| dälek | |
|---|---|
dälek at the cultural center Leoncavallo (Milan), in 2008. MC dälek at the microphone, The Oktopus in the background. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, rap, industrial, noise, shoegaze, industrial hip hop, experimental hip hop, ambient |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Ipecac |
| Website | deadverse.com |
| Members | |
| MC dälek Oktopus |
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| Past members | |
| Still | |
dälek (pronounced 'Die-a-leck') is an American experimental hip hop duo from Newark, New Jersey. The group is composed of MC dälek (vocals & co-producer) and the Oktopus (production). They have often toured with artists from radically different genres, such as Godflesh, Isis, Prince Paul, The Melvins, Tool, De La Soul, RJD2, and Lovage.
dälek's music is dark, noisy and atmospheric, equally inspired by industrial music like Einstürzende Neubauten, the layered noise of My Bloody Valentine and the dense sound collages of Public Enemy. Their sound is often constructed through sampling and a musical base atypical of most hip hop, making it difficult for people to classify their sound. They have been described as trip-hop, glitch-hop, and metal- shoegaze-hip-hop, as well as criticized for their broad range of sound.[1]
MC dälek described the duo's music to the Chicago Sun-Times:[1]
| “ | "It's purely hip-hop, in the purest sense. If you listen to what hip-hop has historically been, it was all about digging in different crates and finding different sounds, and finding different influences to create. If Afrika Bambaataa wasn't influenced by Kraftwerk, we wouldn't have 'Planet Rock.' So, in that sense, what we do is strictly hip-hop. | ” |
| “ | If there is a difference. It's that the palette of sounds we work with is more varied than what has been called hip- hop in the last 10 years. Somehow, as hip-hop grew, it's been put into this box. I think it's funny when people are like, 'That's not hip-hop. It's this and this and this.' You can try to rationalize it as whatever you want to rationalize it as." | ” |
Oktopus and MC dälek collaborated with hardcore punk-heavy metal band Starkweather on their 2010 album, This Sheltering Night.[2]
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