Album Name: SWEETHEARTGRIPS
Artist Name: Vagrant Real Estate
Release Date: 25th October 2019
This
October sees the release of Scottish producer
Vagrant Real Estate’s sophomore
instrumental hip-hop album, SWEETHEARTGRIPS, on all streaming platforms.
Juxtaposition is a running theme in Vagrant
Real Estate’s work: aside from the oxymoron implied in his production alias,
the new album title refers to the clear handles WWII soldiers attached to their
firearms with photographs of loved ones inside, alluding to the stark contrast
of the often sentimental and originally romantic subject matter Vagrant pulls
from in order to craft hard hitting and dark beats.
The album itself draws from many moods and
feelings, from quiet, reflective jazz and blues reminiscent of Dilla, Madlib and DJ Shadow to
the loud, maximalist soul chops of Just
Blaze, 9th Wonder and early
Kanye, peppered with soundbites spanning obscure interview clips, vinyl
snippets and general Internet-age ephemera. If Vagrant’s first album of bright,
orchestral soul flips, titled As Much As
I Used To, was day, then SWEETHEARTGRIPS
is the night, with a somber and reflective tone that carries throughout
most of the project.
The
entirety of the production, arrangement and artwork
has been handled by Vagrant Real Estate himself, with three guest appearances
dropping in as interludes. Skirmish
of acclaimed UK rap group Rhyme Asylum
makes an appearance, as well as the Birmingham Grime artist Mayday and Reno KOQ of Queens, New York. These three disparate artists are
linked through their production from Vagrant and highlight the crux of his work
as being made possible by the Internet, and the geographical barriers it breaks
down. Much like these three MCs, the source material utilized in Vagrant’s
sampler comes from all over the globe, centralized by the World Wide Web. The
tracks themselves blend together as one, with emphasis on shifts in dynamics,
interspersed with offcuts and sudden new directions, mirroring the
scatter-brained short attention span of the modern internet.
