Following the release of the first track from the upcoming ‘Did You Mean: Irsh vol. 2’ VA album, courtesy of Abadir, Zuli, and 3Phaz in ‘Kabbut’; the collective most recently dropped Yaseen and Dakn’s ‘Siteh’, marking the second release ahead of the full drop on the 7th of July.
In ‘Siteh’, Egypt-based producer Yaseen and Palestine-based producer, foley artist, and rapper Dakn find a homogenous connection, moving seamlessly through hip hop, deconstructed, and chopped–garage-like percussion programming in their first collaboration together. The single kicks off with a sliced-up drum pattern that sets up the groove for the rest of the track. Dakn slides gracefully across the instrumental with his crips vocals, offering life-advices, and reminiscing the past, with the inclusion of many pop-culture references such as “Luigi”, “Mo Salah”, and “Maradonna”.
The instrumental shifts between sci-fi leads with a cluster of percussion from different sound-cultures, a signature of Yaseen’s sonic direction. The half-time occurring mid-track gives space for the lead, main percussive bounce, and Dakn’s vocals to shine for some moments before reverting to its original colors, with additive drum-roll to push the limits of the groove beyond the dance floor, which was mixed by Cairo-based audio engineer Teymour Radwan, with Declared Sound in Leeds on mastering duties.
Yaseen and Dakn lay down the foundation of Irsh’s eclectic direction, which can be evident when comparing the first two releases. ‘Did You Mean: Irsh vol. 2’ boasts a number of returning artists with ABADIR, El Kontessa, 3Phaz, ZULI, and Itfll, being joined by the debut collab of Yaseen and Dakn, Assyouti, Liliane Chlela, Ashrar, Islam Elnabawi, Seleem El Sadek, and Postdrone, with visual artist Yazan Al Zubi creating their striking artwork.
