Video: Tree "Devotion"

Chi-town rapper links up with Bink! of The Blueprint fame.

Chicago rapper Tree has built up a small but not insubstantial internet buzz over his particularly eccentric soulful raps. You might think, seven years since the passing of J Dilla and twelve years since The Blueprint that soul sampling had reached its furthest possible apex. Tree's refreshing take on the style was to throw out the rulebook; rather than continuing a soul-sampling tradition, he broke from it, repurposing discarding songs and taping them together in unexpected ways. It likely helped that he wasn't even aware of Dilla until after he'd already made a name for himself.

His productions are more lo-fi, unpredictable, and move at unexpected angles. They're dirtier and noiser—more hip-hop. Now he's linked up with Bink!, one of the original architects of The Blueprint, for "Devotion." There's a parrallel here; both producers have made their mark re-purposing soul music in different ways. Bink! helped speed it up and smooth it out for the hip-hop generation, while Tree broke it down, drawing attention to the textures and letting the seams show.

[Via MTV]

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