Underground, experimental, abstract hip hop
Fatboi Sharif (from Rahway, NJ) has a style of his own and time after time with each release continues to create his own genre that intrigues and pushes boundaries equally. With a force of energy his stage performance is trance like how it keeps the crowd on the edge of there seat with each moment.
Icky Reels (aka Ay Fast) is a producer and visual artist crafting warped, futuristic beat music that blends experimental hip-hop, IDM, and ambient noise into something wholly his own. Praised by The Wire as “constantly thrilling and completely compelling,” his debut for Tygr Rawwk, Plips, was named the #1 electronic album of 2021. Known for unpredictable sound design and surreal textures, Icky has collaborated with artists like Beans, Fatboi Sharif, Hemlock Ernst, and ELUCID. Whether on stage or in the studio, he continues to push sonic boundaries with a distinct style that’s both chaotic and deeply melodic.
Thomas Wincek operates in a number of disparate projects, usually behind a keyboard with any number of synthesizers and effects alongside him. As a member of indie projects Field Report and Volcano Choir—both of which boast several standout Wisconsin musicians—Wincek might contribute a melodic keyboard line, often adding electronic textures and sonic intricacies that push these projects beyond songwriting and musicianship. Under the moniker Emotional Joystick, Wincek has recorded a catalogue of breakbeat-centered electronic music—an erratic, unhinged take on EBM. But on his latest self-titled release, The Desert Of The Real Itself, Wincek stretches his compositional plane into two thirty-minute sides, centering Korg Wavestations, sequencers, and vocal processors reminiscent of kosmische minimalism mixed in with ’80s synth programming. – Emili Earhart
