[Austin 11/13] South Rakkas Crew @ Flamingo Cantina

Wile Out!

Broken Teeth presents WILE OUT!: A Global Bass Party w/
SOUTH RAKKAS CREW (Tropical Bass DJ set) (Mad Decent- LA)
ANNA LOVE’S WELCOME HOME PARTY!!!
GOLDEN EMPIRE CLOTHING SHOWCASE!!!


Rugged dancehall, shameless pop, hipster electro bangers, rude dubstep—fuck it, South Rakkas does it all. A duo comprised of Alex Greggs and Dennis “Dow Jones” Shaw, South Rakkas took an unusual path to become the dons of today’s digital funk. South Rakkas first gained fame for their blazing dancehall riddims (“Clappas,” “Red Alert,” “Bionic Ras,” “Chinkuzi” anyone?), which brought production work for stars like Mr. Vegas and Elephant Man. But it’s not for nothing that XLR8R recently praised South Rakkas for their “boundary-pushing” powers; indeed, these futuristic rhythm killers can’t be held down to any one sound or style. SRC can flex from Beenie Man and Bounty Killer one moment, T-Pain the next, and then on to the likes of M.I.A., Lily Allen, Beck, Duran Duran, Justin Timberlake, The Bug, Warrior Queen, Britney Spears, Shakira and Yo Majesty—all of whom have been touched by South Rakkas’ edgy studio savvy. Those skills came about when Greggs and Shaw met up working at the same recording studio. Both had roots in the local hip-hop/reggae scene: Greggs created beats for local rap groups and, erm, Barenaked Ladies, while Shaw spent a misspent youth as charismatic, party-starting DJ (“Rakkas” is in fact a local West Indian slang term for “rockers” reggae music that Shaw used to put on his DJ flyers to indicate his parties’ music policy). The concept for SRC first hatched, though, when Greggs and Shaw moved to Orlando, Florida to become a crucial part of ‘N Sync’s production team. There, the pair decided South Rakkas Crew, would combine both their strengths. The plan was simple: Greggs would hold down the pop/dance production side in Florida (his work with the archetypal boy band on smash albums like Pop would catapult him into the pantheon of platinum-plated star producer/mixer/remixers); Shaw, meanwhile, would travel to ruffneck Kingston, Jamaica, where an introduction from his brother-in-law Mr. Vegas gave him access to dancehall’s top talent. Rakkas’ first riddim, “Clappas,” quickly proved a major island smash, paving the way for many more; Jamaican and non-Jamaican audiences alike also appreciated SRC’s talent for fusing hook-laden song structure with sound-system destroying beats.

This unique combo of hit-making production and arrangement with hard-hitting dancehall sonics set the stage for SRC’s inevitable global takeover. While South Rakkas keeps a foot in the pop game—Greggs was working with Michael Jackson on new material before the King of Pop died, and recently remixed the likes of Beyoncé, Kelis and LMFAO—they’ve also been acclaimed by the underground and critics alike. When beat king Diplo put out South Rakkas’ Mad Again and The Mix Up eps on his Mad Decent label, the blogosphere proved unanimous in its praise: Prefix raved about Mix Up’s “production perfection,” while Thom Yorke recently dropped the Boy 8-Bit mix of “Mad Again” while guest DJing on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio show. Trip-hop titan Tricky also recently chose SRC to remix his entire West Knowle Boy album, garnering rapturous press. According to The Independent, SRC “transformed it into a high-voltage electro and sublime space-disco monster. In fact, Knowle West Boy is barely there, but something fantastic has appeared in its place”; as well, the BBC called it “a collision of exotic and intoxicating rhythms that dance around truly body-rocking beats, hammered and glued into forms that enthrall and excite… Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew is an electrifying listen, invigorating the parts Tricky can’t usually reach.”

SRC remains as prolific as ever. Early this year, Greggs and Shaw dropped a brand new, sixteen-track South Rakkas album, The Stimulus Package, as a free download, again via Mad Decent. Stimulus proved a classically iconoclastic SRC move: it featured, of course, expected cameos from dancehall mega-celebs like Capleton, Serocee and Mr. Agony, but mixed with surprises like vocals from Satomi Matsuzaki of indie-noise gurus Deerhoof and Mylo’s “Drop The Pressure” transformed into a dubplate riddim! Critics again united in unanimous admiration: The Fader said “South Rakkas Crew wants to start 2010 with energy. The Stimulus Package brims with their brand of rugged ragga that is laced with songs that could be heard at an all-night dance party at some club we’ve never been to in Madrid”; notable blog True Genius Requires Insanity stated “On The Stimulus Package, the South Rakkas Crew don’t just throw down the gauntlet in dancehall, but kick open doors in dubstep and electro…
South Rakkas Crew do everything on this album short of painting a sign that they are THE experimental force in dancehall music… A superb body of work by superb and veteran producers and remixers.”

The Stimulus Package marks only the beginning of SRC’s plan for world domination in 2010. South Rakkas will be releasing another genre-bending single, “Robot’s Revenge,” on superstar DJ Adam Freeland’s Marine Parade label; a slamming slice of classic-rock-meets-filter-disco daft funk, “Robot’s Revenge” has already garnered multiple spins on Alex Metric’s tastemaking BBC radio show. This year will also see the unveiling of SRC’s new live experience, following a string of massively successful Australian festival tour dates in 2009; as well, recently M.I.A personally selected South Rakkas to open her N.E.E.T. label showcase. And of course, there will be new music, filled with surprising collaborations from some of music’s most notable names. It’s all in a day’s work for South Rakkas: for the most crucial, next-level sounds out there, there is no substitute.

and your Wile Out! residents:

ANNA LOVE (BROKEN TEETH)
DUBBEL DUTCH (PALMS OUT SOUND)
HOODIE ALLEN (BROKEN TEETH)

GOLDEN EMPIRE CLOTHING- The local ATX clothing business will have a table set up with some fresh gear for all you shopaholics.
http://goldenempireco.com/

Saturday, November 13th 2010
@ Flamingo Cantina
515 E 6th St ATX
21+ $5

Mad Decent
BrokenTeeth
PalmsOutSounds

The Stimulus Package album Download Link

NEW Lady Chann & South Rakkas Crew Mixtape here



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