Listen to EXMILITARY here
I used to have a favorite song. I used to have a best friend and a favorite basketball player too. The difference between great things and your favorite things is the meaning you put into them. It's not that my life has no meaning anymore, but it's considerably less dramatic and my music consumption is inversely proportional to the stability in my life, so either I find new reasons to listen to music or I find other ways to handle my creative and emotional outbursts.
I would've probably hated Death Grips ten years ago. Hell, they regularly give people reasons to hate them. I don't hate them now, though. They're a band for people like me, who stopped finding satisfaction and meaning in experiencing music the same way everybody does and they've taken the world by storm in 2011 with a mixtape titled EXMILITARY.
The reason why I chose to review EXMILITARY today and not GOVERNMENT PLATES like I originally planned is that it's a logical starting point for such a conceptual band: it's their first known recording, arguably their most accessible and the band made it available for free on Soundcloud. so you can experience it too. Death Grips' EXMILITARY a fascinating mixtape that blurs and redefines the boundaries of traditional hip-hop, blends in industrial and noise influence and explores the depths of violence and depravity in the heart of men. It's a multidimensional and challenging recording that makes you feel like you're doing something dangerous by giving it attention.
EXMILITARY announces its colours right off the bat as it begins with a sampling of a Charles Manson speech. It sets the perfect mood for what you're about to hear. The first two songs Beware and Guillotine are two of their most straighforward efforts. They are as close as Death Grips will get from traditional hip-hop. What I appreciate, particularly in Beware, is the ingenuous collage of samplings set to the apocalyptic poetry of MC Ride that creates something new and more alive than the Jane's Addiction and Dickie Burton songs it was created from. Guillotine is a more naked song, relying only on Zach Hill's drums, electronic sounds and, of course, Ride's own visions of hell.
It takes a little time to process, but you'll press play a second time.
The more EXMILITARY progresses, the more chaotic and unpredictable it gets, like a mind collapsing unto itself. It doesn't feel unlistenable at any point though because the process is subtle and gradual. Tracks like Thru the Walls and I Want It I Need It are downright loopy and hostile to the listener at times, but it alwas feels it's by design. They challenge you to keep listening, but always give you a reason to stay. When I hear lyrics like: ''As you keep getting higher/Lights look like they're on fire/Soon all that's left of you/Is your most primal desires," it helps me forget any kind of superficial hostility and help me immerse myself in what the song is really about.
Death Grips clearly isn't for everybody, but it is dynamic and self-aware music explores the very reasons why people make art. What I love about EXMILITARY is that it's the logical extension, an output of what it's about: intellectual and existential suffering. The violence contained on that record feels real and threatening, like the utmost private thoughts of the members of the band. Blurring the lines between life and art is bold and exciting in an era where it's difficult to draw the line between art and entertainment. Of course, Death Grips must be concerned with sales to some degree as they need to make a living like everybody, but it is not the priority in their creative process.
I don't like Death Grips like I love Motörhead or EPMD growing up, but I don't think it's the kind of relationship they've established with their audience anyway. They've brought the conceptual hammer to their fans several times in the past, showing they prioritize the music over the lifestyle first and foremost and encouraging anybody who takes interest in their music to do the same. Death Grips are more than just a hip-hop outfit, they're anachronistic art purists hell bent on creating new paradigms from the ashes of a burning empire. They are upstanding, uncompromising and completely hostile to me and this is why I love them.
