| Double Cup | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 22, 2013 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:24 | |||
| Label | Hyperdub | |||
| DJ Rashad chronology | ||||
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Double Cup is the first studio album by footwork musician DJ Rashad, and the sole full-length released during his lifetime. It was released on October 22, 2013 via Hyperdub. [2] It has received critical acclaim as a pivotal album in the footwork genre.
The cover features a nighttime aerial shot of Rashad's hometown Chicago, designed by Rashad's friend Ashes57. [3] [4] Double Cup was named after a way to prepare the drug lean. [4]
Several Teklife members contributed to the LP, with Rashad saying collaboration helped. [5] [6] According to collaborator DJ Spinn, many of the album's songs were ones he and Rashad had already created, then reworked over a seven to eight month period. [7] Spinn said Double Cup was mainly recorded in his studio [7] and their friend Taso's then-girlfriend's apartment in San Francisco, much of the time under the influence of cannabis. [4] [5]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.1/10 [8] |
| Metacritic | 79/100 [9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [10] |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [11] |
| Exclaim! | 9/10 [12] |
| Fact | 3/5 [13] |
| Mixmag | 5/5 [14] |
| NME | 8/10 [15] |
| Pitchfork | 8.6/10 [16] |
| Resident Advisor | 4.0/5 [17] |
| Rolling Stone |  [18] |
| Time Out | [19] |
Double Cup has received some acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79 based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [9]
Writing for Exclaim! , James Williams said the album contended for the freshest-sounding of the year, carrying the trademarks of footwork while incorporating new ideas. [12] Drowned in Sound 's George Bass commended Double Cup's accessibility and balance of electronics and drugs. [11] John Calvert of NME said that "it's the sound of [footwork] at its most bonkers", praising the album's innovation in a genre that "reinvents itself on an almost weekly basis". [15] Andrew Spragg of The Quietus complimented Double Cup as a "breakthrough" that demonstrates complexity, coherency and appeal, calling Rashad someone who "knows how to signpost a good legacy". [20] Seb Wheeler wrote for Mixmag that the album is Rashad's "career-defining" work and contains some of his "most imaginative material" yet. [14] Christian F of Fact criticized the album as being regressive due to what he saw as a less abrasive and more genre-diluted sound than Rashad's previous work, with Mike Powell of Rolling Stone saying that the music was "thrilling in five-minute bursts" but "a little tiring over a 50-minute LP". [13] [18]
DJ Rashad said the album's reception had him "stunned, flattered [and] blessed". [6] Pitchfork placed Double Cup at number 35 on their 2014 list of "100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far" [21] and at number 20 on their 2019 list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". [22]
On December 8, 2023, a tenth anniversary edition was issued with a new album cover by the same designer. It included the previously CD-only bonus track "Last Winter", which received a new music video. [3] [23] On the album's tenth anniversary, many publications credited it with globally popularizing footwork, with Mixmag calling it "one of the most influential and innovative albums of the last decade". [24] [4] [25] Some publications have retrospectively increased their original ratings for Double Cup, such as AllMusic changing their 4/5 to a 5/5, [26] [10] and Spectrum Culture changing their 2.5/5 to a 4/5 for the reissue. [27] [28]
All tracks are written by DJ Rashad.
| No. | Title | Featured artists | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Feelin" | Spinn & Taso | 4:30 |
| 2. | "Show U How" | Spinn | 3:27 |
| 3. | "Pass that Shit" | Spinn & Taso | 4:18 |
| 4. | "She a Go" | Spinn & Taso | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Only One" | Spinn & Taso | 3:46 |
| 6. | "Everyday of my Life" | DJ Phil | 3:16 |
| 7. | "I Don’t Give a Fuck" | 2:37 | |
| 8. | "Double Cup" | Spinn | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Drank, Kush, Barz" | Spinn | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Reggie" | 3:38 | |
| 11. | "Acid Bit" | Addison Groove | 3:25 |
| 12. | "Leavin" | Manny | 4:14 |
| 13. | "Let U No" | Spinn | 4:11 |
| 14. | "I’m Too Hi" | Earl | 3:00 |
It melts the long history of Chicago house into the glossiest bits of pop-rap, the athletic feats of juke into the warmth and soul of the city's R&B.
