We may have shut our doors in 2016, but 2017 was still a banner year for the World Around family. Here’s a list of all the new music released by former World Around artists.
This long-awaited LP from rap classicist Louis Mackey features some of his deftest, most heartfelt lyricism to date, signalling a huge step forward in style while simultaneously serving as a return to the funkier roots of his early work. The whole affair is conducted over a backdrop of Dr. Quandary beats with a distinctly dusty, old-school vibe, adding to the air of nostalgia.
Man Mantis — Boss Skeleton + Dawn of the Def (Reissue)
Released in July, Man Mantis’ Boss Skeleton is a collection older tracks from his Majestic Dimensions EP series. The project features Mantis’ signature sonic landscapes, lush with otherworldly synthesizers. Though mostly instrumental, you’ll find a couple of expertly-placed, late-game features from Terra Lopez, Nocando, Decomposure & Sole.
As if new Mantis wasn’t enough, we also got some classic Mantis: as an added year-end bonus, the long-defunct imprint Loretta Records resurfaced in December with an official dead-stock reissue of his 2005 debut, Dawn of the Def. The album follows in the footsteps of RJD2’s Deadringer, blending soul & funk into a cinematic instrumental experience.
For the most part, this is due to bandwidth issues. The administrative side of World Around has always been a two-person operation (three at the absolute zenith), and keeping things running is an insane challenge, especially since we’re all artists too. We all know that balancing everything demanded of us — family, friends, life, art, work, school, etc. — can be challenging enough; the full-time management of a label is really tough to fit into that mix. That said, we did it for as long as we could, out of love — for our music, for each other, and for everyone who listened and supported us along the way.
Justin & Kyle in 2006
On top of that, a lot has changed since we opened our digital doors on MySpace in 2006. There have been career changes, new opportunities; some of us have married, started families. Musically, many World Around artists have gone on to do bigger, better, more beautiful things: after a brief stint with our friends at Potholes Music, Man Mantis linked up with legendary rapper Sole and joined the ranks of Shoeboxx Recordings; Daimyo fell in with the amazing crowd of beatmakers at Cult Classic ...
World Around Wednesday #8 comes to us from Naturetone, who’s been hard at work finishing Turnings of the Sun — the highly-anticipated followup to his 2010 debut album Nihon. The lead-off single features an appearance from emcee from dumate frontman D.L.O. the Iceman, who drops a conceptual narrative from the sun’s point of view. Check out “Stargazing”:
Turnings of the Sun will be available via World Around Records later this Spring.
“Stargazing” is available as a free download on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. We’ll be back with another installment in the World Around Wednesday series on March 28th!
Each one of these pre-shrunk, 100% ring-spun cotton shirts is individually hand-screened by our team of artificers at World Around East and shipped to you swiftly via USPS Priority Mail.
First up, the Madison heavyweight hip hop live band dumate has been having an amazing year, and to celebrate, they’re offering their full length album, We Have the Technology, for free through Bandcamp. Click here to get yours. This is a limited time offer deal.
The dumate team has been very, very busy this year… especially MPC player / producer Man Mantis. He’s dropped an experimentally awesome EP’s with J. Dante, Whole New World, and a classic-flavored EP with dumate emcee D.L.O. the Iceman titled The IceMantis EP, which has been getting great reviews.
I mean, really great reviews. The Onion’s A/V Club gave it an “A” rating, concluding that the dumate crew was “grotesquely underrated on both a local and national scale.” Amen.
Up next, Man Mantis is working on an instrumental release, Cities Without Houses. Based on what I’ve heard, I think it’s going to make some serious noise for him… stay tuned.
We’ve got a lot of extremely dope producers on the World Around roster. This year has seen incredible releases from nearly all of them. First we dropped Naturetone‘s debut, Nihon, an ambitious and exotic tribute to the music and culture of Japan. Naturetone was fortunate enough to make a pilgrimage there this year… and he got married this year, too!
Never one for dormancy, Man Mantis hit us off with his directorial debut today: a music video for “Infirmary,” the lead-off track from his upcoming collaborative project with DLO entitled IceMantis. As if this combination wasn’t potent enough, they’ve also tagged fellow dumate emcee and STINK TANK™ mastermind Dudu Stinks for one of his premium verses, and the resulting track is dope as hell.
Props and thanks to Andre Linzmeyer, publisher of 608 Magazine. He’s also had great things to say about our favorite MPC-driven live show wrecking crew in Wisconsin:
“First of all, they are all excellent artists,” Linzmeyer says of the five-member dumate. “They are individuals who all do their own thing but they all come together really nicely, too. They represent the 608 very well. They are a diverse group, which is nice because hip-hop today brings in all kinds of people from all kinds of heritages.”
MORE COVERAGE: the tech-heads and hip hop producers will appreciate the detailed science Man Mantis is dropping in his recent Audible Hype interview, where he’s discussing using the MPC sampler live, as well as what he’s learned in the process of mixing and mastering his last two albums.
