Bleep

The head of Teklife's new wave, DJ Taye rolls up one of the crew's very strongest releases to date with his debut album Still Trippin' for Hyperdub. Using the foundations laid out by the genre's pioneers DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn as a jumping-off point, it twists and turns footwork into new areas of adapted songwriting and structure. Even adding in an element of the classic Wiley and Dizzee style producer X MC formula by rapping over the unmistakable sound of his own beats. Proving just how wide-ranging his skill and understanding of how to mark out your own sound within such a vibrant scene truly is.

Building up sixteen layers of complex beat structured shots, eleven of which that interlock with DJ Manny, DJ LUCKY, DJ Paypal, Jersey club queen UNIIQU3 and vocalists Odile Myrtil & Fabi Reyna. Still Trippin' is the end result of two years worth of studio sessions compressed into an album-length venture that feels as rich and rewarding as the very best, now classic, records from Jana Rush, Jlin, Rashad and Spinn & DJ Earl. Yet also shows the young producer's restless need to not just follow the elders' formula, but to push things forward.

This restlessness is what makes Still Trippin' such a refreshing and ambitious recording. DJ Taye's take on footwork drives the music hard into bold new areas of dance-floor deployment, doing exactly what this footwork is most celebrated for: carving out no-nonsense DJ ready and unmistakeably hardcore, dance-floor shaking dynamics using all manner of samples, breaks, loops and punchy drum machine snare sounds. DJ Taye's productions are incredibly richly rewarding in its ability to switch up complex and precise DNB, bass-heavy Rap and an overarching prism of RNB soulful complexity while still staying true to the roots of the sound and scene. Summing it up perfectly, Taye is ambitious in his hopes for the album; "I took this as an opportunity to not have boundaries with footwork. Different approaches to our ‘underground’ sound to make it broader. It’s only underground until it crosses that visible threshold.” Still Trippin' brings all of this and much more to the forefront.