Ammani Hip-Hop Producer Big Murk Drops Debut EP 'El Shmurk'

Big Murk’s production on ‘Bela Ahdaf’ breathed new life into a stagnating trap scene by introducing baile-funk elements into the mix, a sound largely unexplored by other producers in the region. This time around Big Murk drops the baile-funk influence and dives back into the world of lo-fi and experimental hip-hop production. 

<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/1147159756&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/bigmurk" title="big murk" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">big murk</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/bigmurk/sets/el-shmurk-ep" title="El Shmurk EP" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">El Shmurk EP</a></div>

Despite the short track lengths, Big Murk packs a lot of variety into the beats on El Shmurk. Kicking off with ‘A3ma’, Murk eases into things with some lo-fi, sample based production characteristic of the genre, before switching things up into fast-paced drums and hectic synthesised bleeps. 

Track two, ‘Claystation 5’, takes things in a more trap-oriented direction via thick 808 kicks and the unending rattle of detuned hi-hats amongst intense wooden percussion and subtle chord licks. 

The closing track, ‘Bongi’, channels a moody, trip-hop oriented sound that favors steady organic drum and deep bass riffs holding down the rhythmic duties amongst layers of abrasive textures and fluttering piano arpeggios. 

Despite being such a brief offering, it’s good to see Big Murk begin releasing solo projects rather than working exclusively with rappers, having already proved himself a highly competent beatmaker on his work with The Synaptik.

Follow Big Murk on Soundcloud and Instagram