southern hip-hop influenced LA beat stuff

Dark and hazy, downcast but resilient (and medicated). Ethereal, but heavy, sometimes spikey. Gritty neon keys, sparse twangs of rhythm guitar, some drones, generous rich basslines and big 808s. Lots of ambient intros and breakdowns. Rhythms split the difference between southern rap and jungle/DnB. The first thing outside its scene that this reminded me of was 90s Texas and Memphis rap, though I can see why a lot of the reviews are saying it sounds like post-rock (there’s a shared affinity for arid guitar tones and detached melancholy, despite otherwise big differences in rhythm/arrangement/etc/etc).

RIYL: distorted memories of old Three 6 Mafia and UGK instrumentals, XXYYXX, Teebs, Underachievers, Run The Jewels, Burial, Boards of Canada

1. lo-fi descending night drive melody, then thick lo-fi complimentary bass-line. amplified water droplet snares, slow, tuned a bit. a bit of a screech comes up for a bit then it pares back to quieter slightly less fuzzed bassline. compressed drum machine and new melody toward the end. ends on bass growl. 4:46
2. slow tuned percussion and bright dreamy metallic synth, then slow clean bass tones. fast skeletal jungle break slowly comes together, plinky tuned woodblock accents. percussion ebbs and flows in density, sort of melodic on the tuned part. a couple subtle tweaks to levels and drum patterns add a bit of drama in the home stretch, pares back and drifts off. 5:23
3. sparse growling midrange and light static, starts trading off with higher melody, then twangy guitar enters and all the elements start coalescing along with other synths swirling in the background. drums creep in, things pick up a bit but slip into slow drama instead of taking off running. pares back and rebuilds w/ muffled synth steel drums and other new percussive elements, slightly lower key than before. quiet fuzz guitar pulses float in. drums build, thrash around, all recedes. 6:56
4. swirling bright lo-fi synth, gritty bassy keys, shuffling woodblocks and loping kicks. breakdown to bass and drums, synths slowly come back followed by single plaintive guitar line. leaves on bass and synths and fuzz. 4:43
5. twangy clear shimmering desert guitar, drums slowly rise, steady 4/4 pulse, breaks down to low key shuffle with clicky snaps/snares/cymbals, a bit of jungle flavor later turns into sustained clicky momentum, breakdown to half time around 3:00, slow rebuild but stays more restrained, slowly trails off. 6:20
6. slowly intensifying synth moan and steady cymbal ticks finally give way to wordless distorted vocal streaks and thick bass and fuller percussion. ebbs and flows. 5:25
7. very slow build from synth & guitar washes and a bit of percussion, slow rolling stuttering 808s when the drums finally come in. a little hectic at first, then steadily dials it back again as things go on, cool broken glass percussion later. 5:14
8. synth growl, ghostly vocal washes, springy percussion, thick bassline, then hints of DnB turn into hints of southern hip-hop. gets a bit ethereal in the middle then comes back just a bit more determined. languid and slow, but weighty and purposeful. 4:41
9. metallic shimmers, layers of bells. drums slowly creep in, slowly fill out. higher plaintive synth line comes in for a bit towards the end before the whole thing quietly slides off. 3:28
10. tentative synth and wordless vocal interplay drops right into rolling drum’n’bass build, coheres into something propulsive but not too aggressive, not quite full on jungle/DnB programming. breaks down and comes back more loping and laid back. fade out on shimmery guitar and steady cymbals, reflective but not sad. 6:08
11. gentle rustling and bells, looped, hints of glitch. slowly growing synth growl. drums are tentative then all of a sudden it’s off to the races. ebbs and flows, but mostly flows once it’s going, then kind of slow fade. beware 15 sec silence at end. 5:23

recommended: 3, 8, 7, 2, 6, 4, any