heRobust is half of the Atlanta hip-hop beat monster Mane Mane. However, when listening to heRobust, one might think that there’s a team of electronic music scientists working together, but don’t be fooled; it is simply the product of hard working Hayden Kramer.
No matter what opinion one has of electro, heRobust has something for them Whether it’s hardcore Dubstep, or soul infused remixes, heRobust is spinning it harder than any other DJ in the states right now.
heRobust’s alBumin will be a contender for some “Best of 2011” lists, even this early in the year, especially as buzz surrounding this young talent intensifies.
The LP’s opening track “Grief Case” begins with a strong vibe that will satisfy the need for a heavy beat no matter what. It can be bumped in the car, while walking down the street, or at a club, and it will get an amazing response.
“Triceratopless” has a mellow vibe that sounds extremely Dilla inspired. It is fresh and tweaked to the brim. There isn’t a synth out of place, and nothing can be added or subtracted from the track to make it better, a theme that remains constant throughout the album.
There isn’t one song that feels like heRobust went too far or tried too hard.
“Dunce” is a smooth track with a sound scape that is all over the place. heRobust never shies away from using samples of strange noises one can’t quite put their finger on. These sounds are mixed with bursts of jazz flutes or sped up synths. Meanwhile, the background holds everything together with a quiet, distorted synth bass track. Listeners can never go wrong with a trippy hip-hop track with a vocal sample recorded straight from an answering machine, with the producer’s best friend telling him to wake up and get in the studio.
“Chewy Bakka” is the track in which the quiet, ambient, Four-Tet inspired glitch influence emerges. Although the song isn’t as loud as others on the album, it is not a slow jam. There are vivid landscapes and found sounds that remind the listener of someone chewing on a jawbreaker. However strange, it only adds to the sensual, intimate nature of the album as a whole.
“Peanut Blubber” is the song where the Dilla comes through the hardest. Any fan of hip-hop will appreciate this track for the way it fuses different aspects of the genre together. The smooth way heRobust mixes ’80’s-sounding synths with pitch-shifted trance leads over a soulful vocal loop that fades in and out of audible range until it slowly disappears.
“Shawty Swing My Way (Busted)” is another track in which heRobust employs heavy vocal samples that sound like a glitched out, skewed old soul song. The songs that sample classic soul tracks may be the best songs on this album.
