Chicago has been a melting pot of talent for sometime now, and for good reason. It’s geographical positioning means that it receives a steady stream of bustling culture from all corners of the U.S. In this ever-changing and ever-evolving time, music needs constant bursts of new energy and with this in mind it’s no wonder that Chicago is the birthplace of some of the most interesting and genre-defying sounds of modern dance music. With so many contemporary influences like ATL crunk,(2 Chainz, Ludacris) West Coast hood (The Alchemist, Schoolboy Q) and East Coast trendsetters (Mac Miller, Asap Rocky) Chicago sits at the centre point absorbing a vast amount of information, occasionally producing an exciting hybrid of said cultures.
Aztek stands as one of these creations, and, being so new to the scene gives him the opportunity to make a big impact. We’re confident he will do just that because the little work he has presented has been fresh, clean and precise with an assertive undercurrent.
Speaking through an uneducated guise we spoke to him about the current music scene in Chicago…
“Chicago at the moment is kind of the stomping grounds for clash
culture. This city will always be known for its house music but our hip-hop scene is impeccable. Though when you dig a little deeper pass the mainstream of it all, you will find that future niche with artists like Equator
Club, Different Sleep, The Drum, KR$CHN, Bengfang, Edamame, Teen Witch,
and myself. The list goes on and there is lots of hidden talent in this city, but it’s like a family. Everybody knows everybody, and it’s very humbling.”
For anyone out of the loop it’s impossible to follow the direction of artists like this. Artists that are constantly changing, developing and growing. Aztek often puts forward a progressive and percussive-heavy deep style that laps up the listener. Crossing the border between bass and juke, trap and hip-hop, one of his earliest tracks ‘Sphinx’, featuring Xian, can now be downloaded for free:
Sphinx – Aztek // Xian **FREE DOWNLOAD** by ˚∆ZTEK˚
As clubs and crowds demand different things, some of his newer material sees his production run closer to trap providing an inviting nod toward artists like Lunice and Rusty. One could say that it’s the natural progression this music takes when it leaves the bedroom and enters the dance floor. Speaking to him about trap and it’s place in dance music gave us a greater perception of the general consensus within Chicago. People are enjoying, without judging, the music that is readily available to them in clubs…
“In my opinion trap has had an enormous influence on the music scene today, and almost every genre of dance will. I was a Deep Dubstep kid myself and thats what got me into production in the first place, but I try to take as many aspects of EDM genres as i can, underground and mainstream, to try and piece them together in some way shape or form. Clashing and
recycling is what keeps music alive.”
With little in the way of label releases Aztek is sure to be the next Chicago-based success story. When asked if he had any up and coming label releases the young hopeful cladly replied “I have been in contact with a couple labels like Soulection and Dusty Records but i’m still trying to find that special hook up. My doors are wide open at the moment”. With this in mind we’d be very surprised if he hasn’t picked up a label contract by this time next year.
Having released the absorbingly atmospheric ‘Commit’ on Palmier records late last year it now sits at the top of his soundcloud as a free downloadable gem:
Commit {Palmier Records} by ˚∆ZTEK˚
