Deadbeats Looks to the Future With ‘We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7’
For a label that has spent the better part of the last two decades pushing bass music forward, Deadbeats knows how to make a statement release. The seventh installment of its annual We Are Deadbeats compilation arrives during the label’s 10-year anniversary this year, bringing together 17 tracks that move through deep dubstep, halftime, experimental bass, trip-hop and hip-hop-influenced songs. Released this month, We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7 feels less like a traditional compilation and more like a snapshot of where bass music, as a genre, is heading.
The story behind Deadbeats starts with label founders and international superstars Zeds Dead, the Toronto duo of Dylan “DC” Mamid and Zachary “Hooks” Rapp-Rovan. After emerging from Toronto’s underground in 2009, the duo quickly developed a reputation for refusing to stay inside a single genre during their live sets, blending dubstep, drum and bass, hip-hop, and electro sounds into a style that was entirely new. In 2016, they launched Deadbeats alongside their debut album Northern Lights. Using the same DIY mentality that helped build the Zeds Dead label, they have expanded the Deadbeats label into a platform for other artists. What started as a record label has grown into a much larger community through releases, Deadbeats Radio, live events and its annual compilation series which highlights the brightest up and coming producers.
The label has consistently used We Are Deadbeats as a way to introduce listeners to producers who are still building their sound and audience. Previous volumes of We Are Deadbeats have helped put artists like REZZ and Subtronics in front of a wider audience before they became festival mainstays in their own right. The seventh installment continues that tradition with a new class of producers. Ten years into the label’s existence, Deadbeats is still looking forward rather than backward, using its anniversary to highlight the artists who could define the next era of bass music.
Among the 17 tracks on the newest release, four stand out as particularly exciting introductions to the artists shaping that next chapter. rsUN and Floret Loret’s “Mind” brings a cinematic quality to the compilation, pairing atmospheric production with the darker power of modern bass. Crawdad Sniper’s “Lobble Robble” heads in a stranger direction, pulling from trip-hop and deep rolling bass to create something hypnotic and unmistakably underground. Die By The Sword’s “Land of Wolves” delivers a darker, heavier take on dubstep. Then there is PapaJay’s “Bring Me Back,” which highlights his ability to combine melodic sound design with heavyweight bass. Together, the four tracks show just how wide the Deadbeats’ vision and label has become.
After 10 years, the biggest statement Deadbeats can make isn’t simply how far the label has come, it is who it believes is coming next. We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7 puts that philosophy front and center, giving a new generation of producers a platform while continuing the genre-blurring approach that has defined the label from the beginning. Deadbeats has spent a decade building the community; now, Vol. 7 gives listeners a look at the artists ready to carry it forward. If you want to get more of the Deadbeats, be sure to check out Zeds Dead on their goodbye tour this September HERE!
