Suicideyear
[US]
In a hypersaturated, post-Internet/post-everything moment in music, Suicideyear's bracingly singular take on Southern rap and trap stands apart. The young Baton Rouge-based producer born James Prudhomme collects sounds and textures from a glut of online sources and style archives, transforming them (as Pitchfork notes) into something of his own.
Prudhomme's early output ranged from producing for Sad Boys' Yung Lean, Rome Fortune, and Main Attrakionz, to Dem Franchize Boyz edits and a split single with Kaytranada on Bromance. However, it was his 2013 Japan mixtape, merging hip hop with mid-to-late century American minimalism, that brought Suicideyear to broader attention. The following year, Daniel Lopatin's Software imprint released Prudhomme's highly kinetic and self-reflective Remembrance EP, which recast often-visited themes of love and loss against the backdrop of the American south. "Remembrance deals with letting go," he explains. "The name stems from my attempt to accept the loss and difficulty of the past year without dwelling, instead trying to move on."
