Boom Bip rises from the instrumental hip hop graveyard

Post Author:
Zig Zaj

There was a time when one man armed with a sampler and a few crates was enough. It was an era fondly referred to as “instrumental hip hop” and the records it produced smelled of nag champa and took listeners deep within their hanging tapestries. Boom Bip comes from that time. His record with Dose One entitled Circle remains one of the most daring and challenging records from the early Aughts, predating Anticon's “advanced hip hop” era.

Like his contemporaries from that era, Boom Bip has traded in his sampler and crates for friends and composition. Boom Bip's upcoming Zig Zaj features collaborations with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Money Mark, Luke Steele (Empire of the Sun, Sleepy Jackson), singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon, and Mikey Noyce (Bon Iver, Gayngs.) Album opener “All Hands” is a cinematic introduction that builds a haunting tension only to tumble into poppy field of freak folk. It's an introduction that instantly beckons interest in the next track, making the wait for a late-September release date an awful burden.

Boom Bip's Zig Zaj is out September 27 on Lex Records.