WORDS BY NICK GORDON BROWN
“It’s definitely the most soulful House record I’ve made. A lot of my work is hard to box into a category and could probably sit somewhere between Hip Hop, House and Neo Soul, but I think this is the first record that I’ve done that could clearly sit in the ‘Soulful House’ bag. I don’t plan on it being the last either.”
Snips is enthusing about his latest release on Classic, ‘Say It’, which features a supreme vocal performance from Pauline Taylor: “The intro to Pauline actually came via my publisher who connected us. I was most definitely aware of Pauline’s work and a fan of hers. I think Pauline comes from a time where the bar was so high vocally for singers in the dance music world, so it was a pleasure to work with her. Her voice is incredible.” Snips envelops the vocal with warm keys, sumptuous guitar licks, infectious horn stabs and trademark crisp beats, a production masterclass. With the bonus of a remix from House master Sandy Rivera, it’s a package to savour.
On first listen, it comes from a different place to his first Classic release, 2019’s ‘The Product’, which sees William Lowe deliver an evocative commentary about the daily reality of east London life over a low slung 114bpm groove; and also from 2018’s jazz-inflected Barbershop album.
However, closer inspection reveals an immediate synergy between all these productions, fusing as they do deep House vibes with a Hip Hop beat maker’s sensibility. The glue that holds it all together? Soul. “Soul is the underlying fact to all the music I make and play. I’m very much a fan of ‘70s music and that trickles down into my taste in both Hip Hop and House. It’s why I will incorporate samples in my music, even if it’s just for layering to give the records texture. There’s something about how music was recorded at that time that is just so hard to replicate.”
“I’m kind of existing in two worlds,” Snips continues. “The production now that’s taking off is the housier sound I’ve been making, and so I’m getting DJ gigs that are complimenting that, but I also come from a Hip Hop background and I’ve been, in London specifically, a go to club Hip Hop DJ for years, so I’m kind of trying to juggle those two identities as well, which I know a lot of people do with aliases. I didn’t want to, because essentially I feel they’re all part of what I do and who I am, so I didn’t want to separate them. I wanted to keep it very much a part of my identity, that I actually do all of these things, and I love doing all of these things, and I love a cross-section of music."
That Snips is still very much on Hip Hop’s cutting edge can be found in his recent Death to 2020 mix which rounds up many of the year’s best underground jams.
As a DJ, he considers that “the mainstream audience has become more blinkered than ever and is becoming harder [or easier depending how you view it] to please. The genuine music fans though I think are more open and eclectic than ever. There appears to be less tribalism now around music than there was when I grew up.” This in turn feeds into his production work. “I think the concept of trying to focus on the parts of each genre that resonate with me the most and fusing them together in a coherent way is a similar approach [to his DJ’ing]. Essentially, my productions are a reflection of the kind of music I love and therefore the kind of music I try and play as often as I can.”
Snips certainly doesn’t feel alone in straddling House, Hip Hop and more. “I would say Andres is probably my current fav and is someone I think my music aligns closest with. Just the fluidity in jumping between House and Hip Hop while keeping a sample based approach to his work is really what I’m about. A lot of the Detroit guys have this approach. Theo [Parrish], Moodymann, Waajeed etc are always gonna be the guys I look up to most in House music. DJ Spinna too. As far as straight Hip Hop, I love what Apollo Brown’s doing, I think Alchemist, Madlib and Pete Rock are making some of the best music of their careers right now too.”
Many of these artists feature in the From Hip Hop to House takeover playlist that Snips & Classic have recently premiered. It is a snapshot of his wide-ranging influences, linking artists as diverse as Roy Ayers, Eric B & Rakim, Blaze, J Dilla, Quentin Harris and many more. We asked him to talk us through a handful of the 50 featured gems, how they have impacted him, and how they help join the dots between genres.
Soho - Hot Music
I think it’s literally impossible to talk about the relationship between Hip Hop and House and not mention this record. An absolute classic and still a staple to this day in any Hip Hop or House DJ’s set in NYC. Having also produced records for KRS One, Pal Joey was massively involved in the Hip Hop scene in NYC as well as the House scene. This is the perfect middle ground between the two genres.
Donald Byrd - Think Twice
As a producer who is very sample based and takes a great interest in the material other producers sample, I think this is a key record in identifying the DNA of some great House, Hip Hop & Soul records. Most recently covered in a more Neo Soul fashion by J Dilla on his Welcome to Detroit album, however in the ‘90s it was the sample source for two huge records in both the House and Hip Hop worlds. Used by Large Professor for Main Source’s ‘Looking at the Front Door' [later adapted by Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam]; and a few years later by Armand Van Helden for his iconic ‘Flowerz’ featuring Roland Clark.
Shaun Escoffery - Days Like This (DJ Spinna Remix)
In the late ‘80s & early ‘90s House music and Hip Hop regularly played side by side. After nearly a decade of rarely being heard together in the same clubs, this record changed everything. DJ Spinna, who was a staple producer in the late ‘90s NYC Indie Hip Hop scene, had turned his hand to House Music which was always a genre he had embraced early on as a DJ. His approach to making House really embodied a sensibility that resonated with fans of ‘90s Hip Hop and Neo Soul music. This record definitely set the tone for the genre-bending DJs [myself included] to come through.
Download & stream Snips featuring Pauline Taylor 'Say It' HERE
