The Underdogg - EP

‘The Underdogg’ is DJ Tre’s Hyperdub debut EP for Hyperdub. He contributed two brilliant tracks to our DJ Rashad tribute set ‘Next Life’, but compared to other longterm members of the Teklife footwork crew, he hasn’t released much, so we’re very happy to bring him out to play again here.

Tre has been about since the early days, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. Encouraged by Rashad and his partner DJ Spinn, he has been making tracks since 1999, over a decade before footwork’s ascent to global popularity.

On this EP his sound, for the most part, is rooted in the speedy 4/4 of juke. It features a sparse and minimalist take on footwork but he’s got a knack of adding in tight little switches and details that keep the tracks moving as essential dance floor weapons.

The EP starts with ‘It’s House Hybrid’, which has its musical roots in Chip E’s ‘It’s House’, one of the very earliest house tracks. It’s a tried and tested dancefloor devastator on dubplate, built on a crackling and hiccuping juke 4/4 which grows in intensity, until an Amen drum break cracks it open and joins the kick in the onslaught.

‘A Hammond Jam’ matches a moody organ with rolling bass and drums. ‘Get Dat Ass Up!’ bounces against a twitching melody. ‘Tha Rhodez Jam!’ micro-edits a delicate Rhodes piano sample into flickering shapes against switching 8 bar patterns of drums that go from rolling to soca-like pulses with whistles. Essential tools for DJs on the hyperplane.