The hip-hop production game has never been more diverse, and HNHH wants to introduce you to the newcomers who will surely be a part of hip-hop's future sound-template.
We begin our series with Michigan-based soundsmith Sango, who readers may recognize, most recently, as one of the producers behind Tinashe's "Cold Sweat," alongside SykeSense and Drake's main man Boi-1da, off her debut, Aquarius. While you'll find him in the spotlight soon enough, don't sleep on the young Seattle native's already extensive back catalog, filled with hidden gems.
While we're classing him as a producer, Sango definitely wouldn't limit himself to that tag alone. He's currently a graphic design student at Western Michigan University, and his artwork is his priority. He designs the cover art to all of his releases, and he often models his music to fit his visual projects. His music is just one component of the growing statement he wishes to make as an artist.
Sango was raised in Seattle, and moved to Michigan in his early teenage years. He stayed away from the gangs and drugs he grew up around. He was a nerdy kid more into anime comics and finding weird shit on the Internet. In fact, he got the name Sango from the lead female character in a Japanese manga series turned TV show, who he found to be particularly badass. As a teenager, his Internet forays took a musical turn, and he developed an obsession with different genres of music from across the globe. He connected with a Brazilian musician via Twitter, who introduced to him a wealth of Brazilian "baile funk," whose influence can be heard in many of his beats. It's no surprise his take on urban music, and hip-hop in particular, includes rare Brazilian samples and obscure computer sounds. Inspired by the likes of Flying Lotus, many of Sango's beats weren't made with a particular rapper in mind. His early mixtapes are exclusively made up of his own unique ideas. Upon listening, though, it's easy to see why forward-thinking rappers are eager to channel his creative mindset. Here's a brief introduction to the sounds of Sango.
Collabs
Collaborations
Model/actress/dancer/singer/every rapper's dream girl Tinashe was highly ambitious when it came to the production side of her debut album. As mentioned, Sango shares "Cold Sweat" with Boi-1da and SykSense, but elsewhere on the album, you'll find DJ Mustard, Mike Will Made It, Cashmere Cat, and more (there's your cue to go check out Aquarius). It's difficult to know which elements of "Cold Sweat" belong to who, but my guess is Sango's responsible for the skittering drums that sound like lust-induced heart palpitations underneath Tinashe's hot-breath'd whispers. Sango's grandfather was the percussionist in an afro-cuban band, and he trained Sango when he was a kid. The drums here definitely bare that influence with a live band, at times afro-beat, feel. We all know Boi-1da's ability to churn out a pop smash, but leave it to Sango to show off Tinashe's edgier side.
"Cold Sweat" isn't Sango's first noteworthy collab to date. Prior to his first major label feature, Sango has crafted beats for up-and-coming rappers and singers alike. Earlier this spring, Sango linked up with the buzzing anonymous young DC rapper GoldLink on "Wassup." The flute that opens the track sounds like something pulled deep from Sango's eclectic music library, but the sample actually belongs to another (big-time) producer, and one of Sango's idols: Timbaland. Sango takes the Indian flute off the Timbaland & Magoo track of the same name and re-works the original sample, layering over sputtering drums that would probably impress Tim himself.
Timbaland's best production work was somewhere between rap and r&b, a cosmic elixir that blended the feels of both genres, and it looks like Sango is after something similar. Take, for example, "Affection," a collab with Michigan-based nu-soul crooner JMSN (pronounced like the whiskey), off Sango's debut full-length North. JMSN's vocals are softened by Sango's lush, swervy chords and hardened again with every intermittent stab of percussion. It's slow, it's sexy, and it bumps.
the weeknd
Sango's woozy, neo-r&b immediately bears traces of the sound that exploded when The Weekend hit the scene over three years ago. Funnily enough, Sango has remixed The Weeknd more than any other artist. Every bedroom producer and their mother took a shot at remixing cuts off The Weeknd's early mixtapes, but Sango is one that stands out, and his ascent can't be separated from his takes on The Weeknd's strung-out hip-hop ballads. His remix of "Gone" was one of the early re-works that got noticed. Here, he doesn't merely change up the instrumental behind The Weeknd's vocals, he chops up the catchiest of his falsetto switch-ups and makes them carry the beat. From all the hype he received, Sango decided to release a full mixtape of Weeknd remixes, titled More Balloons. This isn't Sango's attempt to one-up any of the originals (even in cases when that credit might be due). It's a Sango project through-and-through. On his remix of "The Morning," he starts out with the come-down melancholy of the original, slows it down, then explodes on the chorus with a surge of adrenaline. These cuts pack in all of The Weeknd's emotion, but instead of the inevitable veer into the dark side of a Balloons party, each track seems to explore different sides of Sango's contemplative spirit.
remixes
Remixes
A large part of Sango's output consists in remixing mainstream hip-hop artists, but that doesn't mean he's your average soundcloud hack. Another OVO guy Sango has remixed more than a few times is Drake. While his style is experimental, OVO fans will surely dig his take on their emotional brand of club hip-hop. Some group him in the emerging scene of underground "trap" beatmakers, but Sango's style is less EDM and more abrasive '90s Louisiana hip-hop. Sometimes he lays a sample from a baile funk anthem over a dirty south drumroll, and it sounds completely natural. Such is the effect on his 'Favela' remix of Drake's "Days in the East." He warps Drake's hooks to opposite ends of the frequency spectrum, adds his own Brazilian samples and 808 drums, and comes out with a remix that's club ready but introspective enough for the headphones.
Tinashe may have enlisted Sango for an official collab after hearing what he'd done to "Vulnerable," off her 2013 mixtape, Black Water. Much of the same drum work that we heard on "Cold Sweat" combined with pitch shifting Tinashe's hooks into a late-night banger. All the hottest names in r&b right now, beware: Sango knows how to remix you, and you should probably grab him for an original production.
In addition to his rap and r&b remixes, Sango has taken shots at indie-crossover acts like the xx. Somehow, though, his remix of "Angels" is hardly less hip-hop than the others; if anything, it thumps harder. He manipulates the singer's vocals into sensual moans, which begin to coincide with a bass throb as the track builds. Today, the search for something authentic in the sea of remixes that floods the Internet is often futile. Sango is an exception. These may be "remixes," but they're totally reconstructed with the integrity of an original production. Check out his soundcloud, which, in addition to what's mentioned above, includes remixes of Nas, Frank Ocean, and Aaliyah.
mixtapes / album
Mixtapes/Album
Now on to a proper Sango beat tape. The sounds here are inevitably a little weirder, but real beat-heads will recognize. The Da Rocinha series is a good starter kit to Sango's singular style and his love for all things Brazil, too. The project, a two-mixtape series (and a bonus cuts album that followed mixtape 1), is his ode to Brazilian music and culture. "Rocinha" is the largest favela, or slum, in Rio, where Sango considers the birthplace of baile funk, a type of Brazilian dance music with looping drum patterns and heavy bass. Sango really tried to do something authentic here, digging deep for his samples, with a clear respect for baile funk energy and tempo. Most notable about these tracks is the way Sango plays with vocals, layering many different samples across each beat, hypnotic loops of Brazilian street raps alongside voices cut up into breaths and grunts. The vocal samples become what drives the beat. With winding G-funk background synths, he maintains a laid-back, totally hip-hop vibe. If Sango can form such a unique tribute statement to baile funk, imagine the possibilities with other sounds and genres. Da Rocinha was released in June 2012, and he put out Da Rocinha 2 this past January; a highlight from each can be found below. And as you probably still can't get enough Brazil, Sango has revealed there are beats in the works for a third installment.
In between Rocinha 1 and 2, in July 2013, Sango released his full length debut, North, which still stands as his most realized project to date. Fans of his slow jams will be more at home here, as it's chalked full of his signature bass-funk'd, blurry-eyed r&b. It's not a compilation of beats, but a full album intended to be listened to in its entirety. Here, he's more than a beatmaker or producer--he's a storyteller. Released via Soulection, "North is a love story of two people, on a journey, who find better things in themselves when they are with each other." There are a few instrumental tracks, in addition to several appearances from a close-knit group of collaborators, including his mother, Tracey, who plays the keys on "Until Saturday." North features a few soulful vocalists, including the already mentioned JMSN, and the San-Antonian SPZRKT, who sounds like a young Frank Ocean (he's 23) on "Middle of Things, Beautiful Wife." It's unlikely that beats and vocals were merely e-mailed back and forth. Each collaboration is an intimate affair between vocalist and producer. Sango strikes the perfect balance between bending his singers' vocals with his electronics and allowing them to take over the track. It's an album that shows the endless possibilities if free-thinking producers like Sango can be their own bosses and formulate their own projects.
Bonus: Just yesterday, Sango dropped off a soothing new instrumental after hitting 100,000 followers on Soundcloud.
soulection
Soulection/Astronaut Gang
Sango is part of the LA-curated music crew/label Soulection, whose roster blurs the line between hip-hop and experimental. In addition to a few solo projects on the label, he's collaborated with other Soulection artists as well. A notable and recurring collab with rapper and fellow Grand-Rapids homie Waldo is a good intro to what the Soulection crew is up to. Sango and Waldo also founded the more localized Michigan collective AGO aka Astronaut Gang. In late 2012, Sango introduced Waldo to the Soulection crew, and they soon put out Pick Your Own Poison. A year ago, they followed up with the double EP NSDE/OUTSDE. Their latest EP, Until Then, released in June, tells personal tales of their day-to-day struggles as artists, reminders of why they make their music. Gritty, personal, uplifting--we definitely hope to see more from these two. The project also shows Sango's ability to craft beats particular to a rapper's lyrical style. Hear '"The Crossroad's," the EP's emotional centerpiece, which, again, features SPZRKT, below. As the individual careers of both men continue to flourish, we only hope that they continue to build upon the collaborative bond they've already established.
