Dabrye

Polymath <a href="spotify:artist:7yNb21PFWckn27Rj9xf1K7">Tadd Mullinix</a> has used several pseudonyms, including <a href="spotify:artist:5oWkRpMJyT27u0WyRxYMeP">James T. Cotton</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5jDDfaMdjqbUFeXM1zVnDw">JTC</a> for ill-tempered house and techno, and <a href="spotify:artist:69dXoUZqe3RDHHU9qrZeWt">Charles Manier</a> for probing industrial/EBM hybrids, but he's known most for the artful hip-hop beatdowns he has dealt as Dabrye. One of the earliest and most significant signees to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ghostly+International%22">Ghostly International</a> label, his precise, IDM-informed production style has been a major influence on left-field beatmakers for over two decades. Two vocal-free early albums, 2001's One/Three and 2002's Instrmntl, established his distinctive sound, and numerous renowned rappers, from <a href="spotify:artist:2pAWfrd7WFF3XhVt9GooDL">MF Doom</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0IVcLMMbm05VIjnzPkGCyp">Jay Dee</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7aA592KWirLsnfb5ulGWvU">Danny Brown</a>, were featured on 2006's Two/Three and 2018's long-awaited Three/Three. Dabrye returned to the project's roots with the 2024 beat tape Super-Cassette.

Prior to debuting his rap alias, the native of Ann Arbor, Michigan -- by way of Gulf Coast Florida and Metro Detroit -- had released ragga jungle with <a href="spotify:artist:1Tdp9qgW1R3GrkY5gAKhEG">Todd Osborn</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:2BIf0aW9N1fHWq5eKNryBO">Soundmurderer & SK-1</a>, and under his birth name recorded a set of avant electronica entitled Winking Makes a Face. One/Three, his concise 2001 debut as Dabrye, succeeded Winking in just four months as the second album released by local label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ghostly+International%22">Ghostly International</a>. Early admirer Scott Herren, aka <a href="spotify:artist:0ZsnKPvBsvvycnET2GZMrG">Prefuse 73</a>, compared its hybrid of off-center beatmaking and clipped IDM accents to <a href="spotify:artist:0IVcLMMbm05VIjnzPkGCyp">Jay Dee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6WH1V41LwGDGmlPUhSZLHO">Autechre</a>. Herren released the looser and slightly warmer follow-up, Instrmntl, on his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Eastern+Developments%22">Eastern Developments</a> label in 2002.

Through 2005, as the wait for the trilogy's second installment continued, <a href="spotify:artist:7yNb21PFWckn27Rj9xf1K7">Mullinix</a> added to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ghostly%22">Ghostly</a> discography with a couple 12" releases and a brief compilation. First was Payback, featuring a <a href="spotify:artist:0ZsnKPvBsvvycnET2GZMrG">Prefuse 73</a> megamix on the flip side, then Game Over, on which <a href="spotify:artist:7yNb21PFWckn27Rj9xf1K7">Mullinix</a> was granted verses from <a href="spotify:artist:0IVcLMMbm05VIjnzPkGCyp">Jay Dee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:31ovhtZf0B1CTJXPNhchvF">Phat Kat</a>, major enhancements that boosted the producer's profile. Later on, Additional Productions, Vol. 1 combined a fraction of Dabrye remixes with a previously unreleased production and a live version. These supplemental offerings led to the 2006 release of Two/Three, an hour-long session densely packed with sounds ranging from synths as cold as anything that came out of late-'70s Sheffield to drums as rugged as those off the streets of mid-'90s New York City. East Coast legends such as <a href="spotify:artist:2pAWfrd7WFF3XhVt9GooDL">MF Doom</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2Fi0a9OJGrQAcvbeRtJfV3">AG</a>, and revered Detroiters including <a href="spotify:artist:6g0jIZjw9GHR6J5wO1FD0u">Invincible</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Zji66LHK0QCC8AUMuyp3h">Guilty Simpson</a>, were among the contributors.

At this point, <a href="spotify:artist:7yNb21PFWckn27Rj9xf1K7">Mullinix</a> had also accumulated credits on tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:0ZsnKPvBsvvycnET2GZMrG">Prefuse 73</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:71GWL6ijlpTh7oGqYlMMpM">Thomas Fehlmann</a>, and for the next several years he continued to stack secondary credits through collaborations (<a href="spotify:artist:7sIVbnHhMEvzexb91mLGEc">Beans</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Fo8jy2ayRJdwl8SMgbKrG">Platinum Pied Pipers</a>) and remixes (<a href="spotify:artist:1VxbvYl7kJEZWVVCvqIO9M">King Midas Sound</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:00fUxTsDQ3TMlro9Abk6bG">Vast Aire</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2MqWqAmRvIjvYdD3cMBbrg">Illum Sphere</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5agXR9PXcQ3whCRLu8LeeN">Paul White</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5HAtRoEPUvGSA7ziTGB1cF">the Orb</a>). There was also another 12", Get Dirty, fronted by <a href="spotify:artist:2Fi0a9OJGrQAcvbeRtJfV3">AG</a>. Meanwhile, a wave of beatmakers -- including those associated with the Los Angeles beat scene -- cited Dabrye as an inspiration. As he remained active with his other aliases and the operation of his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bopside%22">Bopside</a> label, <a href="spotify:artist:7yNb21PFWckn27Rj9xf1K7">Mullinix</a> made a full return to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ghostly%22">Ghostly</a> as Dabrye in late 2017 with "The Appetite," a single featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5X0V59ipZnbvnubW0rQVri">Roc Marciano</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7aA592KWirLsnfb5ulGWvU">Danny Brown</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2SlUrJAcTYbWR8GcmB9IEi">Quelle Chris</a>. Three/Three arrived the following February with several previous collaborators -- as well as <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:556vpAit0VPDDqxdIUTNsb">Clear Soul Forces</a> -- selected for input. The completion of the trilogy was coordinated with a reissue campaign that included a box set. Unfolding, a limited 7" with <a href="spotify:artist:48C2RLG6w7o4jAJjCJKZM8">Shigeto</a>, was pressed for a book of the same name by paper engineer and artist Matthew Shlian. Dabrye returned in 2024 with Super-Cassette, an instrumental beat tape inspired by manga comics and martial arts videos. ~ Andy Kellman & Paul Simpson, Rovi