The forums at cratekings.com remain one of the best places to check out new tracks by aspiring beatmakers, who post their music for peer feedback. One recent highlight is DJ Kong (born Darrell Kelloway), who linked last week to his soundclick.com/djkong page, which hosts a couple dozen of his homebrew backing tracks, the best of which are listenable unto themselves. Kong has an acknowledged debt to hip-hop producers who bridge the gap between old-school sampling and radio-friendly hooks. But he isn’t just about RZA, Pete Rock, and Timbaland. His “For Duke” (named for Ellington, naturally) samples some classic jazz piano, suffused with loping beats and muted strings, and occasionally spurred on by a call-out (MP3). The young Canadian is definitely someone to keep track of.
Original forum post at cratekings.com.
Thanks for the entry!