Stephen James Wilkinson, better known as Bibio, is an English musician and producer. He is known for a distinct analog lo-fi sound, and for working in a diverse range of genres, beginning in folktronica and ambient and later stretching to include instrumental hip hop, indie pop, electronica, soul, funk, and alternative R&B.
Daniel Lopatin, best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized tropes from various musical genres and eras, sample-based composition, and complex MIDI production.
Gutter Rainbows is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Talib Kweli. The album was released on January 25, 2011, by Blacksmith Music and Javotti Media. The album was originally intended to be released in only a digital format. However, on November 16, 2010, it was announced that Duck Down Records would step in to see the album got a CD release. This included an import edition and a special edition with extras.
Payback is the seventh studio album of American rapper/producer Danny Swain, released under the name Danny!. The album was recorded primarily during the summer of 2011 shortly after Where Is Danny?'s re-release via Interscope Records. After leaving Interscope, Swain subsequently signed to Okayplayer Records, and the album was released in late September 2012.
James Ferraro is an American experimental musician, producer, composer, and contemporary artist. He has been credited as a pioneer of the 21st century genres hypnagogic pop and vaporwave, with his work exploring themes related to hyperreality and consumer culture. His music has drawn on diverse styles such as 1980s electronic music, easy listening, drone, lo-fi, sound collage, and R&B.
"I Am Your Leader" is a song recorded by Trinidadian rapper and singer Nicki Minaj for her second studio album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012). The song features additional rap vocals from hip hop artists Rick Ross and Cam'ron. Production of the song was handled by Fernando Garibay & Chauncey "Hit-Boy" Hollis, with writing coming from Minaj, Garibay, Hollis, Ross, and Cam'ron. Musically, "I Am Your Leader" is a midtempo hardcore hip hop and electro hop song that contains sparse beats, minimal instrumentation, repetitive, high-pitched, off-pitch synth hooks, and a booming, static bass. Lyrically, Minaj "dishes boast-heavy verses about how she’s better than all these other bitches", according to Adam Fleischer of XXL Magazine.
Exo is the first studio album of Chicago-based electronic duo Gatekeeper, consisting of musicians Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell. It was released on July 17, 2012, on the label Hippos in Tanks. The EBM, IDM and acid techno album departs from the synth-heavy style of Gatekeeper's past releases, in that most of the melodies are performed by a sampler with a sound palette of high-definition Hollywood film sound effects. Gatekeeper was inspired to follow this HD aesthetic from an experience at World Heritage Sites which made them feel "really spiritual and charged up" to create the first track on the album, "IMAX." Exo was promoted with a visual exploration video game with environments designed by Contemporary artist Tabor Robak using the game engine Unity. Reviews for Exo from music journalists were favorable in general, holding an aggregate 70 out of 100 on Metacritic as of February 2017.
Far Side Virtual is a studio album by American electronic musician James Ferraro, released on October 25, 2011 by Hippos in Tanks. Conceived as a series of ringtones, the album marked Ferraro's transition from his previous lo-fi recording approach to a sharply produced, electronic aesthetic that deliberately evokes sources such as elevator music, corporate mood music, easy listening, and early computer sound design. The album has been interpreted as engaging with themes such as hyperreality, disposable consumer culture, 1990s retrofuturism, advertising, and musical kitsch.
Ripcord is the ninth studio album by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released on 6 May 2016 via Hit Red and Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced the singles "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16"; "Break on Me", "Wasted Time", "Blue Ain't Your Color", and "The Fighter". It also features musical artists Nile Rodgers, Pitbull, and Carrie Underwood. Just like his previous album Fuse (2013), Urban co-worked with multiple producers on this one.
Hypnagogic pop is pop or psychedelic music that evokes cultural memory and nostalgia for the popular entertainment of the past. It emerged in the mid to late 2000s as American lo-fi and noise musicians began adopting retro aesthetics remembered from their childhood, such as radio rock, new wave pop, synth-pop, video game music, light rock, and R&B. Recordings circulated on cassette or Internet blogs and were typically marked by the use of outmoded analog equipment and DIY experimentation.
Cold is a mixtape by American electronic musician James Ferraro, recorded in New York City and released in March 2013 on the Hippos in Tanks label. The press release stated that Cold is about "human drama" that is a part of a nihilistic period, as well as "the repetition and consumption of hedonism that cannot represent or replace one night of love." Described by one journalist as a pastiche of contemporary R&B and hip-hop, Cold contains elements of two-step, dubstep, techno and lounge music styles. Reviews of the mixtape were very favorable in general, common praises including its production and the use of Ferraro's own vocals.
NYC, Hell 3:00 AM is a studio album by American musician James Ferraro, released digitally and physically on October 15, 2013 by the label Hippos in Tanks. The album, stylistically exploring a combination of R&B and avant-garde music, was Ferraro's first album recorded with studio instrumentation. It began as a conceptual project, described by Ferraro as "a surreal psychological sculpture of American decay and confusion", for him to only record at or around midnight, and the album's material was "realized" instead of structured and planned out.
Skid Row is a studio album by American electronic musician James Ferraro, released on November 13, 2015 by Break World Records. Lyrically, it had previously existed as a series of poems before it turned into a set of lyrics for an album named after the crime-and-poverty-heavy Los Angeles area Skid Row. It is the Los Angeles counterpart to Ferraro's previous studio effort NYC, Hell 3:00 AM (2013). Its sound palette includes elements of funk, news reports, new jack swing, film scores, smooth jazz and 1980s rock and hip-hop. The album garnered generally positive reviews upon its release.
Human Story 3 is a studio album by American electronic musician James Ferraro, self-released on June 14, 2016. Displaying a turn towards the style and aesthetic of modern classical, the album's concept revolves philosophically and structurally on how technology that can be used meaningfully is often used less usefully for commerce and, as a result, how the technology may eventually end up subverting humanness. The record garnered critical acclaim and landed at number seven on Tiny Mix Tapes' year-end list of the best albums of 2016.
Suki Girlz is a mixtape by producer James Ferraro, self-released under the moniker user703918785 on SoundCloud on July 2, 2014. The concept of the trap mixtape is symbolized through both its sound and its marketing; all of the tracks are low-quality and borrow tropes common in music self-released on sites like SoundCloud, and it was released with the name user703918785, which spoofs the spambots of these services, thus making it symbolically disposable. It garnered favorable opinions from music journalists, landing at number one on a list of the best mixtapes of 2014 by Pretty Much Amazing.
Inhale C-4 $$$$$ is a mixtape by American electronic musician James Ferraro under the alias BEBETUNE$, released for free on December 14, 2011. Parodying the tropes of contemporary American hip hop music and its culture, it marks the first time in Ferraro's career that he approached such a style. Reviews of the mixtape were mostly positive, and it appeared in the top 20 of Tiny Mix Tapes' list of the best releases of 2012.
&&&&& is the debut mixtape by Venezuelan electronic producer Arca. It was released on 23 July 2013 through Hippos in Tanks on SoundCloud. Even though 14 tracks are listed, the entire mixtape is in sequence as a single track. A vinyl release of the mixtape with an alternative album cover was released in January 2014 and was limited to 500 copies. On 28 July 2020, Arca announced a re-release of &&&&& through PAN, making the mixtape available on mainstream streaming platforms for the first time on 18 September 2020.
Travis Miller, best known professionally as Lil Ugly Mane, is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. Noted for his diverse style, introspective lyrics, and various side projects, Miller's work spans a wide range of genres, including instrumental and experimental hip hop, black metal, lo-fi music, indie rock, and free jazz. He has also produced under the alias Shawn Kemp, and has recorded under the names Bedwetter and Vudmurk.
Droptopwop is a commercial mixtape by American rapper Gucci Mane. It was released on May 26, 2017, by GUWOP Enterprises, RBC Records and Atlantic Records. The entire mixtape is produced by Metro Boomin, along with extra production from Southside, London on da Track, DJ Spinz, and Cubeatz. It features guest appearances from Offset, 2 Chainz, Young Dolph, and Rick Ross.
Gaika Tavares, better known simply as Gaika, is a British singer, songwriter and rapper from South London. His debut album, Basic Volume, was released in July 2018 by Warp Records, who describe the sound as "gothic dancehall and industrial electronics".
