Fast Life by ThisisDA
Video for 'Captain' https://youtu.be/BVZ7Jqp4joQ
Bristol-based, London-born auteur ThisisDA has spent over a decade at this point furrowing out his own niche in the experimental rap landscape. Across a slew of under-the-radar solo releases and eclectic collaborations, he's routinely peered beyond the boundaries of traditional hip-hop, taking a refreshingly open-minded, eclectic approach to his art. Working alongside jazz collective Sumo Chief, playing throughout Europe with Klein and breaking bread with bedroom pop viral superstar Eyedress, ThisisDA has always refused to stay in the same spot for too long, and his latest full-length offering is a testament to that spirit.
Dizzyingly inventive, 'Fast Life' crackles from idea to idea, gesturing to drill, grime, electro and trap but refusing to adhere to any conventional template. Featuring collaborations with Hakuna Kulala's master beatmaker Debmaster - who's racked up production credits on records from MC Yallah, Aunty Razor, Ratigan Era and more - and lead singer of Bristol band Dogsbody Mimi Jones, the album's bound together by ThisisDA's boisterous personality and lightheaded wordplay. "Elevate you like the rapture, it's an independent matter," he quips on the euphoric intro to 'Breakout' before handing the mic to Jones, whose seductive coos foreshadow a barrage of DA's most tongue-twisting rhymes.
On 'Tell Him', Debmaster spaces out weightless synth stabs and skeletal, grimey kicks, leaving ThisisDA to grandstand for a moment. "Dat boy there is a pussy, flip the coin if you push me," he spits, molding his voice into an android croon. But it's not all bravado; there's a more solemn flex to the '808s & Heartbreak'-inspired 'End Up' as ThisisDA recalls the trappings of the lifestyle, underpinning his words with soulful AutoTuned cries. Elsewhere, on 'Captain', neon-flecked Southern rap excesses rumble through DA's squelchy, haunted soundscape, and its this wide-eyed, boundless fusion that sets him way out on his own.
"I wanna brush my hands between the clouds and claim that sky," he exclaims on the album's lulling closer 'Change That'. With 'Fast Life', ThisisDA aims high and leaves the rest of the scene in the dust.
