothtaker & Jacob Safari's NOTHING is out soon on Machina Muerte.
