You know DJ Muggs the hip-hop producer (platinum albums with Cypress Hill, House of Pain's smash "Jump Around"—plus a dozen stellar albums of collaborations in the Vs. series, as Soul Assassins and otherwise), the globetrotting hip-hop club DJ (spinning 100+ dates annually) and the experimental recording artist (2003 genre-defying album Dust). Take a breath and get ready for a new chapter in the Muggs story—and forget everything you thought you knew.
With Bass For Your Face (Ultra Music), the Los Angeles producer turns his considerable hard-won skills and discerning ear to dubstep, glitch, dub electronics in 10 original tracks (2 bonus tracks) featuring rising stars of hip-hop, a grime legend, a hip-hop god—but also an unknown Finnish singer discovered on SoundCloud. It's not a typical hip-hop album, or a dubstep collection for that matter. It's a 21st century hip-hop album built on futuristic dubstep production technique featuring rappers and vocalists operating on the leading edge of the underground. It's safe to say it could only exist in 2013.
Prior to the album's release today, Muggs released a series of tracks off "Bass For Your Face" as premieres leading up to the official album release. The first of which, "Trapp Assassin" premiered on HipHopDX and quickly spread across the blogosphere.
Public Enemy's Chuck D rhymes on single and bonus track "Wikid." "I was trying to take the spirit, that raw PE energy and give it a futuristic twist. Chuck is one of my heroes man, I grew up on Chuck D, being educated by him and inspired by him, it's an honor to work with him. "
"Unknown" features Romy Harmony, an heretofore unknown singer from Finland. Found via a friend of Muggs on Soundcloud.com, "she basically burst into tears" when Muggs approached her about doing a track. Finding a singer like her online "makes me wonder how much undiscovered talent there was twenty years ago in some corner of the world," says Muggs.
Only time will tell how hip-hop purists accept this new DJ Muggs production. Muggs says, “This is what has inspired me to go forward and want to make music at this point. This is what I feel like doing." To be an artist and inspire the next generation, there's only one rule in the world of DJ Muggs—There are no boundaries, keep on pushing.
It's far from a safe record, but Muggs wouldn't have it any other way.
