Everett is, in many ways, one of the most impressive producers to splash onto the scene last year. Signed to Relief in Abstract Records, Everett is the perfect example of what it means to be supremely young and supremely talented.

One of Noise Pop’s most buzzed about events was the XXYYXX, Teebs, Nanosaur, DJ Dials show at the DNA Lounge on Thursday February 28th. Teen Daze was originally scheduled to support 17-year old Marcel Everett of XXYYXX, but was replaced at the last minute by artist and producer Teebs.

The night went exactly as one would expect. The dance floor was crowded, the fans were young and the show ran until the early hours of the morning. Nanosaur did a fabulous job of getting the crowd ready for artist and producer Teebs, who tore down the venue with his simplistic yet mind-blowing creations. As his set neared its end around midnight, he was joined onstage by XXYYXX and together they transitioned from veteran-mastermind Teebs to freshman varsity all-star Marcel Everett.

XXYYXX’s set was a bit jerky at first. He seemed nervous and unsure. His transitions were awkward and some seemed slightly confused as to what to do.

“Do we dance now or what?” quipped one girl behind me.

The few bumps were to be expected. Everett is very talented, but very young. He is an ingenious producer, yet very inexperienced. He wears his immaturity on his sleeve, but for many that’s what makes Everett so impressive. In an interview with PlayGround Magazine, Everett admitted that he is just “a brat with a laptop and a MIDI controller.” Brat or not, Everett surely had DNA Lounge alive with love for everybody’s favorite bedroom producer.

After a few minutes — just long enough for Everett to get comfortable with the wild, stage-diving crowd and the nonstop flashes of the dozen or so photographers there — something magical happened: His entire set came together into an awesome blend of hip hop, lo-fi, electronic, R&B, and everything in between. By the middle of his set, Everett had the crowd in his pocket. As he moved between upbeat dance tracks, like a remix of TLC’s “Scrubs”, to his R&B inspired jam “LUV U GRL pt. 2,” the crowd moved at his command.

It was clear that Everett knew the crowd would go wild for “About You,” the first track that made so many fall in love XXYYXX. As his set came to an end, to the joy of everybody there, Everett jumped into “About You.” “I fucking love you Marcel,” shouted a group of teenage girls dressed in tutus as they pulled the same fox masks worn in the music video for “About You” over their faces.

As XXYYXX’s set came to an end after 1 o’clock in the morning, the crowd seemed overjoyed by what they had just experienced. Many came to the DNA Lounge with the hopes of making sure that Everett was as brilliant live as he was on the Internet. Simply put, everybody got what he or she came for and nobody should have left disappointed.

XXYYXX’s Marcel Everett is quickly becoming the lo-fi prince of electronic music and his power was on full display last week at the DNA Lounge. But, like all good princes, Everett has a lot to learn. With the right amount of experience, which he will undoubtedly gain on his national and European tours, Everett will surely be one of the most exciting producers this year.


Article by SAMUEL AVISHAY
Source: Daily Call
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It’s probably too easy to equate Detroit’s current producers with J Dilla—the man whose distinguished sound inspired a new generation of boom-bap composers. Surely, the Motor City isn’t confined to one aesthetic, but its underground Hip Hop takes subtle cues from the iconic producer’s nuanced techniques of music creation. It’s in the way Karriem Riggins programs his drums, and how Black Milk employs dense, cinematic fog to his beats.

Producer/emcee Kendall Tucker, known artistically as 14KT, blends electro-funk and R&B into his own self-described mixture of “Michigan-raw-Boombap-Electro-Future-Wave-Soul,” as he recently told URB. And while Tucker is lesser known than the aforementioned beatmakers, he’s quite formidable in his own right. As one-seventh of Michigan’s Athletic Mic League, Tucker long established himself in the Detroit region before releasing his debut album, The Golden Hour, in 2008. A year later, Tucker paid direct homage to Dilla with Nowalataz, an instrumental album of short vignettes he started in 2006 after Dilla’s untimely passing. Along the way, he’s participated in beat battles in Austin, Texas and Chicago, and recorded with Houston pioneer Bun B.

On his mostly instrumental new album, Nickel & Dimed, Tucker breezes through Southern crunk and West Coast funk, pulling random vocal clips, disparate samples and cosmic synths to establish his own galloping soundtrack. Songs like “Right So,” “Go There” and “Crystal Figurines” borrow directly from Dilla’s affinity for hard-hitting drums. The first two examples evoke Welcome 2 Detroit’s best work; the latter calls The Shining and Ruff Draft to mind.

Tucker also has a flair for the obscure. On “Go There,” he chops children’s song “Old McDonald Had A Farm” beyond recognition, the reconfigured sample a nice, comedic compliment to the track’s stomping percussion and rolling piano keys. “Packin’ Heat” repurposes Erykah Badu’s “Soldier” with tribal drums and deep synthesizers, turning it into a broad electro-funk groove. But like any instrumental project, it’s challenging to keep listeners interested the entire time. For the most part, Tucker uses quick transitions and vintage audio to maintain an energetic pace. We hear the gun-toting preacher who had to pull his firearm on a group of hooligans, the gang shooting in Detroit over who made the best Kool-Aid, and a young Larenz Tate in The Inkwell asking about female genitalia. These elements add gravity and humor to Tucker’s lively compilation.

However, Nickel & Dimed drags a bit toward the back end. Instead of concluding the album after “Slo Swerve,” Tucker adds six more songs to the mix, repurposing tracks from the album’s first half with guest verses from Black Milk (“Crown”), MED (“W.C.E.F.”), Blu (“PAID”) and others. The features are respectable, but they seem out of place. Nickel & Dimed had already made its point by the time the remixes roll around. Still, the misstep doesn’t take much away from the overall album. Tucker further establishes himself as one of Hip Hop’s best producers, although you may not know it yet. Dilla would approve.

Article by :Marcus J Moore

Source: Hip Hop DX

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