Ryan Hemsworth – A Way (2011) [Self-Released] // Grade: A

Man, Ryan is the kind of dude that makes me feel like a complete slacker. I listen to this dude’s beats and wonder what the fuck I’ve been doing in all the time I spend making beats, because I’m not coming up with anything like this. You know the type of dudes that seem to somehow embody everything that’s great about the music you like from the past — in part cause they sample it — and then get in the studio and flex like a fuckin’ boss and bring an entirely contemporary and fresh method to the table? And then smile the whole time while the world feasts? That’s Ryan. Big fuckin’ infinite Santa Claus of sound making sure that all the world’s children have been pleased, because no matter your proclivities there is no way you can play this record from start to finish without being entirely taken by one of the tracks on here. There is no way you put this on without seeing eye-to-eye with Hemsworth on at least one of his 6 tracks.

The record starts out in some strange limbo between funk, disco, and poly-polished rap. First come the rimshots that trap rap have made a staple of contemporary beat music. Ryan goes back to the original break for the still-bangin 3-6 anthem “Stay Fly”. From here he builds up a lush groove that spreads out and creates the basis for a pristine funk machine chugging along at a moderate 4/4 whilst Lil Wayne and Birdman adlibs stutter and chirp, and cinematic strings, soaring choruses, and restrained synths step forward and then back in a hypnotic “Mother May I” of vibin’ ass tunes. From there Ryan will take you through dubstep, yacht rock, synth pop, and subtle atmospheres.

All throughout the musical melange though there is a common thread: hip hop samples. Not much time passes before a vocal sample from a hip hop record makes an appearance at any point in the record. It’s a very interesting move. Something like cooking a huge vegetarian feast then placing a hamburger atop it all. Ryan’s music definitely overflows any category that we might stick it in, but he tells us where it belongs, he makes it clear what these tunes are, and what he’s doing. But he doesn’t ever come out and say it. He never really gets into the full Karl Kani getup. Instead he puts on a Karl Kani belt once in a while, and always has an MCM wallet. This is the kind of hip hop that probably doesn’t get called hip hop because it’s “too musical”.

It’s hard to imagine rappers on most of these beats, but Hemsworth is definitely working with rappers. So, it’s no stretch to assume that some of these songs might be rapped on. But it’s the impossibility here that’s really interesting to me. If it’s obvious that a rapper would rap on a beat, how exciting can the outcome be? However, if it’s not obvious, then you get into some pretty rad stuff. I commend Ryan for his work. It’s not easy to make hip hop that’s unpredictable because hip hop is largely created by abiding a very strict set of laws. But, Ryan is one of a few dudes who can undermine those laws, and turn out something that everyone simply must love. Welcome to the future.

- Zachg