Slowly creeping from the darkness like some sort of demonic figure in the night, we find the beginnings of 8rooklyn 8atman’s “Chitty Bang” ready to spellbind anything and anyone who comes within earshot of the growing malice in the melody. Long before he begins to regale us with stories of life, strife and wisdom through his bitter-cold rapping, 8rooklyn 8atman is already setting quite the mood in this track through an instrumental potency that you just can’t find every day in hip-hop anymore. The music here was conceived with the intention of getting us eager for whatever’s coming at us over the next horizon, which, to be fair, this composition sports in droves. There’s no telling what we’re in for before hitting play – this is surreal rap for a generation in demand of something smart out of pop music.
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8rooklyn 8atman’s rapping is really seamless, and I think it’s obvious that he doesn’t see much of a use for heavy augmentations within his vocal delivery. There’s a bit of modulation, particularly in the midsection of the verses, but there’s never any obvious Auto-Tuning going on in his execution. It’s nice to find someone in hip-hop who isn’t as obsessed with manipulating the soundboard as he is creating intelligent content with a cohesive narrative, because in all actuality, this kind of a player has become increasingly difficult to locate in today’s dramatically experimental climate in both hip-hop and the greater independent music world in general.
Try as you might, you’re not likely to hear another groove quite as overtly alt-jazz in nature inside of a hip-hop track like that which is in “Chitty Bang.” I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that 8rooklyn 8atman grew up on a mixture of rap, rock and fusion, mostly because he puts a lot of energy into making the beats he rides as important to the listener as any of the actual words he rattles off are. That can’t help but make a critic like myself think of everyone from Tupac to Led Zeppelin and even Sun Ra; when you’re using every part of an instrumental setup to make your message to the audience clear, you’re no longer working with underground tools exclusively – you’re in the big leagues.
“Chitty Bang” fades away on the whim of a bludgeoning bassline, but even in these indulgent final moments of the song, it doesn’t seem as though 8rooklyn 8atman is trying to max out a credit that he hasn’t earned yet; he’s got the talent to back up everything he’s doing here and then some. Rap has always been an acquired taste for those of us who can appreciate its most endearing of components, but I don’t necessarily think you need to be an aficionado of the hip-hop genre to have some love for what 8rooklyn 8atman is doing in “Chitty Bang.” He’s got creativity that doesn’t grow on trees, and in this single, he’s making it work for him in a fashion I definitely approve of.
Troy Johnston