Dilla Disciple With A Mohawke
Tastemakers–from Ubiquity Records and So-Cal’s BTS Radio, to Munich’s Matthias Desch, and international radio streams […]
Tastemakers–from Ubiquity Records and So-Cal’s BTS Radio, to Munich’s Matthias Desch, and international radio streams like Beyond Jazz and Straight Up–are all freaking about a new face from Glasgow. Hudson Mohawke is the man of the hour, and dirty beats are his trade. Call him a disciple of Dilla, an avant-hip-hop instrumentalist, a leftfield beatmaker–whatever. He’s new, young, and making waves in the underground.
He’s also green–I ain’t gonna lie and blow up his resume like a hot air balloon. Mohawke has few released titles, other than a track on Ubiquity’s Choices EP and a million demos floating around (I love the forthcoming “Trace” or “Spotted”). Still, his small output has been enough to cause a major buzz, so don’t be surprised if cats like Radiohead or Bloc Party start requesting his services shortly.
But even those he’s worked with admit Mohawke is something of a mystery. Case-in-point, Ubiquity’s website proclaims, “Little is known about the man from Scotland who trades bionic beats under the name Hudson Mohawke. Atari sounds and deadly bass lines will blast holes in your subwoofers and shake down the walls of your local discotheque.”
We do know he became the youngest-ever UK DMC finalist, at 15, and that he’s the current Scottish ITF champion. He also runs with a posse of upstarts called Lucky Me, which includes Surface Emp, Mr. Copy, and Mike Slott of Heralds of Change, the latter of which Mohawke also collaborates with. In fact, the duo of Slott and Mohawke teamed up with Maryland MC/producer Oddisee (Halftooth Records) and fellow beatmakers Unknown & Mudd on a four-track, soulful hip hop 12”. Needless to say, with Mohawke’s many incarnations and quiver of beats, many an envelope has not only been pushed, but shattered.