RJD2 comes home to Columbus tomorrow to celebrate the release of his second full-length album, “Since We Last Spoke,” released by New York-based record label Definitive Jux.
The album is a culmination of 12 primarily instrumental tracks that have been developed over the past year-and-a-half. It serves as a grounding point for the extremely busy producer/Disk Jockey, who has contributed numerous guest appearances on several pivotal hip-hop releases over the same time period.
His critically acclaimed debut “Deadringer” shocked and wowed music fans with its ability to incorporate multitudes of found-noises and samples, and reform them into cleverly arranged compositions rife with maturity. His sound has been described as nostalgic and transcendent, employing next-level methods of splintering audio abstractions that place him comfortably at the top of the underground hip-hop producer game.
The new album follows suit nicely, and does not pigeonhole the DJ into any one category of instrumental work. His trademark space funk-rock mash-up style finds itself revamped to achieve emotional levels normally left for producers of ambient or “Intelligent Dance Music” brands of electronica. No sound is really untouchable, listeners could easily find themselves in the midst of a ’60’s era horn wailing over an ’80’s style breakbeat.
In fact, RJD2 avoids any pre-conceived notions of what a hip-hop instrumental should sound like. He leaves behind heavy keyboard-laden beats and traditional boom-bap drum sounds, in favor of fresh looks at old sounds through sampling.
His line of work is comparable to both DJ Shadow and Moby, but RJD2 comes off rather as an enthusiast of the complex, and unpretentious, nature of sample-based composing. He carefully bridges the gap between lo-fi and vintage, and ends up with songs that sound eerily familiar and welcoming.
His new live set features material prominently from “Since We Last Spoke,” and leaves behind the tracks of “Deadringer” in order to incorporate the vibe of his new work. He uses an ambitious live DJ setup that includes four turntables and the sampling producer’s best friend, the Akai MPC-2000.
It allows him to create new sonic textures and entirely different versions of his songs:
“It’s easy to rearrange tracks because I have all of the a capellas and different elements lined up at the touch of a button, which really fuels the live atmosphere and dynamics of any one part of the set,” RJD2 said.
It is this brand of innovation and level of creativity that is vital to the foundation of any budding electronic artist’s career. Playing the same songs every night and hitting the same buttons in the same pattern is going to get old with any wise audience quickly. It is the live setting that provides a unique forum for manipulating and versioning songs.
If an artist can succeed in re-creating the emotion and thoughtfulness laid out on the recorded material, then surely he or she can re-interpret the work along the way and keep material fresh and the audience interested.
If anything, RJD2 is looking forward to a bright future in the production world and could prove to be the first Columbus native to find international success within the hip-hop community. He has already broken ground at his own label by being the first and only exclusive producer signed, and has created beats for the most respected emcees America has to offer.
He is certainly under-rated compared to the depth his work shows, but as with most independent performers, the quality of the music will ultimately be the deciding factor in the longevity and impact the artist has on the industry.
His personal goals seem more humble.
“I just want to go out there and play the best set I know how,” he says. “The music feels really good to me right now, and this is the most accomplished set I’ve put together in my career.”
RJD2 will take the Wexner Center for the Arts’ Performance Space stage at 9 p.m. tomorrow. The show is a record release party for RJD2 and will feature Automato and Diverse as special guests. Tickets are $15.
