Flip the Script, Turn the Plage, Emulsify Yourself

NYC’s Araab Muzik, the “MVP of the MPC” (!), is in the news — and coming to town!

First, the news…

FACT Magazine reported last week that a trance producer named Adam K took to his Facebook page to decry the “fraud” and “stealing” and “plagiarism” concerning his co-produced remix (emphasis mine) of Kaskade’s “4AM” reappearing, remixed yet again, on Araab Muzik’s Electronic Dream album. I probably need not rehash, since FACT has already duly noted, that

Nobody that fell for/was repelled by AraabMuzik’s dizzying 2011 LP Electronic Dream was under any illusion that the record did much to hide its source material.

Nor, I presume, need I explore the irony, also noted by FACT, that the same record label Adam K says should sue Araab Muzik just signed the MPC wiz. Never mind arguments about the relative (un)creativity of arpeggiated technoschmatlz. And why bother going into the details of how Araab Muzik transformed the material? Go compare for yourself. One could not be confused for the other; plus, Araab Muzik’s penchant for “recycling the dregs of Eurotrance into steroid-enhanced hip-hop” comes through loud & clear when heard in the context of the larger project. I might say the obvious and note that Araab Muzik’s mere existence is why labels like “EDM trap” are needless other than for soundcloudy networking and other bro jobs. Mostly I just want to smh and start real slow.

Certain right hands don’t know what some left hands are doing. This will always be true. But would anyone doubt that Araab Muzik knows precisely where his hands are at any moment? When he puts them where Busta Rhymes can see, the results are downright “emulsifying” –

You only really need the first 1:10 to understand how the man can make his machine squeal.

Or you could watch him reassemble and then quite dismantle the “A Milli” beat (built by fellow MPC journeyman, Bangladesh). Araab Muzik messes around, yeah, and sometimes his ideas may even outstrip his dexterity (or vice versa), but he knows with what he’s messing. Dig the dancehall detour around 1:45, right before letting Phife’s raggafied remix intro play for a sec at original tempo (or nearby) –

It’s over-the-top ambitious seat-of-the-sagging-pants sort of stuff, and that’s why it’s worth watching (especially in a place where you can feel the drops like Busta & crew clearly do).

The point is, for Araab Muzik, production and performance blur together, and the former can really only be appreciated with a sense of the latter. This is about as live as beats get, however loopy sometimes. It’s a rare thing to behold hands moving faster than a sample-sniffing algorithm. Catch em if you can –