Tag: Toronto

Album Review: Daniel Son x Asun Eastwood x Futurewave – Physics of Filth

by Dustin

pof

9.25/10

The current East coast boom bap revival has certainly been interesting to say the least. It’s seemed like a rap fan’s dream, yet has seemingly flown under the radar beyond Roc Marciano’s smooth pimp rebirth of New York. That’s not to say it hasn’t been fun to witness that sound sinking its hooks into the ears of listeners, because it definitely has been, but it’s lacked the snarl 90s dope boy emcees tended to carry. Roc and his offshoots have all leaned heavily into a buttery smooth coolness, and — by no fault of his own whatsoever — it has gotten slightly monotonous at times. The climate has been perfect for a mould breaker to come along and present something with vigor and attitude. Shockingly, three such men have arisen out of the frozen North and banded together to create something monumental. Physics of Filth, a project consisting of the ever powerful Daniel Son and Futurewave combo, while throwing in the king of raw potential in Asun Eastwood for good measure. Basically all the ingredients for an unforgettable feast, the likes of which the Canadian hip-hop scene has never seen.

Oh yes, the audience ate well.

As a pair, Daniel Son and Asun Eastwood are incredible to a degree beyond comprehension. While both are fantastic emcees solo, they elevate each other to new heights on the same track. They balance one another out, with Asun’s calm coolness providing the exact foil Daniel Son’s hyper aggressive bite called for; however, there also seemed to be the perfect amount of competitiveness between the two to create a spark. The clear desire to not be outdone was evident, and it became exciting to try and predict who would push themselves the furthest on any given song. Topically the album was as the name and cover implied, immensely grimy drug dealer rap. Certainly a topic that has seen its fair share of play in hip-hop, but rarely is it done to the level of Physics of Filth. Asun and Daniel are quite talented writers when it comes to cheeky lines and unique phrasing. With that amount of flair, they were more than able to keep the content fresh and engaging. Coupled with a delivery match made in heaven, they were able to put on a near flawless performance on this release.

There was also the Futurewave factor to consider. Recently it has felt as if there is genuine reason to consider Futurewave as one of the best active producers alive, and Physics of Filth did nothing but bolster his impressive portfolio. He’s seemingly mastered the art of percussion, as the beats on this album hit hard enough to make the forefathers of boom-bap scrunch their faces. The sample selection spanned a wide variety of genres and were brought together seamlessly to create this intensely gritty atmosphere; moreover, his work found a way to boost the already undeniable chemistry of Daniel Son and Asun Eastwood. Even more impressively, he did so without repeating the sound established alongside the aforementioned Daniel Son on Pressure Cooker earlier the same year. It was similar in the sense that it was also a treasure trove of modernized 90s hardcore hip-hop, yet also clearly its own very unique thing. Frankly, Futurewave’s production performance made it impossible to simply shrug him off as a faceless man behind the boards because he was an integral part of the record’s DNA.

Physics of Filth was for all intents and purposes the total package. Enjoyable collaborative albums are not an easy feat to pull off naturally, yet when the stars align they can be something truly special. That’s what happened here. It would have been easy for Futurewave’s production acumen to serve as a crutch, propping up otherwise mediocre verses. Asun Eastwood and Daniel Son are not just any old rappers however, and their desire to live up to the standard each instrumental set was spectacular. Physics of Filth listened like the product of three budding elite talents holding a genuine excitement to be working together, and the interpersonal respect was audible. While the aforementioned chemistry was certainly important, this release would not have been what it was without the enthusiasm it carried. It could have simply been a solid side project, and that would have still been wonderful. Instead, it ended up being perhaps one of the best group releases in the better part of a decade, and one that would be a shame for any hip-hop junkie to not at least try once.

.Final edit: Emily – Preliminary edit: Rajin – Additional direction: Isaac

 

 

Album Review: Daniel Son & Futurewave – Pressure Cooker

by Rajin

pressurecooker

9.25/10

As I’ve mentioned countless times, there has been a thrilling new wave of boom bap coming out of the underground recently, spearheaded by Long Island’s Roc Marciano and Buffalo’s Westside Gunn and Conway. Through this movement the spirit of New York hip hop in the ‘90s lives on with a modern twist. Furthermore, incredible new artists have been popping up from unexpected locales, such as Rochester, D.C., and Richmond; shockingly, one of the most impressive cities has been Toronto, Ontario. While the region is generally known more for pop-rap and R&B artists like Drake and The Weeknd, there have been several rising stars who have contributed greatly to the “new golden era,” so to speak. One of the most promising has been Daniel Son. Over the course of the last couple of years, he has caught ears with standout guest verses, and a pair of wonderful projects atop instrumentation provided by the UK based Giallo Point. This time around, Daniel Son has teamed up with producer and fellow Toronto habitant, Futurewave.

The result of this pairing was, in a word, superb.

Pressure Cooker captures the same atmosphere that you’d hear on an early-mid ‘90s Wu-Tang or Mobb Deep project. Everything from the hungry, vividly streetwise verses to the strikingly cold production gives off that aura. This may be par for the course in this scene, but it’s executed entirely different here. Generally, the producers utilize dusty soul samples to create minimalist instrumentals. Drums aren’t emphasized as much; if they are present at all, they tend to come from the source sample itself. This style allows for the emcee to take center stage while the production serves as more of a backdrop than a musical driver. For this project, however, Futurewave drew from cleaner and lusher samples. This results in production that has a huge range, much wider than I feel most listeners would be accustomed to from artists in this lane. True to his name, Futurewave flipped samples that were quite glitchy for several songs, such as “Def Leppard” and “Icy Palms.” This lent itself to a harsh, frostbitten sound that you truly wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. While the samples were relatively clean-sounding, there was still plenty of grime to be found amongst the skull-crushing drums. They created a beautiful contrast in the production that subtly reminded me of an album such as Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… In addition, I absolutely love how they are clearly sourced from separate records. Oftentimes, there would be no surface noise in the samples until the drums hit, which just added to the edge that they offered the beats. The production on this project is spectacularly immersive; truthfully, it would come off almost overpowering, were it not for the emcee rapping over it.

Daniel Son cut through the production like it was nothing, and it was thrilling to behold. As a performer he has always had an aggressive delivery. He sounds like he’s hassling you relentlessly from across the street; imposing, intimidating, and impossible to ignore. Ordinarily, his ability to make an impression is effortless. His presence can overtake anyone else on a track handily with how laid-back yet emphatic he is. For this project, he had to push himself a bit further, as the production here is very dynamic – it builds on itself constantly. Impressively, yet unsurprisingly, his vocal energy matched the beats any time they would hit a crescendo; there were moments where he stretched his delivery to the point that was very nearly yelling. Daniel altered his flow a bit throughout the album too, leaving space in between his bars to let them breathe. This allowed for the impact of what he was saying to reverberate against the music, which only served to highlight the brutality of his lyrics and add to his already flamboyant style as an emcee. The guest appearances did a good job at offering a bit of a contrast to the flair Daniel brought. Rappers such as Saipher Soze and CRIMEAPPLE in particular came with verses that were more blunt and straightforward, simultaneously demonstrating a level of chemistry with him that make for some interesting collaborations that I would personally like to see more of in the future. However, I have to say that Daniel Son consistently outdid the competition here. While his star power has always been evident, he stepped his game up to a level that I didn’t see coming for at least another couple of projects.

“Talk is cheap, but people fade away for less
Life lessons you only learn in the face of death
You can bring ‘em to the edge, but will they take the step?
(Take a deep breath) And let the steel bat break his legs”
-Daniel Son, on “Def Leppard”

This album is arguably the best album to be released thus far from perhaps the strongest underground scene since the early 2000s. Anybody who considers themselves a fan of hip hop is doing themselves a massive disservice if they haven’t listened to it. Pressure Cooker is comprised of everything that made hip hop great in the past, while embracing an effort to move forward. Music aside, the most exciting thing about this project is that it doesn’t even seem like Daniel Son has peaked yet. With how seasoned he sounds, it’s hard to remember that he’s still so early into his career. This guy is a threat, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the future, because I absolutely love this project.