Daniel Son & Futurewave - Moonshine Mix 2 [2019]

Welcome to one of my many Write-Ups, where I dive into a contextual history of a project from an artist, while also breaking down the different parts worth mentioning. Come over to my Write-Ups page for a list of all of the work I’ve done so far.

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It’s hard for these Toronto cats out here man. It’s a highly diverse city with a large breadth of hip-hop being produced between many styles. But for all the different styles of music and up-and-comers that litter the city, there is little to no support within the city that they live to lift these people up on the podium. The game is savage and impersonal, especially within the realm of this mainstream trap/R&B in the lane of Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR, and getting any sort of traction in the city is almost impossible without international support. You see, the power of the cosign is king in Toronto, and without other artists in other countries many supremely talented people stay “block-famous” on the streets, never reaching the radio stations on the local waves. In fact, much of the attention that you need to garner in order to gain clout in Toronto doesn’t even need to come from America; a large part of the market (especially the more Caribbean influenced music) is usually based in the U.K. and Europe, and historically Canadian artists will be on the right path when their fanbases start to establish themselves overseas. This is about half true in hip-hop, a traditionally American genre, where cosigns from people in the American underground will lead you up to the gates of greatness, but whenever the fantastic U.K. underground starts noticing you, that’s when you know it’s on.

In the red circle in Toronto and it’s suburbs, of which Brampton is one. The green arrows are pointing towards the U.S.; you can see how close Buffalo is to Toronto here

All of these things ring true for Brampton’s own Daniel Son, who’s organic come-up over the past 4 or so years has hit many of these story beats. But his history goes back way farther than the cosigns; the man has been rapping since he was 11 years old (born in 1989), and lurked internet forums in his early days engaging in online “text battles” to sharpen his sword. Heavily invested in local Toronto artists, he took it upon himself to rep the city that will eventually prove to be a very difficult beast to conquer. After linking up with cats from Crate Divizion out of London his popularity started to grow, but it wasn’t until Daniel Son linked up with the incredibly prolific London producer Giallo Point that he was able to see huge success. Their record together, Remo Gaggi, put Daniel in the ears of listeners around the world, officially beginning his career as a underground powerhouse. From there, the man’s output was non-stop, making up for all the time he was grinding out of the spotlight: the original Moonshine Mix the same year as Remo Gaggi, Pressure Cooker with Futurewave in 2018 paired with Physics of Filth (also starring Asun Eastwood), and last year giving us another tape with Futurewave called Yenaldooshi. I think Daniel Son has finally reached a solid point in his career where he’s well respected around the world and he can take time to indulge in his relationships with people that he’s met in his come up, and it’s in that spirit that Moonshine Mix 2 was created. Produced entirely by Futurewave, the project is a low-stakes but high-payout project that effortlessly shows Daniel Son’s skills on the mic while also solidifying the relationship between the rapper and producer.

BBM is Daniel Son’s personal movement, Brown Bag Money, which he shouts out constantly in his work

Daniel Son as a rapper is fantastic on all fronts, and on Moonshine Mix 2, despite only the 30-minute runtime, he’s able to showcase a lot of his talent efficiently. His wordplay is solid, more based in the straight-forward struggle rap of the 90’s rather than the wordy and crammed styles of many of his frequent collaborators. Daniel’s delivery is a show of force, consisting entirely of a low shout in a difficult to place but clearly present accent, and although he maintains the energy throughout the entire project it never gets stale. But I think a clear point of admiration on this record, one that sets it apart from his other projects in the past, is his more comfortable experimentation with flow that he uses on several tracks. While usually his rhyme schemes and cadence is set in stone, reliably so to make him an great rapper to follow along with, on the tracks Don’t Spill and It’s Facts he switches things up to a much more intricate and dynamic flow, fitting the changes in drum pattern that Futurewave throws at him. Lyrically there’s a lot of bragging and stunting (I think he said he was in New Orleans *twice* on the album), but unlike his close collaborator Asun Eastwood there is a clear disconnect in his subject matter from the person, where Daniel Son is clearly playing a high-class gangster character; this allows him to dabble in both very serious material and lighter-hearted material (like his many references to eating expensive foods on some Action Bronson shit), and I think it gives him room to experiment more in his lyrics. Another huge plus on this record is that every track has a very well written hook, where he makes it look easy to some up with a 2-bar chorus that can stick with you and remains relevant to the track. I also love how he layers his vocals on the hooks, so it seems more like a gang-chant on some Wu-Tang shit, giving the impression of Toronto as a movement rather than the work of just one emcee.

The original Moonshine Mix wasn’t actually produced by Futurewave, instead being a joint production effort from Vic Grimes and PhybaOptiks, members of the Crate Divizion collective

Daniel Son has a love for other artists’ work that I haven’t seen before in an emcee. Most rappers out there think their shit is the dopest shit, bar none, and appearing on other people’s record (or even having people on their own records) is something that they deep down try to avoid. But Daniel Son is the complete opposite, truly seeming like, more than anything, a fan of the genre that he has developed his own reputation in. So here on Moonshine Mix 2, which is a little more laid-back, meant to be a low-pressure release, he pulls out the stops of collaborating with people who he thinks (and that I think for that matter) are the best in the game right now. Daniel has hella love for the dudes out in Massachusetts, and has Estee Nack, the leader of the Tragic Allies out in Lynn, on the track Cobra Venom; loving how he starts his verse out with no drums, and although his verse really isn’t saying anything profound his flow and crazy word association is something to behold on any track he jumps on. Rome Streetz is another equally special prodigy, but for pretty much the opposite reason. His appearance on Don’t Spill is like a knife to a butter-like beat, absolutely mastering flow, rhyme scheme, and wordplay for his verse, with a quick-rolling verse spit immaculately that includes the gem “Robbed Peter, paid myself to say ‘fuck Paulie’”. Cheap Scopes is the best feature/beat pairing on this LP, with Flee Lord demolishing his verse in one of his best placements I’ve heard from him in recent memory; there’s just something about it that screams “classic”, showing how skilled this guy is at crafting a 16, especially in the context of other people’s records. His flow and energy are just off the charts, and his line “from Florida to Canada that’s what we call East” is a great step in including Toronto into the modern “East-Coast” movement”. Daniel’s close friend Asun Eastwood (who did an entire record with Daniel Son not to long ago, Physics of Filth) shows up on one of the filthiest tracks in the listing, matching the atmosphere with an equally filthy verse utilizing a intricate and misdirecting rhyme scheme. The chemistry between these two men will always be palpable, and Real Quick is another is a long line of tracks that showcase it. The final feature, Family Gang Black, is a person completely unknown to me, and his appearance on Use 2 is more lowkey than a lot of the other guests on the album, but I think the dude holds his own in the face of Daniel’s personal verse on the track detailing his sports dreams.

Futurewave had a hell of of 2019; it had Head Crack with Rome Streetz, Boss Sauce with Mooch, and yet another album with Daniel Son, Yenaldooshi, coming not even six months before Moonshine Mix 2

Futurewave is the other half of Moonshine Mix 2 behind Daniel Son’s raps, and his style is one that we’ve seen before here in America. Daniel Son even says himself “why Futurewave the best chef since The Alchemist”? The answer is that he is a consistent as hell in his production style, and while Moonshine Mix 2 might not be the most wide-ranging display of his talents on the boards, it does show that, whenever he’s focusing on a specific sound or feeling, he can knock it out of the park. The tape is actually meant to be perceived as it’s named: a radio mix of different songs that all fall under the same umbrella, flowing in a lose instrumental theme of every-so-slightly left-field boom-bap. There’s a smattering of tracks that work towards contributing to a solid sense of the boom-bap era; these tracks aren’t bad in any way, but they occupy pretty much the same space instrumentally. Use 2, Sardines (I love the Full Metal Jacket sample on this cut), and Low Tide are all mid-tempo, fairly minimal cuts with short snares. Kip Raines would fall under this category too were it not for the noisy clanging in the background, and one of the best basslines on the project. With the album cover being a demented zombie figure, you were probably gonna find some spooky shit on here too, and that’s what we get with tracks like Pray 4 Me and Fine Eating, with the former utilizing these Halloweenish string sections and the latter keeping to a snareless tight loop with alien key notes. Cobra Venom is more of a tensioned track, with strings buried deep in the mix giving a sense on unease, but it’s the stocatto grand piano notes that spring up at you that gives the horror impression. Keeping with the soundtrack-esque nature, but replacing it with more of a western flair is the track Kimura Combo, with the twangy guitars paired with the cinematic strings on the hook making it one of the most dynamic cuts with a great sense of character. Cheap Scopes also contains character in the form of swagger, hitting you with a crazy funky bassline, a beat that builds up every few bars to hit you like hell with sub-bass (a rarity on the album), and some dusty-ass snares to tie it all together. The next track, Don’t Spill, is much more of a ruckus, with the snares hitting you like a live drum-kit, icy keys on the hook, and a big-band-like horn in your face for the majority of the track. Two tracks sit as the most outstanding from a beat standpoint, and those are Real Quick and It’s Facts. Real Quick is so much more threatening and evil than the rest, where while Pray 4 Me can be cartoonishly evil Real Quick is like actual danger coming at you with its denseness. It’ Facts is the most unique drum pattern on the entire record, switching it up to mimic like a soft rock song to give Daniel Son a little bit of a challenge; it’s lower tempo to not be impossible, and the guitar chords add to the appeal of the track.

Daniel Son is in a very fortunate position right now as the face of Toronto’s underground hip-hop scene. This required the stars to align to allow someone from such a close-cliqued city to gain traction, but this luck, paired with the man’s unbelievable grind has gotten him to a point where’s he able to put his city on the map in a way that very few individuals in Toronto can right now. Through him, people like me have found others like the fantastic Asun Eastwood, and the producers Bozack Morris and, of course, Futurewave. As for Futurewave, Daniel was right to compare him to The Alchemist, because his sampling skills need no more explanation on how dope they are, and his grind (in the face of a 9-5 with a family even) sets him on another level amongst not just Canadian producers, but underground producers around the world. It’s no wonder people like Rome Streetz and Mooch have lined up to get the full album treatment from this guy. While Moonshine Mix 2 might not the most *important* album in the line of projects Daniel Son and Futurewave have put out, I think it shows a level of comfortability and confidence to put out a project of loosely associated songs where some risks are being taken, throw on the best rappers they know of, and just *know* it’s going to be dope. Hell, if this is what it sounds like what they aren’t really trying, then that’s when you know you have a dope fucking artist on your hands. Big ups to Toronto and all of you cats out there, we see you over here in America.

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