- Before American producers best became known for exploring dubstep's harshest sonic elements, the Croydon sound's half-step rhythms and THC-appropriate tempos attracted a number of hip-hop refugees. California producer Matty G was one of those hip-hop heads and his production has consistently explored commonalities within the two genres through the use of 808 drums, scratching, rap vocal samples and a bold sense of space bordering on rhythmic inertia.
"Watching You," released on longtime home Argon Records, doesn't try to re-invent the wheel. In fact, it doesn't do much at all, content to lurk in the shadows at a distinctly Californian pace with only the occasional junglist flourish or stray vocal sample to liven the proceedings. Atmospheric to the point of stubbornness, the track feels closer in spirit to early Bristol trip-hop than to the current trends in bassline science. Deliberately positioning itself as smoker's music rather than a soundtrack for testosterone pumping ravers, it's a welcome correction that restores a much-needed sense of space to a sound that's beginning to feel a little crowded. One can only hope that less experienced producers take note.
B-Side "The Realness" goes one further, recalling Temple of Boom era sounds from Cypress Hill producer DJ Muggs. Merging jazzy chords to vintage G-Funk synths and anchoring the track with enough sub-frequencies to satisfy even the pickiest of steppers, Matty G's reality feels as breezy and effortless as the California weather that birthed it. An optimal soundtrack to lazy days in dreary suburbs, it exemplifies dubstep's appeal to North Americans raised on a hip-hop diet but who've grown exasperated at that genre's soap-opera theatricality.
Tracklist A Watching You
B The Realness