#71 Feat. Staff Picks in Bass / Club

Footwork supergroup The Era brings us COMBO PACK, a fresh EP with three new anthems plus Who Betta, the battle track with the triumphant hook Tell me who betta, which came out earlier this year as a single. Telling stories with their feet and the mic, they trade off giving you a deeper look into the Chicago underground. Effortlessly flowing in unison through a maze of drums, theyre creating a new mold for the future of footwork rap or, as they call it, Footwork with words to come. Produced by Teklife co-founder DJ Spinn and with the help of his protege Taso, they bend soulful samples and synths to fit inside the narrative that the Era paints with their words. Classic hip-hop production informed plenty of footwork in its early days, and here, they layer that past with the present, creating their own faster, more cut-up version of boom-bap. And just like the hypnotic repetition of a sample when it gets caught in a loop, their voices are similarly mangled to complement their verses. While they might be riding on top of the production, theyre also a part of it. The importance of storytelling in footwork is often overlooked, and we usually get the tale through the abstract. Vexing synths, unorthodox drum patterns, and stuttering words leave it up to our imaginations to assemble the puzzle pieces. The Era brings us a more concrete version of the allegory through their masterfully crafted bars. They employ themselves as narrators of the streets they walk and, in the process, are making new connections between the world of lyricists and their homegrown Chicago dance culture.

DJ Spinn, DJ Lucky, Teklife, The Era Footwork Crew, Gzus Piece, Jana Rush, Tru Foe

#95 Feat. Staff Picks in Bass / Club

Paying homage with rescued sound clips from the archives, DJ Spinn & Taso bring us Good Newz, a tribute to the charismatic founder of Teklife DJ Rashad. A warm voicemail from their late friend opens up the track, which quickly explodes into a storm of hyper bleeps and psychotic hi-hats pumping along an infectious rhythm. Its structure eventually collapses, revealing a minimal battle track with pummeling bass triplets. Sounds are mangled, the bleeps and pushed and pulled every which way, and time feels suspended as drum patterns morph. Rashad was known for his mastery of the MPC, and these two are flexing their way around the pads in a way that would make him proud. Using the remnants of their peer that have survived hard drives over the last 10 years, this is their way of saying thank you for everything, and a testament to their mission of keeping his name alive.

DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, Taso, Teklife