Configa and HaStyle are back with ConfigHas Crates
Production is lush, Rhymes are Complex in this Sophomore LP from the Dynamic TransAtlantic Duo
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Let’s talk about UK producer Configa for a second. Fresh from production and EP duties for Arrested Development’s new LP Don’t Fight Your Demons, dropped last September, as well as some additional remixes with both AD and MC Speech, Configa comes out the gate in February this year still blazing hot.
If you aren’t familiar with the masterblaster from Newcastle England UK, take a moment to go familiarize yourself with the prolific producer’s work at Bandcamp. Besides working with Arrested Development, Configa’s has worked with many MCs, most notably Jahi from Chuck D’s Enemy Radio, Fro Magnum Man, Reks, and Spoonie G. For an underground producer, Configa is all over everywhere, working tirelessly to put out hard hitting BoomBap hip hop.
And now, Configa has dropped his second LP with MC and musical partner HaStyle from Queens NYC. These two have worked together on many projects in the past, and this record is their second LP collaboration, the first being 2016's HaStility (H1). Both MC and Producer are committed to making dope true hip hop, which maintains a sound that violates the norms of modern rap music, turning your headphones (and this music is definitely headphones not optional) into a time machine that brings you back to a time filled with uncleared samples layered in myriad ways into lush production, set behind lyrics that twist around and every which way and are delivered at a million miles a minute without a single triplet in sight.
ConfigHas Crates, released on February 5, 2021, continues the work that H1 started: If you like that hard boombap style of Hip Hop and lyrics that make you think “Wait a second… what did he just say?! OH SH-T!” about ten times every song, you will simply love this new outting from Configa and HaStyle. It kicks you in the eardrums, and turns the dopeness to 11 from the first bar, leaving it there until the last little chime jingle on the song called “Outro”.
But I understand that a lot of fans of modern rap have not heard music like this before. They were never told about the difference between rap and hip hop — by which I mean the lifestyle that the music is a part of. “The New Haberdasher,” you might ask, “how come music don’t sound like this anymore these days when I turn on the radio? This sounds so different from the Drake or Lil Pump that they are playing. What is this? And how come it is so much more interesting?”
Well, this is the music that still plays loudly in the Underground. So much that is associated with Configa, and other producers that are still making BoomBap beats, instead of programming samplers and 808s to synthesizers, have these same textures that were largely driven underground by clearance and the “success” that came with rap becoming the biggest genre of music on the radio back in the 00s, and then the rise of music sharing programs like MySpace and then SoundCloud in the 10s. Yes, that democratized rap — it made it possible for any person with a “808 Emu” in their laptop to build a beat and rap over it. But in the process it drove the more richly produced tunes off the radio first and then out of mind.
This is not to say that these harder beats and more cinematic production is rare or inaccessible. You just have to know 1) that music like this will not ever be pop — it will always be this underground sound that is preferred to those who heard KRS One and agreed that hip hop was different from rap, and 2) the preference of the masses for the other style will ensure that the producers who produce music in this fashion will be able to remain independent, and consequently, much freer to experiment with their sound and their rhythm patterns than the stuff which is designed to sound precisely like the last song because it is made to sell records and that is it, though likely less commercially successful or widely distributed. In other words, you got to know where to look for it, but it is there.
Configa finds himself in a nice group of peers. The first time I heard Configa’s production was on the album by independent MC Fro Magnum Man’s 2020 EP Curmudgeon. My immediate reaction was “Man, this Configa makes music that has this same aesthetic as the producers from Portishead,” which is one of my favorite bands, and was one of the main groups placed (against their preference, it turns out) into the category of Trip Hop. More specifically, Configa’s production sounded like the Quaker’s S/T, which if you know the Record, is Fuzzface (Geoff Barrows) and 7-Stu-7 from Portishead, joined by Australian Producer Katalyst. That record itself was heavily influenced by legendary producer and Stone’s Throw label mate MF Doom (RIP). I mentioned this fact to Configa when I was complimenting his work, and I think he took that as a compliment.
Getting turned on to Configa’s work opened the door for me last year, who had been listening to that old Quakers’ Record over and over and lamenting that there wasn’t music that sounded like this all over the place. Suddenly, it was like I had hit a vein of hip hop Gold which was buried deep in the underground, and I was determined to see how rich that vein was. Hearing that record led me to Configa’s work with Jahi, who I had already known from his work with Public Enemy and Chuck D, and then back to a name I had not heard in years, which was Arrested Development. As 2020 went on and it sucked for everyone else, I was listening to some of the best music I had heard in years.
September 25 last year was a fantastic day for hip hop, especially this kind of rich, sample heavy type of production. No less than 5 major hip hop records were released that day, and they all majorly drew from this BoomBap sound, this older sound that wasn’t a common sound on commercial radio, but which was so much harder, so much better sounding, so much better made, with instrumentation and lyrics and rhymes that were smart and thoughtful and brought social issues to the foreground. Arrested Development released their new album, which was the best of the year in my opinion, and so did Public Enemy, and so did Paris, and so did Nappy Roots. These records all feature masterful production that focuses on that BoomBap sound and/or unique production (in the case of the Nappy Roots’ record) which so characterizes the Underground of Hip Hop today.
And then in November, the nominations for Best Rap Album were released and they contained actual hip hop artists: People like Royce the 5'9" who put out a hip hop concept album last year, Nas, and Jay Electronica, who I discovered had some of the dopest boom bap earlier this century on his 2009 “Exhibit A-C” singles, and veteran MC Freddie Gibbs from Gary Indiana were all nominated for Grammys. It is a great time for the return of that harder sound that the new fans aren’t used to: The Critical Acclaim that BoomBap is receiving now, while “lean” and autotune are still the preference of radio listeners and spotify subscribers is telling about the different taste of those who appreciate, versus others who just consume. And though there are a lot of great underground records coming out that aren’t that Boom Bap sound, like the interesting and lyrically connected Dawn of the Dead from 2020, there is no doubt that the BoomBap still kicks harder than ANYTHING on the radio or on Gen Z’s playlists.
Into this dynamic environment, Configa and HaStyle drop their newest record, ConfigHas Crates. Configa says of the record that this is a collection of music which was recorded between 2013 and 2015, but was held back because it was intended to be part of HaStility 2. Configa does all the production on the record, and all the music bears his trademark sound, that multi-layered, heavily instrumental, and almost baroque backing track which highlights thick beats that kick on the 2 and the 4. The record starts off heavy and never ever lets up, aiming at reminding people what real hip hop production is supposed to sound like. The tracks were originally mixed by a fellow named E Blaize, but the remasters provided in this record are from Configa himself.
The main lyricist on the record, HaStyle is clearly the equivalent on the mic to Configa on the boards. His lyrics and wordplay is masterful, and easily delivered, like the hardest poetry and lyrical acrobatics are performed without any exertion. HaStyle’s delivery is clear, his staccato is perfectly matched to the rhythm, none of it is sloppy, but on the contrary, is as precise as a scalpel, and just as sharp.
Together, these two form a potent pair, and the record is a good early entry to kick 2021 off, standing side to side with other fantastic records like Speech’s new LP Expansion. Many of the lyrics feature commentary on the state of hip hop, or the state of Society. Lyrically speaking, it is so difficult to pick standouts from such excellence in lyricism, but I will say one of my favorites is “Lik a Shot” which is a song which plays with stereotypes found in popular rap music like booze and guns, taking it to typical levels of hyperbole, but suggesting, of course consequences by reminding the listener, that people are in jail for imitating what they hear in rap.
I also loved “Mind Control” which talks about how we had a black President, and yet nothing really changed because of it: the government still conducts surveillance and experiments on Americans and then that that stuff works itself into the conscience of the people until they internalize it themselves. And another excellent track, for the smokers listening, called “Sticky” describes affection, to put it lightly, for herb. That song has the best featured collaboration on the record, with veteran MC Rah Digga, who pulls no punches and leaves nothing on the field with her fiery verse. HaStyle facetiously ends the song with “Say No to Drugs” to which Digga adds “Tell em HaS…” and HaStyle then finishes with “Light em up…”
A lot of the lyrics on this record are kind of grim when you really think about them, but this is not supposed to be party music. We cannot deny that the world is really messed up. We cannot ignore our world. By far the song which spoke to me personally was “Soldiers March”, that begins with simulated coverage from Channel Zero, (a reference to PE’s brainwashing TV station that has apparently graduated from playing just soaps and talk shows, and now includes fake news from the front lines) and then switched to the “war Report” from HaStyle.
HaStyle’s “war report” describe the experience of life in the military. As a veteran myself, I know that the military machine grinds up poor people, blacks, Latinos and whites alike. The War is not over, not by a long stretch, and the way the song ends is specifically pointed: “If I could do it all again, Mutha Fuc-a I would pick up a trade, cause I’m in rehabilitation with prosthetic legs.” This music reminds me of the 2003 Paris song “AWOL” which was an explicitly anti-war song about the lies that are told to trick poor people into joining the service, when it is always intended that they end up as cannon folder.
Besides the work of Rah Digga, which I talked about above, the record also excellently features a number of MCs who do guest duty including Brand Nubians’ Sadat X, longtime MC Wordsworth, who, beside his own music, also did work with BlackStar, A Tribe Called Quest, and Masta Ace, Hardcore legend Nine, and Organized Konfusion co-founder (with Pharoahe Monch) Prince Po. The record also has verses from El Da Sensei, Chino XL and Rashan. All in all, the star power that comes in to record with Configa and HaStyle represents some of East Coast Hip Hop’s best underground and hardcore MCs, and fits perfectly with the hard as nails beats and precision bombing lyrical delivery.
Production wise, Configa delivers on this album. I can’t say enough about how banging this record is, but beats aside, the instrumentation on this record goes from acoustic guitars and bass on “Something I Said” to echos of Philly Soul on the opening of “Water Colors”, to string orchestras and Wall of Sound production on “Enemies Closer”, to the sound of soldiers marching in sync with the beat in the aptly named “Soldiers March” to psychedelic swirly whistles and tinny brass behind the track which add lighthearted touches to “Sticky”.
Some of the most complex production on the record is on the song “AlphaBits” which starts with something that sounds like a MoTown bassline and a bonkers-speed sample of the workhorse of Hip Hop “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band in the background, and then launches into an uptempo melange of music which seems to build in tone, though the sample is repeated. The production choices on this record always keep the listener on its feet, and are never boring or repetitive. They are evocative, and set a tone for the the Lyrics to lay on, painting a beautiful, if slightly askew and spooky picture at times.
In conclusion, ConfigHas Crates is nothing less than an excellent offering from producer Configa and MC HaStyle. It holds your interest and never gets boring: I have had it on repeat since I got a copy from Configa a couple days ago, and have been blasting it in my headphones the entire time I was writing this review. It easily maintains that excellence of both production and lyrical delivery I have come to expect from the Boom-Bap hip hop I prefer. I wouldn’t expect less, of course from Configa, who turns everything he releases to gold, and from what I have heard, hasn’t missed yet. And the thing about HaStyle: I heard of his work because of his association with Configa, but it just makes so much sense, that I just want them to make an actual band and do more music together. Their symbiotic styles just mesh so well, they both come hard and fit really well together.
I think ConfigHas Crates is a record you will not want to miss. And the best way to get ahold of it is on Configa’s Bandcamp site (which, if it is not already called this, should be called the new home of Underground Hip Hop). Configa has all his own music there, but he also has so much more out there, including his record with Bay Area MC Jahi called Forward Future. You can also find his music elsewhere, or get ahold of him on Twitter at Dr Configa (PhD). You can follow HaStyle on Twitter at @HaStyleMusicNYC.
Without Further Ado, I present to you Configa and HaStyle- ConfigHas Crates
Like all articles on The New Haberdasher, this story is presented to you for free. If you like what I do, consider supporting my work with a small monetary contribution at my Patreon and thank you.
