Destiny Ortiz, aka Wavy Spice, dances at Warm Up, MoMA PS1, Saturday, July 27, 2013. Photo By Zachary Newton
There was a perfect combination of amazing weather and masterful musicianship at Warm Up last Saturday, and there is even more on the way. We were visited by Cologne’s very own Roosevelt, followed by Londoners Daniel Avery and Ben UFO from Phantasy and Hessle Audio, respectively. The vibe shifted when Majical Cloudz whisked the crowd away with an enchanting combination of beats and live vocals. Finally, A Guy Called Gerald (aka Tha God) arrived from another funk-jungle dimension to enlighten the crowd with pure musical energy and live keyboard grooves.
This week, things are going to bump as hard as ever.
Massachusetts native Rizzla has been building a buzz with several free musical releases. His high-energy beats and rumbling bass reflect a longstanding interest in a wide variety of genres, and he refers to his music as “aggressive, masculine, but very queer,” calling his sound KUNQ—which is also the name of his crew.
Wiki of Ratking. Photo: Alon Sicherman
NYC locals Ratking, a three-man group signed to XL Recordings, have been making noise since they dropped their debut EP in October of 2011; many see them as a breath of life that could reinvigorate hip-hop and blast it into the 21st century. Ratking takes influences from genres like no wave and jungle and throws them into the melting pot with artists like Cam’ron and Animal Collective to create something that reveals deep roots while delivering an entirely new sound. (Check out their Fader Mix for this week’s Warm Up.) Their live show is astonishing, as Sporting Life produces beats and shouts ad-libs while Wiki and Hak trade moments of abrasive spitting and soft, reverberating vocals. Visual art is also extremely important to the group—they have built up a distinctive visual aesthetic through countless zines, drawings, paintings, and sculptures—and a fourth member of the crew, Arvid Logan, works exclusively on live visuals and art.
Yet another New Yorker, Mixpak Records‘ Dre Skull—the alter ego of Mixpak owner Andrew Hershey—brings with him a love of dancehall, reggae, and just about anything Caribbean. One of the hottest dancehall producers around, Dre Skull recently coproduced Snoop Lion’s Reincarnated album. Dre Skull is also fascinated with pop music and cites artists like 2 Chainz and Miguel as inspirations for his music.
Glasgow, Scotland’s Jackmaster also brings the pain this week. A co-founder (and, obviously, roster artist) of the Numbers label, Jackmaster has been featured on the world-famous Fabriclive mixes, and his epic sets consist of everything from contemporary hip-hop, to UK grime, to forgotten classics that will make you, like, totally miss that one party where that thing happened that you’ll never forget.
Marcellus Pittman doing what he does best. Photographer unknown
Closing out the day is Marcellus Pittman, a veteran of the Detroit dance music scene. Pittman grew up listening to artists like Miles Davis and George Gershwin, and he focused on making sound sculptures during his time at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he got his BFA. Pittman is widely known for genre-melding DJ sets that mix house and electronic music with disco, funk, and soul records. It’ll be a smooth, groovy close to another week of Warm Up.
Don’t forget, the galleries close at 6:00 p.m., so if you want to catch some art while you enjoy the music, come early and be prepared to get inspired!