Snips is a product of his passions and his past. The Londoner, now New York City-based, has built a career as a DJ and producer with a unique point of view on music's past, present and future. His latest project, Blasphemy, puts his love of hip-hop and house music in a forward-facing role, directly linking their historic connections to gospel music. It's from his personal knowledge and his personal love of crate digging, that birthed the project, something that he's translated to a mix as well.
"My new project Blasphemy is an EP that draws solely from gospel samples," Snips explained to us via email. "My boy Budgie really got me into digging for gospel records a few years back when he put out his project with Alchemist. I had been wanting to do something similar but wanted to flip it a little differently and include a more house/dance focus on there."
And he's thoroughly dedicated to that sound, as Blasphemy follows a long string of projects, including his "52 Beats" project, where he drops a new instrumental on Bandcamp every week, along with his various releases. "What allowed me to really fall in love with hip-hop was learning how much of a wide range of influences were used to make the records I was hearing," he says, "and the fact that it mirrored the variety of music I heard growing up in my household."
Snips' unique experience across global music centers can be heard in his mixing and in every project he puts out. "I think even before moving to NYC I was heavily influenced by their sound and culture," he says. "I've always been a hip-hop head first and foremost so growing up on everyone from Big Daddy Kane & Rakim to Nas and Wu Tang, I think NY was always gonna be in the DNA of my music regardless of me living here. I think in London the way we consume US music and allow it to blend with our own styles is definitely something that being in NY gives me and edge, not just as a producer but also a DJ. I listen to a lot of the newer Jazz and Broken Beat sounds that are coming out of London which i think is quite evident in a lot of my recent releases."
And at eight tracks total, the record does just that, artfully incorporating Snips' personal history, as well as the roots of current hip-hop and house, in gospel. Gospel, as any electronic music fan will note, brings a special inspirational element to music that isn't necessarily connected to Christianity itself. "The lead single “Feed The People” is really a straight up house record. With that being said the majority of tracks on there are still straight hip-hop," says Snips. "I think regardless of religious beliefs, gospel music should be celebrated more than it is, it's the root of so many forms of popular music, yet the least commodified."
Purchase or download Blasphemy via Bandcamp, and stream it here.
Mix tracklisting:
Heem – Keep God On Your Side
Sounds Of Blackness – Testify (Amen Dub)
Waajeed – I Just Wanna Tell
Clark Sisters – Everything Is Gonna Be Alright
Hanna – I Needed
Mildred Clark – He'll Make A Way
Mighty Clouds Of Joy – Mighty
Clouds Of Joy Sophie Lloyd ft Dames Brown – Calling Out
Walter Hawkins – Keep On Fighting
Moodymann – Inspirations From A Small Black Church In Detroit
3 Winans Brothers – Dance (Louie Vega Latin Soul Vocal)
Karizma – Work It Out
Theo Parrish – Preachers Comin
Snips – Feed The People
Clark Sisters – You Bought The Sunshine
The Winans – Let My People Go
The Joubert Singers – Stand On The World
Edwin Hawkins Singers – A Few Days Ago
Andre Crouch – Its Gonna Rain
Jake One – Crowning
Stro Elliot – FTL
Budgie – Lead Me
Connect with DJ Snips: Instagram | Twitter | SoundCloud | Official Site
