From the skateboarding spots of his late teens straight into the dusty crate-digging trenches of 2008, Tokyo-born, Chiba-based beatmaker Bugseed has long been a staple of authentic underground hip-hop.
Armed with an obsession for ’90s boom-bap and tools like FL Studio, his early sessions laid down a raw foundation that eventually sat tucked away on a hard drive for 18 years. Now those foundational sounds have finally escaped the vault.
Bugseed has spent the nearly two decades since building an impressive global footprint across the instrumental hip-hop scene, working with producers including ILL.SUGI (City Mind, SILLA), Deadchannel9000 (Beat Down LP), Alto, and Hitokilli Chiang-Shih (HEAVY SMOKE GARDEN EP). His catalog has also appeared through respected independent labels including Cascade Records, Cold Busted, Radio Juicy, Cheeba Cheeba Records, and Raund Haus.
But before all of that came the raw material, the loops, chops, samples, and dusty drum patterns that helped establish Bugseed’s sound.
Bugseed – 2008 “Unreleased Beats Vol.1”
2008 “Unreleased Beats Vol.1” is a collection of Bugseed’s earliest beats, created in 2008, the same year he began making tracks. According to Bugseed, these recordings were previously unreleased and remained buried on a hard drive until finally being unveiled 18 years later.
The 14-track collection captures that early obsession with sampling. There is no unnecessary polish getting in the way of the loops.
The album runs through 14 cuts, opening with a jazzy track called “Feelsogood” and moving through “Doraemon party,” “Against myself,” “Android,” “Boom,” “Garbage,” “Sneak,” “Horror,” “Nostalgic,” “Okaki,” “Make you feel that way,” “Memory,” “Nature,” and “Vision.”
The second track “Doraemon party” sets the tone, with sharp sample flips and a funky arrangement. “Boom” is one of those beats that sounds ready for a rhyme cypher. Another standout was “Garbage” with a classic horn-driven feel, while “Sneak”, was another nasty sample flip with plenty of neck snapping energy.
“Nature” shifted gears with a laidback jazzy feel without losing the dusty flavor. “Vision,” the final cut, rides out on an ill piano sample made for those who appreciate the art of taking a simple loop and making it work.
Stay connected with Bugseed via his official Linktree.
