Lush, mellow and sexy, CHANKS – a music producer and video director, has created a truly fantastic, eclectic, and mind blowing self-titled instrumental mixtape. Showing more guts and talent than most other beat producers today, this mixtape is a welcome departure from the all-to-typical macho posturing, and obsessive hedonism of modern day hip hop. From the electro stylings of “I Don’t Wanna Smoke No More” to the slow-burning ambience of “I Don’t Know Where This Came From” and “Rip” to the head-nodding goodness of “Right Back”, CHANKS has crafted beats of remarkable quality.
Originality and a personal style are attributes all producers and beatmakers attempt to go for. This mixtape is true CHANKS style. The beats are smooth and flow with subtleness, each retaining its character but varying from song to song – that’s just pure brilliance. The tracks on this mixtape are definitely innovative, and a fantastic combination of slow-groove and concrete sound!
This is not your average instrumental mixtape with banging beats and catchy hooks. CHANKS tends to craft tracks that are more ambient- influenced. He creates a thick atmosphere of sound with mesmerizing beats. His tracks feature shimmering synths, deep basses, spectral samples, and a healthy dose of hi-hats and snares. It’s an incredibly refreshing sound amidst the legions of fading producers.
CHANKS’ singular brand of ambience hypnotizes one second, and stuns the next. It’s a blend of calm and menacing that you seldom hear, but that’s what makes his music so interesting. This sound is most notable on tracks like “Chanksolay” and “Goz Chanks The God Son”.
The tracks are the perfect length and are varied, yet cohesive enough to easily listen to in one sitting. The production is so different I can’t even compare it to anything out right now. Listening to this CHANKS project is like looking at a magic eye poster. At first glance, the poster is just a jumble of incoherent colors and shapes. But once you stare at it long enough, the magic eye picture begins to form an image that you didn’t see before. This is exactly what this mixtape is like. It comes together track after track to form an aural union.
It’s a mixture of sounds and beats that come together in ways you never would have expected. Somehow, the end result is an amazingly smooth mixtape. This isn’t an instrumental hiphop rap tape in the traditional sense. This could be seen more as progressive hip-hop in a certain way. The production itself is almost hypnotic and will truly leave you in a trance as you listen to it, putting you right inside CHANKS’ highly blunted world.
This self-titled mixtape works so well on a whole. There is an undeniable feel to it. For those not acquainted with CHANKS, this may take a few listens to get into. For those who are into abstract hip-hop, and also have heard CHANKS on any of his other projects, this album is easy to get addicted to, and it gets better on each consecutive listen!
OFFICIAL LINKS: SOUNDCLOUD – TWITTER – TUMBLR