Boy

Hey there – I’m Boy. I make layered, at times moody sample based instrumental hip hop. My first release, Collage in Stereo, was released last year. I just released my latest project (unfortunately not available via streaming), a Beastie Boys remix album: Beastie X Boy - The Remixes From Way Out. Check-ch-check-check-check it out!

Now living in Sonoma County, CA, I grew up outside of Boston listening to 90’s rap along with artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:3vbKDsSS70ZX9D2OcvbZmS" data-name="Beck">Beck</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6liAMWkVf5LH7YR9yfFy1Y" data-name="Portishead">Portishead</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:03r4iKL2g2442PT9n2UKsx" data-name="Beastie Boys">Beastie Boys</a>. I later heard artists like <a href="spotify:artist:1O3ZOjqFLEnbpZexcRjocn" data-name="RJD2">RJD2</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7bHm3B3jJju0q9FUdOgp3b" data-name="Blockhead">Blockhead</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5CE2IfdYZEQGIDsfiRm8SI" data-name="DJ Shadow">DJ Shadow</a> and loved how they took the cut-and-paste aesthetic of early 90’s hip hop to new levels.

In this tradition, I like to find a mix of unrelated sound sources – e.g., a vocal sample from a folk song, drum hits from a funk track, a bassline from a rock song – then add some live instrumentation and weave everything together into something cohesive that hopefully sounds cool to you too.

At first, the songs generally don’t have much personal meaning to me. However, as I work on them something inevitably clicks and becomes surprisingly personal. This is usually the result of finding that one sound or arrangement idea that brings it all together.

Photos: Sharolyn Townsend Photography