MRL ONE Beat Breakdown and Blog: eB83’s HPSKTD ONE
To tell the story of HPSKTD ONE, is to tell the story of EB83: Sacred Sound St.
I say that because the ethos of both the song and the record as a whole are the same: Beats and bars that simply want to make much of Jesus. It’s nothing more or nothing less than that.
And we wanted this song and subsequently the record overall to be that plain; this is hip hop music about Jesus. And I think it’s an age thing that desired this simplicity.
As ALERT312 this is now our 9th (?!?!?!) record. And if there is one thing ALERT312 likes to do - we like to do the most. Our music was always dense, layered, live, intricate and intentional. And there was always a splash of a contrarian attitude in there as well; we never wanted to do what was en vogue. We wanted to be counter to what was happening at the time. Some of the time it worked, the end results would be lofty art music inspired by hip hop that had something to say. But a handful of times the results didn’t work; some songs would be too left of center, too alternative to be hip-hop, too dense to be memorable, too artsy and quite honestly too complicated.
So as Esteban and I both turned 40 - and have now passed 40 by a couple of years- we are now viewing our creative gifts, creative efforts, and the time, energy and intentions very differently.
Simply put, we desired simplicity in our creative pursuits. And ALERT312 in its current state unintentionally became very complicated.
So when we wrapped ‘The Lord is Beauty’ - and all of its subsequent records - we were extremely proud and satisfied with what we were able to make and share. But we didn’t want to do it again. The process was too long, too strenuous, and too complicated. We both knew it was time for something different.
As ALERT312 we felt we had said everything we had wanted to say. Esteban felt that he had written all the songs, hooks, and chants that were meant to be written as a front man for the band. And I had felt that we had arrived at a musical palette that was focused, balanced and authentic for the 3 of us.
We were content. We were good with not making another ALERT312 record for a while. But Esteban still had a conviction to teach, preach and communicate through song.
And I was still making music on a daily basis. But now things were different.
Esteban just wanted to rap. Bars only. And I wanted to make beats. No fluff. What had happened is that we arrived full circle. We were back at square one.
We approached our crafts as with the passion of a 17 year old. But with the wisdom and experience of a 42 year old.
Esteban pulled out his old notebooks. He went back to verses he had written years ago, but didn’t quite fit ALERT312 songs. I powered down my synths. I put away my pedals (well, some of them). And I went back to the literal physical crates (and digital ones too) to sample the music that inspired me in the first place - the soul music of Latin America. No sample packs. No song starters. No premade loops. No Splice. Just a couple seconds of music that caught my ear.
And that is the soil from which HPSKTD ONE is birthed.
Some sampled seconds of a MPB record that is chopped and looped in order for EB to wax poetic about the Trinity. The Heavenly Pops, the Supreme Kid, and the Dove.
- MRL ONE / Socials
