RJD2 has had quite the curious career. The Eugene, Ore., native lives in West Philly, has transitioned from dirty, jazzy hip hop to wonky electropop, leapt from El-P’s Def Jux label in 2004 after several critically acclaimed albums to his own RJ’s Electrical Connections in 2010 (with his The Third Hand LP at the XL label in between). Though he doesn’t think of himself as a film composer, he has one of the most recognizable theme songs ever: AMC’s Mad Men. Now, he’s changed his sound around completely with one of the most compelling albums of 2013 in More Is Than Isn’t. RJD2 will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
RJD2: This group put out a super badass album this year. I rarely hear something on the radio that captivates my ear within 10-20 seconds, but I heard a tune of theirs on the radio as bumper music, and dropped what I was doing to Shazam it. Turns out this group totally flew under my radar (not hard to do when you are making albums and running a label and blah blah blah) previous to that moment. Anyway, I feel like they make music out of the same building blocks that I try to use: solid grooves, cool and interesting chord changes, great melodies—and it all sounds very natural, and at ease. Definitely one of my favorite records of the year so far.
Video after the jump.
