Chuck Inglish has been one of the best producers in rap music since I remember stumbling upon The Cool Kids back in the Myspace days. His boom-bap retro aesthetic has produced some of my favorite tracks of all time (Pennies, 88’s, What Up Man) but he also has dabbled in some more funky, 80’s synth, boogie down channeling music as well. He recently released a tape for free, Droptops, that was apparently inspired by “a night spent in a droptop Bonneville while in Austin, TX during SXSW” and “the summer vibes of LA,” so I think this will be the perfect soundtrack for whatever you’re doing this summer. As long as it’s hot, this should be played and if you’re new to the Cool Kids or Inglish, will be sit as a perfect example Chuck’s style as a producer and rapper.
The first half of the tape sounds like the type of music we’ve all grown accustomed to over the years of Cool Kids tapes. The Back Up Remix features a really cool synth thing that sounds like the kind of noise spaceships make when they shoot at other spaceships. And then Travis Scott comes in and talks about inappropriate stuff. I am imagining he had some sort of hand in the production cause it obviously knocks but I could do without him being included in the track, as he brings a lot of angry aggressiveness that clashes dramatically with Chuck’s laid back flow. The second half of the tape brings some of the funkier, West Coast style beats that I believe Chuck is becoming more comfortable making. “Dangerous,” is as groovy of a song as I have heard in recent memory and if you’re driving with the windows down will automatically transfer you to the nearest beach, no joke. Also “TanGerine” is my favorite song in existence right now and bumps as hard as anything I have heard from Chuck. He channels his inner “Pennies,” baseline with the funkiness of the West Coast aesthetic he has been borrowing lately. The combination is crack, trust me. There isn’t a boring song on the tape, and while the mostly underground cast that the tape features may bore you, the beats will surely keep you around and grooving through its entirety.
In a recent interview with Complex magazine, Chuck described this tape as a “a soft left jab for a right hook.” He has his first studio album dropping in the form of Convertibles sometime in September, so he is giving this away for free in anticipation for what is going to drop. Although he says Convertibles is a step away from what this sounds like, the fact of the matter is, for free, this is the best mixtape I have heard all summer and is a perfect introduction to someone if they have missed out on The Cool Kids, or Inglish’s production thus far. Check out some of the highlights from Droptops below, and download the tape if you’re about it.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZYyy0wvDs] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E8UVjz8xFM] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZocG2IByo]
Two Hundred and Ten 