- Just who is RATCHETT TRAXXX? We know he's a feisty Twitter personality, taking potshots at some producers, picking fights with others and generally being antagonistic. There were plenty of theories about which established producer he might be, until he showed his face for a show at Output at the end of last year. There are also photographs of him throughout the digital booklet that accompanies his debut album, FEAR_OF_THA_BLACC_HACCER, which received a digital release following the vinyl-only run of his first three EPs. The increased visibility comes with a boost in confidence: here, he deftly imitates the technologically fetishistic bent of classic Detroit electro with an updated, internet-savvy sense of humour reflected in the track titles and lyrics. But those touches are largely superficial—in the end, FEAR_OF_THA_BLACC_HACCER is less a clever reinvention and more just a serviceable xerox job of its influences.
FEAR_OF_THA_BLACC_HACCER is lighthearted and self-assured at its best and just plain derivative at its worst. TRAXXX excels at channeling the vintage vibes of Drexciya and DJ Stingray. It's hard to argue with the ropy tones of "Snapchat Blaccmail" (and its silly vocoder hook) or the smooth machinery of "Tha Server Room," which sounds like a Dopplereffekt song rendered in Saturday-morning-cartoon colours. The cowbell-heavy "T1 Luxury" gets funky with it, while "Contaminated Paccets" doesn't do much more than ape the classics. Then there's "Data Breach," with a go-nowhere arpeggio that pushes against the grain of the groove. It's an amateur attempt that feels years of experience removed from something like "Snapchat Blaccmail." (And that's to say nothing of "No Subtweets," which has some excellent synth work but over-the-top, Twitter-obsessed verses from Paul Fisher.)
Take away the online persona and you've got an OK electro album with some solid moments and a few head-scratchers. TRAXXX's online presence can be smug and mean-spirited, and separating that behaviour from the music is easier said than done. Even if his overconfidence is part of the joke, someone who calls themselves things like "production god" and relentlessly harasses others should have the goods to back it up. There are some flashes of talent on FEAR_OF_THA_BLACC_HACCER, but sometimes it seems like he's content to create facsimiles of electro rather than add anything new or interesting to it.
Tracklist01. Tha Server Room
02. Snapchat Blaccmail
03. DDOS Attack
04. Hashtag Warfare
05. Data Breach
06. T1 Luxury
07. DSL Thots
08. Contaminated Paccets
09. No Subtweets feat. Paul Fisher
10. (What's Ur) Pussy Bandwidth? feat. Shady Hector