Footwork jungle is a feeling…
“The Big Bass Outlaws take that feeling and light it on fire – and the resulting smoke is about to collapse the lungs of everyone on Earth,” said QBass, poetically aggressive when he decides to open up. And, see, he’s the shy one…
((( go to https://soundcloud.com/big-bass-outlaws/crookz-free-dl for a free DL of their new tune )))
The Big Bass Outlaws is comprised of three members; 5ifty$ix K (aka StrangeFlow); Warp (aka KillaFreq); & the lovable QBass. It’s a group that reps the Dynasty Shit record label as hard as fucking possible, taking the insanely fast 160bpm+ combination of footwork/juke and jungle/drum’n’bass – and taking it into a vicious and hardcore territory. It’s a combination that’s been pioneered by StrangeFlow (or 5ifty$ix K) and, as he develops his style even further and and maintains several websites (including JukeMusicForum.com, DynastyShit.com, Bassadelic.com, and several others – rumor has it he just got chopnscrew.com) he decided to set up a new project, which leans towards an increasingly noisy territory than most have come to be accustomed to with footwork (or even footwork jungle).
ME: Would you say you’re kind of like a shitty trap remix of a Prodigy song?
“What? No, fuck off, why would you even say something like that? No browsin muhfuggas here, not with any cutty kinda breaks or nothing, what are you talkin about? We bring noise, tons of meticulously shattered beats, bass, and more passion than a lot of fuckas want, watchu on about?” said Warp, angry at such a question.
ME: I love your hair.
“Great, and I hate your fucking face.”
…
So, pretty soon here, the Big Bass Outlaws are going to be releasing a new album, and it’s sure to be pretty ‘cutty,’ and hardcore. DynastyShit.com is gearing up to release a lot more breakcore footwork, and, actually, already released the world’s first breakcore footwork album with 5ifty$ix K’s, ‘Hardcore is Back, Vol. 1,’ available now at DynastyShit.com. It’s a sound that, so far, has seen a small cult following, which somewhat resembles the slow but steady climb that other underground or ‘underdog’ hardcore styles have seen in electronic music, such as jungle in the 1990s rave scene.
ME: Do you see the parallel, 5ifty? QBass?
“Why would you specifically ask everyone except me?” asked KillaFreq.
ME: Well, I just thought you didn’t like me.
“Well, I don’t. You compared us to a shitty Prodigy trap remix, not even sure what that means, eh! Watcha tryin to do then? inna’ narf!”
ME: It’s been said that you’re typically very nice offstage; very sincere – but that you can become a vacuum of hate if people insult you personally or compare your music to a prodigy trap remix. Why is it that something like that pushes your buttons so much? And what’s that slang supposed to be, anyway? Chicago mixed with London mixed with Future?
“Mate, ya need to stop with this, right? We’re trying to put out some music, you’ve been hostile from the start, though I do appreciate you putting our label and music in a favorable light, that part was nice of you, ya just got to fix up, is all…”
And with that, I decided to stop talking and start fixin up, with a short biography of each of these members.
It should be noted that I didn’t actually turn on any ‘vacuum of hatred’ in the room DURING the interview, but that actually, I insulted StrangeFlow by saying something to the tune of, “Goddamn it, Strange, ANOTHER fucking release? Another project? Yea, they’re decent but fuck off, yea?” But StrangeFlow slapped me in the face (with his mind) and then sat quietly in his chair, smiling, high as fucking possible the entire time. This set the interview off to a pretty bad start. I blame him, personally. Ah well.
Look out for their new one comin out on Dyansty Shit this month. It should be a fucking good one.
You can tell from the video, Warp is the chick with crazy hair and a bandanna to conciel her identity; 5ifty$ix K (StrangeFlow) is the one with the cool stereo helmet on (you know, the one you see a hundred times a day on this site, cuz he also runs this site) and QBass is the cool DJ with, uh.. (how do I put this?..) well, yea, those are hits of acid in place of the glasses… Four hits to each eye…
“I don’t have a problem seeing, but these glasses definitely help my vision….” he says with a smile as he puts his glasses on and looks over at StrangeFlow, who is still looking higher than I’ll ever be in my life.
Now, fixin’ up, here are those short biographies I promised…
The Big Bass Outlaws are an all-star trio of talented musicians who each bring something unique to the table. Warp provides the finely-combed and expertly mangled noise, QBass provides the breaks and the rhythmic knowledge, and 5ifty$ix K chops everything up and masterfully sequences it all together – with everyone having their say as to what direction the music will flow. Individual character biographies are below:
Warp (aka KillaFreq)
Warp is an avant-garde noise enthusiast (and former bank robber) from Oakland who invented thousands of audio manipulation techiques while spending time in prison when she was (finally) caught by the long arm of the law. Before breaking out of prison, she was known by her cellmates as, “Noise Bomba,” for her burglary techniques; namely, she would walk calmly into a bank with dozens of portable stereos attached to her arms, legs, and torso – and she would suddenly start blasting raw noise and feedback so loud it would terrify and shock everyone around her into submission as she went about her heist. She continued with these types of activities for several months until her tirade came to a halt as she tried, unsuccessfully, to rob a police station while under the influence of (a ‘heroic dose’ of) LSD. While travelling around on the lamb, she met up with StrangeFlow, and the two decided to combine talents.
5ifty$ix K (aka StrangeFlow)
Spending half of his time in Michigan, and the other half on the West Coast, StrangeFlow has had a long history of creating electronic music and hip hop, ever since he was a kid – but it wasn’t until he took on a new footwork moniker (5ifty$ix K), built the Dynasty Shit record label from the ground up, and created his signature sound (combining the intensity and meticulously cut-up style of breakcore with the musicality and street / dance aesthetics of juke/footwork) – that things started getting really crazy. A new chapter in electronic music had started, instantly attracting a cult group of fans. 5ifty had long considered forming a group, and it was at this particular moment in time that this new hardcore sound attracted the interest of a prolific DJ from Japan known only as QBass.
QBass (Qベース aka あまりにも多くのビート)
Qbass’ past is mostly a mystery, but what is known about him is that he came to the States from Japan a short time ago – ah, and also, that he has the biggest record collection on the planet. It’s not uncommon to hear snippets of hundreds of beats in a single recording by the Outlaws, though chances are good you won’t get to see most of his collection unless you get to know him pretty well, as he has multiple storage facilities and secret warehouses throughout the world where he keeps a majority of his old vinyl, tapes, and various recordings. Though, he always carries around a backpack with sound equipment and tons of beats he’s been working on. Q is a very low-key dude, but he definitely holds his own as a member of the Outlaws. Also – no, he doesn’t need to wear glasses; but yes, those glasses do help with his vision…
The Big Bass Outlaws are a hardcore bass collective, and the first group to rep the footwork/breakcore sound that they’re known for – and they also rep the Dynasty Shit record label as hard as fucking possible! – that is, until they inevitably get completely shut down, either for their radical noise-fused bass music or for their blatant disregard for the law… It’s extremely illegal to sell a full gallon of liquid LSD – but even more illegal to do it twice, and for this reason, they really are outlaws, shadowed by law enforcement and always on the lamb.
The group’s location can never be publically known, as they are constantly dodging the police, staying with sympathetic friends and fans, moving from safe house to safe house across the country, every week in a different city. If you’re at all interested in listening to any of their music, I suggest you do it as soon as possible, before it gets permanently banned and the group is thrown in prison.
ME: So, that picture you guys put on your video for that ‘Crookz’ track, uh, well obviously it looks like LSD. I mean, it REALLY looks like it… Was that photoshop, or was that just, uh, fucking LSD? I know you guys have a certain….”past,” with certain chemicals, and uh… ?
I expected an answer, or perhaps a tasty fist sandwich to my groin, but alas!, neither. Instead, one of them (I won’t say which one, but, yes, it was StrangeFlow) handed me something from his pocket. Skeptical, I took it from him, unfolded it, revealing that it was a huge poster. I’ll displayed it at the end of this article, for those interested. It was pretty powerful. And not visually… (actually, yes, visually it WAS pretty intense, but it took about an hour to kick in….)
ME: One more question… I’ve heard a rumor that Yuri is a part of your group. At least, that’s the rumor that he started. Is there any – uh…?
“For the sixth time today, Yuri is not part of our band.” said StrangeFlow, suddenly coming out of his daze.
ME: Ah, thought you’d join us, did you, Strange? Good. So, did the –
I was promptly interrupted by the three of them suddenly looking at their wristwatches, then looking at each other, saying, “We have to go to the next interview in five minutes, we’ll talk to you later.”
It should be noted that QBass was the only one who was actually wearing a watch.
Well, I’m not sure what I got from the interview… But – oh, I did get one thing, that’s for sure! That poster that Strangeflow handed me – well, I thought it was a poster… I mean… It was a foldout poster, or at least, the size of one, but after having my fingers on it for just a few seconds, I realized what it was and promptly decided to drive home for the day, picking up a bottle of hard whiskey on the home so that I could black out from alcohol in the safety of my own home, before the ‘poster’ kicked in, because uh… knowing the assholes who gave it to me, it was definitely some strong, uh… some strong poster:
Here’s a DL of their new track, ‘Crookz.’
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