Diplo and FKi unleash Transformers in the Hood
Diplo’s aural excursion to Atlanta is appropriately crunk but also kinda worldly, with additional production from Heroes x Villains, Mayhem.
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Remember when bass music meant having two 16s in your trunk, a fie amp, and some Magic Mike or Nemesis on repeat in the deck?
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Well, the latest strands of bass music’s ever-evolving DNA can be sampled in the newly released Transformers N the Hood, Atlanta MC/producer duo FKi’s new collaborative mixtape. Presented by international DJ/sound curator Diplo, Atlantans Heroes x Villains, and Mayhem, it features contributions from all three and more.
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Known for traveling the world and excavating indigenous bits of dance floor ephemera to mashup into sound collages, Diplo’s aural excursion to Atlanta is appropriately crunk but also kinda worldly.
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Heroes x Villains’ Daniel Disaster has been hinting around about this and other related projects since last summer, and as he told CL in January, it bares a bit of that post-dubstep/chopped-n-screwed/Southern trap influence he half-jokingly calls “luxury trap.” It’s trippy, especially on standout tracks such as “We Gon Kick It (Craig and Debo),” “Standin’ On the Table” (feat. Badio), and “Stuntin’” (feat. Retro Su$h!). But there’s also a lush, atmospheric vibe to such songs as “Coolin’” (feat. Natasha Mosley) and “In the Air” (feat. Angela McCluskey).
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Other artists featured atop the collage of beats range from hyperlocal booty-bass detonators Travis Porter (“Eyes Low,” “We In There”) to Australian Internet meme-of-the-moment Iggy Azalea (“I Think She Ready”).
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The video to “On a Roll” (below) finds 1st Down and Raye Rich of FKi previewing their Spring 2012 zombie look. Directed by Figz — who’s also featured in this week’s video directors’ cover story — the video is set in L5P and around Atlanta, and also features appearances by Travis Porter and Young Money missus Shanell (the cute chick with the talented tongue). It’s a hood mess. But the highlight comes at the end when they run up on the roof of a randomly parked car in the process of making the video, only to realize it’s occupied.