Live Review: Experience the 'Delpha Daze' with El Delpha's trippy hip-hop

Brisbane artist EL DELPHA has started 2018 off right with ‘Delpha Daze’ – a trippy and experimental take on lo-fi hip-hop.

After floating around many of Brisbane’s live venues as a live musician and DJ, Delpha is turning his talents to solo work. Mastered by Kelly Hibbert (who has mastered greats such as Madlib, J Dilla and Flying Lotus), ‘Delpha Daze’ is the first taste of his upcoming mixtape, and it’s a refreshingly experimental take on hip-hop, blending elements of lo-fi, trip-hop, downtempo and alternative hip-hop into one mind-melting package.

A warbled, heavily effected loop of some guitar and a deliciously smooth bassline set the scene while samples of piano and what sounds like a saxophone filter in and out amongst the wall of sound. ‘You’re playing yourself,’ Delpha flows, his voice almost drowning among the samples yet still commanding the listener's attention. It’s rare to see an emcee bury himself in the mix like this, but it’s clear that Delpha’s music is less so something to listen to and more so something to experience.

‘Delpha Daze’ sounds a little like playing an A Tribe Called Quest record at the wrong speed, in the best way possible. Delpha takes a more modern alternative/jazz hip-hop sounds and gives it the DJ Screw treatment with his own charismatic twist. Lethargic yet immediate, the expert production submerges you in samples and effects until it’s over before you know it. It’s weird and it’s bold, but it’s just the kind of twist on hip-hop that I love to see. I can't wait to hear more from El Delpha in 2018.

IMAGE BY ARTHUR WILDHAIR

WORDS BY MAX LEWIS

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