I disagree with this: the revolution will be sponsored, Gen Z will assume it is sponsored and be suspicious if it’s not and even the word “revolution” itself will be trademarked with pending lawsuits against the hellraisers who try to throw one without the expressed, written consent of Nike™ and Jordan Brand™. People can no longer communicate except through brands and the prototype symbols which are waiting to be vacuumed up by ecumenical holding companies and transformed into one. If the revolution comes it will only be recognized as one if it’s sold by influencers grown in a marketing lab. It’s the ebb and flow of tidal gravity, and music is what tranquilizes their anxieties. It’s not going to be any kind of a revolution you’d recognize but that won’t matter either, as you’ll slowly find yourself having trouble remembering what the word itself used to signify (kind of like “house music” itself.)
Deep88 is meddling with the primal forces of nature in taking on the influencer culture encroaching upon even underground subcultures, but I’m not going to argue about it because his records have always been a cut above the rest. On The Revolution Will Not Be Sponsored he creates four tracks of tight, compact deep house made for dancing. “Funkbox” starts off spacious and gritty, driven by analog drum machines with cymbals that sizzle and shine. The subtle acid quirks of “309” make a pretty deep impact, and “Studio440” at the end is the dopest track of them all. Throughout these tracks a bassline snakes like an anaconda wrapped too tightly in its skin.
Deep88: The Revolution Will Not Be Sponsored (What About This Love / 12″ Vinyl / December 2021)
1. Deep88: “Funkbox” (6:44)
2. Deep88: “S2000MC202” (5:03)
3. Deep88: “309” (5:34)
4. Deep88: “Studio440” (5:29)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement: This record was not submitted as a promo.
This was originally published in #Praise: 5 Mag Issue #194 with Norm Talley and Upstairs Asylum, Lea Lisa, Cratan/Decoder and more. Support 5 Mag by becoming a member for as little as $1 per issue.
