yuk.

Yuk. is the recording alias of Los Angeles-based experimental hip-hop producer Chad Valencia, co-founder of DJ/artist collective <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22My+Hollow+Drum%22">My Hollow Drum</a>. His abstract sound constructions feature hazy, smudgy atmospheres and splintered beats, often incorporating found sounds and organic instrumentation. He has a strong preference for analog equipment and media, as opposed to digital, and heavily uses cassette recorders in the creation of his music. His best-known releases, such as 2015's a n a k, have reached the public via <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a>-affiliated <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Leaving+Records%22">Leaving Records</a>.

After beginning <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22My+Hollow+Drum%22">My Hollow Drum</a> in 2007 with fellow beat junkies including <a href="spotify:artist:2L2unNFaPbDxjg3NqzpqhJ">Teebs</a> and Bahwee, yuk. released his debut cassette, a d w a in 2010, with <a href="spotify:artist:4KKx8fVJ0y7EcpmYZ42jPc">Matthewdavid</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Leaving+Records%22">Leaving Records</a> giving the album its digital release. The following year, yuk. released Of Wilderness, a digital mixtape featuring remixes and collaborations with several L.A. beat scene regulars, including <a href="spotify:artist:17Zu03OgBVxgLxWmRUyNOJ">Knxwledge</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2GqaakAnuhfpY4drbXrEmL">Devonwho</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3PU8Ju4WBYNY5xvJE3DMfV">Ras G</a>. Yuk. appeared on scene-surveying compilations on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dublab%22">Dublab</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dropping+Gems%22">Dropping Gems</a> and on albums and mixes by <a href="spotify:artist:4GcpBLY8g8NrmimWbssM26">Mndsgn</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2L2unNFaPbDxjg3NqzpqhJ">Teebs</a>; he also co-founded the Filipino restaurant LASA with his brother Chase Valencia in 2014. In 2015, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Leaving+Records%22">Leaving Records</a> released a n a k, yuk.'s sophomore album, digitally as well as on cassette and vinyl. Although his career as a chef kept him busy, he returned in 2019 with an EP titled Paraiso. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi