Download Prettybwoy’s ‘Thank You’ EP

As grime has expanded both sonically and geographically, its boundaries have shifted and mutated (really, like they always have) to deal with the influx of production aesthetics, the wave of vocal-free tracks and the, at least for now, diminishing role of the MC. As an American, its difficult to gauge how the genre’s gatekeepers feel about the influx of young producers, international producers and the trend away from MC-driven culture, but it has been an interesting phenomenon to watch from afar and study. In that vein and without any further pretension, its a pleasure to feature Japanese producer Prettybwoy on the site, Tokyo’s closest thing to a grime insider. With a placement on Big Dada’s still breathtaking 2014 compilation Grime 2.0, Prettybwoy has been slowly diving into the ever expanding pool of artists reinterpreting grime’s classic sounds. The Thank You EP is  his latest outing into club material and eskibeat respectively, two tracks that hammer away at old archetypes until they fit anew. While “Plum” is available for criticism considering its overt eski characteristics, “Breaking Down” falls into the mutant, pounding club category populated by Sudanim, Krizzli, Rizzla and other like-minded producers. Thank You is a small taste of what Prettybwoy and the rest of his Tokyo cohort has to offer, but it’s a telling sign that producers as far flung as Japan are experimenting with both classic and cusp sounds.