photo credit: Iliana Kanellopoulou
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“For me, it’s the law to play behind,” notes David “Mr DM” Mrakpor, multi-instrumentalist of London duo Blue Lab Beats. “It just feels better.”
He’s reflecting on the laid-back groove of “Labels,” a highlight from Motherland Journey, their debut LP for the venerated Blue Note Records. To the unacquainted ear, the song’s rhythm section may sound out of whack. Mrakpor’s bass bobs and weaves over the kick/snare/hi-hat of producer Namali Kwaten (NK-OK)—a booming, slippery pocket born into the lineage of A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, J Dilla and Flying Lotus.
“Me and David, from the beginning of making music, have had the same playlist,” Kwaten adds. “Of course, the drums are swinging, but a really key part is that David understands how to put the bass behind the drums deliberately. If the bass was always landing on every single hit on time, it wouldn’t feel the same.”
It’s perfect imperfection— just off the beat and more soulful because of it. And the pair seem to naturally arrive t that symbiosis. They started out crafting beats in bedrooms, gradually rising to high[1]profile remixes, production work (Angélique Kidjo) and opening slots for icons both vintage ( jazz-fusion great Roy Ayers) and modern (virtuoso bassist Thundercat). Along the way, they’ve also chopped together plenty of their own tracks, amassing streams in the millions for an expressive sound blending the harmonic language of jazz with the sleek software aesthetic of electronica.
Motherland Journey plunges them deeper into the cinematic, weaving a crew of guest singers and rappers into dense tracks that blur the line between played and programmed. The final product is expansive: the stuttering synth-funk of “A Vibe,” the cosmic bass harmonics of “Inhale & Exhale,” the after[1]midnight R&B of “Slow Down,” the glitchy smooth jazz of “Warp.” But for all its variety, these 17 songs mostly began the same way, with Kwaten building beats from live percussion and programmed rhythms, creating a framework for Mrakpor’s chops on the guitar, bass and keys.
“Sometimes we’ll make a section together, like a middle[1]eight or bridge, just to give it a little substance and variation,” Mrakpor says. “The entire body of the track is pretty much there. Sometimes we’ll decide if a rapper, vocalist or maybe even a horn player will go on top. It depends on what the track sounds like.”
“If I’m hearing a chorus in my head straight away or something, then it’ll be like, ‘Cool, there’s definitely a singer,’” Kwaten adds. “If the chords are moving a lot, then I’ll be like, ‘An instrumentalist should definitely go on this.’ David will compose everything harmony-wise, and I’ll make the final decisions of, ‘It’s definitely this instrument or this [singer] or this rapper I’ve been in contact with.’”
The key for this album, created over roughly two and a half years, was “experimenting” more with vocal arrangements— using rappers, singers or a combination of both.
“I was in a hip-hop band way before called the Age of L.U.N.A., with two rappers and a lead singer, so I knew about vocal arrangement and layering since it was three different people,” Kwaten says. “But I was taking my drum machine to jam sessions as well—I did that both to join in the jam and to understand how these different musicians were speaking to each other instrumentally. Especially in hip-hop production, a lot of producers don’t really understand actual musician communication that well.”
For Blue Lab Beats, that communication is now more crucial than ever. Several tunes make use of an expanded ensemble: A full string section, saxophonist and trumpet player highlight “I’ll Be Here for You,” which recalls the sleek sound of ‘90s R&B-pop; then there’s the horn-anchored title track, which emerged from a late[1]night writing session in Ghana with producer KillBeatz and boasts a vocal sample from late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.
“Going to Ghana inspired us so much,” Kwaten says. “Mixtape culture is still a thing there—it’s thriving. They use their own separate app, so there’s a massive gallery of music that no one knows about. Me and David heard and saw all of this, and we were like, ‘This is insane’—the amount of collabs. It was just beautiful to see that. Fela Kuti’s publishers reached out to us. They were like, ‘We want you guys to use any Fela Kuti a cappella, and they gave us a massive list.”
That elite level of trust is warranted. As Motherland Journey proves, Blue Lab Beats understand that groove isn’t a science—it’s something you feel. “It really is [an art form],” Kwaten says of their behind-the-beat style. “It’s just years and years of practice— understanding the foundation of pocket.”