Shash’U is at a loss as he tries to describe the sounds used by today’s “it” producers who have already made their respective splashes in the badly named “EDM” scene. Mimicking the synths sprinkled over house thumps and trap beats suffice until two adjectives come to his mind: “It’s cornball. It’s a bit circusy.”
The reputation of Montreal’s frenetic producer/DJ wunderkind Shash’U as the behind-the-boards equivalent of Busta Rhymes or Onyx is a compliment he would gladly take. Nothing is subtle in his sound. Drums stomp. Bass womps. Neighbours complain it is too damn loud. To put it in terms of a family tree: Shash’U is a hybrid of George Clinton’s bombast, DJ Premier’s neck snapping, and Flying Lotus’s hi-pass. Mixed together, Shash’U is an audible Molotov cocktail.
Shash’U credits his involvement in the hip-hop dance scene to his roots in Montreal: “Before I got club gigs, I would DJ a lot of dance battles. Not b-boying but more hip-hop dance and popping. It enabled me to understand what makes people move a certain way.” But Shash’U always saw room for improvement in his (and others’) music: “I was thinking about how dancers were reacting to it. The original was dope but I knew there was a way I could push it up.”
Shash’U wisely transferred that dancer’s spirit into the world of production. Remixes and original projects have manifested by the dozen in the past three years. He is definitely not the stingy type, either: Shash’U updates his networks with free sounds several times a month, which has amassed him a worldwide audience and page views in the six-digit mark.
But before he ever opened a Soundcloud account, Shash’U was a student of the game: “It’s like reverse engineering,” he explains. “I would try to reproduce songs exactly as they were with the tools I had at the time.” Standards by everyone from Adele to 2Pac have been given the Shash’U treatment. He walk the fine line between respecting the original composition while putting his stamp on a classic. “I can listen to an artist, find the ‘essence’ of one of their songs, and replicate it in any situation…It’s not about the particular sequence of notes as it is their ‘feeling ensemble.'”
Ensemble would be the most appropriate way to describe the renaissance that Shash’U’s hometown of Montreal is currently experiencing in the so-called EDM scene, with beatsmiths such as Kaytranada and Lunice enjoying worldwide acclaim for their futuristic boom bap. Connect the dots, and it wouldn’t be such a surprise to see Shash’U next in line for stardom.
The common thread Shash’U would attribute this recent surge for local producers to? His city’s spirit. “We come from a city of chill, relatively happy people. Montreal is able to grasp influences from a lot of different areas,” he explains. Not being bound by regional alliances offers a less prejudicial view of everything: “It was never like, ‘only if it comes from here would we listen to it.’ We’re able to filter it all. We take what we comprehend and translate it into whatever we do.”
Despite all the good happening for him, Shash’U still gets concerned about flash-in-the-pan producers venturing into musical waters without a compass. “Everything started from hip-hop popping off in the clubs, then the EDM wave took the songs that made people move and turned it into an instrumental kind of piece. I feel that’s what happened with twerk and trap music. Producers and DJs coming up are striving to make what is hot today but don’t [always] have the boom-bap background.”
But Shash’U is prepared to offer a remedy to all that ails his scene: himself. “I want to take it back to an era that I feel has been forgotten. I’m releasing an EP on February 6th called PowerFunk. It’s going to be new EDM music that people will be down with…hopefully.” Given Shash’U’s track record, only a fool would bet against it.
Catch Shash’U performing at Igloofest on February 6 alongside Just Blaze & RL Grime.
"Bleep boop boop."
Shash'U is at a loss as he tries to describe the sounds used by today's "it" producers who have already made their respective splashes in the badly named "EDM" scene. Mimicking the synths sprinkled over house thumps and trap beats suffice until two adjectives come to his mind: "It's cornball. It's a bit circusy."
The reputation of Montreal's frenetic producer/DJ wunderkind Shash'U as the behind-the-boards equivalent of Busta Rhymes or Onyx is a compliment he would gladly take. Nothing is subtle in his sound. Drums stomp. Bass womps. Neighbours complain it is too damn loud. To put it in terms of a family tree: Shash'U is a hybrid of George Clinton's bombast, DJ Premier's neck snapping, and Flying Lotus’s hi-pass. Mixed together, Shash'U is an audible Molotov cocktail.
Shash'U credits his involvement in the hip-hop dance scene to his roots in Montreal: "Before I got club gigs, I would DJ a lot of dance battles. Not b-boying but more hip-hop dance and popping. It enabled me to understand what makes people move a certain way." But Shash'U always saw room for improvement in his (and others’) music: "I was thinking about how dancers were reacting to it. The original was dope but I knew there was a way I could push it up."
Shash'U wisely transferred that dancer's spirit into the world of production. Remixes and original projects have manifested by the dozen in the past three years. He is definitely not the stingy type, either: Shash'U updates his networks with free sounds several times a month, which has amassed him a worldwide audience and page views in the six-digit mark.
But before he ever opened a Soundcloud account, Shash'U was a student of the game: "It's like reverse engineering," he explains. "I would try to reproduce songs exactly as they were with the tools I had at the time." Standards by everyone from Adele to 2Pac have been given the Shash'U treatment. He walk the fine line between respecting the original composition while putting his stamp on a classic. "I can listen to an artist, find the ‘essence’ of one of their songs, and replicate it in any situation...It's not about the particular sequence of notes as it is their 'feeling ensemble.'"
Ensemble would be the most appropriate way to describe the renaissance that Shash'U's hometown of Montreal is currently experiencing in the so-called EDM scene, with beatsmiths such as Kaytranada and Lunice enjoying worldwide acclaim for their futuristic boom bap. Connect the dots, and it wouldn’t be such a surprise to see Shash'U next in line for stardom.
We come from a city of chill, relatively happy people. Montreal is able to grasp influences from a lot of different areasThe common thread Shash'U would attribute this recent surge for local producers to? His city's spirit. "We come from a city of chill, relatively happy people. Montreal is able to grasp influences from a lot of different areas," he explains. Not being bound by regional alliances offers a less prejudicial view of everything: "It was never like, 'only if it comes from here would we listen to it.' We're able to filter it all. We take what we comprehend and translate it into whatever we do."
Despite all the good happening for him, Shash’U still gets concerned about flash-in-the-pan producers venturing into musical waters without a compass. “Everything started from hip-hop popping off in the clubs, then the EDM wave took the songs that made people move and turned it into an instrumental kind of piece. I feel that's what happened with twerk and trap music. Producers and DJs coming up are striving to make what is hot today but don't [always] have the boom-bap background."
But Shash'U is prepared to offer a remedy to all that ails his scene: himself. "I want to take it back to an era that I feel has been forgotten. I'm releasing an EP on February 6th called PowerFunk. It's going to be new EDM music that people will be down with…hopefully." Given Shash'U's track record, only a fool would bet against it.
Catch Shash'U performing at Igloofest on February 6 alongside Just Blaze & RL Grime.